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www.ushollywood.net A Coalition of
residential
organizations devoted to:
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www.ushollywood.net A Coalition of
residential
organizations devoted to:
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The Political Scene: Eric Garcetti: victim of messianic visions.. the elixirs and delusions of office..the vulnerability... all acolytes of the power trip.
Election changes The Christmas Parade: now
past, or nascent? Some wish that those prominent in the
entertainment industry would bring new life into it. Practical hints: Pesky dripping hose faucets: a quick convenient cheap cure: Hose End Caps. Simply attach tightly with pliers. Remove while line is in use. Tight connection prevents twits from messing around. LAPD: Replace the Mounted force with officers using that innovative personal transport device as they did on the evening of the the Academy Awards event. advantages total: reliable, cheap, safe, vastly more effective. News and comment
A City Council gone mad? The Questions: A. What the hell are the legitimate perviews of a City Council? The issues: “ the living wage ordinance” Rejection of a ‘by rights’ major developmentPerceptions: 1. The Council: a. a congerie of folk, self anointed, b. elected to office by device, c. devoted to retaining that office, and advancing personal careers irrespective of issues. d. have asserted reign over the private sector, citing authority based on union, government & business ‘coalitions’ and councilmanic ‘visions,..thus raising alarums over nascent ‘fascist’ propensities and the dark portents to rule by law and property rights... Egged on by an aggressive union and employees of hotels near the Airport, the Council, on Monday the 12th of February, yet again voted in favor of a ‘revised’ ordinance dictating a minimum wage for employees of hotels in that vicinity! This unprecedented entrance, by a City Council, if one can believe it, into the realm of price and wage proprieties of the marketplace, had previously aroused such opposition to the first version that it rescinded that construct, in favor of continued negotiations with organized opponents. A later version still opposed , aroused the Council President to a rare fury . He vented vehemently , indeed explosively, accusing hapless local Chamber members of defecting from his Government-Union-Business triad and their compact. His emotional outburst thus raised that, heretofore most private curtain, as to his innate beliefs. Back in ‘05, the Nederlander Properties presented a ‘by rights’ project. No small potatoes, in terms of magnitude or dire need by Old hollywood, No less a 1/2 Billion dollar entertainment, retail and housing package. One could not dream of a more needed or desirable package. Badly needed regional entertainment, retail, and the most desirable rental housing with affordable such included, and lauded by neighborhood councils. But this proposal was not greeted with acclaim, not silence, but unlawful and insane rejection by the princely Council President. Too much h parking was planned, he exclaimed in horror, the apartments were low rise when he wanted high rise condominiums. Go back to the drawing board, go consort with the CRA and present some bureaucratic nightmare. Something crappy and unsaleable, like the Sunset & Vine horror, which the State Employees Retirement Fund had to finance to get it sold, and get the house boy developer off the hook. (The Nederlanders, shocked, stood back and recently presented a lesser development. But, the only rationale for a revived hollywood & Vine locale as a regional entertainment center is largely lost. As is the rationale for the Councilman’s pet project, heavily subsidized, and requiring the taking of property.) A most troubling euphoria, for one whose past experience was entirely in Academia. Having achieved election to office by ‘device’ of: association with his father’s name; endorsement by the previous Incumbent; and Labor, his realities, his mandates were to that constituency, that body politic representing the overweeningly powerful governmental employees*, his City Council prerogatives over Planning and Redevelopment in his district, and the inevitable perception of expertise and command, entirely absent any prior marketplace achievements before office. Thus the audacity arose and grew and blossomed fiercely. *( Public Employees, who were who were neglectedly allowed the vast powers of union and and political participation,in addition to their exhalted status of ‘Civil Service’ despite it’s status designed to isolate them exactly from such. Thus the rise of a cancerously overweening power ) A failing infrastructure?Items: The CRA’s Hollywood Project: The Blvd, with long vacant structures and frontages, housing no desirable venues due to a lack of off street parking remains an island of blight surrounded by areas bursting with vitality. City Parking lots, flush with revenue, are badly tended by city gardeners, paid a ‘living wage’ for negligence. The ‘river’ from the high Sierras descending to Wilcox Ave @ Yucca for the several weeks, till the 3rd of January....and, seemingly, the return to work by the highly paid employees of the LADWP after the holidays. I had reported it early on and a representative said that it had already been reported and that, repairs had been scheduled and indeed expected to arrive momentarily. With the weeks passing and the flow unceasing, I assumed that major repairs were involved and needed scheduling. But, inspection on the 4th revealed only a minor patch on what was now a major depression in the street surrounding the leak due to major soil erosion. Hence, major water loss, and major street repair, apparently needlessly. Mindful that the singularly high compensation awarded LADWP employees has incited outrage, demands for equal treatment, work stoppages by the engineering union, and worse, sabotage of street signals, concurrent with job actions, one views the future with extreme concern. United Streets of Hollywood, its future. A coalition of some 20 neighborhood protective association in the late 80’s, Jon Jay was a founding leader. During his active leadership, success upon success lead to a diminishing need and membership declined. Jon is now actively engaged in parenting and career, and Old Hollywood cannot further encroach on his immense talents and his inimitable generosity. He has agreed to an Emeritus status. Many other distinguished leaders have either passed on or have reduced their activities to parochial needs. W.A.V.E.’s involvement began in 1990, of necessity, when we discovered that we were working in contradictory ways, and needed to associate and that U.S.H. needed to defer to local groups for their input as to vital concerns. ( Indeed we had wasted an entire year opposing the implementation of the nutty idea of making Wilcox Ave an entirely southbound street and Cahuenga Blvd entirely northbound. whilst USH had previously endorsed it unbeknownst to us} W.A.V.E., the oldest informal association of neighbors, first met in the lobby of the Lido Hotel in 1980, to counter the massive presence of criminal gangs and their terrorizing of residents and owners and the effect of the equally degrading presence of liquor outlets. We associated with all to return Old Hollywood to a semblance of its previous ambiance and civility. We were implored to take on the leadership of U.S.H. in 1995, to preclude the election of another, who’s perceived failings were deemed critical. Thereafter, a collegiate of immensely talented leaders attained a host of accomplishments. But times and needs have changed and U.S.H. is clearly but a remnant now, and, soon, either an appropriate role will emerge or we will close out this resource, R.I.P. Your aging/infirm servant, as ever, desirous of nicer Hollywood, John
Ehretz [ Index ] |
