I am very disappointed by the California Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold Proposition 8.
Our nation was founded on the principle of equality and justice for all. This proposition was a step backward in the movement toward achieving that vision.
We have so much work to do to achieve marriage equality in California, and I stand in solidarity with all of those who believe in the right of same sex couples to marry.
If you’d like to come out to protest today’s Prop 8 decision, there is a rally and march in West Hollywood at 7:00pm. Meet at the corner of Santa Monica & San Vicente for a march to Hollywood & Highland.
If you can’t make it to West Hollywood, there will be a rally at Hollywood & Highland around 9:30pm.
Believe it or not, here we are in 2009 and of all organized crime activities, human trafficking is actually the 3rd largest international crime after arms and drug sales. According to the CIA, 50,000 people are trafficked into the US every year and sadly, California is the top destination for US traffickers.
More depressing statistics: it’s estimated that there are 17,000 slaves in the US, 27,000 in the world today, which is more than ever before. Immigration agents estimate that 10,000 are held in Los Angeles alone in underground brothels, which doesn’t even count the countless numbers of people held in domestic slavery.
To combat this scourge, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force On Human Trafficking was formed in 2005. The first of its kind in the country, the task force grew out of the pioneering work of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST,) which is the leading anti-trafficking organization in the country. The task force works with local groups and law enforcement to increase the identification of victims, provide training to first responders and the community at large, and obtain maximum penalties for offenders. It also offers safe haven for victims of trafficking and slavery at CAST’s Shelter program, also the first of its kind in the country.
In 2007, the task force launched its “Know Trafficking” public awareness campaign to educate people so they can look for the signs of human trafficking in their communities. You can find out more at www.HumanTrafficking.com and to report a crime, please use the local human trafficking hotline: 800-655-4096 (nationwide 888-373-7888.) Human trafficking and modern day slavery are crimes that are hidden in the shadows and only through the vigilance of the public will we shine a much needed light on this travesty of justice that thousands in our midst are living with every day.
President Obama has made mortgage modification a pillar of his housing plan and very recently, he assured us that now was the time to refinance our homes. As a result, more and more people are seeking these mortgage workouts, which will go a long way toward reducing the number of foreclosures and thus keep people in their homes, which is crucial to stemming the devastating effects of the housing crisis.
Unfortunately, as innocent people seek legitimate ways to renegotiate the terms of their mortgages, there are scam artists waiting to take advantage of them.
Scams targeting struggling homeowners seeking to stave off foreclosure have skyrocketed, federal officials said Monday, disclosing that they are investigating more than 2,100 companies and have filed legal actions against an Irvine firm and three others.
“The unscrupulous actions of individuals and companies to exploit the misfortune of others is despicable, it’s immoral, and it’s also illegal,” said Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, who announced the campaign with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and other federal officials.
The way this scam works is simple: people posing as modification counselors will show up, ask for a fee, promise to change the mortgage, and then do nothing. The amounts are not huge, usually ranging from $500-$5,000, but it’s enough to devastate homeowners already in dire financial straights.
The fact is, modifying mortgages costs absolutely nothing. The reason these scam artists have been able to thrive is that there is no agency currently tasked with regulating the modification agencies prior to the filing of a Notice of Default, which is the best time for a homeowner to seek remedy. Yesterday I introduced an ordinance that would do just that.
This ordinance requires that:
1) Mortgage consultants provide a contract. The contract must specifically state in bold-14 point font that the homeowner does not need to pay anyone for these services and can access free resources at makinghomeaffordable.gov or by calling 888.995.HOPE.
2) Prohibits the charging of an upfront fee
3) Provides for private damages (which incentives attorneys to go after and sue these scammers).
I’m proud to say that the ordinance has passed through the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee and the entire City Council will be considering it over the coming weeks. Homeowners have been hit hard enough by the housing crisis without having to deal with scam artists who would do them even more harm. As the federal government figures out how best to regulate loan modification agencies, we at the local government level have a responsibility to do what we can to protect homeowners.
