Richard Rownak
The planning commission hearing of May 23, 2012 agenda included an Administrative Site Plan Review to allow the development of a one story 7 Eleven store with 2,500 square feet of floor area and 12 on-site parking spaces located at 4436 Sepulveda Boulevard.
In the hearing residents were told to "write a letter" by the chairman, Anthony Pleskow, when he informed them that the input part of the hearing was over. The 7 Eleven rep was able to address the committee without being asked a direct question by the committee. Residents raised hands at that time in an effort to have equal time to speak, but were ignored.
Changes need to be made so that a final comment by a representative from the public can be made in public hearings.
Vice chairman Scott Wyant’s own traffic study directly contradicted the study by 7 Eleven. He was emphatic about disbelief of the numbers submitted by 7 Eleven. Marie Malahi told of her video of the intersection and that she hadn't had time to compile for presentation.
Commissioner John Kuechle said that he saw no evidence that the study done the last day before school was out for spring break was incorrect or flawed in any way. I think his judgment as well as the study is flawed. He seemed to want to push the development through. The commission questioned the person paid by 7 Eleven but none of them wanted to know what a residents video camera had captured at the same intersection. Not knowing the true facts is one thing, not making every effort to know the true facts is quite another. Ms. Malahi is a full time working mother and she had spoken, in previous hearings, about her own son being hit by a car in this area.
The traffic person from the City didn't know that across the street at Taco Bell the City allows the restaurant to use the alley as their drive through, which blocks the alley regularly. Mr. Wyant spoke of this intersection as a problem in past City traffic studies. The other commissions didn’t ask to see the past study he spoke about.
If left turns on Southbound Sepulveda are made, pedestrians, bicyclist or skateboarders will be at risk. My question is where is the “NO LEFT TURN SIGNS” going South on Sepulveda placed? A double yellow line may not even be noticed. Someone traveling south from behind a parked bus into the driveway will be vulnerable to serious injury.
Commissioner Marcus Tiggs’s big concern was that the store had more than one entrance.
There are ways to obtain tobacco and alcohol, even if you aren't 18 or 21. The only way to stop this bad influence is to not allow the source in the school kids path. Unfortunately more residents, church leaders, parents and school officials, were not there to voice their concerns of this business that will make every attempt to sell as much tobacco and alcohol as possible, in the path of so many school kids, That's the goal of business, sell as much as possible. Hopefully an appeal will give more folks an opportunity to show their support for denial of this unwanted project. I don't want take away alcohol sold in my neighborhood to anyone.
A statement from a former City Council person made in an email said it all "7 Eleven doesn't sell alcohol, just beer and wine". Well meaning City officials can get things wrong, and comments from the committee that "they can live with it" are little consolation to people who do actually have to live with it.
The Planning Commission decision is a mistake in judgment and/or a rush to judgment. This area is changing and will be busier as a new business moves into the area, LA Spice and when Green Peas reopens across the street on Sepulveda. This study will be obsolete by the time 7 Eleven opens if it started construction today. No consideration was made for these businesses opening in this study or hearing. Since the hearing, a vehicle has ran to the building just catty-corner to the proposed development. This is a dangerous intersection, which needs more investigation. Comments were made by the commission that they didn't want to come back in two weeks on this issue, this, to me, shows a lack of interest for full consideration or investigation of all the facts.
That there are real problems is clear. If the commission came to wrong conclusions about the development, in their evaluation, then there are no real alternatives or solutions of safety and traffic issues to remedy the problems once the store was in place, so they approved it.
Richard Rownak is a resident of the Vets Park neighborhood of Culver City.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Expo / Blue Line Construction Junction, What's Your Function?
Ken Alpern
NOTE: This article is cross-posted at the City Watch Blog.
Despite the overall excitement and anticipation of the Expo Line’s opening to La Cienega and, in late June, to Culver City, the Times story and revelation of the potential safety risks of the Expo/Blue Line junction at Washington and Flower (link) http://california.construction.com/yb/ca/article.aspx?story_id=172837497 is a source of concern on multiple fronts. The junction, despite the very close attention and repeated inspections by Metro and the CPUC, now raises a host of questions.
Questions that deserve answers … and action.
In a nutshell, the shared junction between Blue and Expo Line trains has a turn that is so sharp that passage of southbound trains caused relatively rapid wear and tear of both the train cars and the track. The theoretical risk is that future derailments could occur and threaten both safety and property damage.
This turn of events is one more nail in the coffin of future efforts (with perhaps the strong and notable exception of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority) to create new construction authorities, independent of Metro, to build future rail projects because of the engineering and political problems of having one entity construct (in this case, the Expo Construction Authority) and operate (Metro) a given rail project.
How could this have happened? Well, the Expo Authority Board created a Phase 1 that was so over budget that the recommendations of the contractor and of Metro to replace the defective junction had to be shelved to save over $1 million and months of disruption to both the Blue and Expo Lines. Apparently, the Phase 1 Expo Authority Board and the Expo Authority weren’t better than Metro at building a rail line, after all.
However, it must be emphasized (and never forgotten) that the Expo Line’s opponents, who are very vocal and very powerful, are in large part the very reason why an Expo Line Construction Authority was created by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky—who himself was, for over a decade, a very vocal opponent of the project.
By creating an Expo Line Construction Authority, the buy-in of Downtown, Mid-City and Westside political leaders had, and still does have, a cadre of politician supporters who might otherwise cave in to local opponents of the project who have obstructed the project for decades and who still are trying to obstruct the project in any way possible. This despite the line enjoying support from the county, state and federal transportation agencies in one way, shape or form because of its providing an alternative to the megacongested I-10 freeway.
The only sure thing that can be concluded from the design flaw is that the Expo Construction Authority has handed Expo Line/Metro opponents, who are still vigorously legally challenging this line and have no intention of stopping, an incredible victory.
Again, the junction issue raises more questions than answers, and the finger pointing and blame-dodging of all parties—from the Authority to the contractor to Metro to the CPUC—isn’t sitting well with either Expo Line proponents or opponents.
Three things do appear to be true at this point:
First, the flawed junction is yet another reason why the bitter experience with the Expo Line Phase 1 contractor is part of a learning curve by the Expo Authority Board that won’t be repeated in Phase 2.
Second, Metro and the CPUC are all over this problem, have placed modifications to the track and are inspecting this junction as closely as possible, and report no new wear and tear to either the tracks or to Blue or Expo Line trains.
Third, there is a transparency that is sorely lacking within the Expo Line Construction Authority…but at least there is a public eye on this problem and it appears that safety will continue to be priority #1 with Metro at this junction site.
However, those who fought for the line have to remember their own responsibilities:
1) The job of advocating and providing community support isn’t over—some of the political goofballs who opposed this line (yeah, the I-10 freeway was and is just a delight) shut out Friends4Expo Transit and other rail advocates from the rail design, station design and other planning efforts for this project because they only met during the daytime in Phase 1, and are still doing this during Phase 2.
The community updates have been, and arguably are still, exercises only in “checking off” a token form of public outreach rather than really letting transit and grassroots leaders IN to the planning and decision-making for this project.
2) While better public outreach must be conducted with the understanding that the Expo Authority must be more inclusive to the actual decision-making process (the fiscal overruns and opening delays of Phase 1 clearly show that there is room for improvement), it must again never be forgotten that public outreach meetings now require police presence because of the disruptive and bullying behavior of Fix Expo and other virulently anti-Metro entities—who forced the creation of an Expo Line Authority to begin with.
This line will be a superb way to enhance the mobility of those who reside in the Westside, Mid-City and Downtown regions, and to the rest of the county which longs for better access to those regions, so it can’t be underscored that both the transportation world and now the media are all over this problem. There is NO immediate safety issue, and actions WILL be taken should safety issues be discovered during the ongoing and frequent Metro and CPUC inspections.
However, it’s obvious that—sooner or later—Metro will have to bite the bullet and replace this defective intersection (whether the contractors are forced to help pay for that or not). And it’s also obvious that the Expo Authority has a credibility problem that is sorely in need of resolution.
