Drop in San Fernando Valley homicides outpaces other L.A. regions

Los Angeles recorded another large drop in homicides in 2013, and nowhere has the trend been more pronounced than in the San Fernando Valley.

The Valley had 40 homicides this year, dropping 35% from 2012 — the biggest decline of any region in the city. As recently as 2006, the region recorded 87 homicides.

When it comes to falling crime, much of the focus has been on traditionally high-crime areas like South L.A. and the Eastside. But police officials and community leaders say the decline in violence in tough parts of the Valley, notably Pacoima, Lakeview Terrace, Sun Valley and Sylmar, has also been striking.

The Homicide Report

Pacoima resident Maurilio Torres, 52, remembers driving down the narrow residential streets crammed between Branford and Osbourne streets, seeing young men carrying guns out in the open. At the local parks, he saw teens being initiated into gangs. He told his children to avoid wearing dark clothes because someone could mistake them for gang members.

"That was scary, driving by with my kids and seeing these activities," he said. "Slowly, it's been changing. Now you can actually walk.... Now I go jogging up the street and back."

Pastor Karl Cruz, of Victory Outreach church in Sylmar, measures the decline in killings a different way.

"There was a January once when I did 10 funerals in a month," said Cruz, whose organization helps people get out of the gang life. "The deaths and shootings have declined so much, we're now able to focus on the drug problem."

Cruz points to another sign of falling crime: fewer LAPD helicopters flying overhead at night. "The 'ghetto bird' used to be the national bird of Pacoima," he said, referring to the choppers. "You don't hear it anymore. The sounds of silence is the sound of peace."

Across Los Angeles, homicides this year are down 16% from 2012, and the city is on target to end 2013 with the fewest killings since 1966. The city recorded 250 homicides this year, as of Dec. 28, compared to 298 in 2012. Across the city, overall serious crime fell for the 11th straight year — down by 5%.

Crime in Los Angeles decreased across the board. Violent crimes declined by 12%, and property crimes declined by another 4%.The number of reported rapes in the city fell by a quarter compared to 2012.

The reduction in Los Angeles homicides is part of a long-term trend seen in America's big cities —New York, Chicago and Houston also have recorded big drops in homicides.

The San Fernando Valley comprises a diverse array of communities, including affluent hillside neighborhoods like Encino, Studio City and Sherman Oaks, as well as working-class Latino areas such as Van Nuys and Panorama City. But officials say the bulk of the drop in homicides has occurred in the Northeast Valley, which has long suffered from gang problems.

LAPD Deputy Chief Jorge A. Villegas, who oversees the Valley Bureau, said the department has employed some of the same tactics proven successful in South L.A. in the Northeast Valley. Police use computer crime data to help determine where to place officers and detect crime patterns.

In the Foothill division in Northeast Valley, the number of homicides declined by nearly half to 10 in 2013. The number of people shot also dropped, from 52 to 32.

LAPD Capt. Sean Malinowski, who oversees the Foothill Division, said his strategy almost always begins with crime data. The walls of his office are lined with printouts of crime statistics and charts, and he and his team are always crunching numbers.

Sometimes, the statistics contradict conventional wisdom. Police generally believe crime spikes during the hot summer months. But Malinowski said the data showed that a spike actually occurs between August and October, so the division staffed the streets accordingly. The department put more police cruisers in tough neighborhoods as a show of force, and even got some California Highway Patrol units to join in.

Recently, Malinowski's officers began a campaign to find weapons and received special training on how to locate hidden compartments in cars.

"Firearms seizures are up 58% this year with 234 weapons taken off the streets," he said. "If you haven't got a gun in your car, it makes it much more complicated to kill a rival you see on the streets."

The LAPD also praises gang intervention groups, like the one Cruz runs, for helping to ease gang tensions. Malinowski said that when there is a major gang incident, he often calls Cruz for help and advice. The LAPD has also worked with a clergy council of local pastors to help with outreach.

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Calabasas crackdown on old homes has owners crying foul

Calabasas is known for its gated neighborhoods and its wealthy residents — people like Justin Bieber, Tommy Lee and Kourtney Kardashian.

But for the last few years, the city's attention has been focused on people living in some of its oldest houses, built decades ago on the mountainous south side when the area was under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County.

City officials are now cracking down on houses they consider substandard.

Among the latest cases is 67-year-old Joanne Finazzo, whose home of 35 years was slapped with nearly two dozen code violations after city inspectors showed up to check on the septic system.

That started a chain of events that ended with the bank foreclosing on the house and then deciding to bulldoze the 1939 structure after its own dispute with the city.

Finazzo said her problems began in 2009, when inspectors noticed her longtime companion, Chet Allen, standing in front of their home on Valdez Road as he worked on his septic system's leach line. When the inspectors asked to take a look, Allen invited them onto his property.

He was advised that every structure on the site was in violation of the city's current building code. When Allen reminded the inspectors that the house was enlarged in 1952 and in 1982 under county permits and thus was "grandfathered in" when Calabasas incorporated in 1991, they shook their heads.

Allen, a retired contractor who had done stone work on the property, became stressed when the couple received a 30-page list of violations that he figured could cost up to $150,000 to remediate, Finazzo said. He died a few months later at age 82.

Before his death, he and Finazzo were required to spend $373 per week to pump their septic tank because they had a tenant renting the guest quarters. When the couple was told to evict the tenant from space that lacked permits, the weekly pumping requirement was relaxed to once a month. But without the rental income, the couple took out a reverse mortgage to help pay their bills.

The bank eventually foreclosed on the property, and Finazzo moved to a Woodland Hills townhouse near where she works in a medical billing office. But the bank authorized her to sell the house and its one-acre site. A real estate company quickly found three potential buyers.

The city quashed any sale, according to real estate agent Michael Ansari. "Buyers say the city is not willing to give any guidance to remedy the violations. The city got angry and sent us a notice to either [comply] or demolish the structures," he said.

"It's going to be cleared to dirt, probably [this] week when the city issues a demolition permit. The current owner, a bank, doesn't want to fight the city. I had it on the market for six months and opened a few escrows. But the city was really not cooperating at all."

City Manager Tony Coroalles denied that Calabasas was singling out older homes to make room for new development.

He said Allen was caught digging a ditch to funnel runoff from an overworked septic tank into a storm drain. He said Ansari's potential buyers had access to a list of code violations that they would have to deal with if they acquired the property.

"We advised them to bring in experts to evaluate the property and come back to us with a plan," Coroalles said. "We're not averse to anybody buying the property. But no city can guide a buyer through the process."

Another rural resident, Robert Hahn, was ordered to tear down a portion of a Dale Road house in Old Topanga that he has lived in for 35 years after a tenant he was evicting called the city and complained of a sewage smell on the property.

When officials came to investigate, they slapped Hahn, a 67-year-old contractor, with 100 pages of violations, even though Hahn argued that the structure was built in 1928 under proper county permits.

Coroalles said Hahn remains in his home, although the city has recorded the notice of violations on his deed. That means any future buyer will have to bring the property up to code.

The city's sewage crusade began in mid-2010 when a team that included sheriff's deputies descended on a 60-acre Stokes Canyon ranch. Officials ordered the pioneering Smith family's water and power cut off on grounds that those living on the ranch "may be unlawfully disposing of human waste."

"We've been here 100 years.... We helped organize the [local] water district and school board, the chamber of commerce and the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival. We are being treated like common criminals," complained Lloyd Smith, 73, a retired Los Angeles Zoo animal keeper who was left homeless by the action. "They want to turn this into a gated community for rich people."

The specter of more gated neighborhoods is common among Calabasas old-timers. Many in Old Topanga speculate that a new sewer system could open a vast empty space between Old Topanga Canyon Road and the Calabasas Highlands area for new development.

The Hahn and Allen-Finazzo properties would provide handy access points to a new neighborhood, said Jody Thomas, president of the 38-family Old Topanga Homeowners Assn. Members have long suspected that the city's goal was to extend a municipal sewer line up Old Topanga Canyon Road that would allow for greater housing density.

Neighbor Toby Keeler, a longtime Calabasas resident who served on the city's first planning commission in 1992, noted that the city's first municipal code took pains to help preserve the feel of "mountainous areas where existing parcels were created before modern zoning and subdivision regulations."

Although the city listed 31 of the city's 120 private septic systems as problematic and 11 as "failed," it suspended its septic inspection program in 2012. Officials emphasized, however, that existing violations would remain valid and owners would be required to upgrade their property.

But the question of whether the city respects the integrity of county building permits issued before incorporation remains touchy.

Calabasas officials have announced plans to annex a gated community of 20 homes in a 146-acre area north of the Ventura Freeway that includes several older commercial structures that do not meet current city codes.

Coroalles, the city manager, has pledged that existing structures "would be grandfathered in.... There is no danger that the city is going to do anything with any of the structures or properties unless the landowners want to."

bob.pool@latimes.com

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Medi-Cal braces for New Year's jolt as Obamacare kicks in

It's one of the next big hurdles for the Obamacare rollout: What will happen when hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians shift from county health plans to the state's huge Medi-Cal system on Jan. 1?

Judging from a similar surge in 2011, patients and physicians could see plenty of problems.

Starting on New Year's Day — Wednesday — as many as a million formerly uninsured or underinsured people will begin moving onto Medi-Cal rolls and reporting to clinics and hospitals that have agreed to provide treatment at set rates.

Also for the first time, childless and healthy low-income adults will be eligible, and benefits will include mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Healthcare advocates are overjoyed about the expansion of services, which is subsidized by the federal government under the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, they recognize that this is the kind of influx that can leave patients and doctors in a lurch — confused about such things as whether a long-planned surgery is still authorized or where patients should go for prescription refills.

When 380,000 senior and disabled Medi-Cal members were gradually switched into managed care in 2011, advocates reported numerous cases in which patients suffered as doctors and health plans didn't coordinate properly to deliver necessary ongoing medications and treatments for ailments as serious as cancer, schizophrenia and diabetes. Healthcare providers struggled as well; many were assigned new patients with no way to review their medical histories.

This time, officials and healthcare providers say they hope to avoid such disruptions.

"We're using the same system we would use in an earthquake," said Louise McCarthy, chief executive of the Community Clinic Assn. of Los Angeles County, comparing the planning effort to a disaster drill. "This is going to be seismic. We have to approach it as such."

The first step in getting ahead of potential problems: making sure computer systems align.

According to the state Department of Health Services, about 400,000 Californians are likely to wind up in Medi-Cal — a $70-billion program — after applying for the first time through Covered California, the state healthcare insurance marketplace; 195,000 others have tried to sign up through county human services agencies. Those new members won't join a Medi-Cal managed care plan right away.

But more than 600,000 new Medi-Cal participants will roll over immediately from special county-based health programs formed to ease the transition to Obamacare. Using money from the Affordable Care Act, some California counties opted to start providing medical services for Medi-Cal expansion eligible patients early in 2010 so those patients could be cued up to move automatically into Medi-Cal this week. Los Angeles County's Healthy Way LA program represents more than half of this population, with 315,000 people signed up as of Nov. 30.

Planners are attempting to make sure that the state and county records for these patients match up with the enrollment rosters at the health plans contracted by Medi-Cal — giving providers at least some idea about which patients are headed their way and what their needs may be.

While some advocates fretted that the proper data weren't coming in fast enough, Amy Luftig Viste, who directs community partner programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said on Dec. 19 that she "was feeling like we're in a good place" with the process.

When Los Angeles County compared its preliminary enrollment lists to those kept by the health providers who will run Medi-Cal's managed care plan in the county, it found that the records matched for 99% of members, Viste said. Most Healthy Way LA patients are sticking with clinics and providers they visited in the past, she said.

But even if every bit of data aligns perfectly and people go to doctors who expect them, problems getting patients the care they've been promised will probably arise, she said.

California has determined that the vast majority of patients making the transition can continue seeing their current doctors — regardless of whether the providers are in their managed care networks — for 12 months. It will be up to the the health plans and providers, including L.A. County, to work out how to make that happen.

Hoping to give clinic and hospital employees tools to help, L.A. County ran training sessions to let them know what to expect starting Wednesday. The health plans Health Net and LA Care, which will run the Medi-Cal operation in the county, have staffed up for the change, creating special triage teams to handle problems.

Preparations at community clinics have been "frantic," said Cynthia Carmona, director of government and external affairs for the Community Clinic Assn. She described near-daily transition planning meetings late this month as "a sprint to get things thought through."

The clinic staff wanted a crisis plan by Christmas, she said, so her association began circulating an eight-page collection of frequently asked questions on Dec. 20.

The document attempts to answer such questions as, "What should a patient do if they were scheduled for a Department of Health Services specialty care appointment but were turned away?" "What is the pharmacy network for LA Care and Health Net?" and "How do I know my former Healthy Way LA patient successfully transitioned to Medi-Cal?"

The document also discusses failed enrollments, missing paperwork and ID cards, misidentified "medical home" assignments, physician networks, specialty and follow-up care. It comes with a list of key phone numbers for when problems arise.

Carmona has asked member clinics to report incidents starting Wednesday. The association will begin summarizing problems that arise in emails to healthcare centers starting Friday.

The bottom line, planners said, is that Medi-Cal patients should get treated no matter what.

"We're hammering home the message that continuity of care trumps everything," Viste said.

McCarthy, of the Community Clinics Assn., was on board — if still concerned.

"If we can't figure out your coverage, you'll still get cared for," she said. "Whether we can figure out if we'll get paid for it, that's a big question there."

eryn.brown@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATerynbrown

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Community pushes for stoplight at intersection where teen was killed

Yaneth Palencia wrote a petition to the city's transportation department in 2005, urging officials to install a traffic signal or stop sign at the crosswalk near Normandie Avenue and 42^nd Street in her neighborhood, south of downtown.

"We note that cars driving on that street, often, exceed the legal posted speed limit and that accidents have occurred in the past," wrote Palencia, who was worried that someone would eventually get killed trying to cross the busy street.

"I never thought it would be my nephew," she said.

Nathaniel Mota, 16, died after being hit by a car while crossing Normandie near 42^nd Place in September. He was leaving a Friday night youth group meeting at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, about two miles south of USC. Mota flew about four car lengths after being struck by a white Nissan Maxima; the driver took off, according to witnesses. Mota was pronounced dead at the scene, and police have not found the suspect.

More than 2,000 cars drive through that intersection each hour during peak travel times, according to city officials.

After the accident, church members again petitioned city leaders to put in a stoplight. Department of Transportation engineers recommended installing the light along with signs and pavement markings, but officials say it could take years and cost up to $200,000.

"People are asking me: 'Father, Father, what is going on?' And I tell them I don't know," Father Jorge Ochoa of St. Cecilia said.

L.A. City Councilman Curren Price's staff had met with church officials about traffic issues the day of Mota's death, and Price introduced a motion in October calling for a pedestrian-activated sidewalk with flashing lights at the intersection. Price said he wants the sidewalk to be installed within six months and a full traffic light to be put in as quickly as possible.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to think that people have been asking for assistance with this intersection for years now with no response and I intend to do everything I can to change that," Price said in a statement. "I do not want to wait any longer than we have to and risk someone else getting hurt."

According to relatives, Mota enjoyed spending his Friday nights in church.

The senior at Verbum Dei High School had attended services since he was a child and was confirmed two years ago. "His faith was very important to him," said his mother, Lissette Mota.

At school, the teenager was known for being affectionate, said his friend, Brandon Williams. "Every time he saw you, he'd give you a big hug and wrap you up," Williams said. "It was cool."

Mota was an avid reader who went through three books weekly, according to his family. He had read everything in the "Harry Potter" and "Hunger Games" series and enjoyed science fiction books and movies. He was a bit of a Star Wars snob, believing that the original three films were the best, and was wary of the planned movies being produced by Disney.

"He was skeptical they could pull it off," Williams said.

Mota was beginning to apply to colleges and was considering Cal State Northridge, where he would be close to his aunt, Williams said.

Mota's family and friends say they are willing to help raise funds for the traffic light. His mother said she has forgiven whoever was driving the car that killed her son and hopes that a stoplight will be part of her son's legacy.

"I hope his death prevents another," she said.

jason.song@latimes.com

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Rim fire losses between $250 million and $1.8 billion, study finds

A recent study commissioned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission estimates that damage from the Rim fire to the natural environment and to property values could total about $250 million to $1.8 billion.

The preliminary assessment released last month places dollar amounts on losses in "environmental benefits," carbon storage and the asset value of property near where the fire burned.

Researchers from Earth Economics found losses in environmental benefits of $100 million to $736 million, in carbon storage of $102 million to $797 million, and in private property values of $49.7 million to $265 million.

David Batker, executive director of Earth Economics, said researchers couldn't or didn't estimate some issues, such as the fire's effect on the water supply or loss of health because of poorer air quality. He added that the results are based on satellite data taken when the fire was only 84% contained.

As a result, he said, the estimates were "very, very conservative."