Last week, I announced the formation of the Los Angeles City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Recovery and Reinvestment. The goal of the committee is to develop strategies to help Los Angeles win the maximum amount of federal stimulus dollars for which we’re eligible and to create a plan for allocating the funding to most efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the city’s businesses and residents.
You may recall that in February, President Obama put local governments on notice, calling on us to “spend that money wisely, free from politics, free from personal agenda.” That’s precisely the spirit in which I convened the first meeting of the committee on Tuesday. At that meeting, we established a set of 9 guiding priorities by which we intend not only to fulfill the president’s vision for efficient allocation of the stimulus funds, but also to make Los Angeles the most accountable, transparent, and effective city in moving economic recovery programs forward. We’d like to see these priorities serve as a model for local governments all over the country, particularly in our nation’s cities where “urban acupuncture”, or the careful targeted allocation of funds to projects that have the most combined benefit, can be used to best effect.
Those priorities are as follows:
1. projects that are truly shovel-ready
2. projects that produce or protect jobs
3. projects that lessen the human impact of the economic downturn
4. projects that have the highest level of transparency and public involvement
5. projects that have the highest level of accountability, including internal city audits
6. projects that involve partnerships to better spend federal dollars
7. projects that have multiple benefits (green affordable housing could clean air, build affordable housing AND put people to work)
8. projects that promote adopted public policy goals of the city (clean port air, plant trees, promote transit-oriented development, etc.)
9. projects that promote strategic industries for long-term growth, such as green jobs in environmental technology
This committee will make sure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to identifying and winning federal stimulus dollars and will be working closely with the Mayor’s Office and City Departments to coordinate our efforts to bring badly needed federal money to Los Angeles. In fact, because we have already taken the lead on many of the policy areas where dollars are targeted (energy efficiency, green jobs, port and airport projects, etc.), I believe Los Angeles may be able to access as much as $1 billion.
As I work to make Los Angeles a model for quick, effective and accountable implementation of stimulus dollars, I’d welcome your input. What projects would you like to see us target? Where can we get the most bang for the buck and how else can cities lead the way toward economic recovery?
In the LA Times today, the message from State water resources director Lester Snow is an important one, that despite better than expected water supplies thanks to rainstorms earlier this year:
“We still consider we are in a drought and need to take special actions.”
The good news is that water deliveries to Southern California will be higher than previously expected; the bad news is that it is still well below normal. But that gets to the heart of the problem: the fact that Los Angeles is as dependent as we are on external sources for a vast majority of our water. Check out this chart that illustrates where our water comes from.
Rain is good, but only about 10 percent of our water is locally produced & most of this will wash away until we unpave more of the city. Unpaving LA will allow us to capture water for our own use instead of allowing it to spill out into the ocean. We need more green streets.
Certainly conservation and rationing measures are going to be needed to help solve our water shortage but we also need to invest in infrastructure and undertake the revitalization of the LA River including unpaving it and restoring vegetation and wildlife to the river.
As Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc River Committee, I’m proud to have been involved with instituting the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan (you can download it here), which the city officially adopted in 2007.
Everything you could want to know about our plans for revitalizing the L.A. River, which in turn will contribute to solving our longterm water supply issue, you can find here.
Since first running for city council 8 years ago, one of my goals has been to make government more accessible and relevant in people’s lives. There’s a debate in the country right now as to what the role of government should be. For me, at minimum, the government has an obligation to be a force of good in people’s every day lives; government should help those who can’t help themselves and fill in the gaps where the private sector falters, especially during the sort of economic downturn we’re experiencing now.
But government can’t do it alone. The private and non-profit sectors are part of the solution, as are our friends and neighbors, whether it be as volunteers, as donors or just helping out someone who is in need.
To that end, I wanted to share with you some crucial resources, a combination of governmental agencies and private organizations with whom we partner that can be of enormous assistance to our fellow citizens in times of need. Please, if you know of anyone in trouble, whether it be on the verge of homelessness, in foreclosure, on unemployment, please share the links below with them.
