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Random Letters: 6-9-22

RLn
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Random Letters: 6-9-22

A Republic, If You Can Keep It

I thank Paul Rosenberg for the immensely clarifying and cohesive writing, explanations, and commentary in RLn, May 26 – June 8, “A Republic, If You Can Keep It.” History and objective reality of contemporary life documented in simply fact-based journalistic reporting drive the conclusion, “It’s not Trump who belongs on trial, … it’s the whole of it.”

Though the whole of it listed is incomplete for one item you might agree. We could be okay if our Democratic Republic were truly a representative democracy including the Senate. We witness the will of the whole of us US voters contradicted and disrespected by the Senate where Red states representing a bare minimum of the total US population and economic contribution exert their exaggerated and inflated voting power. We Californians get two votes and so does Alabama.

Worse, the Constitution that was designed for Amendments could only be amended through including those very same ridiculously removed-from-contemporary-reality states so we might be able to correct the errors that likely resulted from the aftermath of Civil War with attempts to bring the country together and the simple reality that we weren’t as evolved civilly or socially at the time.

What, you mean women and African descendants were not considered equal back then?! Duh. Strange though, the “well regulated militia,” seems pretty clear as a requirement for the right to bear arms.

Also, importantly, in your “And without drastic action now,” we need to define the “drastic action now,” even if beginning with try(ing) to win every seat possible everywhere, Water and School boards, etc.

I thank Indivisible and all who Get Out The Vote and I repeat to myself every day that I’m glad I live in California and that about 20 other states constantly fight with California through our attorneys general and states’ rights against federal action when needed, as with Bush/Cheney and with the previous executive administration.

Richard Havenick, San Pedro

NRA = National Russian Association

The National Rifle Association is a completely corrupt, treasonous criminal organization solely servile to its Russian paymaster Vladimir Putin. And thanks to the NRA’s political and financial entanglement with the dying Republican Party, we the people will be taking down these two birds with one shot.

Don’t forget to vote in this year’s general election! Election Day is November 8, 2022. Mark it on your calendar. No excuses. Do it. Vote! Then complain about Democrats all you want — after the GOP greedy old perverts who worship Putin are put out of power for good.

It’s time for those hate-filled, hare-brained hillbillies and right-wing racist rednecks to take their NRA membership cards and shove them where the sun don’t shine! And those fascist freaks can probably fit a firearm or two while they’re up there.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crV2XCEvVNo

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kea9OWNPJfE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OF_GofUF_y4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QL9hILfREL8

Jake Pickering, Arcata, Calif.

Trying to Buy

Mayoral Seat Through Cheap Shots

I was reading your latest edition this morning and particularly your editorial and we’re completely aligned!

Caruso is obviously attempting to buy the office by utilizing his wealth and power by purchasing and creating dirty political ads which includes taking incredibly (racist) empty cheap shots at [Karen] Bass. (He and his political goals are very transparent because the Republican Party desperately needs a Trump alternative and the LA Mayor’s office is a logical national springboard.)

I’m convinced of Caruso’s political agenda and hopefully Bass has the strength and resources to wage a competitive and far reaching grassroots fall campaign.

And I fully believe she has the personality, sensitivity and comprehends the depth and dimension of the mayor’s office and will make an important dynamic difference in healing LA.

Jim Thebaut, San Pedro

Community Demands Shutdown of Warren Inc.

Mark Friedman
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Community Demands Shutdown of Warren Inc.

Residents and allies from across Los Angeles joined a press conference and protest on June 1 in Wilmington to demand the City of Los Angeles take action against oil operator Warren Resources (Warren Inc.), which has a pattern of illegal oil drilling activities that have harmed community health and safety.

The action was sponsored by Communities for a Better Environment, Standing Together Against Neighborhood Drilling and U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán who joined them to expose Warren Inc.’s violation of local permitting regulations occurring since 2018. This includes failing to conduct comprehensive environmental reviews and misrepresenting information in at least 19 permit applications to the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, California’s Geologic Energy Management Division.

Residents approached CBE in 2006 to take a stand against neighborhood oil drilling.

CBE attorney Allison Hahm said of Warren Inc., “They are dodging environmental guidelines, using outdated permits and since 2015 has fast-tracked new oil well development. The state agency, CalGEM, has been complicit in allowing big oil to reap enormous profits. Environmental justice is possible and we call for the phasing out of oil drilling and call on them to shut Warren down.”

Stand LA Coalition leader, Rev. Louis Chase, said, “We need drill sites closed throughout LA. No amount of regulation will stop them. Warren has shown blatant disregard for the health of Wilmington residents, working hand-in-hand with the state agency. This is a systemic problem. It is the oil companies’ pattern of negligence and the only thing that matters is money. There are no restrictions on big oil finding its way around or through regulations. Stand LA calls on the city to shut this facility down and prevent drilling where we live.”

Twenty-five-year Wilmington resident, Dulce Altamirano, addressed the crowd in Spanish, exclaiming that “Warren does not respect our health and life. We suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases. I want a normal life for my children and relatives. The company is only thinking about filling their pockets with money and cares nothing about us.”

Young people, the most severely impacted victims of the toxic fumes and particulates, were represented by a 20-year-old college student who grew up in Wilmington, Nizgui Gomez. “As kids, we grew up smelling the refineries’ fumes not knowing what it was doing to our health. The real health impacts have been asthma, birth defects and cancer. There are laws in place but still there is no justice. They think they are above the law, illegally drilling since 2018. Too many of the so-called political leaders backed Warren.” The crowd chanted back, “Warren stop drilling you are killing us.”

“I nod my head in disbelief. Why we need to do this again. This is injustice. The system is broken. Big oil is lying about everything. We need immediate action,” said Rep. Barragán. “The oil industry is not above the law. They will not take advantage of my constituents in Wilmington. If it’s a fight they want, they’ve got one. We will not stand silent and let them prioritize profits over the health, safety and quality of life of our community.”

