Snarky Larry fesses up that his mom's still paying his bills. How is it somebody who runs the local newspaper canafford vacations at the beach and a mansion on the hill but has to get moms to pay for the kid's school?
Here's what Snarky told us today.
My grandmother, Regina Veale Wilson, went all the way through Pasadena public schools. As did my father, Milt Wilson. As did I. Our daughter began in the publics and transferred to an independent, Sequoyah, and two Catholics, La Salle and Alverno. All were the right choices for her at the time. Don't imagine that on a newspaperman's salary private schools were a realistic choice - blessedly, wildly generously, as is her wont, my mother, Marka Hibbs, paid all the tuition. Julia graduated gratefully from Alverno this month, where she had a fantastic education.
Honestly, who the f*ck cares?
Mike deLeeuw
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-22-09
Ok folks. It's big water bill night. How long do ya think it'll take for the council to reach into my wallet for the little bit o'o money that's left? I'm guessin' three hours before they approve the increase exactly the way it was always planned.
Goodbye Whole Foods hello Smart and Final. Actually I already shop at S&F on Fair Oaks. Goodbye Cheerios, hello generic Os of Oats. Sorry kids, we're on a budget still.
PRE-FIGHT WARM-UP: Closed session they talked about lots of stuff but won't tell us anything. How much $$$ gets spent in there, anyway?
Everybody's there but not Gordo and not Robinson. Hey, terrific. We're doin' a big bump in water bills and two of these folks are MIA.
A dude in a Pasadena shirt starts to introduce a girl soccer player but then Madison intros some Boy Scouts who do the flag ceremony. One's an Eagle Scout. They post the colors. Nice they did that. Scouts get a bad rap from some lefties, but it's a good deal for kids. Mine are Cubs and Brownies. Then the soccer girl does the pledge. Don Shepherd from a L.A. soccer club talks about Chelsea playing Milan in the Rose Bowl.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Wack job Nancy Nelson's back. If she talks long enough she almost seems normal. I space out so I'm not sure what she's muttering about.
CONSENT CALENDAR: The spend some money without talking about it at all. They're spending about $800K and doing something with $205,000,000 and $123,000,000 that I can't figure out and making changes to some employee contracts. Not sure if that means employees get raises or not. Nobody says anything so how can I know?
PARKING ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT: They got letters from the Chamber of Commerce and another guy complaining about the contract. Tony Soprano looking Intercon guys say they love Pasadena and work hand in hand with the city and pay their employees good money. Dude says they got 100 Pasadena people working for them. Guy says they only got six complaints. Council loves the Sopranos, and we're still havin' the same guys givin' us tickets. If we wanna change something let's stop giving tickets and pull out the friggin' meters! Bogaard's proud of the company and wants the contract to go forward. Beck says the company responds to complaints. McAustin says they oughta wait but nobody else's going theres. She says they need to be customer service oriented or business will go to other places around here. Holden asks a couple of questions but then oes along with it. Madison likes these guys they are in his district and the boss lives in his district. Wonder what's up wit dat. McAustin makes a pitch but she's the only one to vote no. How 'bout takin' out them meters people?
CONTRACT WITH CORVEL FOR WORKER COMP: They're gonna renew a contract to do worker comp claims. Ok. Woman who does the report is cool in a Michelle Obama sorta way. Says they're gonna save $191K by doin' this. I'm good wit dat.
AUDITOR CONTRACT: They're hiring auditors to go over the city books. I'm pickin' up they do this every year and these guys have done it before. Holden asks the controller about efficiency reviews like what Laura Chick did in L.A. He asks if the guy looked at the water rate proposal. He gets told the guy can only do somethings and not others like second guess the water department czarina.
RE-FI FOR LAKE AND WASHINGTON: They're gonna do a refinance of the shopping center at Lake and Washington.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT: We're building units on North Hudson.
APPOINTING PALS TO COMMISSIONS: More donaters get put on commissions.
TREE CALL UP: Haderlein wants somebody to be able to cut down a tree that's trashing a fence. Tornek isn't real convinced so he's voting no. The other fish swim with the school.
ORDINANCES: Zoning code's changed for hearings and property sales and other stuff. And councilmembers aren't going to get a raise this year.
TRASH FRANCHISE: Some more folks get to pay to be able to pick up trash in Pasadena. Ok I guess. We make some money, they get some business. Bogus wants to know if they have to use alternative fuel trucks. Not yet, but sometime. Haderlein says we need to let them know if we're gonna do these kind of regulations.
ZONING CHANGES: They want to change some of the rules about adding on to houses. Lots of talk about whether something should be 20 feet or 10 feet or 16 feet. McAustin's not wanting to make changes here but others want 16 feet and that's what happens. If I add a second story on my house I'll find out what this is all about, I guess. They talk about if basements can be lived in or not, too. When you watch on TV Holden looks at McAustin like she's an idiot. Pretty funny. But not so funny as when Madison is missing and phones in and they show his empty seat when he talks.
MAIN EVENT WATER INCREASE: The water czarina Phyllis Currie says they are going to take it a little slower, but still raise water rates in July. Water costs more. We all have to save water. The department's broke. How'd that happen? McAustin lets the department people give the report. It's still gonna cost 15% more in July and again next year and the year after. Holden asks about senior and low income people. He says the law won't let them cut their rates but he's asking what they're gonna do and says they oughta use general fund money for that. Then he asks what happens when we're not in a drought anymore and gets told that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says take more time so nobody gets laid off and nobody goes out of business. He says if was only about passing along cost increase nobody would complain. He says people who save water shouldn't have to pay penalties and his bill is gonna be higher this year even though he used less water. Bogaard says he's happy with what staff has said. David Powell says we gotta worry that conserving water means there won't be enough in the ground to pump out. Wayne Lusvardi reads a proclamation but I'm not real sure what he's doing that for. Roz McHugh says don't screw over the fixed income people and make sure there's a safety net for people. Nancy Nelson laughs at what goes on with the council. She wants to impeach them and says shame on you. Marydee Romney says they raised water a year ago and now they're doing it again. Michael Hurly says its happening everywhere. He talks about price signals and not laying people off.
McAustin's leading the raise everybody's water rate charge. She says they answered all the questions and the committee's good with raising rates. Councilmembers get in line to talk about how happy they are with the new ideas and how doing any more would mean they gotta lay off people. Man, what do we gotta do to remind these people who voted for 'em. McAustin, Tornek, Madison, Haderlein and Holden all love the water people. Bogaard's already on board. Madison asks about what the city's doin' to cut its water down. He gets a bullshit answer from Beck, but we all see the sprinklers on all the time in the parks and on the streets. He wants to know how they're telling people how to conserve water on their bill. Currie says we're all gonna get a mailing. What's that gonna cost me? How 'bout deducting that cost from my bill? There's a good way to help. Sure it is. So they talk about that kinda stuff and ignore what it's gonna do to the people who gotta pay bills. Man these people get off the important part really fast. Tornek's already paying back the union money he musta got to get elected. He's not representin' the voters on this one. Bogaard wants to know what they're gonna do about the new buildings that need water. Holden says it's never a good time to raise rates, duh! He asks about fixed income people and ants to have the rates reviewed every year. It's gonna go to McAustin's committee so we're gonna see even bigger raises whenever they look at it. Who elected these people anyway? Oh yeah, us fools. They all vote for it, but Madison says he's doing it reluctantly. Yeah, that's gonna make me not so pissed off when I get my big bill in August or September.
Folks, watch your wallets. About all that's left is our electric bills. I'm taking the under on that one and guessing they're gonna do that before Christmas.
Now I'm gonna go flush some dollars down the toilet and bang my head against the wall until I knock myself out. How is it all we get are millionaires on the CIty Council? Man, none of them really gotta work for a living and it shows.
D.
Goodbye Whole Foods hello Smart and Final. Actually I already shop at S&F on Fair Oaks. Goodbye Cheerios, hello generic Os of Oats. Sorry kids, we're on a budget still.
PRE-FIGHT WARM-UP: Closed session they talked about lots of stuff but won't tell us anything. How much $$$ gets spent in there, anyway?
Everybody's there but not Gordo and not Robinson. Hey, terrific. We're doin' a big bump in water bills and two of these folks are MIA.
A dude in a Pasadena shirt starts to introduce a girl soccer player but then Madison intros some Boy Scouts who do the flag ceremony. One's an Eagle Scout. They post the colors. Nice they did that. Scouts get a bad rap from some lefties, but it's a good deal for kids. Mine are Cubs and Brownies. Then the soccer girl does the pledge. Don Shepherd from a L.A. soccer club talks about Chelsea playing Milan in the Rose Bowl.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Wack job Nancy Nelson's back. If she talks long enough she almost seems normal. I space out so I'm not sure what she's muttering about.
CONSENT CALENDAR: The spend some money without talking about it at all. They're spending about $800K and doing something with $205,000,000 and $123,000,000 that I can't figure out and making changes to some employee contracts. Not sure if that means employees get raises or not. Nobody says anything so how can I know?
PARKING ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT: They got letters from the Chamber of Commerce and another guy complaining about the contract. Tony Soprano looking Intercon guys say they love Pasadena and work hand in hand with the city and pay their employees good money. Dude says they got 100 Pasadena people working for them. Guy says they only got six complaints. Council loves the Sopranos, and we're still havin' the same guys givin' us tickets. If we wanna change something let's stop giving tickets and pull out the friggin' meters! Bogaard's proud of the company and wants the contract to go forward. Beck says the company responds to complaints. McAustin says they oughta wait but nobody else's going theres. She says they need to be customer service oriented or business will go to other places around here. Holden asks a couple of questions but then oes along with it. Madison likes these guys they are in his district and the boss lives in his district. Wonder what's up wit dat. McAustin makes a pitch but she's the only one to vote no. How 'bout takin' out them meters people?
CONTRACT WITH CORVEL FOR WORKER COMP: They're gonna renew a contract to do worker comp claims. Ok. Woman who does the report is cool in a Michelle Obama sorta way. Says they're gonna save $191K by doin' this. I'm good wit dat.
AUDITOR CONTRACT: They're hiring auditors to go over the city books. I'm pickin' up they do this every year and these guys have done it before. Holden asks the controller about efficiency reviews like what Laura Chick did in L.A. He asks if the guy looked at the water rate proposal. He gets told the guy can only do somethings and not others like second guess the water department czarina.
RE-FI FOR LAKE AND WASHINGTON: They're gonna do a refinance of the shopping center at Lake and Washington.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT: We're building units on North Hudson.
APPOINTING PALS TO COMMISSIONS: More donaters get put on commissions.
TREE CALL UP: Haderlein wants somebody to be able to cut down a tree that's trashing a fence. Tornek isn't real convinced so he's voting no. The other fish swim with the school.
ORDINANCES: Zoning code's changed for hearings and property sales and other stuff. And councilmembers aren't going to get a raise this year.
TRASH FRANCHISE: Some more folks get to pay to be able to pick up trash in Pasadena. Ok I guess. We make some money, they get some business. Bogus wants to know if they have to use alternative fuel trucks. Not yet, but sometime. Haderlein says we need to let them know if we're gonna do these kind of regulations.
ZONING CHANGES: They want to change some of the rules about adding on to houses. Lots of talk about whether something should be 20 feet or 10 feet or 16 feet. McAustin's not wanting to make changes here but others want 16 feet and that's what happens. If I add a second story on my house I'll find out what this is all about, I guess. They talk about if basements can be lived in or not, too. When you watch on TV Holden looks at McAustin like she's an idiot. Pretty funny. But not so funny as when Madison is missing and phones in and they show his empty seat when he talks.
MAIN EVENT WATER INCREASE: The water czarina Phyllis Currie says they are going to take it a little slower, but still raise water rates in July. Water costs more. We all have to save water. The department's broke. How'd that happen? McAustin lets the department people give the report. It's still gonna cost 15% more in July and again next year and the year after. Holden asks about senior and low income people. He says the law won't let them cut their rates but he's asking what they're gonna do and says they oughta use general fund money for that. Then he asks what happens when we're not in a drought anymore and gets told that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says take more time so nobody gets laid off and nobody goes out of business. He says if was only about passing along cost increase nobody would complain. He says people who save water shouldn't have to pay penalties and his bill is gonna be higher this year even though he used less water. Bogaard says he's happy with what staff has said. David Powell says we gotta worry that conserving water means there won't be enough in the ground to pump out. Wayne Lusvardi reads a proclamation but I'm not real sure what he's doing that for. Roz McHugh says don't screw over the fixed income people and make sure there's a safety net for people. Nancy Nelson laughs at what goes on with the council. She wants to impeach them and says shame on you. Marydee Romney says they raised water a year ago and now they're doing it again. Michael Hurly says its happening everywhere. He talks about price signals and not laying people off.
McAustin's leading the raise everybody's water rate charge. She says they answered all the questions and the committee's good with raising rates. Councilmembers get in line to talk about how happy they are with the new ideas and how doing any more would mean they gotta lay off people. Man, what do we gotta do to remind these people who voted for 'em. McAustin, Tornek, Madison, Haderlein and Holden all love the water people. Bogaard's already on board. Madison asks about what the city's doin' to cut its water down. He gets a bullshit answer from Beck, but we all see the sprinklers on all the time in the parks and on the streets. He wants to know how they're telling people how to conserve water on their bill. Currie says we're all gonna get a mailing. What's that gonna cost me? How 'bout deducting that cost from my bill? There's a good way to help. Sure it is. So they talk about that kinda stuff and ignore what it's gonna do to the people who gotta pay bills. Man these people get off the important part really fast. Tornek's already paying back the union money he musta got to get elected. He's not representin' the voters on this one. Bogaard wants to know what they're gonna do about the new buildings that need water. Holden says it's never a good time to raise rates, duh! He asks about fixed income people and ants to have the rates reviewed every year. It's gonna go to McAustin's committee so we're gonna see even bigger raises whenever they look at it. Who elected these people anyway? Oh yeah, us fools. They all vote for it, but Madison says he's doing it reluctantly. Yeah, that's gonna make me not so pissed off when I get my big bill in August or September.
Folks, watch your wallets. About all that's left is our electric bills. I'm taking the under on that one and guessing they're gonna do that before Christmas.
Now I'm gonna go flush some dollars down the toilet and bang my head against the wall until I knock myself out. How is it all we get are millionaires on the CIty Council? Man, none of them really gotta work for a living and it shows.
D.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-15-09
OK. It’s budget night. This is gonna be too painful to watch.
Everybody’s there but McAustin. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
PRE-FIGHT WARM UP: Tornek wants to adjourn for William Burroughs who’s not the writer one but a guy who did a lot around town in that old money Pasadena way. He was even in the Valley Hunt Club. He died and they’re closing in his memory. You know, we can talk about how these old guys re kinda dinosaurs but
PUBLIC COMMENT: Diamond Monday Rasta man wants to open a pot dispensary. Wacko Nancy Nelson went to Ambassador College and wants it to be an arboretum.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They’re spending $300K for dial a ride and $24 mil for ARTS buses. $300K for bridge design for La Loma. A guy from First Transit comes to say they like having that $24 mil contract.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: They didn’t meet by Holden’s got stuff to get approved. City Investments: They worried they’d get hammered by the economy. Treasurer dude runs through what we all know but the council forgets that we all are having tough times. It’s a little better now. Pasadena’s doing better than most and are meeting all the legal rules. There’s $60 mil in one fund and $216 mil all together. So you gotta raise my water rates because? Oh, they’re borrowing millions to buy a new helicopter. Now I like having the eye in the sky to watch the gangbangers when they break into my neighbor’s car, but it’s a lot of $$$. They’re getting’ more money for a bunch of projects. Hey, it’s another $10K here and $5K there and pretty much it adds up to $750K. Oh. It gets passed without anybody saying “Whoa there” that’s a lot of money.
THEY BEAT IT TO CLOSED SESSION before the budget. Yo guys, lotsa dead time here while you spend money and make decisions in private.
BUDGET: We’re spending a bazillion dollars. Holden says they might have to make changes if they don’t pass the water rate increase. Right, that’s gonna happen. These people got no desire to save me and you money . They’re all jumping on how great they are to pass a budget without anybody really talkin’ about it. Holden, McAustin, Haderlein and Madison talk about how wonderful they are to do the budget and keep services going but nobody’s askin’ when they balance the budget by chargin’ us more for things like water. Madison wants them to give up their automatic pay raise. He says it’s not much money and the lawyer says it wouldn’t happen until 2010. Beck says he’s happy the council decided funding priorities. The finance guy’s got a beard now. They’re spending $681 mil. They got 2360 workers on the payroll and are spending $64 mil on projects. They’re runnin’ a deficit so they gotta fix that. They’re cuttin’ $8 mil and using $25 mil in excess reserve. That means they made a lot more money before and just kept it. I got a idea: get the Mayor and council to stop spending money on every little thing so I don’t have to pay a boatload more for water and trash. They’re still spending like they used to. Nobody’s cuttin’ anything much. Oh, and the state’s gonna really screw them over too. Public Comment from Wacko Nancy Nelson who says it’s outrageous to use the water rate hikes to balance the budget. She’s nutso but she’s right about a lot of this. She says she gets calls from Arizona about what the city council in Pasadena does. Holden’s already talkin’ defense for the water increase. Great. They already decided what they wanna do and it's raise my water rate and get me to pay instead of them saving enough money so I don't haveta pay.
Hey folks, it's budget night. Bend us over and give it to us good City Council. But hey, our council's got $25 mil extra but they still gotta get me to pay more.
SORRY FOLKS, I BEAT MY HEAD AGAINSTH TE WALL SO HARD I COULDN'T WATCH THE REST UNTIL TODAY.
DON'T LET CALIFORNIA TAKE PASADENA'S MONEY: They want Carol Liu and Anthony Protantino to promise not to take any city money to balance the state budget. Our vultures want their vultures to stay away. Good plan people. Maybe if you were showing Pasadena doing the same thing, but hey, we can charge lots more for water and then tell state people to not do the same thing to us. They're beyond hypocrites to HIPPOCRITES, big, slow moving creatures that suck up everything possible. Bogaard wants Pasadena to join a lawsuit against the state, too. So we pay more for lawyers? Good idea. Oh, yeah, Bogus Bill's a lawyer, ain't he? AND these guys even think the legislature's working to fix the problem, but California's gonna be out of $$$ in July and the morons in Sacramento ain't gonna even give up their luxury cars and big perks.
REDEVELOPMENT MONEY FOR VILLA PARK AND OLD TOWN PASADENA: The gotta make special findings to make sure it's legal to use the money for what they want. They're gonna look at Lincoln Avenue to put in parking. This one's over $3 mil.
HOUSING DEPARTMENT FUNDS FOR HOMELESS HOUSING, WELFARE HOUSING: They're doing something, but it's hard to tell exactly what. This is someting like $6 million that nobody talks much about.
CHANGING THE PLANNING CODE: Bruckner says they need to make changes so projects that get continued have to be noticed again. Business can't show their stuff on public property. Woman making the presentation is really cute and looks like she's 20. nancy Nelson wacko wants to know why they care about garage sales and says homeless should be able to aharass people and sell junk on sidewalks. Great idea. Whatever happened to runnin' 'em off when they harass people. I mean, I am real sympathetic to families who lose their jobs and can't have a lace to live, but the filthy people who lurk in doorways and stand at the freeway and hassle everybody gotta go.
BOGUS SAYS THEY'RE DOING A STRATEGIC PLANNING EVENT on Thursday. Like anybody can see that since I guess it's not gonna be on TV. Not that any of us care about what the council's gonna be up to.
Great meeting. Too 3 hours for them to get through it. They did the budget. $600+ million in about half and hour. And I find out they got $25 mil extra they are gonna use for pet projects. Hey! How about using some o'that to keep my water bill the same?
Typical. Least my councilmember was there. Think McAusin's gonnna tell her people she's not responsible because she wasn't there when they did the budget?
Weenies and weasels.
D.