I believe it’s the responsibility of all of us to look out for our fellow citizens and government and private organizations alike have a crucial role to play in that.
Healthy City offers a wide range of resources including housing assistance, healthcare, job training and education assistance
Like many of you, I watched the Prop 8 hearing at the California Supreme Court today with great anticipation and emotion. It was great to see so many Angelenos come to the City Council chamber to watch the proceedings at our public viewing.
As I said earlier today, all of us — gay and straight — who care about fairness, justice, tolerance and equality are watching this case closely with the greatest hope for our state and our nation that those who serve to protect our rights and freedoms will see fit to do so for all of us.
We have stood in our city council chambers for justice time and time again, before there was marriage equality — we passed resolution after resolution for it — until we had marriage equality and on the steps of this building we had our very first same-sex wedding, which I had the joy of presiding over. It is heartbreaking to listen to this argument for any of us who have experienced the beauty of these weddings. For myself, I just got married in January too and I know, that which we have, nobody can take away. Justice is on our side, whether it is today or whether it is tomorrow. No matter what the result of today’s hearing is, no doubt the fight will go on but I am confident that marriage equality will be restored in California.
(This is Todd, campaign blogger, live from the election party at the Avalon)
People are starting to gather, the band is playing, the TVs are on. The excitement is growing. Polls are now closed. Results will be posted HERE.
More as we hear it.
[UPDATE] Early returns are showing Eric up 72.5-27.5! Other results:
Antonio Villaraigosa up with 57.3%
Prop B the Solar initiative is up by 6.4%.
[UPDATE] The band is playing an original: “Are You Ready For Garcetti?” Sample line: “Everybody hollar, everybody cheer, we’re gonna give him 4 more years!”
[UPDATE] Eric came out, played some keyboards, then gave a victory speech. “There’s a saying, ’show me whom you walk with and I’ll show you who you are.’ Thank you for walking with me. Our next walk begins tomorrow.”
[UPDATE] Results have been updated as of 10:12pm. So far, 92% of mail-in ballots and 8% of in-person ballots have been counted. Eric is holding strong with a 71-29 lead. Villaraigosa and Measure B are clowly gaining strength.
[UPDATE] As more in-person ballots get counted, Villaraigosa and Prop B keep gaining steam. All props at the moment are ahead. We’re looking at run-offs in the City Attorney race and City Council 5 where Paul Koretz and David Vahedi are currently leading a tight field. All mail-in ballots and just 14.82% of in-person ballots have been counted.
[UPDATE] As of 1:46am with 99.93% reporting, Eric has been re-elected with 72% of the vote; Antonio Villaraigosa has been re-elected with 55.56%. There will be a run-off in the 5th council district between Paul Koretz and David Vahedi; there will be a run-off in the City Attorney race between Jack Weiss and Carmen Trutanich. Also, it looks like Measures A, C & D have passed. Surprisingly, Measure B, the solar initiative, has apparently failed by a mere 1300 votes.
I voted at 7:15 this morning. Turnout at my polling location looked to be slow but steady.
Polls will be open until 8pm tonight. If you’re not sure where to vote, you can look it up here. Then be sure to join us at our election night party at the Avalon. Details are here.
What was your voting experience like today? Hearing of or seeing any problems at the polls?
Remember, parking restrictions will be loosened near polling places to make it a bit easier to vote. Please remind your friends and family to get to the polls.
We had a great turnout at the Fountain/Western Ave. Community Garden work day on Saturday. It was a beautiful morning and more than 100 folks showed up to show their commitment to the community by pitching in to build the new community garden that our office spear-headed with the help of L.A. Works and Home Depot. This garden will not only beautify a previously vacant lot, but it will also serve as an urban oasis for members of the community to meet and work together, get some fresh air and provide a source of fresh fruits and vegetables for the community.
As Bob Johnson, founder and chair of L.A. Works, said on Saturday, our new president has called us to service and it was particularly heartening for me to see so many young people heed that call at such a local level.
For more opportunities to help your community, check out LAWorks.com.
Here’s a short video we put together at the event:
