The Disposable City: Preserve LA

"PreserveLA.com is a forum and clearinghouse for the latest news, information, and techniques concerning historic preservation and the history of Los Angeles and Southern California." -- from the website. <http://www.PreserveLA.com/>

NWO: Expanding Patriot Act

"On Thursday, May 26, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will consider in closed session a draft bill that would both renew and expand various USA PATRIOT Act powers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has obtained a copy of the draft bill, along with the committee's summary of it..." [EFF News]
Draft of new PATRIOT Act powers (31 pages, PDF)
Senate Select Committee summary (4 pages, PDF)

Antonio Villaraigosa for Mayor redux

You hardly need me to tell you who to vote for Tuesday. Antonio Villaraigosa is so clearly the better candidate even the Times endorsed him unequivocally. But after two months of negative campaigning, you might need to be encouraged to vote at all.

The Times put it this way: "...the two candidates differ significantly in style, which means voters do have a choice. Villaraigosa's drive, people skills and knack for coalition-building earned our endorsement in 2001....It was Villaraigosa, not Hahn, who stepped in to settle the 2003 transit strike, and who rallied the state's congressional delegation to clear funding for an Eastside light-rail line. Villaraigosa energizes others. He is intuitive, quick at sizing up situations and recognizing talented people with good ideas....Villaraigosa's record, particularly as Assembly speaker in Sacramento, is of pulling together the right people to get things done. The city's needs keep growing. Villaraigosa as mayor would offer the promise that they would be attacked with relish and intensity. He is the best choice to lead Los Angeles."

So forget about how crappy the campaign's been. Go, vote, and then let's get busy laying that light rail line out to Culver City and Santa Monica.

-> L.A.Daily News endorsement: <http://ga4.org/ct/61aMhP41BX3F/dailynews>
-> L.A.Times endorsement: <http://www.latimes.com/>
-> Antonio 2005: <http://www.antonio2005.com/>
-> Scroll down this page for my comments on Villaraigosa's candidacy during the primary.

Press Release: Playa Vista Tries to Buy Election for Krisiloff

This alert / press release immediately below is from the campaign of the excellent candidate (who was endorsed by the Sierra Club, LA League of Conservation Voters, and the Ballona Wetlands Committee to Stop Playa Vista) for the 11th Council District -- Bill Rosendahl.
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May 16, 2005

Dear Friends & Supporters,

In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to buy the election, principals in and supporters of the controversial Playa Vista mega-development have just pumped a ton of money into our opponent’s campaign.

If anyone had any doubts that Playa Vista has a candidate in this race, it should be erased now: Flora Gil Krisiloff is the clear choice of Playa Vista.

Just a few minutes ago, the City Ethics Commission website (http://ethics.lacity.org) reported that several major players in the project choking our streets with traffic had spent large chunks of money in “independentexpenditures” on behalf of Mrs. Krisiloff. They wanted until the last minute because they did not want you to know.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Robert Maguire, part owner of the Playa Vista project, $25,000.
Randy Johnson, Playa Vista’s Chief Financial Officer; $10,000.
Douglas Moreland, Playa Vista’s Senior Vice President; $10,000.

There is a lot more. Last week, Mrs. Krisiloff’s financial disclosure reports demonstrated she received money from a veritable truckload of people associated with Playa Vista: employees, lawyers, lobbyists, consultants, and the like.

Yes, you got it. Flora Gil Krisiloff: The candidate of Playa Vista. The candidate of traffic gridlock. The candidate of over-development. The candidate of paving of over the wetlands.

This is just the latest in a series of unsavory developments in her relationship with the projects and its developers. Here is some more history.

Mrs. Krisiloff and the Playa Vista cheerleaders keep saying the project is a done deal. If that’s the case, why are they so worried about Bill Rosendahl? Why are they so worried about a candidate who demands the people have a say in development in their neighborhoods?

Clearly, the mega-developers and the entrenched interests are afraid of Bill’s grassroots campaign for our neighborhoods. They apparently will spend any amount of money to make sure the pro-development, anti-neighborhood candidate wins.

We can stop that. Email all your friends and let them know about Bill and what he stands for. Join us in our Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort. Call the office now at 310-398-4890 to get involved.

Together we will get Bill elected. Together we will take back our neighborhoods. Together we will win.

Thanks.

Mike Bonin
Campaign Manager

This message was sent to by:

Bill Rosendahl for LA City Council
12023 Venice Blvd.
Mar Vista, CA 90066
(310) 398-4890

Falling Behind

T-mobile. SBC. The laughingly named FreedomLink. Et cetera.

Downtown Santa Monica is a jumble of paid wi-fi opportunities, most of them requiring expensive daily or monthly fees.

Philadelphia. Minneapolis. Culver City, for pete's sake. Cities all over the country are installing wireless as a matter of equity and to support their business communities.

Even if the political bosses of the Smug Little City by the Sea can't find the coffee money it would take to link up all of the tiny 3-mile x 3-mile expanse, no doubt someone among the army of consultants housed and fed by the town has explained the benefits of installing free universal wireless downtown and in the Main Street and Montana business districts.

It appears that, when it comes to wireless access, Santa Monica is leaving it to others to "Shape the Future."