"The actual damage will be larger," he said. "No doubt about it."

The 410-square-mile fire — the state's third-largest on record — was sparked Aug. 17 by a hunter's illegal campfire in the Stanislaus National Forest. It scorched swaths of forest, burning into the northwest part of Yosemite National Park before being fully contained in late October.

Experts at the time said the ecological effects of the blaze would probably last for decades, as massive trees were wiped out and habitats of rare species were severely altered. Officials have since debated the best way to handle the largest recovery effort the Sierra Nevada has seen.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration this month for the state of California, making federal funds available for recovery efforts related to the Rim fire. The Earth Economics report was included in Gov. Jerry Brown's request for the disaster declaration.

On Friday, Alison Anja Kastama, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the inclusion of the report "supports the recognition of natural capital values."

"By assessing the impacts of the Rim fire, this report highlights the greater dollar value we can assign to our natural lands, which are a critical portion of our water system," she said.

Batker said federal agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service must now conduct cost-benefit analyses before embarking on projects. Spending a few million dollars on tree-thinning in the Stanislaus National Forest, he said, may appear more appetizing when the costs of fire damage to the environment are better known.

"There is a sea change right now for federal agencies," he said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

matt.stevens@latimes.com

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Judge rejects contempt of court for Costa Mesa official

An Orange County Superior Court judge this month refused to hold Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger in contempt of court for revealing evidence that someone put him under surveillance, court records show.

On Dec. 13, Judge David Hoffer denied the contempt motion by the Costa Mesa Police Officers' Assn. asserting that Mensinger and his attorneys violated a court order by publicizing confidential allegations that a GPS tracking device had been placed on Mensinger's truck during the 2012 election season.

In November, Mensinger and his lawyers, Vince Finaldi and John Manly, held a news conference announcing that they would add the allegations to their lawsuit against the police association, its former law firm, Lackie, Dammeier McGill & Ethir, and a private investigator, Chris Lanzillo. Mensinger and Mayor Jim Righeimer allege in the complaint that they were harassed, intimidated and embarrassed so the association could gain the upper hand in contract negotiations.

About two weeks later, the police association's lawyers objected by filing a motion accusing Mensinger of disregarding a court order that sealed results of two search warrants served as part of a criminal investigation involving the police association, Lanzillo and the Upland-based Lackie, Dammeier law firm.

"By obtaining and distributing sealed information, [Mensinger and his lawyers] have caused irreparable harm to the CMPA and others," the motion stated. "CMPA has not been charged with a crime and has fully cooperated with the district attorney's investigation.

"However, Mensinger, Manly and Finaldi are making public allegations of criminal conduct by calling press conferences, issuing press releases and responding to news media questions. Their distribution of confidential information and/or false information prejudices CMPA and others connected to the investigation."

Manly and Finaldi, however, argued that they weren't subject to or aware of the court order.

Hoffer then threw out the contempt motion.

According to a sworn declaration from Mensinger reviewed by the Daily Pilot, the councilman became aware of the alleged tracking only because the Orange County district attorney's office revealed it to him during an interview.

In early November, investigators called Mensinger and asked him to bring in his calendar to compare where he was on specific dates, according court documents.

During the interview, investigators used Mensinger's calendar to show him that he had been electronically tracked and revealed that someone had attached a GPS device to the undercarriage of his truck, according to the councilman's declaration.

In a statement asking a judge to dismiss the police association's motion, the district attorney's office said it did nothing wrong by informing Mensinger.

"An allegation that the district attorney's office violated a court order by disclosing information during the interview of a victim of a crime as part of their investigation is meritless," Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Mestman wrote.

Police association President Ed Everett said Friday that Mensinger and Righeimer were trying to smear Costa Mesa's police officers and were willing to air evidence from an ongoing grand jury investigation to do so.

"I think it's just horrific that city councilmen would do that," he said.

jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com

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Resolved: to make a keep-able resolution

If my New Year's resolution holds in 2014, this is the last time I'll wind up staring blankly at my computer screen as my column deadline bears down.

I've been thinking about what to write all week, in between shopping, cooking, kicking back and outings with my daughters. So many things seemed to interest me during this holiday season. But now I can't seem to grab hold of a single idea.

If I'd managed to adhere to last year's resolution — keep a notebook with me at all times, to record my thoughts and feelings about what I see, hear and read — I wouldn't be struggling right now to make sense of a tired mind's cacophony.

My best ideas tend to pop up at inconvenient moments, and wind up scribbled on scraps of paper and left in random spots: on a takeout menu on the floor of my car or a Macy's receipt stuffed in a dresser drawer.

Of course, I can never find those notes when it's time to sit down and write. They turn up unexpectedly weeks or months later, when the ideas still seem brilliant but the column has already run.

Every year I plan to remedy that with a promise to organize myself and tame the creative sprawl.

But I'm no better at keeping resolutions than I am at safeguarding my thoughts.

::

Almost half of Americans make annual New Year's resolutions, but only 8% of them can say they always succeed in keeping them. One-quarter say they fail every year; that group would include me.

I try to keep mine pretty basic to increase my odds of success. I don't need to lose weight. I don't expect to vanquish debt. I don't drink too much alcohol. Or smoke cigarettes.

I would simply like to be more organized, so my life doesn't feel so chaotic.

I'd like to sit down at a desk that isn't strewn with newspapers and notes, littered with broken pens and Post-it notes, piled with stuff that I don't need but can't bear to let go.

I know I'm not alone in the disorder department. Getting organized is No. 2 — between losing weight and saving more/spending less — on surveys of the top 10 resolutions almost every year.

Experts say it's the sort of resolution that can make us feel temporarily better but turns out to be so vague and broad, we're bound to feel like failures before the year is out.

Three years ago, my resolve lasted less than a month. I wound up hiring a professional because I couldn't organize myself enough to begin organizing my stuff.

A few hundred dollars later, I had a clean desk, a new filing system, a leather-bound notebook to carry around and a binder of helpful suggestions.

A few months after that, I misplaced the notebook and was back to rooting for notes, phone numbers and receipts in a neatly labeled "miscellaneous" file that had grown to epic dimensions.

::

My San Francisco daughter has inherited my disorder gene, but she's not fretting about it.

She stores numbers in her phone, has receipts emailed, photographs her notes and records her thoughts as voice memos. She doesn't need an organizer; at 23, she's got iCloud working for her.

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Accused prankster pleads not guilty to recording calls to coaches

A man accused of making prank calls to several well-known sports coaches and then illegally recording them pleaded not guilty Monday to one felony count of eavesdropping.

Prosecutors have said that Kenneth Edward Tarr, 32, posed as a recruiter for pro teams and universities during calls in October and November to at least six college and professional coaches.

Court documents name victims including NBC broadcaster and Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy, who was duped about a football coaching job at USC, and recently fired Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, who was contacted about a fake Dallas Cowboys job. Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro was told he was talking to Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti, according to investigators.

Tarr broke the law by not seeking the sports figures' consent before recording the calls, the L.A. County district attorney's office has said. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.

Tarr entered his plea in a downtown courthouse, where he was accompanied by his mother, father, brother and three attorneys.

Robert Sheahen, one of the attorneys, told reporters that authorities had bowed to pressure from the NFL, singling out Tarr while individuals such as actor and television producer Ashton Kutcher go unpunished for similar pranks.

"To file felony charges on a case like this is absurd," Sheahen said. "He's a performance artist and social satirist, who in pushing the bounds of social satire, ran afoul of the National Football League."

Police arrested Tarr at his Hollywood home in early December, soon after NFL security consultant Dan McNeal discussed the incidents with a Los Angeles Police Department detective. McNeal, who initially thought Tarr might be living in San Bernardino County, told the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department that the NFL wanted felony charges filed against Tarr, according to court documents.

Tarr, who has bragged about his exploits in the media, caught the attention of authorities in October when Dungy said on a radio show that he had been contacted by USC about its football team's head coaching vacancy. USC Athletic Director Pat Haden later said someone had been impersonating a university official.

Other victims named in court documents include University of Hawaii football Coach Norm Chow, San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, Golden State Warriors Coach Mark Jackson and University of Florida football Coach Will Muschamp.

Tarr remains free after posting $20,000 bail. He is due back in court Feb. 18.

paresh.dave@latimes.com

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New Year's resolutions for Sacramento politicos

SACRAMENTO — From my skimpy research on New Year's resolutions, I've learned that 40% of us make them, and about 90% end in failure.

A dismal record of weak will.

