You know you live in a wild news town when a massive manhunt for an ex-cop leads to a dramatic shootout and inferno on a snow-covered mountain, the mayor pitches a tax increase that's beginning to look like attempted extortion, and the rebuked local cardinal at the center of a massive molestation scandal announces he's headed to Rome to pick the next pope.
Christopher Dorner, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Cardinal Roger Mahony each could fill my space today, but they're going to have to share it.
::
As I write on deadline, a cabin in the mountains is ablaze, and the hunt for Dorner appears to have ended.
The LAPD will take a look at whether Dorner was wronged when he was fired over a dispute with a superior.
It should also take a look at whether cops have a chance when they take on a senior officer, or whether race or department culture can stand in the way of justice.
And it will have to explain why several cops — inexplicably thinking they'd bagged Dorner — fired dozens of rounds at a newspaper delivery truck in Torrance that was the wrong make, the wrong color and contained occupants of the wrong race and gender.
But for now, what weighs most heavily is that four people are dead, victims of unfathomable madness.
::
In the last few months of Villaraigosa's second term, how much do you trust him?
The mayor is now shilling for Measure A — a half-cent sales tax increase proposal on the March 5 ballot — arguing that the alternative would be nasty budget cuts.
But Matt Szabo, a former Villaraigosa deputy and current candidate for City Council, told my colleague David Zahniser that voters need to ask themselves if the shortfall is being "overstated for the purpose of passing the sales tax."
What, you mean they'd lie to us?
Eric Garcetti, candidate for mayor, told me Tuesday over breakfast that he thinks the actual budget hole for next year is far less than the $216 million suggested by the Villaraigosa administration. Not that the city doesn't have serious financial problems, Garcetti said. But the worst scenarios, Garcetti thinks, are based on arbitrary numbers.
I agreed to meet with Garcetti after he objected to my Sunday column, in which I said that none of the five candidates for mayor has offered a realistic plan for erasing next year's budget shortfall or a four-year deficit estimated to be $1 billion. Or more.
The councilman said the city's own revised projections on costs and revenue would cut next year's deficit nearly in half. He said he'd negotiate a 10% healthcare contribution from every city employee — no cinch, by the way — to cut another $50 million, and whittle away at the remaining $50 million deficit in various ways.
Easier said than done, especially if Garcetti begins dismantling a business tax that brings in $400 million-plus a year.
But as for Measure A, who's going to vote for it when City Hall insiders like Garcetti and Szabo are saying it's not necessary?
"I'm not voting for it," Garcetti said. The other four mayoral candidates have said the same thing, and you can be the judge of whether they're just pandering.
Not to be too cynical, but Villaraigosa may one day run for governor, or who knows what. A half-cent sales tax increase works out to $200 million a year, and he'd take bows for leaving the city's fiscal house in decent shape.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
In L.A., it was a three-column day
Dengan url
http://sehatgembiralami.blogspot.com/2013/02/in-la-it-was-three-column-day.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
In L.A., it was a three-column day
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
In L.A., it was a three-column day
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar