Controversies
10 Reasons, or So, Why Los Angeles Is a “City in Decline”
Los Angeles is “barely treading water,” the report notes in its introduction, as “continued economic decline and impending fiscal crisis” take their toll. “Los Angeles is sinking into a future in which it no longer can provide the public services to which our people’s taxes entitle them and where the promises made to public employees about a decent and secure retirement simply cannot be kept.” read more
L.A. Doesn’t Wait for AQMD, Sues to Block Neighborhood Oil Wells from Restarting
The city attorney alleged in his complaint that “despite frequent warnings and repeated notices of violations of environmental and health and safety laws, Allenco has refused to repair numerous defects, and ignored or defied the efforts of regulatory agencies to correct multiple deficiencies at its oil facility.” read more
Anti-White Police Hiring Case Goes to Trial in San Francisco
SFPD unveiled a modified selection process called “banding” for use after the first eleven vacancies were filled. Banding treats exam scores that fall within a particular range or “band” as equivalent, regardless of their exact order. Buckley and Hofmann allege that SFPD decided to use banding because it “felt a need to promote more blacks and Asians to Captain.” read more
California’s Strongest New Gun Law Is Three Years Old
Governor Jerry Brown signed 11 pieces of gun-control legislation last year and vetoed seven, but the new law with arguably the most firepower was passed by the Legislature in 2011 with an activation date of January 1, 2014.
AB 809 took effect with little mainstream media fanfare, requiring sellers of long guns to run background checks on buyers and submit the information to the state for storage in a database. It is basically the same procedure the state runs for its handgun registry. read more
Judge Gives S.F. City College Closure Reprieve and Hints It Could be Permanent
City College of San Francisco, facing closure in July, dodged a bullet Wednesday when a Superior Court judge ruled the school couldn’t lose its accreditation until a trial was held on the accusations against it. The city attorney made it clear he thought the commission’s action was politically motivated by people trying to “restrict the mission of community colleges by focusing on degree completion to the detriment of vocational, remedial and non-credit education.” read more
Two L.A. County Supervisors Want to Put a Cross Back on the Official Seal
In its 2007 ruling, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the county had a secular purpose, not a religious one, in removing the cross from the seal. It reasonably wanted to avoid getting sued by the ACLU for violating the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. But that was before years of conservative uproar over the War on Christmas and the rise of the radical right. read more
Law School Sues State Bar Again, but This Time It’s Not about Lousy Bar Success Rate
The lawsuit alleges that, “Unconstrained by constitutional limitation, these regulators believing they are shielded by absolute immunity fashioned their quasi-judicial writ into hostile, retaliatory and discriminatory truncheons of power to try browbeating into docile subservience and submission a small California-accredited law school that caters to a diverse demographic and to mostly low-middle income students.” read more
Soil Contamination Plagues Upgrade of Notorious L.A. Housing Project
The city’s plan is to tear down 700 decrepit two-story townhouses built in 1943 and 1954, and replace them with 1,800 more-upscale apartments and condos. But the soil is contaminated with lead, arsenic and other toxic chemicals and it is feared the threat extends throughout Jordan Downs. read more
S.F. Housing Crisis Bubbles over in Protests of Tech Employee Buses
Reuters quoted one protester with a loudspeaker: No specific goal, no political plan, no movement leader rallying a large outpouring of support and no widespread public outcry. Just a lot of long-time residents being pushed out of a city they recognize less and less, and a few people who care enough about them to gather in public and express their support. read more
School District Sued over Racial Harassment, “Slap-Ass Fridays” and other Student Indignities
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit with the National Center for Youth Law on behalf of four teenage students. Beneath the litany of indignities it detailed in the lawsuit, the ACLU alleged a foundation of broader discrimination. It cited data from the 2011-12 school year that the proportion of white students expelled in the district matches their enrollment numbers, but black and Native American students are suspended at three to five times the percentage. read more
Emergency Order for Exide to Clean up Toxic Mess before Rain Just Misses
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that DTSC had issued an emergency cleanup order after finding dangerously heavy concentrations of metals in dust and soil samples near the facility. The agency said it was urgent that the materials be cleaned up by January 31 to avoid winter rains washing it into the Los Angeles River.
It rained all day the next day. read more
State Ponders Shifting Oversight of For-Profit Colleges from Quality to Abuse
How can the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education ramp up its oversight while lightening its work load? The state’s independent Office of the Legislative Analyst (LAO) has a suggestion—stop worrying about educational quality at already-accredited schools and focus on the bad schools that are using suspect marketing and illegal business practices to rip students off. read more
L.A. County Sheriff Finally Gets Around to Dismantling His “Friends” Hiring Program
The preferential treatment involved a range of people that included relatives and friends of high officials, and candidates with spotty records. Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca knew of its existence. The applicants were screened by a separate group of veteran investigators. Although no precise numbers were available, the Times said 270 candidates were screened by the process from 2005-2007. read more
Navy Gets Final Go for Sonar Training that Kills Marine Mammals
Earthjustice immediately filed a lawsuit on behalf of environmental groups who claim that the Navy estimate of damage to marine life is low and that mitigation measures are being ignored.
The lawsuit cites NMFS estimates that 140 marine mammals will be killed, 2,000 will suffer permanent injury and 9.6 million marine mammals will have their migration, breeding, nursing, feeding and shelter disrupted. The Navy characterized the impact as “negligible.” read more
Gays Are Banned Again from Lunar New Year Parade in City of Westminster
Technically, the Orange County town with a heavy Vietnamese-American population isn’t throwing the party. The city turned the popular event over to the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California a couple years ago for financial reasons and the federation doesn’t want any homosexual shenanigans at their festive occasion. read more
L.A. Unions Lose Appeal of $4.3 Billion in Pension Cuts on a Technicality
Officer Luella Nelson’s 23-page report, which will be considered by the city’s Employee Relations Board, recommended that the challenge to a city council vote in October 2012, which established a new, lower-compensated tier of employees, be denied. The Coalition of L.A. City Unions was outraged that the council would vote on a contract that wasn’t reached through negotiation and said it was a violation of city and state laws. read more