It's the Infrastructure, Stupid!

Yesterday's Los Angeles Times "Opinion" section featured an essay from St. Zev the Panderer about the coming populist revolution against density in Los Angeles.

Puh-leeeze.

Yes, people in Los Angeles are angry about density. Yes, people in Los Angeles feel like developers own the government. And yes, people feel that elected officials who keep approving development after development are clueless. But the sentiment rings hollow and shallow coming from Yaroslavsky -- despite the unquestioning affection the media has been giving his recent pronouncements on the subject.

The problem is not density; it is infrastructure.

We know the population of Los Angeles is going to increase. We can't stop time. We can't prevent people from having children. We can't forbid people from moving here. And unless we build more housing, the existing housing stock will become even more unaffordable.

The real issue is not whether to build more housing, but how to accommodate it. It is about infrastructure. The quality of the infrastructure largely determines whether additional population blends in seemlessly or results in gridlock. How do we move all these people around? Do we have mass transit to get them to and from work? Do we have enough schools and parks for their children? Do we have enough capacity in our sewage lines or on our electrical grid?

These are the questions our elected officials need to be answering. It is not enough to approve housing developments because we need more housing. It is absolutely essential that we concurrently build the infrastructure that we know the additional population will require.

Zev has been one of the top ten most influential Los Angeles political figures for a couple decades, so it is fair to hold him accountable. He has been on the City Council, the Board of Supervisors, and the MTA. So where's our mass transit? While he has been a force behind the Orange Line in recent years, let's remember that Zev made a career for himself fighting the Expo Line and the Wilshire Subway.

It's time Zev got off his high horse about development and got into the trenches to build some infrastructure.

What's Left Unsaid

The Los Angeles Times did a remarkably pathetic job this morning of covering a nasty, racially-charged dust-up between a prominent African-American leader and an influential Jewish philanthropist.

Earlier this week, Daphna Ziman, a major force in wealthy Los Angeles Jewish and entertainment circles, circulated an email alleging that Rev. Eric Lee, head of the Los Angeles branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, had launched an anti-Semitic diatribe during his keynote speech at a King Day event where a major African-American fraternity was honoring several people, including Ziman.

The Times reports that Ziman's email - which has circulated by now to tens of thousands of people - claimed that Lee said "The Jews have made money on us in the music business, and we are the entertainers, and they are economically enslaving us."

The Times story goes on to quote Jewish leaders who are outraged by the allegations in the email. The story mentions that Lee flatly denies making the remarks, and also apologized to Ziman for whatever it is she thinks she heard. That Times also manages to make mention of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Nice.

What the Times fails to mention is critical:

1) According to Ziman, Mayor Antontio Villaraigosa, Councilman Bernard Parks, State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and other prominent officials were there. Why did the Times leave the allegations as a "she said/he said" matter? Why not interview some of the other attendees?
The Jewish Journal published an online story a few days ago, quoting a few people who say they never heard the comments Ziman talks about. It also mentions that the people corroborating her story are two of her employees and a friend of hers.

2) Ziman is a MAJOR supporter of and fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. In interviews following her hysterical email, she has used the controversy to attack Obama, going so far as to hold him partially responsible for tensions between blacks and Jews.

3) This is at the very least Ziman's third email broadside maligning Obama. Last month, Ted Johnson reported on his Wilshire & Washington blog that Ziman had sent out a mass email questioning whether Obama had changed his name, and whether there had been a "naming ceremony." A month prior, she forwarded an email from the Republican Jewish Coalition questioning Obama's support of Israel.

Why didn't the Times report any of this?

Bitter Aftertaste

The blogger known as Iowa Liberal has the right take on this silly flap over Obama's comments about some voters being bitter over generations of failed politics:

"This is about the sickness of our modern political culture and its inability to be intellectually honest. Neither Clinton, McCain, nor-Quist believe what they’re saying. Three intelligent Washington veterans? Please. They simply recognize Obama’s words as something that can be easily misconstrued, so they leap to be the loudest one to do so. Via said action, they reveal their own contempt for the intelligence of the electorate, trying to punish Obama for, once again, talking to the public like they’re adults. And, in another indefensible move that should surprise nobody at this point, Hillary Clinton is actually sending out e-mails with soundbites from Republicans attacking Obama."

Walking the Walk

This coming week, April 15-17, the diverse face of organized labor in Los Angeles will take to the streets of Los Angeles as part of a "The March from Hollywood to the Docks."

Actors, janitors, longshore workers, and many other workers along with members of the community will march 28 miles from Hollywood to the docks of San Pedro. For three days straight, these workers and community supporters will walk and camp overnight along the route.

These individuals will symbolize over 350,000 workers who, this year, will be fighting to stay in the middle class or move themselves out of poverty. The march will conclude on April 17th with a massive rally at the Port of Los Angeles at 6:00 pm.

All along the route marchers will be talking the talk by walking the walk, talking to all of L.A. about the fight for middle class jobs, the battle to organize workers and the importance of voting in order to win the 2008 Fight for Good Jobs.

Here is Tommy Munoz, one of the many walkers:

Here is a calendar for the three-day march.