And it’s also obvious that the grassroots must both be allowed IN to the decision-making process for Phase 2, with evening meetings that allow for true inclusion into the planning and construction process …
… but with the understanding that Expo Line advocates and community representatives will neither be forced into being apologists for Metro or the Expo Line Authority, or forced to endure bullying by those who are thwarting the community will to create this decades-overdue passenger rail line.
Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council, the co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, and the chair of the Transit Coalition.
NOTE: This article is cross-posted at the City Watch Blog.
Despite the overall excitement and anticipation of the Expo Line’s opening to La Cienega and, in late June, to Culver City, the Times story and revelation of the potential safety risks of the Expo/Blue Line junction at Washington and Flower (link) http://california.construction.com/yb/ca/article.aspx?story_id=172837497 is a source of concern on multiple fronts. The junction, despite the very close attention and repeated inspections by Metro and the CPUC, now raises a host of questions.
Questions that deserve answers … and action.
In a nutshell, the shared junction between Blue and Expo Line trains has a turn that is so sharp that passage of southbound trains caused relatively rapid wear and tear of both the train cars and the track. The theoretical risk is that future derailments could occur and threaten both safety and property damage.
This turn of events is one more nail in the coffin of future efforts (with perhaps the strong and notable exception of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority) to create new construction authorities, independent of Metro, to build future rail projects because of the engineering and political problems of having one entity construct (in this case, the Expo Construction Authority) and operate (Metro) a given rail project.
How could this have happened? Well, the Expo Authority Board created a Phase 1 that was so over budget that the recommendations of the contractor and of Metro to replace the defective junction had to be shelved to save over $1 million and months of disruption to both the Blue and Expo Lines. Apparently, the Phase 1 Expo Authority Board and the Expo Authority weren’t better than Metro at building a rail line, after all.
However, it must be emphasized (and never forgotten) that the Expo Line’s opponents, who are very vocal and very powerful, are in large part the very reason why an Expo Line Construction Authority was created by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky—who himself was, for over a decade, a very vocal opponent of the project.
By creating an Expo Line Construction Authority, the buy-in of Downtown, Mid-City and Westside political leaders had, and still does have, a cadre of politician supporters who might otherwise cave in to local opponents of the project who have obstructed the project for decades and who still are trying to obstruct the project in any way possible. This despite the line enjoying support from the county, state and federal transportation agencies in one way, shape or form because of its providing an alternative to the megacongested I-10 freeway.
The only sure thing that can be concluded from the design flaw is that the Expo Construction Authority has handed Expo Line/Metro opponents, who are still vigorously legally challenging this line and have no intention of stopping, an incredible victory.
Again, the junction issue raises more questions than answers, and the finger pointing and blame-dodging of all parties—from the Authority to the contractor to Metro to the CPUC—isn’t sitting well with either Expo Line proponents or opponents.
Three things do appear to be true at this point:
First, the flawed junction is yet another reason why the bitter experience with the Expo Line Phase 1 contractor is part of a learning curve by the Expo Authority Board that won’t be repeated in Phase 2.
Second, Metro and the CPUC are all over this problem, have placed modifications to the track and are inspecting this junction as closely as possible, and report no new wear and tear to either the tracks or to Blue or Expo Line trains.
Third, there is a transparency that is sorely lacking within the Expo Line Construction Authority…but at least there is a public eye on this problem and it appears that safety will continue to be priority #1 with Metro at this junction site.
However, those who fought for the line have to remember their own responsibilities:
1) The job of advocating and providing community support isn’t over—some of the political goofballs who opposed this line (yeah, the I-10 freeway was and is just a delight) shut out Friends4Expo Transit and other rail advocates from the rail design, station design and other planning efforts for this project because they only met during the daytime in Phase 1, and are still doing this during Phase 2.
The community updates have been, and arguably are still, exercises only in “checking off” a token form of public outreach rather than really letting transit and grassroots leaders IN to the planning and decision-making for this project.
2) While better public outreach must be conducted with the understanding that the Expo Authority must be more inclusive to the actual decision-making process (the fiscal overruns and opening delays of Phase 1 clearly show that there is room for improvement), it must again never be forgotten that public outreach meetings now require police presence because of the disruptive and bullying behavior of Fix Expo and other virulently anti-Metro entities—who forced the creation of an Expo Line Authority to begin with.
This line will be a superb way to enhance the mobility of those who reside in the Westside, Mid-City and Downtown regions, and to the rest of the county which longs for better access to those regions, so it can’t be underscored that both the transportation world and now the media are all over this problem. There is NO immediate safety issue, and actions WILL be taken should safety issues be discovered during the ongoing and frequent Metro and CPUC inspections.
However, it’s obvious that—sooner or later—Metro will have to bite the bullet and replace this defective intersection (whether the contractors are forced to help pay for that or not). And it’s also obvious that the Expo Authority has a credibility problem that is sorely in need of resolution.
And it’s also obvious that the grassroots must both be allowed IN to the decision-making process for Phase 2, with evening meetings that allow for true inclusion into the planning and construction process …
… but with the understanding that Expo Line advocates and community representatives will neither be forced into being apologists for Metro or the Expo Line Authority, or forced to endure bullying by those who are thwarting the community will to create this decades-overdue passenger rail line.
Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council, the co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, and the chair of the Transit Coalition.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The AVPA Foundation Raises Money to Support the Arts at Culver City High
Andrew Leist
NOTE: This is the eighth in a series of Culver City Progress Blog articles highlighting local community groups doing good work in Culver City. Please see the postings on the Culver City Sister City Committee here and here, on the Martin Luther King Planning Committee here, on Shoes for the Homeless here, on the Culver City Youth Health Center here, on the Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation here, and on the Culver City Education Foundation here.
Since I was a kid, the arts have been part of my life. My best memories revolve around my friends and our high school Theater department. So, as my own children grew, I was pleased to learn about Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, or AVPA.
The AVPA is an arts program created in 1995-1996 by the arts staff at CCHS through a grant (Secondary Specialized Program Grant) from the state of California. Major support also came from our founding sponsor Sony Pictures Entertainment, thanks to Janice Pober, Senior VP of Global Corporate Responsibility. Mrs. Pober and Sony have been committed partners to Culver schools since 1991, and tireless advocates of the AVPA since its creation.
Students in the AVPA have five disciplines available for study: Acting and Theater Design, Visual Art, Dance, Film, and Music. Courses usually meet after the regular school day, and, during rehearsals, can go late into the evening. Students are able to major and minor in separate disciplines if they can manage the workload, and are eligible to earn a Certificate of Completion and graduate from the AVPA by completing a prescribed course list.
During the 2011-2012 school year AVPA Theater students performed in the musical “Sweeney Todd” and a new play “West Moon Street”, and AVPA Dancers produced a Spring show and performed in “Laundromatinee” choreographed by the NEA award winner Heidi Duckler. Student films screened in Sony Pictures’ Cary Grant Theater, and Art students produced a gallery show, “Enzymatic” in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Music students enjoyed many performances including one in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. These are just a few highlights from a school year filled with learning and performance opportunities.
So how does this multi-faceted, award-winning program keep moving forward while our state’s education budget shrivels? It’s not easy, but the efforts of many people and organizations make the AVPA the gem that it is.
City High School and CCUSD are strong supporters of the AVPA, but are unable to fully fund the program. Sony’s founding support was key to the creation of the AVPA, and has been essential in creating relationships with other organizations. West Los Angeles College, Playa Vista, Culver City Education Foundation, MOCA, LACMA, Otis College of Art & Design are all key partners of the AVPA, as well as Front and Center, a unique collaborative of CCUSD, The Actors’ Gang, We Tell Stories, Center Theater Group, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Another critically important partner is the AVPA Foundation, a parent-led organization providing financial and logistical support of AVPA. The Foundation raises money to pay teachers, rent equipment, print posters and fund any reasonable operating expense. We also assist in applying for grants, and helped win a $50,000 award from the Surdna Foundation in 2011. Our logistical support includes helping the AVPA Creative Directors communicate with student families, selling tickets and concessions at shows, and funding and maintaining the AVPA website. Our volunteers, mostly parents of AVPA students, give many hours of their time to support a program we know to be rare and valuable.