Phantom of the Burlesque

Melina Paris
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Phantom of the Burlesque

One woman discovers herself and her calling

Lavinia Vale, (also known as Chrissy Mackey) moved to California from her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the early 2000s to be an actress. The classically trained opera singer (spinto soprano) who specializes in fire eating and breathing, glass walking and all-around variety performer had her share of film roles and other jobs working background in films and a few TV shows, such as the Wanda Sykes and The Bernie Mac shows.

She finds power and empowerment in performing pieces from jazz to power ballads to symphonic metal to actual arias.

This was an unexpected road for the burlesque performer, who is also in the process of writing her dissertation. Her degree field is industrial and organizational psychology with a focus on training and learning. She uses games to train people in soft skills for business purposes.

It’s ironic, because the art of burlesque contains a playful quality — the tease. Lavinia said she doesn’t perform traditional burlesque. In her case, she brings humor to her act, which is traditional to burlesque. Originating in 1860s Britain, burlesque was a humorous art, caricaturing serious literary, dramatic or musical works. Eventually, it evolved in America with emphasis on the “exotic elements” that were more subtle in British performances. This is where Lavinia’s act differs. The storyline is the focus in her performances, rather than the striptease, though that’s present too. Lavinia pulls it all together to reveal a strong, capable woman.

What follows is a story of a woman finding herself when she least expected it.

Growing up in a “fairly strict” Christian home, she said she wasn’t familiar with burlesque. But her husband had seen it. He told her about it and she asked him to take her to a show.

“I remember watching the show and then speaking to a couple of the performers [and] just being impressed,” Lavinia said.

The performers struck her as empowered, carefree, confident and comfortable in their own skin. She noted they “almost seemed like wizards.”

Lavinia recalled thinking she could never perform like that, as her self esteem, then, was really low. The entertainers firmly told her “No. Anybody can do this. You just need to find some classes and learn the art.”

In 2019, Lavinia began taking burlesque classes. After three different classes, the style of teaching just wasn’t “sinking with her.” In fact, she felt worse. A friend encouraged her to check out one more class, by private instructor Vixen DeVille. Lavinia enrolled in the “Permission to Play” course. The course gave her permission to let go. She recalled spending the first 45 minutes of the class crying.

DeVille asked her why she hated a particular thing about herself. When Lavinia’s answer highlighted what other people say, her teacher responded, “what do you say?” It was a turning point. Lavinia credits that class with gaining much more confidence and reestablishing her love of the stage and theater.

The first course questions were, what is one of your greatest strengths followed by what is one of your greatest weaknesses? The answers to both, Lavinia said, have always been her intelligence. It was both a strength and a weakness. The youngest in her class by about six months, she started school early. She also has severe ADHD. She explained her mind is constantly analyzing everything and she’s able to put things together very quickly.

“It was seen as a great thing by adults but it wasn’t so great with classmates,” she recalled.

“I never really felt comfortable with the idea of being intelligent. We talked about why that was an issue for me and of course that was one of the things that made me break down and cry … what she just said to me it (was) life changing, a revelation. It helped me to see things … to see myself through a different lens.”

A Name

Lavinia adopted the name of her paternal first and second great grandmothers.

“It’s unique and I was going for a classic feel to (my stage) name,” she said.

Lavinia made her burlesque debut at Vixen DeVille’s 15th anniversary in 2020, an online event. A portion of the event proceeds was directed towards the “Vixens Unleashed” scholarship program. The scholarship fund provides “life-changing training for women in need all over the world.” The training has helped people work through issues including depression, eating disorders, recovery after major life changes and healing after physical or emotional abuse.

Lavinia has much to share about grief, technology and the arts. She tells stories through her performances, including those which are either fire-related or burlesque. Her creativity and wit, coupled with her artistry, offer a mixture of acts from serious and empowering to light-hearted and silly. It’s evident that this is fun for her.

“I like telling stories and that’s usually how I tailor my acts,” Lavinia said. “The act isn’t just me stripping but (it’s) also listening to the words. Everything works together to tell that story.”

Burlesque helped Lavinia work through her grief from her father’s death from COVID-19 on Dec. 22, 2020.

“It was super difficult,” she said. “I was really upset. My dissertation is for me; I don’t want to say it’s for him but he was so excited to find out they were going to have a doctor in the family.”

Lavinia’s father was supposed to take part in a recognition ceremony, placing her doctoral hood over her head signifying her success in completing her graduate program. The last time she spoke to her dad was Nov. 6 of that year — the day she successfully defended her dissertation proposal. She recalled he was very excited and in good health. But when she called back on Thanksgiving her mother told her that he was sick.

“Dad had an underlying condition, auto-immune encephalitis, a very rare auto-immune disorder. He was going to the hospital for infusions once a month to keep that under control. I think that’s where he picked up COVID.”

Burlesque was something Lavinia said she never saw herself doing. But, from the very first class, experiencing the incredible boost to her confidence, she said, she got addicted to it and needed it in her life, even though she didn’t know how to pay for it.

While preparing to submit her proposal for her dissertation, Lavinia had to take most of 2019 off from her burlesque classes. When the pandemic and lockdown hit, in 2020, she had to completely rewrite her dissertation because it was based on an in-person study, which couldn’t be done. Instead, she used that time to focus on burlesque — as a distraction from her dissertation. She finished her classes and performed a virtual debut in November 2020 — one week later, she successfully defended her proposal.

Her debut video was titled, 5 Stages of Grief. Two weeks later, a fundraising show for mental health awareness was scheduled. Lavinia desperately wanted to be involved in it, even though she had no idea what to do. Eventually, she created an act encompassing the five stages of grief, featuring photos of her dad from all eras of his life. The video became one of her friends and fellow burlesque artist’s most favorite videos. She was cast in the mental health charity fundraiser. A portion of the show’s proceeds went to Nami OC, a mental health nonprofit providing free mental health services.

