From LA Times (Sorry, can't paste a hyperlink from this library computer, so here's most article with some of it edited out, plus my additional [comments in bracets]. Sorry Times publisher. Hope you don't care, you sold it anyway.
It's on page 3 of today's California section and online at LATimes.com.)
Protesters gear up to 'save' Los Angeles
About 100 neighborhood activists show up at City Hall to demand better public schools, more powerful neighborhood councils, stronger ethics laws and pay cuts for politicians.
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 15, 2008
They were mad at Home Depot. They were mad about the Southwest Museum. They were mad at the Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
And on Monday, more than 100 neighborhood activists (ZD says more than 200) showed up at City Hall to vent that anger, the first major effort by the "Saving Los Angeles Project," conceived in large part by Ron Kaye, former editor of Los Angeles Daily News.
Monday's festival atmosphere was a little bit L.A.-palooza, with perennial City Hall gadfly Zuma Dogg in a sombrero, Councilman Dennis Zine carrying a huge shield with the letter Z on it and parent activist and writer Sandra Tsing Loh dressed somewhat like the Statue of Liberty as she criticized LAUSD bureaucracy." [LA City Councilmember Tom LaBong was there, but not worth mentioning by Zanhiser, obviously! However, Zuma Dogg's mere attendance alone is newsworhty, y'all. Feel free to bow down to the Dogg next time you see me, Tom.]
Relying on talk radio and his Internet blog, Kaye has been working to assemble a movement for weeks, putting together a tentative series of demands that include better public schools, more powerful neighborhood councils, stronger ethics laws and a 25% cut in pay for politicians and their aides.
Kaye said he is not interested in running for office but instead wants to end a "culture of corruption" that he said has ensnared the city's political leaders.
"They do the bidding of narrow interests -- developers, contractors, public employee unions and most of all, the whole political apparatus: the lobbyists, the political operatives, the PR people," said Kaye, standing a few feet from his longtime friend and former co-worker Doug Dowie, a former public relations executive who was convicted on charges involving the overbilling of the city by more than $500,000. Dowie, who has filed an appeal of his conviction, said he understands if the scandal involving him and his former employer, Fleishman-Hillard Inc., played a role in some of the frustration residents feel toward city government. The firm was accused by City Controller Laura Chick of overbilling the city by $4.2 million four years ago.
COMEDY RELIEF: Meanwhile, Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said he was encouraged that participants mentioned schools and public safety. "It's good to see so many people supporting the centerpiece of the mayor's agenda," said Szabo.
[ZD says, "Yeah Dummy, but they are not supporting the mayor. Way to try and jump infront of a parade, you desperate loser. For all the mayor's press events throughout the week, throughout the country and planet and you have to try and spin it pro-mayor. Trust me, there wasn't a mayoral supporter in the entire crowd, besides...nope, not a suppoter in the crowd. HA!]
Many protesters were upset with development issues, such as a planned Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga, a 229-home project proposed for the Verdugo Hills Golf Course and a 1,950-home subdivision being reviewed in San Pedro.
One woman carried a sign that read "Proud to Be a NIMBY."
The rally drew a few political leaders, including Chick [*] and DWP Commission President Nick Patsaouras.
[*= Zuma says: Get ready for the next new fee or tax: Laura Chick took to the podium to scare the masses about emergency preparedness and how the City of Los Angeles has NO plan, in the event that this is NOT a test, but an actual emergency. But anytime a politician from LA City Hall opens they mouth, it is merely warming you up for the next new percentage of a dollar they want to bite into like a pack of shady, corrupt, desperate and shameless wolves. SO ZUMA DOGG IS GOING OUT ON A LIMB, READING THE TEA LEAFS AND MAKING A PSYCIC HOTLINE PREDICTION: Some kind of "emergency preparendness" fee or tax must be on the way.]
david.zahniser@latimes.com
zuma@mayor09.com
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Subscribe To Zuma Dogg
Posts
Comments