Yet, New Year's resolutions should be encouraged because they're vital to self-improvement. They reflect at least a brief recognition of personal flaws and the need for betterment.

Therefore I'm proposing a few, mainly for Sacramento politicians. Never mind that I've tried this in previous years and mostly been ignored. So some resolutions are repeats.

The first is for Gov. Jerry Brown, and it calls for some background:

•Be more considerate of people, and not just those he regards as intellectual peers or is hitting up for political favors.

Inconsiderateness long has been a Brown flaw, regardless of such qualities as political brilliance and an ability to charm if he chooses. This defect isn't just limited to eating off other people's plates, an annoying habit.

Here's the kind of thing I'm referring to:

Early each year, California's governor traditionally has spoken to the Sacramento Press Club. The sold-out luncheon is a big fundraiser for the club's scholarship program that benefits college journalism students. Govs. Schwarzenegger, Davis, Wilson, Deukmejian — they all came, promoting their agendas, answering reporters' questions and helping students.

Brown has stiffed the club for two years running and is heading into a third. He basically ignores the invite. Just keeps the club dangling.

This is an old Brown trait.

The first time he was governor, in 1975, the state Chamber of Commerce invited him to speak — as governors always had — to a huge annual breakfast of California business leaders, industrialists and growers.

"We couldn't get a response from him," recalls Sacramento attorney John Diepenbrock, one of the event's organizers. "He wouldn't say yes, wouldn't say no. We were getting to the point of desperation."

So Diepenbrock, a Republican VIP with strong ties to the White House, invited the president of the United States. President Ford flew out, subbed for the governor, and the rest is history.

Ford walked across the street into Capitol Park en route to paying Brown a courtesy visit when Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme pulled a Colt .45 on him in an assassination attempt.

Fromme, from the old Charles Manson gang, served 34 years in federal prison. Ford, 17 days later, returned to California and another crazed, armed woman tried to kill him in San Francisco. The next year, Brown began accepting the chamber's invitations.

We'll keep the rest short.

Here are two resolutions for both the governor and the Democratic-dominated Legislature:

•Find some financial angels for your bullet train obsession before it breaks the state.

Yes, high-speed rail is cool. No, it isn't a freebie. It's very costly — $68 billion at last estimate. Only $13 billion has been lined up. But construction is about to start.

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After Filner debacle, San Diego's Todd Gloria's picking up the pieces

SAN DIEGO — Bob Filner had just resigned as mayor after a summer of scandal and civic ridicule. As Filner departed in disgrace, Todd Gloria was busy.

As City Council president, Gloria became acting mayor the minute Filner departed at 5 p.m. Aug. 30. No need for a swearing-in, no time for a speech.

He immediately moved into the mayor's spacious City Hall office, posted a picture of his political hero President Harry S Truman, and put a sign on his desk with one of Truman's favorite sayings, "The buck stops here."

The city charter is vague about what powers an acting mayor can wield in the absence of an elected one.

But the 35-year-old Democrat showed immediately that he was not going to be a mere seat-warmer until voters elected a successor to Filner, who resigned amid accusations of sexually harassing women.

In his first action, Gloria overturned a Filner order that would have blocked the opening of a renovated Jack in the Box restaurant in North Park. Filner had dithered until the work was almost done, and his order would invite a lawsuit, Gloria reasoned.

Some Filner staffers were retained; others were sacked. Last-minute pay raises that Filner had granted were trimmed or eliminated.

Gloria overturned a Filner order that had blocked the city attorney's effort to close medical marijuana dispensaries. Two dozen pot shops have since been forced to shut because the city has no zoning that permits them.

For Gloria, whose style includes a self-deprecating sense of humor, the last four months have been a whirlwind.

He is a ubiquitous presence on Twitter and morning TV news shows. He meets weekly with local reporters, appearing to enjoy the banter.

He has seemingly been everywhere: at the opening of a veterinary clinic; the groundbreaking for a rental car center; a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender wedding party bazaar; and meetings of general contractors, military officers, lifeguards, the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership and the San Diego Indian American Society.

He attended holiday parades in La Jolla and Ocean Beach; a promotion ceremony for police officers; and the installation in Tijuana of a new mayor.

When professional wrestlers brought their show to town, Gloria was at their seriocomic news conference. He talked about San Diego as "a proud city, an active, athletic city" while two of the musclemen growled at each other and promised mayhem at the upcoming bout.

On Thanksgiving, Gloria was at the Salvation Army dinner. On Christmas he was at a local restaurant helping to serve disabled veterans and their families.

His comments are tailored to the individual event, but they have an overarching theme: San Diego is back, no longer the butt of late-night comedians' jokes about the "Filner headlock."

"The era of Bob Filner is over," Gloria told reporters at his pre-Christmas news conference. "Out in the community, they know we've moved on."

In mid-January, he'll give the mayor's State of the City address. Among his plans: a $120-million bond issue to fix the city's pothole-riddled streets, and a zoning ordinance to balance the needs of medical patients who need marijuana and neighborhood activists who do not want it sold near homes or schools.

Although reporters have focused on the furious six weeks between the first allegation of sexual harassment and Filner's resignation, Gloria sees the Filner debacle on a larger scale: nine months of a chaotic management style.

Key positions running city departments were left unfilled. Projects foundered amid the mayor's feuds with the business community, city attorney, City Council, media and others.

Gloria had hoped to be an ally of Filner, the city's first Democratic mayor in two decades. But soon he found himself insulted and marginalized. Other council members received much the same treatment, and city business was disrupted.

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Resolutions for better politics in the New Year

SACRAMENTO — Forty-five percent of Americans make New Year's resolutions, so I've read. And about 90% of those vows wind up being blown off.

But we're allowed to give it another try every year. It's part of the self-improvement process, a vital acknowledgment of personal flaws.

So in the interest of bettering the species — and nothing personal — I offer some 2014 resolutions for Sacramento politicians. Never mind that I have done this before and generally been ignored.

Gov. Jerry Brown should resolve to:

•Savor and bask in all the media speculation — even if it's a distant reach — about his possibly being tempted to run for president in 2016. For the fourth time.

At his age — he'll be 78 during the next presidential election — and after those earlier, ill-conceived stabs at the job, to even be mentioned is an achievement and honor. Soak it in. Smell the roses.

But Brown knows better than to take the chatter seriously. These are slow times in the news biz and political writers are scraping for anything to keep busy. He understands. Presumably.

•Be more considerate. But this seems hopeless.

Case in point: Brown continues to refuse to speak to the Sacramento Press Club, as previous governors routinely did, promoting their agenda for the coming year. It was always a sold-out luncheon for a good cause: refunding the club's scholarship program for college journalism students. This governor doesn't even bother to respond to the club's invitation.

It's not that he's too busy doing the people's work. He takes time to address special interests and rich supporters with his hand out for money to finance his 2014 reelection campaign.

Here I interrupt with a proposed resolution for fellow news types:

•Stop writing and broadcasting that Brown hasn't announced whether he'll run for a fourth term. When he's begging donors for millions to fund the race, that's enough announcement. That's running.

Back to Brown resolutions:

•Seriously rethink two potential behemoth boondoggles — the bullet train and delta tunnels — before the state gets in so deep it can't escape.

The bullet train has a $68-billion price tag with only $12 billion in sight. That's fiscally irresponsible.

The delta project is priced at $25 billion — but could soar to $60-billion-plus with interest on borrowing — and involves tearing up a garden spot to water a desert. More creative thinking is needed.

Now resolutions for legislators:

•Pass fewer laws. Address only legitimate state problems, rather than merely pumping out fodder for press releases. Each bill costs $20,000 on average to process.

The lawmakers regressed in 2013. They passed 901 bills, according to the governor's office. Brown signed 805 and vetoed 96. That's up from 2011, a comparable year in the legislative cycle. That year they passed 889. The governor signed 761 and vetoed 128.

•Conduct more of the public's business in the public light. Longer committee meetings with more public testimony. Fewer sneaky "gut-and-amend" shenanigans at the end of legislative sessions.

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Federal stance on tribal casinos touches off California fights

SACRAMENTO — Obama administration policies stimulating an expansion of tribal gambling have touched off new battles over proposed tribal casinos in California and elsewhere.

Since President Barack Obama took office, the Department of the Interior has recognized dozens of new tribes and approved requests from a handful of others to acquire land that could house a casino, contingent on deals between the tribes and their home states.

The department rejected nearly all such applications under President George W. Bush.

The federal decisions are causing a ripple effect in California, home to 109 federally recognized tribes, 62 of which already operate casinos. In the last two years, Interior officials have approved new land for two California tribes that subsequently negotiated casino deals with Gov. Jerry Brown.