This Saturday, the entire AVPA program comes alive at our Java Gala event, held at the Kirk Douglas Theater. The event showcases each of the five departments: Art, Dance, Film, Theater, and Music. Enjoy music and complimentary food in the lobby while viewing the student art gallery, then enter the main auditorium where our actors, dancers, and filmmakers will continue the show. The culminating event of our school year, Java Gala is the ultimate collaborative event for our young artists. Proceeds benefit the AVPA Foundation for support of the Academy.
For more information and tickets to Java Gala, visit www.avpa.org
JAVA GALA
Saturday, June 9, 2012
7:00-8:00pm: Open Lobby / Reception / Art Exhibition / Silent Auction / Live Music
8:00pm – The Show!
Kirk Douglas Theatre
9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City 90232
Contact for questions or more information: info@avpa.org
Tickets
$40 general admission in advance
$50 general admission at the door
$60 premium reserved seat
Andrew Leist is the President of the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Foundation.
NOTE: This is the eighth in a series of Culver City Progress Blog articles highlighting local community groups doing good work in Culver City. Please see the postings on the Culver City Sister City Committee here and here, on the Martin Luther King Planning Committee here, on Shoes for the Homeless here, on the Culver City Youth Health Center here, on the Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation here, and on the Culver City Education Foundation here.
Since I was a kid, the arts have been part of my life. My best memories revolve around my friends and our high school Theater department. So, as my own children grew, I was pleased to learn about Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, or AVPA.
The AVPA is an arts program created in 1995-1996 by the arts staff at CCHS through a grant (Secondary Specialized Program Grant) from the state of California. Major support also came from our founding sponsor Sony Pictures Entertainment, thanks to Janice Pober, Senior VP of Global Corporate Responsibility. Mrs. Pober and Sony have been committed partners to Culver schools since 1991, and tireless advocates of the AVPA since its creation.
Students in the AVPA have five disciplines available for study: Acting and Theater Design, Visual Art, Dance, Film, and Music. Courses usually meet after the regular school day, and, during rehearsals, can go late into the evening. Students are able to major and minor in separate disciplines if they can manage the workload, and are eligible to earn a Certificate of Completion and graduate from the AVPA by completing a prescribed course list.
During the 2011-2012 school year AVPA Theater students performed in the musical “Sweeney Todd” and a new play “West Moon Street”, and AVPA Dancers produced a Spring show and performed in “Laundromatinee” choreographed by the NEA award winner Heidi Duckler. Student films screened in Sony Pictures’ Cary Grant Theater, and Art students produced a gallery show, “Enzymatic” in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Music students enjoyed many performances including one in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. These are just a few highlights from a school year filled with learning and performance opportunities.
So how does this multi-faceted, award-winning program keep moving forward while our state’s education budget shrivels? It’s not easy, but the efforts of many people and organizations make the AVPA the gem that it is.
City High School and CCUSD are strong supporters of the AVPA, but are unable to fully fund the program. Sony’s founding support was key to the creation of the AVPA, and has been essential in creating relationships with other organizations. West Los Angeles College, Playa Vista, Culver City Education Foundation, MOCA, LACMA, Otis College of Art & Design are all key partners of the AVPA, as well as Front and Center, a unique collaborative of CCUSD, The Actors’ Gang, We Tell Stories, Center Theater Group, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Another critically important partner is the AVPA Foundation, a parent-led organization providing financial and logistical support of AVPA. The Foundation raises money to pay teachers, rent equipment, print posters and fund any reasonable operating expense. We also assist in applying for grants, and helped win a $50,000 award from the Surdna Foundation in 2011. Our logistical support includes helping the AVPA Creative Directors communicate with student families, selling tickets and concessions at shows, and funding and maintaining the AVPA website. Our volunteers, mostly parents of AVPA students, give many hours of their time to support a program we know to be rare and valuable.
This Saturday, the entire AVPA program comes alive at our Java Gala event, held at the Kirk Douglas Theater. The event showcases each of the five departments: Art, Dance, Film, Theater, and Music. Enjoy music and complimentary food in the lobby while viewing the student art gallery, then enter the main auditorium where our actors, dancers, and filmmakers will continue the show. The culminating event of our school year, Java Gala is the ultimate collaborative event for our young artists. Proceeds benefit the AVPA Foundation for support of the Academy.