Everybody’s there but McAustin. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
PRE-FIGHT WARM UP: Tornek wants to adjourn for William Burroughs who’s not the writer one but a guy who did a lot around town in that old money Pasadena way. He was even in the Valley Hunt Club. He died and they’re closing in his memory. You know, we can talk about how these old guys re kinda dinosaurs but
PUBLIC COMMENT: Diamond Monday Rasta man wants to open a pot dispensary. Wacko Nancy Nelson went to Ambassador College and wants it to be an arboretum.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They’re spending $300K for dial a ride and $24 mil for ARTS buses. $300K for bridge design for La Loma. A guy from First Transit comes to say they like having that $24 mil contract.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: They didn’t meet by Holden’s got stuff to get approved. City Investments: They worried they’d get hammered by the economy. Treasurer dude runs through what we all know but the council forgets that we all are having tough times. It’s a little better now. Pasadena’s doing better than most and are meeting all the legal rules. There’s $60 mil in one fund and $216 mil all together. So you gotta raise my water rates because? Oh, they’re borrowing millions to buy a new helicopter. Now I like having the eye in the sky to watch the gangbangers when they break into my neighbor’s car, but it’s a lot of $$$. They’re getting’ more money for a bunch of projects. Hey, it’s another $10K here and $5K there and pretty much it adds up to $750K. Oh. It gets passed without anybody saying “Whoa there” that’s a lot of money.
THEY BEAT IT TO CLOSED SESSION before the budget. Yo guys, lotsa dead time here while you spend money and make decisions in private.
BUDGET: We’re spending a bazillion dollars. Holden says they might have to make changes if they don’t pass the water rate increase. Right, that’s gonna happen. These people got no desire to save me and you money . They’re all jumping on how great they are to pass a budget without anybody really talkin’ about it. Holden, McAustin, Haderlein and Madison talk about how wonderful they are to do the budget and keep services going but nobody’s askin’ when they balance the budget by chargin’ us more for things like water. Madison wants them to give up their automatic pay raise. He says it’s not much money and the lawyer says it wouldn’t happen until 2010. Beck says he’s happy the council decided funding priorities. The finance guy’s got a beard now. They’re spending $681 mil. They got 2360 workers on the payroll and are spending $64 mil on projects. They’re runnin’ a deficit so they gotta fix that. They’re cuttin’ $8 mil and using $25 mil in excess reserve. That means they made a lot more money before and just kept it. I got a idea: get the Mayor and council to stop spending money on every little thing so I don’t have to pay a boatload more for water and trash. They’re still spending like they used to. Nobody’s cuttin’ anything much. Oh, and the state’s gonna really screw them over too. Public Comment from Wacko Nancy Nelson who says it’s outrageous to use the water rate hikes to balance the budget. She’s nutso but she’s right about a lot of this. She says she gets calls from Arizona about what the city council in Pasadena does. Holden’s already talkin’ defense for the water increase. Great. They already decided what they wanna do and it's raise my water rate and get me to pay instead of them saving enough money so I don't haveta pay.
Hey folks, it's budget night. Bend us over and give it to us good City Council. But hey, our council's got $25 mil extra but they still gotta get me to pay more.
SORRY FOLKS, I BEAT MY HEAD AGAINSTH TE WALL SO HARD I COULDN'T WATCH THE REST UNTIL TODAY.
DON'T LET CALIFORNIA TAKE PASADENA'S MONEY: They want Carol Liu and Anthony Protantino to promise not to take any city money to balance the state budget. Our vultures want their vultures to stay away. Good plan people. Maybe if you were showing Pasadena doing the same thing, but hey, we can charge lots more for water and then tell state people to not do the same thing to us. They're beyond hypocrites to HIPPOCRITES, big, slow moving creatures that suck up everything possible. Bogaard wants Pasadena to join a lawsuit against the state, too. So we pay more for lawyers? Good idea. Oh, yeah, Bogus Bill's a lawyer, ain't he? AND these guys even think the legislature's working to fix the problem, but California's gonna be out of $$$ in July and the morons in Sacramento ain't gonna even give up their luxury cars and big perks.
REDEVELOPMENT MONEY FOR VILLA PARK AND OLD TOWN PASADENA: The gotta make special findings to make sure it's legal to use the money for what they want. They're gonna look at Lincoln Avenue to put in parking. This one's over $3 mil.
HOUSING DEPARTMENT FUNDS FOR HOMELESS HOUSING, WELFARE HOUSING: They're doing something, but it's hard to tell exactly what. This is someting like $6 million that nobody talks much about.
CHANGING THE PLANNING CODE: Bruckner says they need to make changes so projects that get continued have to be noticed again. Business can't show their stuff on public property. Woman making the presentation is really cute and looks like she's 20. nancy Nelson wacko wants to know why they care about garage sales and says homeless should be able to aharass people and sell junk on sidewalks. Great idea. Whatever happened to runnin' 'em off when they harass people. I mean, I am real sympathetic to families who lose their jobs and can't have a lace to live, but the filthy people who lurk in doorways and stand at the freeway and hassle everybody gotta go.
BOGUS SAYS THEY'RE DOING A STRATEGIC PLANNING EVENT on Thursday. Like anybody can see that since I guess it's not gonna be on TV. Not that any of us care about what the council's gonna be up to.
Great meeting. Too 3 hours for them to get through it. They did the budget. $600+ million in about half and hour. And I find out they got $25 mil extra they are gonna use for pet projects. Hey! How about using some o'that to keep my water bill the same?
Typical. Least my councilmember was there. Think McAusin's gonnna tell her people she's not responsible because she wasn't there when they did the budget?
Weenies and weasels.
D.
Friday, June 12, 2009
My Water Bill's Going Through the Roof - Where's My Local Paper?
S-Nooze is sleepin' I guess. Pretty much nothing in the S-Nooze under mayoral butt-sniffer Larry Wilson about how my water bill's going up, uP, UP!
So, what's wrong with my local paper that's ignorin' the biggest water bill raise in California? Oh, Larry's too busy kissin' Mayor Bill's ass and keepin' the Bitchin' Biddies happy.
Me, I just get f*ucked! Thanks S-nooze for missin' another big story that REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE!
You gotta give it to the weak Pasadena Weekly for doin' a story last week. Somebody's watchin' while PWP picks my pocket.
D.
So, what's wrong with my local paper that's ignorin' the biggest water bill raise in California? Oh, Larry's too busy kissin' Mayor Bill's ass and keepin' the Bitchin' Biddies happy.
Me, I just get f*ucked! Thanks S-nooze for missin' another big story that REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE!
You gotta give it to the weak Pasadena Weekly for doin' a story last week. Somebody's watchin' while PWP picks my pocket.
D.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Snarky Hipocrite Uses Anonymouse Source
Remember when our favorite inbred white guy, Larry Wilson, tried to tear me a new one for being anonymous even after I used my name?
Well, Snarky Larry published a column in that paragon of journalistic ethics the Pasadena S-Nooze quoting some anonymouse gang expert. Oooooo. Isn't that against the rules there Larry boy?
Bad grammar and sucky writing are bad enough, but to break that major journalist rule about using anonymouse sources? Larry boy how do we know you didn't make it up?
Here's hipocrite Snarky Larry's writing:
Well, Snarky Larry published a column in that paragon of journalistic ethics the Pasadena S-Nooze quoting some anonymouse gang expert. Oooooo. Isn't that against the rules there Larry boy?