The event is being sponsored by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Damn, He's Good

The War on Art

I'll have much more on this in an eventual later post, but it is quite clear government officials in LA City and LA County don't know shit about art. If it isn't 400 years old, framed, and hanging in a gallery heavily subsidized by Eli Broad, it can't be art, can it?

It sure as hell can. Los Angeles used to be a world capital for murals, and this city is home to some of the most talented graffiti artists on the planet. Unfortunately, the distinction between tagging and spray can art is more than bureaucrats can handle.

The Associated Press has details today on the latest travesty.

I'll write more again soon about LA's war on art. In the meantime, here are a couple links to organizations that know a thing or two about art that is indigenous to our city:

In Creative Unit (ICU)

Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)

Talking Back

For the past few years, officials with the City of Los Angeles have been talking about waging a war on homelessness -- while effectively waging war on the homeless themselves.

There is no real policy in Los Angeles to address the problem of homelessness, so we get treated to lots of press conferences, lots of lofty policy debates, and precious little action. Into that void, however, jump the forces of NIMBYism, which manage to convince politicians to take punitive actions against the homeless in the lull between the policy debates.

Well, today, some homeless advocates decided to talk back.

When Mayor Villariagosa and a couple councilmembers showed up on skid row to promote the latest phase of the Safer Cities Initiative -- which some homeless advocates claim locks scores of homeless people for frivolous violations -- a handful of volunteers at a local soup kitchen booed and heckled.

The video is at the LA Times local news blog.

The Times Dave Zahniser typically goes the extra mile for a more nuanced account.

The problem with LA's effort to clean up Skid Row is typical of how city government operates: officials proclaims the need for a multi-pronged solution to a complex problem -- and then inevitably deliver on only a fraction of the promise. When it comes to homelessness, they deliver on the crime crackdown, but fail to produce the affordable housing and social services. When it comes to gangs, there are injunctions and drug raids, but too few job training programs and even fewer jobs.

DIth Pran, R.I.P.

Dith Pran, the courageous and inspirational photojournalist whose story of endurance and escape from the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia was brought to the big screen in the 1984 film "The Killing Fields" has died.

Pran was a remarkable man. His story is too seldom told. It must be remembered as a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit, and of the power of quiet dignity.

The Associated Press obit is here.

The powerful final scene of the movie, which dramatizes Pran's reunion with friend and colleague Sydney Shanberg (played by Sam Waterson) is here:

Del Rey Steps Up

NIMBYism is a brutal force in Los Angeles, particularly on the Westside. The "not in my backyard" crowd routinely stands in the way of all sorts of positive things such as affordable housing, homeless services, and sober living homes.

So it is gratifying to see most people in the Los Angeles community of Del Rey stand up and loudly shout "Yes!" in their backyards. Led by the Del Rey Neighborhood Council, local residents are welcoming news that New Directions, an esteemed veterans service agency has purchased a home that will provide transitional housing and services for veterans of the war in Iraq.

The local Argonaut newspaper has some details.

What the Argonaut did not get into is that some of the immediate neighbors were making noises of protest, warning that mentally deranged veterans would be a hazard to their quiet family neighborhood. That selfishness attitude really gives a face and voice to the banality of evil.

I thought the war in Iraq was a bad idea. I think Bushg has mismanaged it horribly. I would like to see our brave men and women in uniform brought home quickly and safely. And when they get here, I want them greeted warmly, with gratitude and every single service and amenity they have risked their lives to earn.

Say It Ain't So

MMA Junkie is reporting that Leonard Garcia, a talented fighter with remarkable heart, has been arrested in Texas on charges of drug trafficking.

This is a damn shame, and I certainly hope the charges are false and that he is exonerated.

I first saw Leonard fight last April, in a tremendous bout against Roger "El Matador" Huerta at UFC 69. Huerta won in a unanimous decision, but Garcia went the distance with both skill and an obvious joy. I remember my friends and I all commenting that the more Huerta pounded Garcia, the more the little scrapper smiled. He was getting beaten, and he was clearly having the time of his life.

There was an impressive moment at the end of the fight. After the ref called the match, Huerta grabbed Garcia, and the two warriors knelt, bowed their heads together, and prayed. It was quite a sight -- a show of humility, devotion, and mutual respect.

I wish Garcia well.

Anybody But Hillary

The chattering class has been making much the past few days about polls showing a large number of Democratic voters will support McCain if their candidate of choice does not win the party's nomination.

I am one of those people. If Hillary Clinton is the nominee of the party, I will not be coming home. I will not return to the fold. I will not play party loyalist. I will not -- ever, under any circumstances -- vote for Hillary Clinton for U.S. President.

It took me a while to get to this point. I have been defending Hillary to friends and family ever since she made her controversial comments about Tammy Wynette on “60 Minutes” back in 1992. I applauded when her husband put in charge of health care. I cheered when she decried a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” I rooted for her when she ran for the U.S. Senate. When she decided to run for president, I felt warmth and admiration for her.

Granted, I had concerns. I worried that the right hated her so much. I fretted that independent, swing voters would never vote for her. And I still felt betrayed by her vote in favor of the war. But her early candidacy impressed me. She was tough. She was smart. And there was something about her that was inexplicably promising and exciting.