For more information and tickets to Java Gala, visit www.avpa.org
JAVA GALA
Saturday, June 9, 2012
7:00-8:00pm: Open Lobby / Reception / Art Exhibition / Silent Auction / Live Music
8:00pm – The Show!
Kirk Douglas Theatre
9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City 90232
Contact for questions or more information: info@avpa.org
Tickets
$40 general admission in advance
$50 general admission at the door
$60 premium reserved seat
Andrew Leist is the President of the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Foundation.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Time to Vote Tuesday
Tuesday is California's Primary Election Day. We at the Culver City Progress Blog are predicting one of the lowest voter turnout rates in California Primary history. There is no competition in the Presidential Primary or the Senate election and there are only 2 propositions, neither of which has gotten too much attention. That makes it even more important that each of us votes. Below, you'll find some information to help you prepare for the election.
If you need to know where you are voting, go to www.lavote.net/locator. Polls are open on Tuesday from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. Election results can be found at www.lavote.net (LA County Results) and www.sos.ca.gov (California Results). We will take a look at the results here on the blog in the coming weeks.
If you need more information about the election, please look at www.smartvoter.org, a wonderful website run by the League of Women Voters. They have information about all of the propositions and candidates with links to their websites.
We too have taken a look at the 3 most important items on the ballot for Culver City voters. Sylvia Moore wrote about the District Attorneys race here. Joanna Morales wrote about Proposition 29 here. And Karlo Silbiger wrote about Proposition 28 here. All 3 articles provide a lot of information and analysis. Take a look, if you haven't already.
A number of reputable organizations have made endorsements in these races. You can find the LA Times endorsements here. You can find the LA County Democratic Party's endorsements here. And you can find the Culver City Democratic Club's endorsements here.
Happy research. We trust you to make a good, informed decision.
If you need to know where you are voting, go to www.lavote.net/locator. Polls are open on Tuesday from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm. Election results can be found at www.lavote.net (LA County Results) and www.sos.ca.gov (California Results). We will take a look at the results here on the blog in the coming weeks.
If you need more information about the election, please look at www.smartvoter.org, a wonderful website run by the League of Women Voters. They have information about all of the propositions and candidates with links to their websites.
We too have taken a look at the 3 most important items on the ballot for Culver City voters. Sylvia Moore wrote about the District Attorneys race here. Joanna Morales wrote about Proposition 29 here. And Karlo Silbiger wrote about Proposition 28 here. All 3 articles provide a lot of information and analysis. Take a look, if you haven't already.
A number of reputable organizations have made endorsements in these races. You can find the LA Times endorsements here. You can find the LA County Democratic Party's endorsements here. And you can find the Culver City Democratic Club's endorsements here.
Happy research. We trust you to make a good, informed decision.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Whether You Like Term Limits or Not, Vote No on Prop 28
Karlo Silbiger
Californians love their term limits. State elected officials can only serve for 8
years (except for Assembly members who can only serve for 6), most cities have
term limits for council members and mayors, even LA County (the hotbead of
political corruption and tyrannical government) now has limitations on the
terms of the supervisors. We hate our
politicians so much that we want nothing more than to force them out of office
as quickly as possible.
Of course, there are some positive characteristics about
term limits in that they keep bringing fresh blood into elective office on a
continual basis along with their new ideas, excitement, and increased
diversity. On the other hand, term
limits have limited institutional memory, forcing politicians to rely on the
lobbyists and career staffers / bureaucrats to help them make decisions.
Every couple of years, Sacramento politicians, unhappy
that they have to find a new job, try to put an initiative on the ballot to
extend or alter term limits. Such is the
case with Proposition 28, on which voters will have to decide in this Tuesday's
election. The issues involved are a bit
wonky, though potentially significant, so let me try to go through them. Currently, members of the state assembly can
serve for up to 6 years before they are term limited out. However, they have to run for re-election
every 2 years. Members of the state
senate can serve for up to 8 years, running every 4 years. So a politician could conceivably serve for
14 years total if they were elected to both houses of the legislature and were
re-elected by the voters to the most number of terms allowable by law.