Bad grammar and sucky writing are bad enough, but to break that major journalist rule about using anonymouse sources? Larry boy how do we know you didn't make it up?
Here's hipocrite Snarky Larry's writing:
I talked to a man who has worked with young people in the midst of the violence.
"Can you imagine the emptiness in the
soul of someone who could pull a gun on another person, a stranger or someone they knew, doesn't matter?" he asked.Not quite.
"Can you imagine the effect on the entire community, the energy wasted? Can you imagine what it would be like if you lived there and didn't have to spend that energy worrying about your safety, your family's lives, didn't have to think about that? How could this be a healthy community?"
How indeed.
The whole mess, so little changed in the last two decades, makes me wonder about the futility of trying to, among other things, shore up public education in the local schools when the society right out on the sidewalk is so sick.
Few people will be much for studying when their dad's in prison, their brother's in prison, their mom's thrown up her hands.
It's a way of life, like any other. And to think that we're going to turn around the schools or a cycle of Northwest poverty and thug life by just telling kids to hit the books or pull themselves up by their bootstraps - it's a fantasy.
"It's as if we don't have the will yet, or the life force," says my friend, who knows the gang members, "to bring together all the players - to get juvenile justice, probation, parole, the police department, the sheriff's department, social workers, preachers, the schools, to plan a system-wide strategy of how we're going to get through this."
There's blood on the streets. There will be more. And the residents of the city and the town either get it together, or sign that check now to build another prison.
Public Editor Larry Wilson's blog is http://insidesocal.com/publiceye.
If you want to suffer through the whole mess, here it is.
Can we really trust somebody who says "There's blood on the streets. There will be more. And the residents of the city and the town either get it together, or sign that check now to build another prison."
Shabby scare tactic journalism Larry boy. Blood on the streets indeed! Hardly.
Mike de Leeuw
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-8-09
It's WATER NIGHT: Guess who's gettin' soaked?
Right to it:
They're startin' on time. Wow. Maybe Tornek's a good influence after all.
Closed session, they got nothin' to tell us about what they decided in secret.
Looks like everybody's here. Tornek does the pledge and gets it right.
GREEN BACK PATS: City got an award from the county for being green innovators. Enviro-vators that is. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is there to give 'em the pat. They give out big ones and mayor Bill grabs it up. Gordo thanks Big Mike for helping the Gold Line get cash. Some council pals get sworn in to commissions.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM THE ARMORY DO ART FOR THE GENERAL PLAN: These kids did statues about what they think Pasadena should be like in the future. It's actually kinda cool and they got a slide show. Carol Liu has a crony give the kids certificates.
Madison points out some Boy Scouts in the audience. Robinson wants to end the meeting for Eugene Taylor a city worker who died.
GENERAL PLAN COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Stephanie Wolfe talks about how they're gonna get us to care about the general plan. Dantay Hall and Caroline Neighbor from the committee talk about how they're gonna get us to give a shit about the plan. They're gonna use Twitter and shit to do outreach. Twitter? The Bitching Biddies are gonna take over, with Snarky Larry Wilson leading from behind the curtain, so why should I care about this crap? Oh, McAustin's fulla shit folks. But hey, they're partners with Google on this, too.
PUBLIC COMMENT: David Powell mutters something that I don't really get about grass watering. Nancy Nelson Wacko's organizing some wacko talk at the library and talkin' about gettin' hit by a bus. Sid Tyler's there to talk about the health clinic and makes a crack about Tornek being absent. They're tryin' to open a new place near St. Luke's for a health clinic but no emergency room. Carl Lewis gets cut off 'cause he wants to talk about the water extortion, er increase.
HOLDEN CALL UP: He was gonna go after some housing project but got them to agree to waht he wants instead so there's no call up.
LIQUOR STORE CALL UP: Gordo wants to stop a liquor store south of Colorado. He thinks it shoulda got shut down 'cause it missed some deadlines. There's lotsa gabbin about it. The store's lawyer says don't do it. They do it anyway. Wacko Nancy Nelson likes what Gordo has to say.
CONSENT CALENDAR: For once they're not spendin' a buncha money.
COUNCIL PAL APPOINTMENTS: Yep another crony gets on a commission and another one quits.
REFINANCING LAKE AND WASHINGTON PROJECT: Ok, they're goin' sub-prime to re-fi some project.
CITY BUDGET: They keep chargin' ahead and we're gonna get a budget that's balanced somehow. Uh huh. Sure they are. Wack job Laronda Heartfield loves God and Jesus and rambles about who knows what the f*ck all.
WATER RATE GOUGING: Ok. McAustin says they ain't gonna make a decision. We get a long report that tells us the water department wants to raise my bill by $30 bucks and get me to like it. Olivia Newton John's the finance person who says they wanna do it. Well, she LOOKS like her ok? They talk about high water costs and conservation and say they are cutting back on their staff, but they want something like $7 million to cover $2 million in higher costs for water. So we're getting totally fucked on this one. Surprise. We're buyin' people new cars and sh*t and they're tryin' to make me believe they gotta do it. Horse f*ckin' sh*t. HORSE F*CKIN' SH*T! PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says they really only want to make more money and aren't doing anything about conservation and everything about putting money in the bank. He says it's not water conservation it's revenue preservation. I like that mostly 'cause it sounds true. Then they got a whole host of people who say don't screw me over. David Powell says something about wasting wter being a good thing. Some apartment people are paying way more than 50% more for water. Woman with kids says don't put the extra burden on people now. Folks from Altadena pay the higher rate and get to pay an extra 25% on top of it. One old dude says he's gonna make sure they all get recalled. Senior apartment manager says they're gettin' screwed too. One Altadena woman says her 3 acre lot uses lots of water give her a break. hey, give my Pasadena 1/4 acre a break. Lotsa people say don't build more apartments and shit if they can't get water. Makes sense to me.
Madison and Haderlein ask questions about what's really going on. Holden likes the Black woman who runs the department.
Tornek blames developers. And hey. He's kinda right we shouldn'ta built all that stuff and not got 'em to pay for their water. Holden says get MWD to back off then licks the department queen's butt. F*CK THAT! LOOK OUT FOR ME! G*DDAMM*T!
McAustin sounds like she's makin' the staff report herself. Not carin' at all about the people who voted for her. Guess she's figuin' nobody pays attention and nobody's gonna remember she bent then over and f*cked 'em in the ass every chance she got. Least she ain't my councilmember. 'Course I'm screwed too. It's really true these people think we're stupid?
At least I don't live in Altadena. We're gettin' screwed but those folks're gettin' totally hosed on this one.
Man I miss Joyce Streator and people who gave a f*ck about me on the city council. It's bad when the Chamber of f*ing commerce is lookin' after me not my g*ddam councilmembers. It's a sorry f*ing state we are in folks.
Open the checkbook folks, McAustin's gonna take your cash and throw it down the Pasadena f-ing rat hole.
'nuff said.
