CityWatch is on the cutting edge today as they notice "Special Event Fees" ARE BEING WAIVED!!!

Congratulations to CityWatch for their cutting edge reporting as they notice "Special Event Fee Waivers." And they REALLY take an early stand, and go out on a limb by calling to "Stop Fee Waivers." WOW, thank goodness for CityWatch...they are really on "Watch" alright. Maybe ZD should address the issue, as well. I'll try and remember to speak about it next time I'm at a Council meeting and maybe I'll do a blog post about it. Thanks CityWatch...true news leaders! Maybe they can do a story on this new thing called "trash collection fees."

From CityWatch:

Stop the Fee Waivers: Save the City $5 million

LA Budget Crisis
by CityWatch Contributor

Shortly after joining Tarzana Neighborhood Council, I started paying more attention to the City Council agendas. I noticed a great number of “special events” for which fees were waived. Some were for religious events (constitutionally prohibited), some were for strictly commercial events, many were for quite significant amounts. I therefore decided to track the event fee waivers for a year to get a better idea of the total amount and if there was a significant difference in the amount and type sponsored by the various Council persons.

When asked about the fee waivers at the May 17 Citywide Alliance of Neighborhood Councils forum, Mayor Villaraigosa agreed that the amount spent on such “special events” was quite excessive, suggesting that a figure of $500,000-$750,000 made more sense.

A modest proposal: limit each Council District to $100,000 per year and require a public hearing for any waiver in excess of $25,000.

ZD says...Tell that to Jan Perry who represents Downtown Los Angeles (where a lot of the big events happen) when she has the same amount available as the rest of the CMs. And they DO have public hearings for any waiver in excess of $25,000...it's called "public comment" and they have it for each special event fee that they waive. And people do show up every day to protest. And then they all get approved, every time, by every council member -- unanimously. It's probably the most discussed issue on the agenda over the past two years. Welcome to the club. Head to Van Nuys City Hall and say, "Hello" to Donna, Miriam and Sharon. Tell 'em ZD sent you.