One compact was ratified by state lawmakers but is threatened by a referendum, set for the statewide ballot next fall. The other accord has stalled in the Legislature amid lawmakers' concerns about the gambling expansion.

Since Obama took office in 2009, just five federal applications for new land from tribes that did not have reservations have been accepted. But dozens of others are pending, and opponents of the deals fear many more may soon be approved.

Seven such requests from California tribes are now before federal officials, according to gambling critic Cheryl Schmit, director of Stand Up California, which monitors state gambling issues. An additional 78 tribes are seeking federal recognition, according to U.S. Census data.

Lawmakers have begun to question the historic ties the tribes have to the land where they want to build these casinos, and say major gambling operators from Las Vegas and elsewhere are funding the tribes' efforts to win federal approval in exchange for future management contracts.

State Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) sent a letter to Brown last year imploring the governor to not enter into deals that would allow what he described as "off-reservation" casinos — those built on newly acquired land. Similar objections have been raised by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has written to Obama and Brown urging both leaders to halt the spread of casinos, which are inching closer to the state's urban areas.

Feinstein introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate this year that would make it harder for tribes to acquire land that could be used for a casino.

The new deals have also come under fire from leaders of tribes that operate some of the most profitable gambling halls in California. They say the compacts break a promise the tribes made to voters in promoting the 2000 ballot measure that allowed tribal casinos in the state: that the businesses would be allowed only on existing reservations.

Supporters of the newest casino plans say they are abiding by the 1988 federal law that first permitted tribal gaming, including a process for tribes to petition for new land. That provision has been used rarely — just nine times in the last 25 years.

When he announced the latest compacts, with the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians near Fresno and the Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians near Yuba City, Brown said in a letter to then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that he anticipated such deals would be the exception rather than the rule.

But lawmakers and some tribal leaders say there has been a markedly different approach to Native American issues in Washington since Obama took office, although Brown does not have to grant compacts. Under President Bush, two tribes nationwide received permission to acquire casino-eligible land, including the Fort Mojave tribe on the California-Nevada-Arizona border.

"The Obama administration has taken the bolder approach," said Michael J. Anderson, an American Indian law attorney based in Washington, D.C. "The approvals granted by the Bush administration were in cases where there was no significant opposition."

That is not the case in the two California bids the Obama administration accepted.

Voters in Yuba County tried to preempt the proposed Enterprise casino with a non-binding county vote against it in 2005. But the Department of the Interior and the Brown administration approved the deal anyway.

Enterprise leaders say local backing has grown in the eight years since that vote, and noted that dozens of local officials now support the casino plan.

"We have worked very hard with local officials and submitted more than 4,000 letters of support for our casino," said Enterprise Chairwoman Glenda Nelson.

A spokeswoman for the federal Office of Indian Gaming did not return calls for comment.

"It's remarkable how tone-deaf the administration has been to concerns expressed by members of Congress, Indian tribes and others with respect to off-reservation casinos," said Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) during a recent House hearing on the issue.

"As it is now, a tribe can buy a mall somewhere in a community, shut it down and open a gaming establishment," Feinstein testified during a congressional hearing on the issue last month.

De Leon, who ultimately voted for the North Fork compact this year, said the fate of the Enterprise accord is still uncertain. No lawmaker has introduced it in legislative form, and De Leon said he didn't know whether the deal had enough votes to win a majority.

anthony.york@latimes.com

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Judge will rule on legitimacy of jewel thief Doris Payne's bail money

A Riverside County Superior Court judge is expected to rule this week on whether the money an 83-year-old career jewel thief wants to use to post her jail bond is from a legitimate source.

The hearing over Doris Payne's $65,000 bail is scheduled for Friday. A trial readiness conference was scheduled for early February.

Payne, whose exploits have garnered international headlines, is charged with second-degree burglary and grand theft — she is accused of stealing a diamond-encrusted ring from a Palm Desert jewelry store in October — and has pleaded not guilty.

In his decision to keep Payne in custody in lieu of $65,000 bail, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard A. Erwood noted that Payne had listed her occupation on court papers as "jewelry thief" — which she had done in at least one prior arrest.

Payne's attorney, Gretchen von Helms, said she respected Erwood's decision but was disappointed. "Doris has a long history of coming back to face the music," she said.

In a preliminary hearing this month, store manager Raju Mehta testified that it was Payne who walked into El Paseo Jewelers on the morning of Oct. 21 and said she wanted to buy a necklace with a $42,000 insurance check. The woman tried on a few pieces before leaving the store, Mehta said.

Payne returned shortly after, he testified, and said she wanted to buy a necklace, earrings and a ring for her pinkie finger. Mehta said he helped the woman try on a few pieces, then moved her to a seat at a ring display case after she complained that her hip hurt.

The woman tried on several pieces — including a diamond and white gold ring valued at $22,500 — and said she would return the next morning to purchase three items, Mehta said.

That evening, he testified, he was notified by his store employees that the $22,500 ring was missing.

Store employee Jodi Clapinski testified that she realized something was wrong when she noticed a finger mount in the display case was bare.

Mehta and Clapinski each said they didn't see Payne take the ring.

Later that day, Payne walked into the Exchange, a secondhand dealer near the jewelry store, testified Michael Jacobs, whose wife owns the shop.

Jacobs said Payne asked for $1,000 for a diamond ring, a price he said he "wasn't comfortable" offering after examining the piece. He said the center diamond had "some imperfections." He offered her $800 instead.

Payne agreed to the deal and followed store protocol by signing and putting her thumbprint on a form required for sales, Jacobs testified. A copy of that form goes to police, Jacobs said, to report what items the store purchases.

Authorities came to the Exchange "shortly" after Oct. 21 to ask about the ring, Jacobs said.

The witnesses said they didn't recognize the woman who walked into their stores. It wasn't until later, they said, that they learned who she was.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

kate.mather@latimes.com

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Medi-Cal braces for New Year's jolt as Obamacare kicks in

It's one of the next big hurdles for the Obamacare rollout: What will happen when hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians shift from county health plans to the state's huge Medi-Cal system on Jan. 1?

Judging from a similar surge in 2011, patients and physicians could see plenty of problems.

Starting on New Year's Day — Wednesday — as many as a million formerly uninsured or underinsured people will begin moving onto Medi-Cal rolls and reporting to clinics and hospitals that have agreed to provide treatment at set rates.

Also for the first time, childless and healthy low-income adults will be eligible, and benefits will include mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Healthcare advocates are overjoyed about the expansion of services, which is subsidized by the federal government under the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, they recognize that this is the kind of influx that can leave patients and doctors in a lurch — confused about such things as whether a long-planned surgery is still authorized or where patients should go for prescription refills.

When 380,000 senior and disabled Medi-Cal members were gradually switched into managed care in 2011, advocates reported numerous cases in which patients suffered as doctors and health plans didn't coordinate properly to deliver necessary ongoing medications and treatments for ailments as serious as cancer, schizophrenia and diabetes. Healthcare providers struggled as well; many were assigned new patients with no way to review their medical histories.

This time, officials and healthcare providers say they hope to avoid such disruptions.

"We're using the same system we would use in an earthquake," said Louise McCarthy, chief executive of the Community Clinic Assn. of Los Angeles County, comparing the planning effort to a disaster drill. "This is going to be seismic. We have to approach it as such."

The first step in getting ahead of potential problems: making sure computer systems align.

According to the state Department of Health Services, about 400,000 Californians are likely to wind up in Medi-Cal — a $70-billion program — after applying for the first time through Covered California, the state healthcare insurance marketplace; 195,000 others have tried to sign up through county human services agencies. Those new members won't join a Medi-Cal managed care plan right away.

But more than 600,000 new Medi-Cal participants will roll over immediately from special county-based health programs formed to ease the transition to Obamacare. Using money from the Affordable Care Act, some California counties opted to start providing medical services for Medi-Cal expansion eligible patients early in 2010 so those patients could be cued up to move automatically into Medi-Cal this week. Los Angeles County's Healthy Way LA program represents more than half of this population, with 315,000 people signed up as of Nov. 30.

Planners are attempting to make sure that the state and county records for these patients match up with the enrollment rosters at the health plans contracted by Medi-Cal — giving providers at least some idea about which patients are headed their way and what their needs may be.

While some advocates fretted that the proper data weren't coming in fast enough, Amy Luftig Viste, who directs community partner programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said on Dec. 19 that she "was feeling like we're in a good place" with the process.