Hey, Pasadena Weekly did a good story on this last week. S-Nooze is ignorin' me gettin' screwed. Surprise. Snarky Larry's probly one of the three acre plantation people and couldn't give a f*ck about me and you.
I'm pissed.
'night
D.
Right to it:
They're startin' on time. Wow. Maybe Tornek's a good influence after all.
Closed session, they got nothin' to tell us about what they decided in secret.
Looks like everybody's here. Tornek does the pledge and gets it right.
GREEN BACK PATS: City got an award from the county for being green innovators. Enviro-vators that is. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is there to give 'em the pat. They give out big ones and mayor Bill grabs it up. Gordo thanks Big Mike for helping the Gold Line get cash. Some council pals get sworn in to commissions.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM THE ARMORY DO ART FOR THE GENERAL PLAN: These kids did statues about what they think Pasadena should be like in the future. It's actually kinda cool and they got a slide show. Carol Liu has a crony give the kids certificates.
Madison points out some Boy Scouts in the audience. Robinson wants to end the meeting for Eugene Taylor a city worker who died.
GENERAL PLAN COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Stephanie Wolfe talks about how they're gonna get us to care about the general plan. Dantay Hall and Caroline Neighbor from the committee talk about how they're gonna get us to give a shit about the plan. They're gonna use Twitter and shit to do outreach. Twitter? The Bitching Biddies are gonna take over, with Snarky Larry Wilson leading from behind the curtain, so why should I care about this crap? Oh, McAustin's fulla shit folks. But hey, they're partners with Google on this, too.
PUBLIC COMMENT: David Powell mutters something that I don't really get about grass watering. Nancy Nelson Wacko's organizing some wacko talk at the library and talkin' about gettin' hit by a bus. Sid Tyler's there to talk about the health clinic and makes a crack about Tornek being absent. They're tryin' to open a new place near St. Luke's for a health clinic but no emergency room. Carl Lewis gets cut off 'cause he wants to talk about the water extortion, er increase.
HOLDEN CALL UP: He was gonna go after some housing project but got them to agree to waht he wants instead so there's no call up.
LIQUOR STORE CALL UP: Gordo wants to stop a liquor store south of Colorado. He thinks it shoulda got shut down 'cause it missed some deadlines. There's lotsa gabbin about it. The store's lawyer says don't do it. They do it anyway. Wacko Nancy Nelson likes what Gordo has to say.
CONSENT CALENDAR: For once they're not spendin' a buncha money.
COUNCIL PAL APPOINTMENTS: Yep another crony gets on a commission and another one quits.
REFINANCING LAKE AND WASHINGTON PROJECT: Ok, they're goin' sub-prime to re-fi some project.
CITY BUDGET: They keep chargin' ahead and we're gonna get a budget that's balanced somehow. Uh huh. Sure they are. Wack job Laronda Heartfield loves God and Jesus and rambles about who knows what the f*ck all.
WATER RATE GOUGING: Ok. McAustin says they ain't gonna make a decision. We get a long report that tells us the water department wants to raise my bill by $30 bucks and get me to like it. Olivia Newton John's the finance person who says they wanna do it. Well, she LOOKS like her ok? They talk about high water costs and conservation and say they are cutting back on their staff, but they want something like $7 million to cover $2 million in higher costs for water. So we're getting totally fucked on this one. Surprise. We're buyin' people new cars and sh*t and they're tryin' to make me believe they gotta do it. Horse f*ckin' sh*t. HORSE F*CKIN' SH*T! PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says they really only want to make more money and aren't doing anything about conservation and everything about putting money in the bank. He says it's not water conservation it's revenue preservation. I like that mostly 'cause it sounds true. Then they got a whole host of people who say don't screw me over. David Powell says something about wasting wter being a good thing. Some apartment people are paying way more than 50% more for water. Woman with kids says don't put the extra burden on people now. Folks from Altadena pay the higher rate and get to pay an extra 25% on top of it. One old dude says he's gonna make sure they all get recalled. Senior apartment manager says they're gettin' screwed too. One Altadena woman says her 3 acre lot uses lots of water give her a break. hey, give my Pasadena 1/4 acre a break. Lotsa people say don't build more apartments and shit if they can't get water. Makes sense to me.
Madison and Haderlein ask questions about what's really going on. Holden likes the Black woman who runs the department.
Tornek blames developers. And hey. He's kinda right we shouldn'ta built all that stuff and not got 'em to pay for their water. Holden says get MWD to back off then licks the department queen's butt. F*CK THAT! LOOK OUT FOR ME! G*DDAMM*T!
McAustin sounds like she's makin' the staff report herself. Not carin' at all about the people who voted for her. Guess she's figuin' nobody pays attention and nobody's gonna remember she bent then over and f*cked 'em in the ass every chance she got. Least she ain't my councilmember. 'Course I'm screwed too. It's really true these people think we're stupid?
At least I don't live in Altadena. We're gettin' screwed but those folks're gettin' totally hosed on this one.
Man I miss Joyce Streator and people who gave a f*ck about me on the city council. It's bad when the Chamber of f*ing commerce is lookin' after me not my g*ddam councilmembers. It's a sorry f*ing state we are in folks.
Open the checkbook folks, McAustin's gonna take your cash and throw it down the Pasadena f-ing rat hole.
'nuff said.
Hey, Pasadena Weekly did a good story on this last week. S-Nooze is ignorin' me gettin' screwed. Surprise. Snarky Larry's probly one of the three acre plantation people and couldn't give a f*ck about me and you.
I'm pissed.
'night
D.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sharkey vs. Snarky: Blog Smackdown
Our own Sharkey (aka Mike deLeeuw) got in a pissing contest with biddy-meister Larry Wilson's on the snarky dude's blog.
Snarky Larry took off after us anonymoose bloggers and Sharkey did the unmentionable: he signed his name to a post. Larry claimed to have somehow electronically outed Sharkey but got corrected by our own snarky Sharkey. Mike signed it on purpose and paid the price from Larry who got smacked down by the MAN, our own Sharkey.
Way to go, Mike! Watch out for Larry driving past your house in his Prius throwing water balloons at your kids.
Today snarky Larry's column had something about the LA superintendent Cortines trashing the S-Nooze but Larry hasn't got the guts to tell us what he said. Anybody know?
We're still anonymoose.
D.
Snarky Larry took off after us anonymoose bloggers and Sharkey did the unmentionable: he signed his name to a post. Larry claimed to have somehow electronically outed Sharkey but got corrected by our own snarky Sharkey. Mike signed it on purpose and paid the price from Larry who got smacked down by the MAN, our own Sharkey.
Way to go, Mike! Watch out for Larry driving past your house in his Prius throwing water balloons at your kids.
Today snarky Larry's column had something about the LA superintendent Cortines trashing the S-Nooze but Larry hasn't got the guts to tell us what he said. Anybody know?
We're still anonymoose.
D.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-1-09
Ok. We got shit-all on the agenda. Even money Tornek shows this time. Runnin' 5-2 Tyler will come back for public comment again.