“It’s a good conversation starter when people are going through grief,” Lavinia said. “(It) doesn’t have to be because of the death of a loved one. Any kind of grief is going to follow a similar pattern. Some people won’t experience all five stages. Some get stuck in one stage for a long time, and that’s okay. That was what the video was meant to show.”

Lavinia notes on her website burlesque has been able to reach and help more people than ever before, despite pandemic restrictions. In fact, some of her peers utilized 5 Stages of Grief during the “thick of COVID” before vaccines were available.

Lavinia has performed at TRIP in Santa Monica and Harvelle’s in Long Beach, including recently in May, when she performed her Handmaid’s Tale act. She may take that act to the Slavik Burlesque Festival June 18, in Warsaw, Poland, which ironically, is one day before Lavinia’s dad was born. She said everything in this has centered around her father.

Singing for more than 30 years, Lavinia plans on performing burlesque for as long as she can. Her future plans include producing burlesque/cabaret, corporate entertainment, variety specials, music and comedy. She can do this remotely from wherever she lives, Lavinia and her husband are moving to Oregon, where her husband wants to homestead. Lavinia noted she has a great number of contacts here, she’s available and is looking forward to continuing to produce shows.

“Not only is burlesque fun but it’s satisfying to get on the stage and perform,” Lavinia said. “(People) just pouring out their soul about how that act personally touched them and say, ‘You’re so empowering.’ I love hearing that because I’m a storyteller at heart. (If) my story impacted your life in a very positive way, I’m very happy about that.”

Lavinia Vale produces and performs in Everyday Superheroes — Fundraiser for Ukraine. For one night only, members of the burlesque and cabaret community come together to entertain you and call attention to the tragedy in Ukraine.

Time: 8 to 11 p.m., July 15

Cost: $10 to $40

Details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/everyday-superheroes-fundraiser-for-ukraine-tickets-354725693097

Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Details: lavinia@mslaviniavale.com and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCCE625FH8c

Criminal Intent — What the January 6th Committee Exposed

Paul Rosenberg
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Criminal Intent — What the January 6th Committee Exposed

Shocking new footage and testimony in the January 6th Committee’s first public hearing brought home the savage violence of Trump’s attempted coup. But calm testimony from Trump insiders, including his daughter Ivanka, was far more damaging, going to the issue of criminal intent. And the timing of actions by indicted members of the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers made it clear that the violence was planned, not the result of an innocent demonstration “getting out of hand.”

More broadly, Republican Vice-Chair Liz Cheney said, “Over multiple months Donald Trump oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power. In our hearing, you will see evidence of each element of this plan.”

Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards, the first to be wounded–who was knocked unconscious, but then recovered–described the confrontation.

“What I saw was just a war scene,” she said. “There were officers on the ground. They were bleeding. They were throwing up. I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage. It was chaos.”
But calm taped testimony from Trump’s daughter Ivanka, his Attorney General Bill Barr, and others, such as campaign lawyer Alex Cannon, were ultimately the most damaging. They provided clear evidence that Trump certainly knew his claims of having won the election were bogus–and thus he had criminal intent in trying to hold onto power. Barr called claims of software manipulation “complete nonsense” and “crazy stuff.”

“I did not agree in putting out this stuff, which I told the president was bullshit,” Barr testified. “I didn’t want to be part of it, and that’s one of the reasons that went into me deciding to leave when I did,” he said. “I observed, I think it was on December First, that you can’t live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view, unsupported by specific evidence, that there was fraud in the election.”

In response to Barr’s statement that he found no fraud, Ivanka said, “It affected my perspective. I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying.”
Former Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon testified about a call he had with Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in mid-to-late November. “I remember sharing with him that we weren’t finding anything that would be sufficient to change the results in any of the key states,” Cannon said. Meadow’s response was to say, “So there’s no there there.”

After playing Cannon’s testimony, Cheney said, “The Trump campaign’s general counsel Matt Morgan gave similar testimony. He explained that all of the fraud allegations and the campaign’s other arguments taken together and viewed in the best possible light for President Trump could still not change the outcome of the election.”

These were but highlights of what lies ahead, Cheney said. The hearing Monday at 10 a.m. will be devoted to exploring how Trump and his advisers knew he lost the 2020 election, but still spread false and fraudulent information.

The hearing also highlighted how Trump’s encouragement was received by the Proud Boys, how it aided their recruitment, and motivated them to come to Washington on Jan 6. Nick Quested, a documentary filmmaker who was embedded with them that day, was surprised when they didn’t attend Trump’s rally, but instead marched to the Capitol, arriving as Trump was still speaking.

After the hearings, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes summarized what had been shown—something that had been known to those reading DOJ indictments, perhaps, but not to the general public.

“There was a vanguard to every key action that happened that day, every key transgression across a line, every key first assault on police, first entrance in the Capitol,” Hayes said. “And that vanguard was an organized, proto-fascist militia that had congregated and assembled, called by the president of the United States, for the explicit purpose of stopping the peaceful transfer of power.

“They went to the Capitol while the President was speaking, they were the first to that line. We’ll see later they were the first ones in through the west side of the Capitol. They cased the joint. This vanguard, members of whom are now under indictment for seditious conspiracy, were pursuing a plan that led the point of the spear, and the crowd followed behind them. And that key fact, which we’ve known to some extent—it’s available in DOJ filings—but the footage we saw today, the testimony from the filmmaker, who was there when they were first there, literally as the vanguard, as the first people on the scene, and the testimony from Officer Edwards as the frontline protector, establishes the degree to which this forethought, planned out, and executed, in the key moments of aggression and transgression, by this group of people.”