When Los Angeles County compared its preliminary enrollment lists to those kept by the health providers who will run Medi-Cal's managed care plan in the county, it found that the records matched for 99% of members, Viste said. Most Healthy Way LA patients are sticking with clinics and providers they visited in the past, she said.

But even if every bit of data aligns perfectly and people go to doctors who expect them, problems getting patients the care they've been promised will probably arise, she said.

California has determined that the vast majority of patients making the transition can continue seeing their current doctors — regardless of whether the providers are in their managed care networks — for 12 months. It will be up to the the health plans and providers, including L.A. County, to work out how to make that happen.

Hoping to give clinic and hospital employees tools to help, L.A. County ran training sessions to let them know what to expect starting Wednesday. The health plans Health Net and LA Care, which will run the Medi-Cal operation in the county, have staffed up for the change, creating special triage teams to handle problems.

Preparations at community clinics have been "frantic," said Cynthia Carmona, director of government and external affairs for the Community Clinic Assn. She described near-daily transition planning meetings late this month as "a sprint to get things thought through."

The clinic staff wanted a crisis plan by Christmas, she said, so her association began circulating an eight-page collection of frequently asked questions on Dec. 20.

The document attempts to answer such questions as, "What should a patient do if they were scheduled for a Department of Health Services specialty care appointment but were turned away?" "What is the pharmacy network for LA Care and Health Net?" and "How do I know my former Healthy Way LA patient successfully transitioned to Medi-Cal?"

The document also discusses failed enrollments, missing paperwork and ID cards, misidentified "medical home" assignments, physician networks, specialty and follow-up care. It comes with a list of key phone numbers for when problems arise.

Carmona has asked member clinics to report incidents starting Wednesday. The association will begin summarizing problems that arise in emails to healthcare centers starting Friday.

The bottom line, planners said, is that Medi-Cal patients should get treated no matter what.

"We're hammering home the message that continuity of care trumps everything," Viste said.

McCarthy, of the Community Clinics Assn., was on board — if still concerned.

"If we can't figure out your coverage, you'll still get cared for," she said. "Whether we can figure out if we'll get paid for it, that's a big question there."

eryn.brown@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATerynbrown

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Community pushes for stoplight at intersection where teen was killed

Yaneth Palencia wrote a petition to the city's transportation department in 2005, urging officials to install a traffic signal or stop sign at the crosswalk near Normandie Avenue and 42^nd Street in her neighborhood, south of downtown.

"We note that cars driving on that street, often, exceed the legal posted speed limit and that accidents have occurred in the past," wrote Palencia, who was worried that someone would eventually get killed trying to cross the busy street.

"I never thought it would be my nephew," she said.

Nathaniel Mota, 16, died after being hit by a car while crossing Normandie near 42^nd Place in September. He was leaving a Friday night youth group meeting at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, about two miles south of USC. Mota flew about four car lengths after being struck by a white Nissan Maxima; the driver took off, according to witnesses. Mota was pronounced dead at the scene, and police have not found the suspect.

More than 2,000 cars drive through that intersection each hour during peak travel times, according to city officials.

After the accident, church members again petitioned city leaders to put in a stoplight. Department of Transportation engineers recommended installing the light along with signs and pavement markings, but officials say it could take years and cost up to $200,000.

"People are asking me: 'Father, Father, what is going on?' And I tell them I don't know," Father Jorge Ochoa of St. Cecilia said.

L.A. City Councilman Curren Price's staff had met with church officials about traffic issues the day of Mota's death, and Price introduced a motion in October calling for a pedestrian-activated sidewalk with flashing lights at the intersection. Price said he wants the sidewalk to be installed within six months and a full traffic light to be put in as quickly as possible.

"It is absolutely unacceptable to think that people have been asking for assistance with this intersection for years now with no response and I intend to do everything I can to change that," Price said in a statement. "I do not want to wait any longer than we have to and risk someone else getting hurt."

According to relatives, Mota enjoyed spending his Friday nights in church.

The senior at Verbum Dei High School had attended services since he was a child and was confirmed two years ago. "His faith was very important to him," said his mother, Lissette Mota.

At school, the teenager was known for being affectionate, said his friend, Brandon Williams. "Every time he saw you, he'd give you a big hug and wrap you up," Williams said. "It was cool."

Mota was an avid reader who went through three books weekly, according to his family. He had read everything in the "Harry Potter" and "Hunger Games" series and enjoyed science fiction books and movies. He was a bit of a Star Wars snob, believing that the original three films were the best, and was wary of the planned movies being produced by Disney.

"He was skeptical they could pull it off," Williams said.

Mota was beginning to apply to colleges and was considering Cal State Northridge, where he would be close to his aunt, Williams said.

Mota's family and friends say they are willing to help raise funds for the traffic light. His mother said she has forgiven whoever was driving the car that killed her son and hopes that a stoplight will be part of her son's legacy.

"I hope his death prevents another," she said.

jason.song@latimes.com

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Rim fire losses between $250 million and $1.8 billion, study finds

A recent study commissioned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission estimates that damage from the Rim fire to the natural environment and to property values could total about $250 million to $1.8 billion.

The preliminary assessment released last month places dollar amounts on losses in "environmental benefits," carbon storage and the asset value of property near where the fire burned.

Researchers from Earth Economics found losses in environmental benefits of $100 million to $736 million, in carbon storage of $102 million to $797 million, and in private property values of $49.7 million to $265 million.

David Batker, executive director of Earth Economics, said researchers couldn't or didn't estimate some issues, such as the fire's effect on the water supply or loss of health because of poorer air quality. He added that the results are based on satellite data taken when the fire was only 84% contained.

As a result, he said, the estimates were "very, very conservative."

"The actual damage will be larger," he said. "No doubt about it."

The 410-square-mile fire — the state's third-largest on record — was sparked Aug. 17 by a hunter's illegal campfire in the Stanislaus National Forest. It scorched swaths of forest, burning into the northwest part of Yosemite National Park before being fully contained in late October.

Experts at the time said the ecological effects of the blaze would probably last for decades, as massive trees were wiped out and habitats of rare species were severely altered. Officials have since debated the best way to handle the largest recovery effort the Sierra Nevada has seen.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration this month for the state of California, making federal funds available for recovery efforts related to the Rim fire. The Earth Economics report was included in Gov. Jerry Brown's request for the disaster declaration.

On Friday, Alison Anja Kastama, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the inclusion of the report "supports the recognition of natural capital values."

"By assessing the impacts of the Rim fire, this report highlights the greater dollar value we can assign to our natural lands, which are a critical portion of our water system," she said.

Batker said federal agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service must now conduct cost-benefit analyses before embarking on projects. Spending a few million dollars on tree-thinning in the Stanislaus National Forest, he said, may appear more appetizing when the costs of fire damage to the environment are better known.

"There is a sea change right now for federal agencies," he said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

matt.stevens@latimes.com

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2013: A great year for scandal, incompetence and corruption

In more ways than one, I'm sorry to see 2013 fade into the books. Thanks to a steady run of incompetence, corruption and bungling by various public officials, it was a banner year for local news in Greater Los Angeles.

In other ways, I can't wait for 2014 to begin, because several of this year's cliffhangers are likely to play out in coming months.

Can Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca get reelected, yet again, after having a far worse year than "Duck Dynasty"?

Will 2014 be the year we finally find out what two mysterious nonprofits, jointly operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, did with $40 million of ratepayer money?

More on those debacles in a moment.

But first, 2013 served to remind us of the value of putting eyeballs on public officials at all times, if not doing their jobs for them.

Los Angeles County officials launched a review after my colleague Garrett Therolf exposed cases of foster children maimed or murdered after being placed in the care of guardians working for private foster agencies despite having criminal records.

Los Angeles City Council members called for a review of seismic safety enforcement after a Times report — by Ron Lin, Rosanna Xia and Doug Smith — that more than 1,000 concrete buildings could be unsafe and that city officials have known about and largely ignored the risks for more than 40 years.

State regulators finally went after a Vernon battery recycler after Times reporters Jessica Garrison and Kim Christensen reported on dangerous arsenic emissions. The same duo, along with reporter Ben Poston, wrote about students vomiting and teachers gasping for breath at a school near a toxic dump site and about how state regulators failed to monitor the transportation and disposal of toxic waste.

Earlier this month, reporters Joel Rubin and Catherine Saillant reported that Los Angeles officials had approved a $6-million payout to police officers who accused their LAPD supervisors of imposing a ticket-writing quota on them and punishing them when they objected.