They got millions to spend on the Consent Calendar, they're raisin' fees and taxes and takin' on Foothill Transit.
CLOSED SESSION: Surprise, they're not talkin'.
Hey! They're all here this time. Sharkey wins the Tornek pool by guessin' he'll show up late, which is what he does. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
CEREMONIAL BACK PATS: Madison wants to adjourn for Liman Ennis who died. Guy was an architect who worked a lot around town. Bogaard wants to adjourn for Hugh Smith who developed real estate here.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Christian Perry from Dancing with the Stars pimps his dance studio on Fair Oaks. Miriam Kwan still hates cell towers and rags on the council for not stopping them. She left her tin foil hat home this time. Mary Romney intros David Powell who talks about how if we don't water our lawns more there won't be enough water in the ground so we'll have to use more Metropolitan water that's way more expensive. He wants it to have an environmental review. John Brookheart wants to know if the city will pay for his lawyer to sue the city. Man I hope not. Bill Watkins is hot headed and is an alcoholic who's got a plan to love the law and wants to do something but gets wound up and doesn't get to the point until the end which is about being on time. Victor Gonzales is back about some project at Las Encinas and trees that he says are important to native American heritage. I'm admittin' I don't really get the connection except somehow this guy hates Las Encinas. Maybe Dr. Drew treated his sister for genophobia or phagophobia or something.
MWD SHILL SHILLS COUNCIL: Tim Brick comes to the Council to pitch for Metropolitan Water District. Our representative says there's no extra water anywhere. He says we got normal rain ths year but are still screwed. No mention about cutbacks in cost from MWD. He saus there are incentives but cities gotta have penalties for wasting water. Bogus is conforted that Brick's on the MWD. Tornek's there now and asks about recharging teh aquifer. Brick says 50% to 70% of water use is outside. He says most of that doesn't go into the groundwater anway so Powell's nuts. Nobody asks about MWD saving money or negotiating with unions to cut pay and benefits so we don't have to pay so much for water.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They're spending some money but got a buncha folks out with their tin foil hats to talk about a cell antenna on Oak Knoll Avenue. Nadine Roundinella who looks like she stepped in a big pile of shit and smells it the whole time hates putting the antenna in her neighborhood. She says it's gonna make her property values drop and something about hydrochloride and that T-Mobile doesn't need the antenna. Miriam Nakamura Kwan shows pictures and says T-Mobile doesn't need the tower. Wacko Nancy Nelson says no cell phones. Tornek asks a couple of qs for the T-Mobile guy and gets told they need the antenna. They pass it after some more questions. Madison asks about $1 million for GPS and is told it's needed. They pass that, too.
CITY BUDGET MASH UP: We're all screwed. African American Finance guy Green says the city's gotta cut and the state ain't gonna help, 'specially now. There's people from Portantino and Liu's offices there but they got nothin' to add. Nobody says our Sacto leggies oughta just get their shit together and do a budget before Cali runs outta cash in like three weeks. Sure, that's gonna happen. They're movin' on.
FEE INCREASES: They're raisin some costs but cut one for restaurants in half. Paul Little from the Chamber likes them for this. He's not sayin' anything about what's gonna cost me more, even if I could tell what that is from the report they rush through.
HUD AMENDMENT FOR STIMULUS FUNDING: They're going to get money for housing from HUD for CDBG to the tune of $600K. They want to spend money on La Pint Park for a teen center, photo electric cells on the enterprise center and money to Neighborhood Housing Services for low flow toilets and some other stuff with non-profits. OK let's get some. Who decides who gets the $$$? Public comment from exec director of Door of Hope likes that poor are getting help.
TAXES ARE GOING UP: Duh! Some surprise there. Holden says they're not raising much because the cost of living stayed the same.
$88K more for New York Drive medians. Ok. It's a lot of cash but they did a good job over there. Antonovich is paying some too.
PASADENA'S JOINING FOOTHILL TRANSIT COMPANY: So we get some say in what they do. That makes sense I guess since they do buses here. Radar O'Reilly's dad Fred Dock says it's a good thing to do and costs nothing to be on the board. Wacko Nancy Nelson don't like buses 'cause she almost got run over.
COUNCIL PALS GET APPOINTED TO COMMISSIONS: Same as always. I never heard of any of these people who gotta be big donors. One guy is Fred Claire. Is that the old Dodger GM?
TEE BID CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL TAX: They tax themselves to pay for the convention center somehow that's tough to understand but it's paying for the new place but not the stoopid hats. Lots of acronyms. What's T. O. T.?
ORDINANCES: We got new rules for water wasters that probly make sense s'long as I don't get fined for washing the car. The report says they gotta hire $810K worth of people to enforce this. How about we save the $810K and cut my water bill instead? Or use that $$$ to do something besides hire more expensive people with my tax dollars? Tornek asks about the extra people and Beck says they aren't making new positions yet but Tornek seems more worried about making it work than what it costs customers. Staff dude sounds like they don't really have much of a plan. Public comment: Miriam Nakamura Kwan likes Dave Powell and wanted him to get more time to talk. Wayne Lusvardi says we need to be worried about not watering enough and Tim Brick is full of shit and says the City Council will kill the Raymond Basin water. Nancy Nelson doesn't like this. She says don't punish people reward them. Felicia Williams likes it. Mary Dee Romny says get your shit in order before you do this. Council's going for it big time.
OTHER ORDINANCES: Some zoning changes and park fees get to be spent in parks.
OFFICE BUILDING ON FAIR OAKS: It's called legendary place. Holden bails because his office is in the building. They want to build 55K square feet of office buildings with a restaurant in the basement. They'd knock down what's there now. They need lots of changes to make this fly and they're even taking out (gasp) trees! Gordo thinks it oughta go to the Planning Commission first, but it gets complicated because of due process according to the City Attorney who says they gotta follow the rules. Tornek wants to change the process. McAustin wants toi know if needing a buncha approvals means you need a higher level of scrutiny. Public Comment: Serge Sony says they want to make it work and are trying.
VONS PROJECT ON COLORADO: Another report about Vons wanting to demo and redo the store at Colo and Sierra Madre. They wanna do a new store and build some new ones on the street. What they're doing on Colorado looks crappy.
PUBLIC COMMENT REDUX: Nancy Nelson's gonna make it short and says thanks for the Playhouse trees. She says the council doesn't pay attention to what people say. And she goes on and on and on and on and council shouldn't play God and that she's a mail order minister. Lilia Hernandez says a Marshall kid wanted to invite them to a Latino graduation. So is there a Black graduation, Armenian graduation and white graduation too?
COUNCIL JABBERING: Tornek complains about a project on Colorado Boulevard and he wants to send it to the planning commission. Holden says the Burbank Airport got some study approved. Is it gonna cost me less to fly for work?
POST FIGHT WRAP-UP: Not a lot happening. Tornek seems pretty smart so far. They're gonna pay a lot of money for people to come around and give us tickets for washing our cars.
I'm done.
D.