When I decided in early January, to support Obama, I genuinely agonized over my choice. I felt for a long time that either of them would make an excellent candidate and president. I felt that I was I was choosing not between the lesser of two evils, but between the better of two angels.

Even after announcing my support for Obama in an email to hundreds of friends, even after repeatedly donating money to Obama, even after voting early for Obama in the California primary, I felt positive toward Hillary. When she was been down and on the verge of out, I rooted for her. I almost gave her 50 bucks to help keep her going.

But again and again and yet again, she has made me regret those feelings. She, her husband, her pollster Penn, or her thuggish mouthpiece Wolfson have consistently done thing to disappoint or disgust me. They have gone low, played dirty, or been completely and shamelessly duplicitious. They seem willing -- even eager -- to destroy their party, dampen the enthusiasm of millions of new voters, and drag the country deep into political trench warfare. Given a choice to win dirty or win clean, I feel they would choose to win dirty -- not just for the sport of it, but because, on some level, they feel that is the tough, world-wise way of doing things.

The crocodile tears. The race-baiting. The plagiarism nonsense. The ridiculous denial that she ever voted for war. The virtual endorsement of McCain over Obama. The fear-mongering "3.a.m. phone call" ad. The "kitchen sink" strategy. The cult of victimhood. The incredulous, self-serving flip-flops on Michican and Florida. The surreal "Ministry of Truth"quality of the campaign conference calls. The smug sense of entitlement. I have nothing left for her but feelings of disappointment and contempt.

So, my fierce opposition to Clinton comes not from anything Obama, the press, or even the vast, right-wing anti-Hillary conspiracy says about her. It springs forcefully and directly from her and from her campaign. When I imagine voting for Obama in November, I am filled with a sense of pride, optimism, and, yes, hope. When I imagine voting for Clinton, I am heavy with resignation, cynicism, and a lack of self-respect. In short, Hillary makes me sick.

Many of my friends, fierce Democrats all, are aghast at my insistence that I will not vote for Clinton. "She is so much better than McCain," they insist.

I just don't buy it.

I have no doubt there will be a rhetorical difference between Clinton and McCain.They will fight over competing visions for how to handle the economy and conduct foreign policy. They will make the differences between their words and visions seem grand and stark -- and they may indeed be.

I am confident that Hillary will say enough of the right things during a general election campaign. My problem is I don't believe a damn thing she says. I don't believe she truly has a commitment to the working poor. I don't trust her to protect the environment. I can't imagine she will spend a penny of political capital for LGBT rights or immigration reform. And I don't believe for a second that she will bring our troops home for Iraq.

How can I? How can anyone? She signed a statement saying Michigan's primary should not count -- and then argues vehemently that the delegates must be seated. She claims she opposed NAFTA -- but her own records show she was a cheerleader for it. She claims to have ducked sniper fire in Tuzla -- but we all the saw the videotape. Even sleep-deprived, I would not trust anything she says.

McCain? Nader? Paul? Gravel? Bill the Cat?

Anybody but Hillary.

Mourning a Hero

This afternoon, one of the exceptionally brave members of the Los Angeles Fire Department died in the line of duty, responding to an explosion in the Westchester business district near LAX.

According to the LAFD blog, "Firefighter Brent A. Lovrien, age 35, a 10 year veteran of the LAFD assigned to the 'A' Platoon at Fire Station 95 since October 2005, died shortly after arrival at the Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center, Marina Campus.

"Engineer Anthony J. Guzman, age 48, an 18 year veteran of the LAFD assigned to the 'A' Platoon at Fire Station 95 since February 2002, suffered multiple fractures and facial trauma. He was transported to the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, where he remains in serious but stable condition following surgery."

In the past year, with reports of hazing and with allegations of racial and gender discrimination within the department, the reputation of the LAFD has been bruised. While such behavior cannot be excused, it so important to remember that these men and women are heroes, who literally risk their lives for us every day.

At moments like this, I always think of the Bruce Springsteen song, "Into the Fire," which was released shortly after 9-11:

" The sky was falling and streaked with blood
I heard you calling me then you disappeared into the dust
Up the stairs, into the fire
Up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher
Somewhere up the stairs into the fire

May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love"

Brent Lovrien, Anthony Guzman, and all the members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I salute you.

Oh Me of Little Faith

Mercifully, it looks like I may have been wrong to doubt the electorate -- at least so far.

The latest NBC-WSJ poll shows Obama has survived the Wright controversy, and that candidate whose negatives have skyrocketed in recent days have been Hillary's!

Clinton Leads Obama (in Cameron's Ass)

LA lawyer/blogger Cameron Fredman explains that Clinton really is beating Obama -- if you look at the stats he pulled out his ass. They're no less random or rancid than the turds dropped by Penn and Wolfson.

Bloodsports

After a day of non-stop coverage of Clinton=McCarthy and Richardson=Judas, I am officially sick and tired of the Democratic primary.

As bloodsports go, I'll take the UFC over the political slugfests. Professional mixed martial artists are classier, smarter, and have much better moves than any of the presidential candidates.

And they talk less shit.