Hayes called it, “The alley-oop aspect—throw the ball up, the other player dumps it. They went to the Capitol first. The President hadn’t said that before. They cased the Capitol.”
How close they came to succeeding is something we still don’t understand. But it should become clearer by the time this round of hearings ends.

SP Residents Try to Stop Street Takeovers

Hunter Chase
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SP Residents Try to Stop Street Takeovers

Some San Pedro residents are trying to slow down their neighbors — or at the very least, stop people from driving recklessly in their neighborhoods.

At the May 16 meeting of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, the board voted 10-0 to ask that the city place a center median on Paseo Del Mar, in front of Joan Milke Flores Park. The reason for this is to prevent cars from doing street racing and donuts. In addition, the council also asked for a crosswalk to make it easier for pedestrians to walk into the park.

Japhet Hom, captain of the Los Angeles Police Department South Traffic Division, said that what his division sees is not really street racing, but street takeovers.

“Takeovers consist of guys that will block off an intersection or a stretch of highway and do their burnouts and donuts, and people film it,” Hom said. “That’s what we typically get, we don’t get the traditional street racing, like what it used to be, where two cars go down the street and race each other.”

Noel Gould, a board member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, lives nearby and has witnessed vehicles taking over the street multiple times. Most recently, it was a truck club.

“Not only were they stopping traffic right next to Joan Milke Flores Park, and spinning monstrous donuts, but then all of the cars were parked in one of the lanes of traffic as well,” Gould said. “There was a family with a young child and a dog trying to cross, and they just didn’t know how to handle it.”

James Campeau, a neighborhood activist, brought the idea of a crosswalk in front of Joan Milke Flores Park to the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s planning and land use committee.

“It really needs some kind of lined crosswalk,” Campeau said. “A stop sign would be great. But people walking from Pt. Fermin Park, they walk along the sidewalk over to Wilder’s addition … a lot of times they’re jaywalking.”

Campeau pointed out that it’s a destination place and a walking area, and said he wants to link the parks in the area: Angels Gate, Joan Milke Flores, Wilder’s Addition Park and Pt. Fermin.

“When you go westbound, you’re going along Paseo Del Mar, and then you go up kind of this hill,” Campeau said. “It’s kind of blind as you come over. Well, some of these guys are road racing there, and they can’t see if people are jaywalking in Joan Milke Flores Park.”

Paseo Del Mar is a very wide street, and the purpose of a center median would be to make it narrower on both sides, that way donuts are no longer possible.

“This whole sort of donut doing business, it’s something, at least in this area, that’s developed over the last few years,” Gould said. “It wasn’t really so much of a problem before that.”

Gould said that this is popular wherever the road is wide. Lots of skid marks are visible on Paseo Del Mar, and at other such roads, like Pacific Avenue, or at the Gaffey overlook.

At Paseo Del Mar, it happens fairly regularly, Gould said, often on Sunday afternoons.

“We were going for the Paseo motion because that’s a super popular spot,” Gould said.

Gould said the raised median would be about the height of the curb. Inside it, there would be plants native to southern California.

“Not only would it be a median, but it would be an attractive-looking median,” Gould said.

The council sent the motion to several city agencies, including the Department of Transportation, or DOT, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Council District 15 office. However, Gould has no idea how soon the city will respond.

“Watching the city work is like, I don’t know, watching molasses move in the arctic,” Gould said.

Campeau expressed frustrations with DOT.

“I have an idea for intersections,” Campeau said. “But we always have to deal with DOT. And every word out of their mouth is no, until someone gets killed, and then they do something, sometimes.”

Gould said that these vehicular activities are dangerous not just to the people involved, but to bystanders as well.

“They’re doing that right there at Paseo Del Mar, with a cliff, with a 115-foot drop,” Gould said. “What if one of them lost control and went over the cliff?”

However, Gould doesn’t believe that the median will be enough.

“That’s like a band-aid on an arm that’s been chopped off,” Gould said. “It happens all over the place.”

Gould argued that the only way to really stop the takeovers would be for the police to get there early and give tickets to the drivers, and impound their cars.

Hom said sometimes his division is not able to get there in time, so sometimes patrol officers will have to deal with it.

“I only have four guys doing it, basically, in all of south LA,” Hom said.

His department is preoccupied with other things as well, mainly investigating traffic collisions.

“That’s our primary goal, to free up patrol, so they don’t have to do it,” Hom said. “So, patrol can handle patrol related things, dealing with the gangs and the shootings.”

Hom said that the organizers use social media to announce when their next events will happen. Hom and the division are aware of the posts.

“We try to follow them on social media to see where the meet spots are,” Hom said. “That’s how they communicate with each other. LA is so big, it’s hard to sit at a spot and try to figure out where it’s going to be.”

Once they find out where the takeover will take place, the police try to disrupt or prevent it.

“A lot of these street takeovers, they’re very large,” Hom said. “We get a lot of cars sometimes, and it can easily overwhelm our two or three units. So, we try to get sufficient units to disrupt it. And then if we see violations, we try to make those enforcement stops and basically pick them off one or two at a time.”

Hom said that part of the problem is his division does not have enough personnel, and it is struggling to hire people.

The officers that work for Hom will issue citations to the vehicle owners, and they have been trained to look for modifications to engines and exhaust systems, to give out more specific citations.

“If they observe the violation for anything related to burnout or takeover for exhibition of speed, then those cars get to be impounded as well,” Hom said. “And then eventually, we’ll get a judicial seizure warrant, and seize that car for 30 days.”

Election Day

James Preston Allen
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Election Day

The second election during the pandemic in which everyone got a ballot but few showed up

It’s Election Day three hours before the polls close and 17,475 voters out of 133,978 have cast their ballots in Council District 15, that’s barely over 13% who have voted. There’s still time for people to vote on their way home. And yet in elections gone by that number of voters has actually been the total number. This means that a city council candidate can and often has been elected with just 10,000 or 11,000 votes, not even 10% of the electorate. It’s kind of depressing when I come to think about it in those terms. And it’s probably not much different in most of the rest of Los Angeles City.

This is kind of curious, as this is the second election during the pandemic in which every registered voter got a ballot mailed to them. And on top of that there has been a veritable fortune spent in this election cycle on direct mail campaigns. I have a pile of it sitting on my desk – a testament to political consultants believing that this and bombarding you with annoying TV and social media ads actually works. However, if no more than a tenth of the electorate actually votes I would say there’s something missing in the equation.

It would seem that the fate of our civic republic is increasingly determined by a minority of voters and doesn’t represent the will of the people. And yet people still complain about city hall not representing them. I asked my postal clerk if she had mailed in her ballot and she answered that she doesn’t trust mail-in ballots. I had a phone call early this morning from a fifth generation Latino man who had just opened his ballot and said, “Who are these people? I’ve never heard of any of them.”

I wonder if he’s actually been receiving his mail?

I mean it couldn’t be much easier to vote with early voting, mail-in ballots and drop boxes plus the traditional polling locations. Does any of this really matter or have too many people swallowed the “Big Lie” Kool aid being distributed by Don the Con? Or does apathy reign and distraction conquer?

The political psychology of the city is just a bit too much to fathom at times. Tens of thousands will show up to demonstrate; the city can explode with riots with thousands dissatisfied and yet getting a majority of people to go to the polls seems to be insurmountable.

A candidate could probably get elected in some areas if he could just get the homeless to vote, but where would they mail the ballots?

And then there’s the guy at the coffee shop who told me, “I don’t vote out of religious reasons.” What religion has prohibitions about voting? All I can say is that everybody has excuses except for those who don’t. What’s yours?

Clearly there’s a disconnect. A month after Councilman Joe (Buckets) Buscaino expanded his “no camping” territories to include the block that my office is on and after he chased out the last of the homeless from Gulch Road four blocks away I discovered that some of these folks had taken up digs in the vacant buildings across the street. See, we’re not camping on the sidewalks anymore.

Now of course the developers for these three-quarters of a city block who have gotten approval for a three-story development with fewer than 10% low income units, aren’t local and don’t seem to care. In fact I’ve heard they’re trying to flip the project before it gets built. And the homeless non-campers have piled up their extras on the sidewalk where the city won’t notice to pick it up for weeks. I don’t even feel angry about it, as this is just the kind of unintended consequence of a bad policy and the indifference of the city bureaucracy that has brought this to a crisis point.

I walk down to corner and notice the “no camping” ordinance signs attached to the street lamps and I wonder, ‘is this just too stupid?’ What we need are No Buscaino signs!

The Day After

The morning after an election always feels like a hangover to me. All of the built up anxiety, posturing and posing culminates in the campaign headquarters when the polls close and the candidates and supporters gather in expectation as if it were a wedding or a wake. And then you wake up to the results — bring me some coffee.

Still it appears that the minority has spoken – about 15%. The billionaire Rick Caruso is going into the runoff with Rep. Karen Bass, the LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva couldn’t muster a majority, Gov. Gavin Newsom wins again with nearly 60% majority and the CD15 is heading for a surprising runoff.

The contest in the 15th district couldn’t be more curious as the establishment candidate Tim McOsker, who had a million dollar war chest and the longest list of endorsements failed to capture more than 39%. His insurgent opponent Danielle Sandoval running on a shoe string and a fist full of endorsement: ours and the Los Angeles Times included, has 29.7%. Businessman Anthony Santich didn’t break through with only 19.11% but the surprise is that the Sunrise Movement candidate Bryant Odega did better than we projected with 12.79%. He’s someone to watch.

All of this is only to explain that McOsker and Sandoval will be in the November runoff and that this was accomplished with just 10.65% of the eligible voters casting a vote. All of this is to simply explain that only 14,269 voters out of 133,978 have decided who might be the next council rep for CD15. These are not the final certified numbers and there may be mail-in ballots to count but it is with all precincts reported.

Sadly, that so few are engaged enough to actually cast a ballot is a reflection of the state of our civic democracy. Conversely, it also shows what a small group of engaged citizens can do if they have something to fight for.

County Announces Veteran Homeless Shelter at Best Western Hotel in San Pedro

Hunter Chase
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County Announces Veteran Homeless Shelter at Best Western Hotel in San Pedro

The County of Los Angeles and Volunteers of America are in the process of purchasing the Best Western Hotel on Gaffey Street, with the intention of turning it into temporary housing for homeless veterans. It will be purchased using funds from Project Homekey 2, a program that houses homeless people in hotels.

It will have 60 rooms, and the county and Volunteers of America are paying $22,224,000 for it.

“That is the cost of purchasing the property, renovations needed to make the building suitable for interim housing, and additional funding to operate the site,” said Liz Odendahl, communications director for Supervisor Janice Hahn, in an email. “These costs are in line with costs for similar projects around the state.”

Volunteers of America will own the property, even though it is purchasing the building with county funds. Odendahl said the organization is required to utilize it for the county’s intended purposes.

Hahn said that Volunteers of America has a great track record with working with homeless veterans.

“The County will have a contract with VOA so that we can provide oversight and make sure this is a great project that helps the veterans who will live there and works hand in hand with the San Pedro community,” Hahn said via email.

The hotel has 60 rooms, and most will be occupied by one person, Hahn said. However, she said that service providers who have worked with veterans have seen success with “buddy programs,” pairing two people in a room, and they will likely try the same thing here.

There most likely will not be any female veterans allowed to apply for the program, as Volunteers of America said it will only allow men.

Hahn said there will not be any time limit to how long each veteran can stay at the shelter. In addition, it will offer services to the residents.

“It will take time, but we are going to do everything we can to help them turn their lives around,” Hahn said. “For some people that will mean mental healthcare, for others it will mean helping them get a job.”

Hahn said they don’t have an exact count of how many staff Volunteers of America will have onsite, but will potentially have licensed clinicians, case managers, mental health specialists, custodial staff, administrative staff and a site manager. In addition, the organization may partner with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for mental health services. The organization is also considering bringing in instructors to teach courses and job training.

The case managers will have a ratio of one to 20. Volunteers of America will use Housing and Urban Development — Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing to find permanent housing for the residents. Vouchers for these programs include long–term case management, clinical and supportive services, and permanent housing assistance for chronically homeless veterans.

The hotel will also have security that will be onsite at all times. This security will be paid for using state funding and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, Odendahl said.

Once the state awards the money, Volunteers of America will have one year to occupy the property, and will receive a bonus if it does it within eight months. According to a fact sheet from Hahn’s office, the organization plans to have it done by Dec. 25, 2023.

“VOA will need to refurbish the rooms to address some safety and durability concerns,” Odendahl said. “They will also need to address safety concerns presented by the balconies and will cover the pool. There will be some ADA upgrades needed as well.”

Project Homekey 2, which was announced back in September 2021, originally included $2.75 billion in funds. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in March 2022 that the program would be expanding with $181 million for 13 new projects. The original Project Homekey started at the beginning of the pandemic, with the intention of housing homeless people who had nowhere else to shelter in place.

June 7 Primary Election Results

RLn
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June 7 Primary Election Results

The following are the election results as of 11 a.m. June 8. There are a few races that are close enough that it could change the outcome before the vote is certified.

Governor

GAVIN NEWSOM (D) 462,997— 59.67%

Lt. Governor

ELENI KOUNALAKIS (D) 395,470 — 52.63%

Secretary of State

SHIRLEY N. WEBER (D) 461,780 — 61.57%

Controller

LANHEE CHEN (R) 248,928 — 33.15%

MALIA M. COHEN (D) 152,690 — 20.33%

Treasurer

FIONA MA (D) 451,077 — 60.36%

Attorney General

ROB BONTA (D) 442,648 — 57.98%

Insurance Commissioner

RICARDO LARA (D) 282,467 — 38.25%

MARC LEVINE (D) 134,312 — 18.19%

Board of Equalization

TONY VAZQUEZ (D) 405,964 — 62.68%

United States Senator

ALEX PADILLA (D) 439,372 — 57.67%

United States Senator – Short Term

(Unexpired term ending Jan. 3, 2023)