If Proposition 28 were to pass, there would no longer be
limits on service in each individual house of the legislatures, but there would
instead be a cap of 12 years on the length of service in Sacramento
combined. You could serve 4 years in the
assembly and 8 in the senate, 8 years in the assembly and 4 in the senate, or
all 12 years in the same place. Supporters
of this proposition argue that it has something for everyone. For those who like term limits, this reduces
by 2 years the total cap on elective service.
For those who worry about the lack of institutional memory and continual
turnover of leadership, it allows legislators to stay in the same seat for 12
years, a 50%-100% increase in years of service over the current system
(depending on the house).
Done deal, right?
Problem solved? Not quite. In fact proposition 28 does nothing to solve
the legitimate problems with term limits and instead creates a big new problem.
We don’t have many competitive legislative elections in
California anymore. Part of that can be
tied to the backwards way that we have gerrymandered redistricting over the
past decades, creating very few competitive districts. Part of that can be tied to the incredibly
large size of our legislative districts (about 400,000 people in Assembly
districts and 800,000 people in senate districts) creating elections far too
costly for many people to consider being candidates. But another top cause of our lack of real
competitive elections is term limits, which make it easier for people to wait
until an open election comes around rather than trying to unseat an
incumbent. If you don’t believe me, look
at the rest of your sample ballot for Tuesday’s election. Holly Mitchell, who will be term limited out
in 4 years, has 2 token candidates running against her while Mark
Ridley-Thomas, who will be term limited out in 8 years, is running completely
unopposed. Mitchell and Ridley-Thomas
are good leaders who deserve to be reelected, but that is not the case with all
of their colleagues.
I hate this effect of term limits because it has allowed
many horrible elected officials to go unchallenged. But at least it is only for 6 or 8
years. We put up with them for a half
dozen years and hope for a better outcome the next time. If proposition 28 passes, that period of elections
that look like they are taken right from the kremlin, will be doubled. While it is true that currently politicians
can serve up to 14 years in the legislature, they only get to do that if they
serve so well in the assembly that a new group of constituents in a new
district decide to elect them to the senate against what is usually at least
somewhat stiff competition. They have to
EARN their 14 years. Should proposition
28 pass, politicians will be able to stay in the same safe seats for 12 years with
the same minimally competitive elections that currently grace our ballots every
2 years.
6 of the 7 groups that have given $100,000 or more to the
yes on 28 campaign are either business or labor Political Action Committees
(PACs) including Majestic Realty and LA Live Properties. If they, or anyone else, want to really fix
term limits in California, there are legitimate steps that they can take. They can start by increasing the number of
years that politicians can serve in the legislature 8 or 12 years in each house
seem better to me than 6. They can
change assembly rules so that members only have to run every 4 years rather
than the current every other year election cycle that provides for constant
campaigning and less time for real governing.
But instead, this is what they have come up with. These PACs know that this proposition will
create less competition, more lobbyist influence, and less true grassroots
democracy, and that’s what they want.
Luckily, we the voters get the last say on Tuesday and I hope that they
won’t take our mangled political system and screw it up even worse.
Karlo Silbiger is the Co-Editor of the Culver City Progress Blog, President of the Culver City School Board, and Former President of the Culver City Democratic Club.
Friday, June 1, 2012
City Council Meeting Preview
The City Council meets both Monday and Tuesday of next week.
On Monday, June 4, 2012 the City Council meets at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall Council Chamber, 9770 Culver Boulevard in Culver City 90232. The agenda includes:
·
Budget Study Session for
fiscal year 2012-2013. The areas to be covered
are: City Council, City Manager’s
office, City Clerk’s office, City Attorney’s office, Information Technology
Department, Human Resources Department, Finance Department, Transportation
Department, and Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. The priorities of Culver City are funded
through this budget, so have your say about how your money should be spent in
this next fiscal year.
·
Results
of a ballot measure feasibility survey will be presented. Due to the lateness of presented this item,
all parties should be given ample time to study and respond to City staff’s suggestion.
