Roberta
Member
Vigil founding member
Posts: 1,028
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Post by Roberta on Feb 21, 2011 13:57:26 GMT -8
Probably not news out there ... Charter Amendment H to de-corrupt campaign contributions somewhat and grow the funding a bit of L.A.'s public funding for campaigns (excuse the corner cutting here from a non - L.A. voter), has been endorsed by the L.A. Times, according to several emails I found in my inbox today.
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Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,790
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Post by Brian on Feb 28, 2011 0:00:24 GMT -8
Excitement is mounting citywide in the days before the March 8 primary. Probably not news out there ... Charter Amendment H to de-corrupt campaign contributions somewhat and grow the funding a bit of L.A.'s public funding for campaigns (excuse the corner cutting here from a non-L.A. voter), has been endorsed by the L.A. Times, according to several emails I found in my inbox today. I had missed it, so thank you, Roberta. The Times editorial addressed my few qualms about H while giving the measure a solidly enthusiastic endorsement. Voting for it is my biggest motivation for going to the polling place, besides maintaining my near perfect record since June 1976. I missed a Community College Board runoff in 1983 and feel shamed to this day by my lapse. Continuing my weekly Candidate Paul on the Internet Report: His official blog hasn't been updated since Feb. 6, except for the calendar on the side that still lists dates in 2011 as "3911." A new spam now tops the old ads for desktop models and chubby girls on his Facebook Wall -- Krekorian has been friended by tenor Rouben Elbakian, who's there to tout his inclusion among "57 Famous Armenians in the World" by Luxury Magazine, which is published in Russian. I had thought there were more, but kudos to Rouben.
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Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,790
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Post by Brian on Mar 4, 2011 0:04:22 GMT -8
Thursday, Paul Krekorian's official blog embedded this You Tube video of the television ad I've seen several times in the past week on basic cable channels such as MSNBC. It's good. Of course, some folks in Sunland-Tujunga aren't impressed with someone claiming to be a Valley Leader since we have our own valley here. Nonetheless, they had me with the opening shot of Bolton Hall.
That embed -- with no accompanying text -- was the first post since February 6 on his blog, which still lists events scheduled 19 centuries from now. Paul's Facebook Wall retains its graffiti. But I do enjoy the billboard over the feed store while driving to work down Sunland Boulevard.
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Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,790
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Post by Brian on Mar 7, 2011 0:00:40 GMT -8
Here's my scorecard of the campaign literature that's arrived through Saturday's mail: - six voting slates by five different organizations (a Women's Guide to Anni bears pictures of flowers)
- one brochure for the Democratic Party's Community College Board choices
- a nicely laid-out little postcard from Yes on Measure H
- two slick mailers from Yes on Measure L, with "major funding by Library Foundation of Los Angeles"
- and three big pamphlets, one with filled-out absentee voter applications, from No on O.
My letter carrier tells me who spends the most money in any election -- this time, the petroleum companies and librarians. I have no problem voting yes on O, knowing that a tax on oil production isn't passed on to drivers, despite what the No on O campaign says. Although I routinely reject initiatives that carve out pieces of the budget, our libraries have suffered too much already, so I happily make an exception for L. Paul Krekorian has sent us nothing directly thus far, nor has his lone opponent Augusto Bisani, who had $85 in the bank in his last report to the city Ethics Commission. However, Krekorian paid to be included on four slates and Bisani on one. The best voters' guide is produced by the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, which always mirrors my choices better than the Los Angeles Times editorial board. I'm glad that Bolton Hall will be our polling place again after voting elsewhere for many elections.
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Roberta in Sactoalmost home
Guest
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Post by Roberta in Sactoalmost home on Mar 7, 2011 11:08:41 GMT -8
Steve Fine coordinates the Studio City peace vigil. He sends brief, infrequent messages, and I thought this one would be interesting to L.A. voters. His take on the library proposition especially ...
March 8 Elections
This is a peace group. Election picks is not our focus. There are plenty of groups sending out their recommendations which are in that biz. But we are moved to send out a quick rundown on some of the really problematic propositions on the ballot this Tuesday.
Proposition H: This deals only with campaign contributions by people who are bidders for city contracts. The first part is good. The second part is not so good. The second part allows the City Council to raid the election trust funds in case of fiscal emergencies (when are we ever NOT in a fiscal emergency). There is a time limit the City Council has in which to replace the funds. So, on balance, it looks like this one we're still going to vote for. So, YES on H.
Proposition L: We were all set to vote yes on this one and then we were alerted to the second part of the proposition. Now we are voting NO. Here's why: The first part sounds great - more money for city libraries. The second part requires the library department to pay all of its direct and indirect costs. These costs are HUGE. The costs include but are not limited to HEALTH, DENTAL, PENSION, BUILDING SERVICES, AND UTILITY COSTS. Thanks to Dessa at the corner who alerted us to this underhanded way of socking the library system with so much new costs it makes the upfront increase in funds appear to be nothing more than a ploy. NO on L.
Proposition N: The Times, DPSFV, etc... say vote for this. Proposition N wants to amend the city charter by taking away provisions that limit campaign contributions in city and LAUSD elections. The rational is to make the city charter in compliance with "recent court decisions" and avoid the POTENTIAL for lawsuits against the city. . THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CURRENT PROVISIONS. The "recent court decisions" are Citizens United and a similar one, apparently, called Davis. Anyone who opposes Citizens United should be consistent in their opposition by voting NO on "N".
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Brian
Administrator
Posts: 3,790
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Post by Brian on Mar 9, 2011 0:07:25 GMT -8
Thanks, Roberta. I agree with Steve Fine on Charter Amendments H and N. But not on L. In his ballot summary, the Chief Legislative Analyst says, "Current projections show that by fiscal year 2014-15, the increased guaranteed percentage of Property Tax revenues should provide the Library Department with sufficient funding to pay for its direct and indirect costs and allow it to restore operations and service hours." One thing librarians can do is read, and they supported this measure wholeheartedly. The City Clerk is slow as usual with the vote counting -- only 11 percent of the precincts by 10:33 p.m. Since the absentees were posted, every measure is winning by huge margins except for O, which is still narrowly losing. Here's the official city webpage with the unofficial results: cityclerk.lacity.org/election/Results.htmThe only contest in my mind was whether Paul Krekorian would get 70 or 80 percent of the vote. Because 90 percent would be bizarre and 60 percent would indicate a lot of dissatisfaction after only 14 months in office, especially considering that his lone opponent in this race only drew one percent against Krekorian in the 2009 special primary election. As I post this, 68 percent of the precincts in the Second District are tallied, and Paul is holding at 77 percent of the vote.
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