In 2013, Howard Blume has been all over an L.A. Unified School District in which political feuding and a botched attempt to hand every student an iPad may have factored into the resignation of a top deputy to Supt. John Deasy, who also threatened to resign. We still don't know why school officials agreed to the $1-billion iPad rollout with little planning and no explanation for buying unfinished software.

And this is the year in which the kingpins of the Bell corruption scandal — former city administrator Robert Rizzo and his top assistant Angela Spaccia — got fitted for prison jumpsuits. The most delicious detail in the entire saga, exposed by Times reporters Ruben Vives and Jeff Gottlieb, was a warning from Spaccia to the incoming police chief. Don't get too greedy, she told him in a city where the chief executive's salary was roughly twice that of President Obama's, because "pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered."

Speaking of which, more charges were added in October to the stack of accusations against Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez. Out on bail, Noguez continues to receive his $200,000 salary while on leave and awaiting trial for a scheme that allegedly cost taxpayers as much as $10 million in lost revenue.

And now here's a little pop quiz for you:

What did Sheriff Baca do 18 days after his current and former staffers were indicted on charges of beating jail inmates and a few days after Times scribes Robert Faturechi and Ben Poston reported that Baca's department had hired dozens of officers it knew to have seriously tarnished records?

A. Ran a half-marathon.

B. Apologized for his chronic failures.

C. Resigned in shame.

D. Hosted a reelection fundraiser.

The correct answer is D, and I'd like to tell you more, but I was turned away when I tried to crash the party.

22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Veterinary nonprofit tends to animals in wake of Typhoon Haiyan

As aid workers from around the world descended on the Philippines to help the people hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan last month, Springer Browne headed toward the devastation for a different reason: the animals.

The 31-year-old Newport Beach native made the trip as a volunteer for World Vets, a sort of veterinary equivalent of the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, which provides urgent medical care worldwide.

World Vets sends veterinarians to work with animals around the world through various projects based on an area's needs. The nonprofit is one of just a few international aid organizations founded specifically for veterinary health.

"Most people were super-excited" to have medication and food for their pets, he said.

For many, Browne added, the emotion was about more than preserving creature companionship.

"Animals are their livelihood," he said.

Browne spent about a month traveling through storm-ravaged cities and farming villages in the Philippines, dispensing vaccines or patching up animals wounded by flying sheet metal.

But, he said in a phone interview, "a lot of it was just talking to farmers about animal husbandry."

That kind of long-term impact — achieved through education and outreach — is one of World Vets' major goals, said founder and Chief Executive Cathy King. Overall, she said, projects vary widely.

"Each country identifies what kind of veterinary health needs they have," she said. "It might be education in one country, then vaccinating water buffalo. The next might be a spay-neuter campaign."

Sure, King said, part of the organization's disaster relief work entails "rescuing puppies in crushed buildings," but response teams also make a point of addressing veterinary health issues that could become public health issues — such as controlling diseases that can be passed from animals to humans.

For instance, she said, in Philippine cities such as Tacloban, rabies was a particular problem.

King said the organization's corps of more than 1,000 vets has responded to project requests in 39 countries since she started World Vets with a donation jar on the counter of her Washington vet clinic in 2006. Although the organization receives some grant funding and donations, typically volunteers pay their own travel expenses.

Browne, who grew up with turtles, mice and "slightly illegal" chickens — along with six older siblings — on Lido Isle, said he had wanted to be a vet since he was a kid.

His studies and research have taken him to such far-flung locales as Dublin, Ireland, for school; Kenya to research diseases afflicting camels and humans; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to work with falcons; and St. Louis, where he did research at the zoo.

Then, having already traveled last March to Ecuador for one of World Vets' spay-neuter programs, and with plans to move to New Zealand to research E. coli for his doctorate delayed, Browne said he was "looking for something to do, frankly."

He contacted World Vets and shortly after was on a plane to the Philippines, where he teamed up with Danish vet Helle Hydeskov.

Though the level of destruction left by the storm was striking, Browne said the generosity and determination of the people in its wake were encouraging.

And for Browne, getting to know exotic fauna is always fascinating.

Carabaos, a kind of water buffalo, are "pretty neat animals," he said.

"They're so giant, but very mellow."

jill.cowan@latimes.com

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Boyle Heights' Casa del Mexicano is rising again

If the building could speak, its stories would be of galas and ghosts, of rats and lucha libre matches, of decades-long feuds.

The Casa del Mexicano, an 82-year-old cultural center in Boyle Heights, recently reopened its doors for this year's Christmas posadas. A year ago, it had narrowly escaped foreclosure.

It's a long and tangled story, one that few carolers knew as they ascended the iconic stairway, bringing the lime-and-lemon-colored building back to life with guitar strums and candlelight.

"Wow," said Elvira Muro, 53, taking her seat inside. She craned her neck to admire the 50-foot ceilings, the cupola and balcony. "It feels like home, like Mexico."

Families gathered around poinsettia-topped tables to hear fandango and other musical performances. They ate pozole, tamales and pan dulce.

Many had never set foot inside the building. They knew it existed, but they had little idea what went on inside.

The history of Casa del Mexicano is hard to piece together.

The nonprofit was established in 1931 by the Mexican Consulate under the name Comite de Beneficencia Mexicana Inc. The center aimed to support Mexicans during the Great Depression, when many were being forced to return south, blamed for stealing Americans' jobs.

Over the years, it became a place of prestige.

Mexican dignitaries and celebrities visited. They danced in pearls and bow ties to raise money for programs. In the 1960s, former Mexican President Miguel Aleman put the Casa del Mexicano at the top of his list of places to visit in Los Angeles. Educational classes, donation drives and disaster relief fundraisers staged there helped thousands.

But by the 1990s, trouble had set in.

Organizers fought each other for control of the property. There were smear campaigns and feuds involving armed men and chain saws. Responsibility for the building switched hands so often, it became dilapidated. The roof leaked, windows were broken, rats ran wild.

In 2004, a married couple took over. Martha Soriano became president of the organization; her husband, Ruben, was the treasurer. They reported to a board of community members.

Martha Soriano promised to restore Casa del Mexicano's educational and outreach programs. And she did — to some degree.

But there were rumors in the community that the couple were not managing the Casa as a nonprofit. People complained that the Sorianos were making money, lots of it, off the building.

Nearly every weekend, they rented out the cavernous space for quinceañeras, weddings and lucha libre matches. They held a swap meet in the run-down parking lot, charging vendors for each space. They allowed ghost hunters to regularly tour the site, for a fee.

In addition, the couple took out a $175,000 loan against the property, some say illegally. They then fell behind on the payments.

In 2011, a group of community critics alerted the state, and an investigation was launched.

The Sorianos said they were the victims of a bad economy. They took out the loan — with the board's permission, they said — to make repairs on the building. But between what the couple called an unfairly high interest rate and a mix-up in the county that sent property taxes soaring, the Casa was mired even deeper in trouble.

In order to pay a mounting stack of bills, Martha Soriano said, they were forced to regularly hold events.

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Claremont church Nativity scene replaces Jesus with Trayvon Martin

On the lawn of a Claremont church, just like at many churches at this time of year, cutouts of wise men on camelback head toward a makeshift stable, a meager wooden structure where Mary and Joseph have huddled inside.

But instead of an infant Jesus cradled in his mother's arms, the Nativity at Claremont United Methodist Church — the creation of congregant and artist John Zachary — features a depiction of Trayvon Martin slumped over in his hoodie, a pool of his blood spreading over a bed of straw.

For several years, Zachary has brought his artistic interpretations of the Nativity — as well as the occasional controversy — to the church, as he used a scene that traditionally conveys themes of joy and innocence to spread messages of social justice. Over the last few years, his installations have touched on homelessness, poverty and acceptance of gay families.

He decided over the summer that this year's scene would include the Florida teenager whose shooting death captured the nation's attention. Zachary said he wanted to draw a parallel between rampant gun violence and the dark time in which Jesus was born.

"He was, in my view, an innocent child like the innocent children killed by King Herod," Zachary, 57, said of Martin. "I think the Nativity has to be relevant to our time. I think Jesus is a symbol of hope and I think he has to be seen in today's context."

But what he sees as a respectful, if provocative, way to stir conversation has others fuming. Ever since the Nativity got national attention last week, when a local newspaper's story went viral, the church has been bombarded with phone calls, emails and Facebook messages.

The scene, which will remain in place through Jan. 5, has been blasted as "sacrilege" and an "abomination."

"How sad to replace the Savior in the nativity scene," one person posted on Facebook. "What kind of church is this??? I pray that you will understand the real reason for the season..."