ALEX PADILLA (D) 456,419 — 60.78%

United States Representative – 36th District

TED W. LIEU (D) 58,166 — 63.55%

United States Representative – 42nd District

ROBERT GARCIA (D) 20,776 — 44.66%

JOHN BRISCOE (R) 13,328 — 28.65%

United States Representative – 44th District

NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN (D) 29,045 — 65.21%

Member of the State of Assembly – 65th District

MIKE ANTHONY GIPSON (D) 15,490 — 71.14%

Member of the State of Assembly – 66th District

AL MURATSUCHI (D) 34,300 — 58.92%

Member of the State of Assembly – 69th District

JOSH LOWENTHAL (D) 14,890 — 44.52%

AL AUSTIN II (D) 8,827 — 26.39%

Superintendent of Public Instruction

TONY K. THURMOND (N) 325,377 — 46.33%

GEORGE YANG (N) 78,705 — 11.21%

Assessor

JEFFREY PRANG (N) 312,353 — 45.78%

SANDY SUN (N) 165,540 — 24.26%

Sheriff

ALEX VILLANUEVA (N) 258,808 — 34.38%

ROBERT LUNA (N) 184,640 — 24.53%

Judge Superior Court – Office No. 3

SHERILYN PEACE GARNETT (N) 403,024 — 62.22%

Judge Superior Court – Office No. 60

ABBY BARON (N) 193,006 — 29.73%

ANNA SLOTKY REITANO (N) 159,985 — 24.64%

Judge Superior Court – Office No. 67

ELIZABETH LASHLEY-HAYNES (N) 232,079 — 35.51%

FERNANDA MARIA BARRETO (N) 230,286 — 35.24%

Judge Superior Court – Office No. 70

HOLLY L. HANCOCK (N) 276,504 — 41.99%

RENEE YOLANDE CHANG (N) 223,888 — 34.00%

Judge Superior Court – Office No. 90

MELISSA LYONS (N) 221,970 — 33.99%

LESLIE GUTIERREZ (N) 196,324 — 30.06%

Judge Superior Court – No. 116

DAVID B. GELFOUND (N) 430,870 — 67.87%

Judge Superior Court – No. 118

MELISSA HAMMOND (N) 193,858 — 29.76%

CAROLYN “JIYOUNG” PARK (N) 128,441 — 19.72%

Judge Superior Court – No. 151

PATRICK HARE (N) 224,637 — 35.11%

KAREN A. BRAKO (N) 170,505 — 26.65%

Judge Superior Court – No. 156

CAROL ELSWICK (N) 438,049 — 69.34%

LONG BEACH

Long Beach City Attorney

DAWN MCINTOSH (N) 19,317 — 56.48%

Long Beach Auditor

LAURA L. DOUD (N) 21,227 —61.77%

Long Beach Prosecutor

DOUG HAUBERT (N) 20,346 — 58.82%

Long Beach Mayor

REX RICHARDSON (N) 15,412 — 41.90%

SUZIE PRICE (N) 14,265 — 38.78%

Long Beach City Council – 1st District

MARY L. ZENDEJAS (N) 1,328 —49.98%

MARIELA SALGADO (N) 745 — 28.04%

Long Beach City Council – 3rd District

KRISTINA DUGGAN (N) 1,544 — 22.89%

NIMA J. NOVIN (N) 1,295 — 19.20%

Long Beach City Council – 5th District

MEGAN KERR (N) 3,301 — 47.88%

IAN PATTON (N) 2,254 — 32.70%

Long Beach City Council – 7th District

ROBERTO URANGA (N) 1,895 — 62.46%

Long Beach City Council – 9th District

JONI RICKS-ODDIE (N) 832 — 44.37%

GINNY GONZALES (N) 503 — 26.83%

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles City Attorney

MARINA TORRES (N) 57,693 — 20.74%

FAISAL M. GILL (N) 55,101 — 19.81%

Los Angeles Controller

KENNETH MEJIA (N) 101,246 — 37.17%

PAUL KORETZ (N) 67,364 — 4.73%

Los Angeles Mayor

RICK J. CARUSO (N) 133,059 — 42.14%

KAREN RUTH BASS (N) 116,688 — 36.95%

Tim McOsker

Los Angeles City Council – 15th District

TIM MCOSKER (N) 5,485 — 38.36%

DANIELLE SANDOVAL (N) 4,247 — 29.71%

Los Angeles City Special Municipal Election – Measure BB

Competitive bid preference for local contractors: Shall the City Charter be amended to allow the City, on a competitive bid contract, to award a bid preference to a bidder located in the City of Los Angeles?

YES 177,010 — 64.90%

Fighting Back Vs. Gun Violence

Paul Rosenberg
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Fighting Back Vs. Gun Violence

In the wake of mass shootings that left 10 dead in Buffalo and 21 dead in Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing more than 300 marches nationwide on June 11, with more than a dozen within 50 miles of San Pedro. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Vast majorities of Americans — including NRA members — have long supported common-sense measures like mental health restrictions, universal background checks, and strict concealed carry laws. Gun-owners in general even support major gun-safety measures like banning assault rifles, by a 56-40% margin, according to a recent Morning Consult poll, along with banning high-capacity magazines (60-33%) and creating a national database of all gun sales (72-24%). In short, a small minority of Americans are blocking gun-safety laws that could save thousands of lives.

Favorite arguments floated by gun-safety opponents after the Uvalde massacre were ludicrously false. Mental illness is no more prevalent in the US than in other, much safer countries, while Florida flooded its schools with police officers after the Parkland shooting in 2018, with no increase in safety, but a sharp rise in student arrests—including 345 elementary school kids in one year—even as community crime rates were falling. Equally false was finger-pointing at lack of religion. As a sociologist of religion, Sam Perry noted on Twitter (along with supporting charts), “gun deaths RISE w/the % of state who attends weekly & they FALL as the % of a state who seldom/never attends increases. Strong correlations.” What’s more, “gun deaths also rise with the percent of a state’s adult population who is Evangelical Protestant,” while “gun deaths FALL as the % of a state who is atheist increases.”

The NRA-promoted idea that more guns make us safer is flatly wrong. There’s a linear relationship between gun-ownership and gun deaths, both at the state level within the US and among nations worldwide. America has four times the gun-related death rate than number two Switzerland, and three times the number of guns per capita. What’s worse, American gun deaths are skewed toward children. It’s now the number one cause of death for children, eclipsing auto accidents. America’s firearm homicide rate for children under 15 is 5.18 per million, almost 10 times higher than France, in second place with a rate of 0.66 per million, and more than 50 times higher than Britain with 0.1 per million.

America’s broken political system keeps this carnage going. Ending the gun violence epidemic and saving American democracy are the same fight.

In the wake of mass shootings that left 10 dead in Buffalo and 21 dead in Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing more than 300 marches nationwide on June 11, with more than a dozen within 50 miles of San Pedro. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Vast majorities of Americans — including NRA members — have long supported common-sense measures like mental health restrictions, universal background checks, and strict concealed carry laws. Gun-owners in general even support major gun-safety measures like banning assault rifles, by a 56-40% margin, according to a recent Morning Consult poll, along with banning high-capacity magazines (60-33%) and creating a national database of all gun sales (72-24%). In short, a small minority of Americans are blocking gun-safety laws that could save thousands of lives.

Favorite arguments floated by gun-safety opponents after the Uvalde massacre were ludicrously false. Mental illness is no more prevalent in the US than in other, much safer countries, while Florida flooded its schools with police officers after the Parkland shooting in 2018, with no increase in safety, but a sharp rise in student arrests—including 345 elementary school kids in one year—even as community crime rates were falling. Equally false was finger-pointing at lack of religion. As a sociologist of religion, Sam Perry noted on Twitter (along with supporting charts), “gun deaths RISE w/the % of state who attends weekly & they FALL as the % of a state who seldom/never attends increases. Strong correlations.” What’s more, “gun deaths also rise with the percent of a state’s adult population who is Evangelical Protestant,” while “gun deaths FALL as the % of a state who is atheist increases.”

The NRA-promoted idea that more guns make us safer is flatly wrong. There’s a linear relationship between gun ownership and gun deaths, both at the state level within the US and among nations worldwide. America has four times the gun-related death rate than number two Switzerland, and three times the number of guns per capita. What’s worse, American gun deaths are skewed toward children. It’s now the number one cause of death for children, eclipsing auto accidents. America’s firearm homicide rate for children under 15 is 5.18 per million, almost 10 times higher than France, in second place with a rate of 0.66 per million, and more than 50 times higher than Britain with 0.1 per million.

America’s broken political system keeps this carnage going. Ending the gun violence epidemic and saving American democracy are the same fight. See Community Alerts for how to take a stand.

March For Our Lives

In response to the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing marches nationwide on June 11 to demand action–such as the package of laws just passed in New York State. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Marchers will meet at Harvey Milk Park at noon, then walk a mile loop down 3rd street to the George Deukmejian Courthouse, then up W. Broadway to Promenade, and return to Harvey Milk Park. Free 2-hour parking is available at the parking structure next to the park.