See
the agenda reports and materials here.
On
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 the City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall Council
Chamber, 9770 Culver Boulevard in Culver City 90232. The agenda includes:
Additional Budget Session for fiscal year 2012-2013. The areas to be covered are: Fire Department, Police Department, Community Development Department (including the Parking Authority, Housing Authority, and Successor Agency), and Public Works Department.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
El Rincon: The School With Heart
Debbie Hamme
El Rincon. My home away from home, the elementary school that both my son and grandson attended. The site of my first job with the district in 1996. A place that holds fond memories for me and a school with infinite possibilities just waiting patiently to come to fruition.
El Rincon. My home away from home, the elementary school that both my son and grandson attended. The site of my first job with the district in 1996. A place that holds fond memories for me and a school with infinite possibilities just waiting patiently to come to fruition.
El Rincon is a school aching to reach its full
potential. Unfortunately, it faces
challenges that are difficult to overcome in today’s fiscal climate. When people tell you that it’s not about the
money or that money doesn’t buy happiness, you want to believe that. But, the reality is that it is about the money and that those
schools with less cannot offer their students the same goods, services and
opportunities that other schools in the district enjoy.
El Rincon has amazing teachers and support
staff. We are all deeply invested in our
school and our students. It is true that
we have had a frequent turnover in principals—three in three years. We now have a principal, Reginald Brunson,
who is as invested in our school as we have always been and under his
leadership, we are beginning to realize some of our potential.
Of course, there are still challenges. While we were
fortunate to be the recipient school of grant monies that allowed us to create
a state-of-the-art Science Lab, we soon realized that in order to utilize it to
its full extent, we needed to have an aide in the lab during the school
day. It was difficult for the teacher to
be responsible for the set up of the experiment, the execution of the
experiment, the breakdown and clean-up of the experiment during lab time
without help. With a limited block of time in which to accomplish all of these
things, we worried that our students weren’t getting the maximum benefit of
their time in the lab. Of course the solution would be an aide in the lab, but
the problem that remains is how to fund it.
We have had full day kindergarten for years and in
the beginning it was decided that in order to make full day instruction a
success, an aide would be needed in those classrooms for at least half of the
day. For awhile, that was what was
happening and it was working. Not that
full day kindergarten wasn’t a challenge for our teachers in other ways—the
children, even those with preschool experience, grew tired easily and had
trouble focusing on their work. Having
an aide in the room helped.
Then we faced another major challenge.
A parent raised the issue of how those aides were
being paid, and it turned out that since they were being paid for with Targeted
Title I funds they could not stay in the kindergarten classrooms. They could only be used to work with our
Targeted Title I students in grades 2 through 5, since students are identified
as being qualified due to their state test scores and testing doesn’t begin
until 2nd grade. The result
was that the three aides paid for through Title I funding would be taken away
from kindergarten entirely, which left a single aide (who was paid through
School Improvement funds) to be shared by our three kindergarten teachers. The Title I funded aides would split their
time working with targeted students in our other classrooms. It was a
heartbreaking blow to the kindergarten students as well as their teachers, but
much to the teachers’ credit, they rose to the occasion, as difficult as it
was, came to terms with the result of a state guideline that had to be
observed, and still enriched their students’ lives.
The other challenge we face is the community’s
perception of our school. To some, we are CCUSD's “African-American” school, to
some we are the “permit” school, to some we are the elementary school with the most
suspensions or the one with the kids that have behavior issues and to some we may now be a
Title I school, as opposed to a Targeted Title I school.
But to us, the people who work at El Rincon and who
give our all every day to do what’s best for our students and families, it is
home. We embrace our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) focus and
strive to make each new school year better than the last. Our PTA is working
hard to fundraise for us, even though they are still working through their own
financial crisis, and while we do not have a booster club right now, we hope to
in the future.
Yet, we persevere because while we may not be a
school with money, we are a school with heart.
Debbie Hamme is a Staff Writer for the Culver City Progress Blog, the President of the Culver City Association of Classified Employees, and the Secretary at El Rincon Elementary School.
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