They got millions to spend on the Consent Calendar, they're raisin' fees and taxes and takin' on Foothill Transit.
CLOSED SESSION: Surprise, they're not talkin'.
Hey! They're all here this time. Sharkey wins the Tornek pool by guessin' he'll show up late, which is what he does. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
CEREMONIAL BACK PATS: Madison wants to adjourn for Liman Ennis who died. Guy was an architect who worked a lot around town. Bogaard wants to adjourn for Hugh Smith who developed real estate here.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Christian Perry from Dancing with the Stars pimps his dance studio on Fair Oaks. Miriam Kwan still hates cell towers and rags on the council for not stopping them. She left her tin foil hat home this time. Mary Romney intros David Powell who talks about how if we don't water our lawns more there won't be enough water in the ground so we'll have to use more Metropolitan water that's way more expensive. He wants it to have an environmental review. John Brookheart wants to know if the city will pay for his lawyer to sue the city. Man I hope not. Bill Watkins is hot headed and is an alcoholic who's got a plan to love the law and wants to do something but gets wound up and doesn't get to the point until the end which is about being on time. Victor Gonzales is back about some project at Las Encinas and trees that he says are important to native American heritage. I'm admittin' I don't really get the connection except somehow this guy hates Las Encinas. Maybe Dr. Drew treated his sister for genophobia or phagophobia or something.
MWD SHILL SHILLS COUNCIL: Tim Brick comes to the Council to pitch for Metropolitan Water District. Our representative says there's no extra water anywhere. He says we got normal rain ths year but are still screwed. No mention about cutbacks in cost from MWD. He saus there are incentives but cities gotta have penalties for wasting water. Bogus is conforted that Brick's on the MWD. Tornek's there now and asks about recharging teh aquifer. Brick says 50% to 70% of water use is outside. He says most of that doesn't go into the groundwater anway so Powell's nuts. Nobody asks about MWD saving money or negotiating with unions to cut pay and benefits so we don't have to pay so much for water.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They're spending some money but got a buncha folks out with their tin foil hats to talk about a cell antenna on Oak Knoll Avenue. Nadine Roundinella who looks like she stepped in a big pile of shit and smells it the whole time hates putting the antenna in her neighborhood. She says it's gonna make her property values drop and something about hydrochloride and that T-Mobile doesn't need the antenna. Miriam Nakamura Kwan shows pictures and says T-Mobile doesn't need the tower. Wacko Nancy Nelson says no cell phones. Tornek asks a couple of qs for the T-Mobile guy and gets told they need the antenna. They pass it after some more questions. Madison asks about $1 million for GPS and is told it's needed. They pass that, too.
CITY BUDGET MASH UP: We're all screwed. African American Finance guy Green says the city's gotta cut and the state ain't gonna help, 'specially now. There's people from Portantino and Liu's offices there but they got nothin' to add. Nobody says our Sacto leggies oughta just get their shit together and do a budget before Cali runs outta cash in like three weeks. Sure, that's gonna happen. They're movin' on.
FEE INCREASES: They're raisin some costs but cut one for restaurants in half. Paul Little from the Chamber likes them for this. He's not sayin' anything about what's gonna cost me more, even if I could tell what that is from the report they rush through.
HUD AMENDMENT FOR STIMULUS FUNDING: They're going to get money for housing from HUD for CDBG to the tune of $600K. They want to spend money on La Pint Park for a teen center, photo electric cells on the enterprise center and money to Neighborhood Housing Services for low flow toilets and some other stuff with non-profits. OK let's get some. Who decides who gets the $$$? Public comment from exec director of Door of Hope likes that poor are getting help.
TAXES ARE GOING UP: Duh! Some surprise there. Holden says they're not raising much because the cost of living stayed the same.
$88K more for New York Drive medians. Ok. It's a lot of cash but they did a good job over there. Antonovich is paying some too.
PASADENA'S JOINING FOOTHILL TRANSIT COMPANY: So we get some say in what they do. That makes sense I guess since they do buses here. Radar O'Reilly's dad Fred Dock says it's a good thing to do and costs nothing to be on the board. Wacko Nancy Nelson don't like buses 'cause she almost got run over.
COUNCIL PALS GET APPOINTED TO COMMISSIONS: Same as always. I never heard of any of these people who gotta be big donors. One guy is Fred Claire. Is that the old Dodger GM?
TEE BID CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL TAX: They tax themselves to pay for the convention center somehow that's tough to understand but it's paying for the new place but not the stoopid hats. Lots of acronyms. What's T. O. T.?
ORDINANCES: We got new rules for water wasters that probly make sense s'long as I don't get fined for washing the car. The report says they gotta hire $810K worth of people to enforce this. How about we save the $810K and cut my water bill instead? Or use that $$$ to do something besides hire more expensive people with my tax dollars? Tornek asks about the extra people and Beck says they aren't making new positions yet but Tornek seems more worried about making it work than what it costs customers. Staff dude sounds like they don't really have much of a plan. Public comment: Miriam Nakamura Kwan likes Dave Powell and wanted him to get more time to talk. Wayne Lusvardi says we need to be worried about not watering enough and Tim Brick is full of shit and says the City Council will kill the Raymond Basin water. Nancy Nelson doesn't like this. She says don't punish people reward them. Felicia Williams likes it. Mary Dee Romny says get your shit in order before you do this. Council's going for it big time.
OTHER ORDINANCES: Some zoning changes and park fees get to be spent in parks.
OFFICE BUILDING ON FAIR OAKS: It's called legendary place. Holden bails because his office is in the building. They want to build 55K square feet of office buildings with a restaurant in the basement. They'd knock down what's there now. They need lots of changes to make this fly and they're even taking out (gasp) trees! Gordo thinks it oughta go to the Planning Commission first, but it gets complicated because of due process according to the City Attorney who says they gotta follow the rules. Tornek wants to change the process. McAustin wants toi know if needing a buncha approvals means you need a higher level of scrutiny. Public Comment: Serge Sony says they want to make it work and are trying.
VONS PROJECT ON COLORADO: Another report about Vons wanting to demo and redo the store at Colo and Sierra Madre. They wanna do a new store and build some new ones on the street. What they're doing on Colorado looks crappy.
PUBLIC COMMENT REDUX: Nancy Nelson's gonna make it short and says thanks for the Playhouse trees. She says the council doesn't pay attention to what people say. And she goes on and on and on and on and council shouldn't play God and that she's a mail order minister. Lilia Hernandez says a Marshall kid wanted to invite them to a Latino graduation. So is there a Black graduation, Armenian graduation and white graduation too?
COUNCIL JABBERING: Tornek complains about a project on Colorado Boulevard and he wants to send it to the planning commission. Holden says the Burbank Airport got some study approved. Is it gonna cost me less to fly for work?
POST FIGHT WRAP-UP: Not a lot happening. Tornek seems pretty smart so far. They're gonna pay a lot of money for people to come around and give us tickets for washing our cars.
I'm done.
D.
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