Time: Noon-2pm, June 11
Location: Harvey Milk Park, 185 E 3rd St, Long Beach, CA 90802
Details: https://marchforourlives.com/

California Moves To Major Fossil Fuel Divestment

Terelle Jerricks
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California Moves To Major Fossil Fuel Divestment

California took a giant step toward a major divestment in fossil fuels on May 25 as the State Senate passed a bill that would divest the state’s two largest pension funds of an estimated $9 billion in holdings, sending it to the Assembly.

“If passed by the Assembly and signed into law, this bill will be a victory for the global movement to revoke the social license of the fossil fuel industry,” said author/activist Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, and founder of Third Act. “No one wants their life savings used to make life on Earth harder,”

The two funds — CalPERS (California Public Employees’ Retirement System) and CalSTRS (California State Teachers’ Retirement System) are also the largest in the nation. The bill, SB 1173, would prohibit them from investing in the top 200 fossil fuel companies, require divestment of current holdings by 2030, and require annual reports on their divestment progress starting in 2024.

“The bill has definitely faced challenges in every single committee or floor hearing,” said Miriam Eide, coordinating director with Fossil Free California, which has been working on divesting these funds since around 2013, initially as a project of Bay Area 360.org. “It’s not been an easy vote to get through,” she said. “It’s taken a lot of work and a lot of mobilizing of our substantial coalition to get the votes all the way through.”

Her colleague, CJ Koepp, supplied some numbers. “Since the bill was introduced in February with the support of 127 unions, coalitions, and organizations, Californians have made thousands of calls, written over 17,000 letters, and organized dozens of meetings with legislators to advocate for SB 1173,” Koepp said.

“We have spent so many hours, skipping homework or hanging with friends, to work on this bill over the years,” said Raven Fonseca Jensen, 18-year-old climate activist with Youth vs. Apocalypse. “However, this win is nowhere near enough, and I hope that it can be a catalyst for the intense climate action that we absolutely need to have a livable planet.”

Raven is just one voice among many, said Eide. “We’ve had huge numbers of youth and teachers who have been mobilizing, saying, ‘Hey, you know what, fossil fuels are in my community, they’re at the detriment to my community, I myself have asthma, my family, someone has cancer,’ telling those personal stories, about why they do not want their pensions or their teachers’ pensions to be funding fossil fuels.”

A total of 1508 institutions, representing $40.43 trillion in assets, have already committed to fossil fuel divestment, according to the Global Divestment Commitments Database, maintained by Stand.earth and 350.org. These are classified into five categories, ranging from “fossil free” (with no current investments and committed to staying that way) to “coal only” (with a binding commitment to divest from all thermal coal companies). CalPERS and CalSTRS are both listed for their “coal only” divestments, while SB 1173 would move them into the “full” category—with a binding commitment to divest within a set timeline.

Faith-based organizations represent the largest share of disinvesting institutions, 34.4% of the total, followed by educational institutions (15.1%), philanthropic foundations (12.6%), pension funds (12.2%) and government (11.5%).
Fossil Free California began campaigning for the pension funds to divest in 2013, the same year that Cal State University San Francisco became the first public university to divest from fossil fuels. Cal State Long Beach followed the next year. From students to faculty, to public sector unions, pressure to divest the pension funds has been building from below ever since. Finally, last October, the entire CSU system announced it would divest — a total of $162 million.

But fund management has been resistant. Both CalPERS and CalSTRS have claimed that divestments would be costly — claiming that past actions have cost them $8 billion and $9 billion, respectively. But a recent report from Fossil Free California refutes these claims, drawing data from multiple sources. A key passage explains:
Since 2017, CalPERS consultant Wilshire and Associates has produced careful and thorough analyses of the impact of all divestments, both Board-directed and state-mandated. Wilshire and Associates reports show, in great detail, that the net effect of all divestments to date is a loss of $2.8 billion, almost all of which is attributable to tobacco divestment.

Looking at CalSTRS coal divestment record, the report found that “An initial $10,000 investment in the seven thermal coal companies from which CalSTRS divested in 2016-2017 would be worth about $6,975 in 2021. That means that by divesting its $9.8 million investment, CalSTRS avoided losing $3 million.” Over the same period, “At $17,691, CalSTRS portfolio performance outperformed standard benchmarks and dramatically outperformed thermal coal.” While CalSTRS still holds investments in four thermal coal companies, they also performed poorly, and divestment “would have improved the returns of the CalSTRS portfolio.”

The fate of coal is the fate of fossil fuels generally. In May 2021, the International Energy Agency issued a report, “Net Zero By 205,” which said there must be no investments in new fossil fuel supply projects starting in May 2021 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius and prevent serious climate disaster.

Events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and resulting sanctions which have driven up the price of oil, can make fossil fuel investments seem lucrative in the short run, but the European Union’s response — aimed at freeing itself from Russia, primarily through faster transition to renewables — underscores the long-term inevitability of fossil fuels’ coming decline, as renewables grow increasingly cheaper and more plentiful.

Further confirmation comes from accounting firm Ernst & Young’s global Mobility Consumer Index (13,000 respondents across 18 countries) which found that a 52% majority of respondents planning to buy a new car in the next two years intend to buy a hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or pure electric car — up dramatically from only 11% in 2020.
The logic is simple, said Heidi Harmon, senior public affairs director of Let’s Green CA! and former mayor of San Luis Obispo. “A pension is an investment in the future. Investment in the fossil fuel industry is an investment in our demise.”

Update: As we went to press, Fossil Free California released a report revealing that CalPERS and CalSTRS voted to oppose climate action at major fossil fuel companies and financiers during the 2022 Annual General Meeting season. “This exposé is especially significant considering that the funds claim they’re engaging with the fossil fuel industry as stakeholders to mitigate climate change,” Koepp said, “but their shareholder activism is not only ineffective—it’s undermining climate action at oil, gas, and coal companies.”

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