The Los Angeles Times ran a story over the weekend that missed the mark about the influence of the business community at L.A. City Hall, which prompted me to send a letter to the editor on Sunday afternoon. In my response to the story, I pointed out that business is an aggressive advocate at City [...]
The original intent of California’s term limits law was to end the era of career politicians and cultivate a new breed of citizen-legislator to focus on the needs of their constituents. But things haven’t turned out that way. The author of the original law, former Republican Assemblymember Pete Schabarum, laments that that law is not [...]
Last week, the California Supreme Court made a common sense decision that will be good for California employers and employees. The ruling eliminates a major complaint that businesses and business organizations, like the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, have been urging the California Legislature to address for years. In a unanimous ruling, the court [...]
When the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the City of Los Angeles begins a 50-page report on budget options with an introduction titled “A cautionary Tale: The City of Stockton, California,” it is clear that a serious fiscal challenge faces the second largest city in the nation. On Feb. 28, 2012, the Stockton City Council [...]
Last week, Senate and Assembly Republicans introduced Gov. Jerry Brown’s pension reform legislation and called upon all members of the Legislature to work across party lines to enact Gov. Brown’s 12-point reform plan. The Chamber applauds this action and leadership. The growing liability of our current public employee pension system is out of control and [...]
Imagine as the CEO of a business or the head of a household, that you limited your long-term planning to six months. That’s how Congress has been managing transportation and infrastructure since 2009, when the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act- A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expired. Eight short-term extensions have only served as a [...]
There was a seven hour trash stink at L.A. City Hall yesterday as businesses from across the City expressed their anger about a proposal that would give the City the power to select the trash hauler for every business in Los Angeles and set the rates as well. For the first time in the history [...]
The Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness blueprint, Home For Good, was launched just over a year ago. There is good news to share as well as a big opportunity to take this strategic initiative to end chronic and veteran homeless in Los Angeles County to the next level! Home For Good is [...]
For Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Council President Herb Wesson and the members of the Los Angeles City Council, the number one priority for this week should be to rally Speaker John Perez and the other members of the Los Angeles Legislative Delegation to mobilize statewide support for Senator Alex Padilla’s bill SB 659, which would [...]
From the days the Santa Fe Railroad opened Southern California to the Midwest and East Coast by connecting Chicago with Los Angeles, through the silver screen glamour years of Hollywood’s golden era, and up through our latest role as a global center for entertainment, culture and restaurants, Los Angeles has a long and proud history [...]
