LOS ANGELES

ALPERN AT LARGE-A funny thing happened en route to a Neighborhood Council takeover of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) during last week's elections: the "woke" who have been screwing up Mar Vista and the Westside for years got their heads handed to them. . .for the second time in four years. 

GELFAND'S WORLD-This doesn't take long to say. There is a good reason to have freedom of the press, and the obvious corollary is that it has to be accompanied by free and fair elections. 

PLANNING WATCH-PT Barnum said there is a sucker born every minute. Famous newspaper man, H.L. Mencken wrote something similar, “No one nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” 

THE CITY-Vladimir Putin met Joe Biden nearby an 18th century mansion by a lake in Geneva this week.

EASTSIDER-Freaked out  by a few honest Board members, I hear the new secret Oath of Office for the full CalPERS Board is the old proverb, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.” 

RANTZ & RAVEZ-The message from the Mayor’s Valley Representative, Mr. Khorsand, that appeared in a recent edition of the Valley News Group publication, delivered Mayor Garcetti’s message to Valley residents.

GELFAND'S WORLD-We are suddenly at that moment that occurs right at the end of those old science fiction films when words fill the screen saying, "The End" and then are replaced with, "Or is it just the beginning?" 

THE CITY-The Homelessness and Poverty committee called a hurry up huddle for June 10, 2021, at 1 p.m. to be held right after their regularly scheduled 10 a.m. regular meeting, but cancelled the Special at the last minute, kicking the matter over to Paul Krekorian's Budget and Finance Committee.

VIEW FROM HERE-ADU stands for Alternative Dwelling Units which people are now allowed to construct in the backyards of single-family homes.

PLANNING SHENANIGANS-The Los Angeles City Planning Commission (CPC) has done some shady things over the years, but it looks like this week they’ll be crossing a whole new set of lines when it comes to evading transparency and thwarting informed public engagement. 

AT LENGTH-On a cool overcast June morning, 15th District City Councilman Joe Buscaino brought his mayoral aspirations and body guards to the Venice Boardwalk to castigate the city’s and county’s failure to adequately solve the homeless crisis.

The Recall David Ryu movement began soon as he took office due to his opposition to the legitimate interests of the people who live and vote in Council District 4.

PANDEMIC FALLOUT-Like many low-wage restaurant workers, Su Hua Mei and her husband lost their jobs last spring as the pandemic took hold. 

With a toddler to care for, it’s been a harrowing time for this immigrant couple from China. 

EASTSIDER-A few weeks ago, a very reliable source in Eagle Rock told me that Kevin de León had talked to a key Eagle Rock resident, informing him that the fix was in -- NoHo to Pasadena was going down Colorado Blvd and “get over it.” 

THE CITY-Paul Krekorian the council member from district 2, who has been short-listed by Nury Martinez and Eric Garcetti to possibly step in for the mayor, was greenwashing like crazy at Tuesday's city council meeting.

PLANNING WATCH-While conservative presidents have railed against welfare queens, the biggest recipients of government generosity have been the well-off.

LOS ANGELES - On the heels of a successful vote by the City Council to develop a Right to Housing framework, Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas is pushing, in partnership with Councilmembers Raman, Cedillo and Koretz, to operationalize efforts to expand equitable access to long-term affordable housing across the City of Los Angeles with a newly adopted motion to prioritize legislative advocacy to secure additional federal rental assistance resources and housing vouchers. 

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved two motions authored by Supervisor Kathryn Barger and coauthored by Supervisor Janice Hahn that seek to support permanent options for outdoor dining.

GELFAND'S WORLD-Back in February, while we were trying to get past the peak of Covid-19 infections and deaths, the LA City Council snuck one past us again.

DEEGAN ON LA—-Six months ago, Nithya Raman was elected to represent Council District 4. Today, she’s facing a public, grass roots recall as well as a newspaper editorial that, after reading it, had many community members writing letters to the publication’s editor asking for Raman’s resignation. 

VIEW FROM HERE-Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) is the patron saint of both the Dem and GOP parties. Just as Pavlov taught his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, both parties use meaningless memes to elicit reflective responses from their faithful.