The Dodgers and the Genius of Janice Hahn

crossposted RonKayeLA Dear Janice: Your daddy would be so proud of the stand you took in introducing legislation in the Congress of the United States of America called the “Give the Fans a Chance Act.” He never missed a chance to get his name in the newspaper either. Every newsroom in town knew the axiom, […]

Welcome to the China Century

Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.

Longtime Los Angeles Teachers Union leader A.J. Duffy has changed his
mind. He’s fought against charter schools, but now he’s starting his
own; he’s protected tenure but now wants it easier to fire bad teachers,
even to limit the prolonged dismissal process to just 10 days.

The times they really are a-changin’ — something that is long overdue.

Labor Day weekend — the traditional end of summer, the start of the fall
football season, a time for at least a moment’s reflection on America’s
working men and women, and those who are desperate to find work.

The bedrock foundation of the modern labor movement was the demand for "more" — and not just more money.

Business and Labor Agree on Something: Get Rid of Term Limits

Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.

Business and labor, so often posturing as antagonists in a life and death struggle for power, have come solidly together in their nostalgia for the good old days when politicians were bought once and stayed bought.

Ah, the good old days before term limits, how sweet it was — and cheap for special interests.

Back then, political hacks held their Assembly, Senate or other public offices more or less for life unless they got caught up in a bribery or sex scandal. Even then, it was 50-50 whether they would get re-elected as long as they stayed out of prison.

Term limits grew out of the failure of our political leaders to do their jobs as public servants for the best interests of their constituents, an effort to try to break the political gridlock that was running California downhill. Sadly, the slide of the state has continued unabated to the point that we are in endless crisis.

Antonio’s Exit Strategy: Countdown to Midnight June 30, 2013

Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.

With one foot in a cast and the other in the political grave, Antonio Villaraigosa hobbled into the lion’s den of San Fernando Valley unrest Monday night and offered a little song, a little dance and a lot of seltzer down everybody’s pants.

Mostly, he seemed preoccupied by the merciful end to his reign and his pain at 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2013 – a fact he kept bringing up during an hour-long performance before a crowd of 200 Valleyites who attended the Daily News Town Hall with the mayor at Reseda High School, an event that is part of the newspaper’s celebration of its 100th anniversary year as the "Voice of the Valley."

Editorial Page Editor Mariel Garza did her best to push Antonio on the critical issues facing the city, its residents and businesses: City Hall’s overspending and under achieving.

Money and Power in LA — It’s All in the Family

Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.

Dick Riordan
is there for his pal Austin Beutner to help launch of his dark horse mayoral
campaign.

"The
basic thing is jobs, jobs, jobs," says the former two-term mayor and
long-time civic leader.

Well, not
exactly. The basic thing is leadership and managing the operations of a $6 billion
government and its airport, harbor and DWP. But I get it. Friends stand up for
friends and Beutner is a good guy.

When
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig finally comes down on Frank McCourt, the only
person who comes to the defense of the Dodgers owner is Steve Soboroff who had
just stepped in as the team’s vice chairman in an effort to save his pal.

Does It Really Matter Who Is the Next LA Mayor?

Radio talk show host Kevin James — the lone outsider and dark horse in the mayor’s race — announced today he has $500,000 in pledges for this campaign.

On Monday, LA Times columnist Jim Newton offered his thumbnail appraisal of the seven insider candidates, ranking County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Councilman, as the “front-runner” if “he jumps in — really and truly in,” a leap of faith he has shied away from repeatedly over the last couple of decades.

The LA Weekly is polling political observers for how they rate the candidates.

It’s kind of funny when you think about it.

Unlicensed, Uninsured, Untraceable — Isn’t That a License to Kill?

Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.

Police
Chief Beck says it’s the only fair and humane thing to do.

The mayor
says it’s "justice"

But what
does the City Council or Police Commission say about the LAPD’s new policy, its
protocol, for allowing unlicensed drivers to walk away from the scene of their
crime.

Not just
walk away, actually, but ride away in the company of a licensed driver, not
even the car’s owner as required by law, when they’re stopped by police instead
of having the car impounded.

It’s like
putting a gun back in the hands of a violent suspect after he’s been subdued
and writing him a citation for an infraction.