"No Christian I know would ever disparage Jesus Christ with such a repulsive image," wrote another. "I would never attend your church as a fellow Methodist and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

The Rev. Dan Lewis, a pastor at the church, said he feared many of those complaining had seen only the photographs that had spread online but hadn't read the statement by Zachary on a placard next to it, explaining his vision. The scene was meant to do more than shock people, he said, but instead be thought-provoking.

"Nothing is done flippantly here," Lewis said. "It's got great thought, great depth and great meaning."

Lewis said some members of the congregation disagree with the Nativity, and he was hesitant when he first saw Zachary's renderings. Zachary admitted that even he had some doubts.

"I have had reservations, although I have come to think that it's the right way to do it," he said. "I feel a little sad that some people are so outraged about it."

Around dusk on Friday, Moni Law pulled up to the scene with her son, Matthew Law-Phipps. Law, a housing counselor in Berkeley, had grown up in Claremont, and when she went back to visit family for Christmas, she would go see Zachary's work. "It pulled at your heart and your mind," she said.

"God calls us to speak truth to the reality of the world," she said. "Why would we ignore this travesty of justice?"

Law-Phipps, a 22-year-old Loyola Marymount film student, said he saw something that was more personal than political, and more about violence than race.

"That is brave," he said. "It's very blatant. Subtlety isn't at work here.… I will say, it got our attention."

As mother and son stood back, taking in a Nativity scene caked in blood and talking about violence, he figured that's exactly what the artist intended.

rick.rojas@latimes.com

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Coliseum incurred big expense in trying to keep USC lease talks secret

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was flirting with insolvency, but that didn't stop its government overseers from incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses to keep secret their deliberations on a new long-term lease for the stadium.

For more than a year, the Coliseum Commission fought an open-government lawsuit that challenged the legality of the closed-door talks on USC's lease of the historic venue. The suit also sought to make records related to the deal public.

After losing the court battle, the commission had to pay about $415,000 in legal expenses incurred by the plaintiffs in the case, the Los Angeles Times and a 1st Amendment group called Californians Aware. The award, paid last week, is one of the largest ever granted under the state's transparency statutes, experts said.

The commission was also forced to give The Times hundreds of pages of Coliseum emails. Their contents support critics who said stadium officials worked closely with USC to limit scrutiny of the deliberations while drafting a lease that favored the private university at the expense of the taxpayers who own the Coliseum.

The emails, along with others obtained earlier under the California Public Records Act, show the Coliseum's top executive granting nearly every wish USC had for the negotiations and then helping the university build and maintain political support for the lease.

The lease won final approval from the Coliseum's landlord, the California Science Center, in September.

The emails between Coliseum executive John Sandbrook and USC administrators, which cover the four months of talks on principal terms of the lease, feature none of the bargaining-table tensions that are typical of such negotiations. The documents show Sandbrook and commissioners deferring to USC on matters of transparency; at the school's insistence, they signed a confidentiality agreement barring both sides from discussing the negotiations publicly.

In January 2012, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, a commissioner, wrote to Sandbrook that a special public hearing on the lease before the panel voted on it "is a must!"

USC Senior Vice President Todd Dickey, who also received the email, responded: "If you want us to hold an open house … and listen to 500 people speak for 5 hours, and maybe answer a few questions, I guess we can do that, but I see no value in that at all."

Knabe and Sandbrook dropped the idea of a special public hearing. Knabe was unavailable for comment, a spokesman said. Sandbrook and Dickey did not respond to requests for comment.

The lease talks, which began in 2011, were in stark contrast to the commission's negotiations with USC four years earlier, when the panel flatly rejected many of the school's proposals.

But the more recent discussions came as a corruption scandal unfolded in the Coliseum's management ranks. The controversy exposed the stadium's weak financial underpinnings and proved embarrassing to the commission.

As a result, a majority of the panel members, who represent the city, the Board of Supervisors and governor's office, opted to get out of the stadium management business and renegotiate their existing 25-year lease with USC, whose football team plays at the Coliseum.

The redrawn, 98-year agreement gave USC almost total control of the Coliseum and neighboring Sports Arena and nearly all revenue from the properties, including those from the sale of naming rights and advertising.

In return, the school picked up the commission's annual rent to the state for the Coliseum land, which starts at $1 million, and promised to spend at least $70 million on stadium improvements.

The Times first asked for the Sandbrook-USC emails in February 2012. The commission produced some later that year but said the rest were exempt from disclosure because they involved confidential real estate negotiations.

The commission also rejected The Times' position that the closed deliberations violated California's Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires the government to do its business in public.

In July 2012, The Times and Californians Aware sued. In October of this year, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin found that the commission repeatedly violated the records law and Brown Act. He also determined that Sandbrook testified falsely in connection with his claim that secrecy was warranted because of the threat of a lawsuit by USC.

In a deposition, Sandbrook said the commission's public agendas included references to closed-door discussions of a possible lawsuit by USC. However, the panel's internal records showed no such discussions.

Lavin ordered the commission to release the emails and other documents and record all its closed-door meetings for three years.

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At this Pasadena club, moms learn English along with kids

For Maricela Ruiz, a trip to the store to pick up a few groceries or to her daughter's school felt nearly impossible.

"I'd go home crying," said Ruiz, 37.

She couldn't speak English, and after a few failed attempts at communication, began to wait for her husband to come home to help her run errands. For Ruiz, who moved from Mexico to Pasadena two years ago, the language barrier proved isolating.

But a year ago Ruiz joined Mother's Club Family Learning Center, a nonprofit in Pasadena that provides English classes to mothers and their children.

Today, Ruiz says she feels independent and no longer trapped by her inability to speak English. Now, she's trying to improve her language skills enough to go to college.

"I feel fortunate to have a place here," Ruiz says.

Mother's Club, which was founded in 1961, serves more than 100 families — mothers and preschool-age children — who attend English classes every day.

Although there are other preschool programs for kids, Mother's Club's multi-generational approach is unique, said Executive Director Hector LaFarga Jr.

The philosophy of Mother's Club revolves around the idea that the mother is a "child's first and most

influential teacher," he said.

Ruiz said her 4-year-old daughter, who used to cry when she heard TV in English, is now bilingual.

"Sometimes we see a movie in English and she translates for me," Ruiz said.

Through the generosity of Times readers and a match by the McCormick Foundation, $424,500 was granted to local literacy programs this year as a result of the Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign.

The Holiday Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund, raises contributions to support established literacy programs run by nonprofit organizations that serve low-income children, adults and families who are reading below grade levels, at risk of illiteracy or who have limited English proficiency.

Donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law and matched at 50 cents on the dollar. Donor information is not traded or published without permission. Donate online at latimes.com/donate or by calling (800) 518-3975. All gifts will receive a written acknowledgment.

soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com

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Northern California counties revive an old idea for a breakaway state

YREKA, Calif. — Farmers, ranchers and onetime loggers were among those who packed a church community room here in August to listen to a former state lawmaker convey his vision of a cleaved — and more governable — California.

The theme was familiar, the resonance deep for those convinced that relentless regulation is strangling the economy of this northern border county. But this time, a tall man sporting a baseball cap stood up with a challenge.

"Are we just going to go have an ice cream and complain?" said Mark Baird, a pilot of 747 cargo planes who with his wife runs a cattle ranch and the local radio station. "Or are we going to do something about it?"

Within two weeks, Baird had crafted a declaration in support of the breakaway State of Jefferson and placed it on the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors agenda. It was approved a week later on a 4-1 vote.

And with that, a movement that has waxed and waned for 150 years was born again.

Neighboring Modoc County's supervisors soon clamored for a similar declaration, and also voted "yea"; the Tehama County board agreed to put the matter to voters; and organizing committees sprang up in seven other counties.

The State of Jefferson flag — which dates to a 1941 effort — is now flown from the Nevada border west to the Pacific Ocean and as far south as Yuba City. (It features a gold pan with two X's, for the double-crossing purportedly dealt to residents of Northern California and southern Oregon by their respective seats of state government.)

Baird rattles off the movement's rationale: An independent state would deliver local control to a region whose residents have long chafed under Sacramento's rules, feel alienated from urban culture and believe in greater push-back against an overreaching federal government.

Most notably, supporters say, it would provide stronger representation to a swath of counties so sparsely populated that their collective voice is now lost in the breathtaking landscape of mountains, rivers and alfalfa-dotted valleys.

"All we want is the right to determine our own future," Baird said. "This is for our children, and their children."

Majority votes are required in the state Legislature and U.S. Congress for separation to occur. The last state to do so was West Virginia — in 1863 — and dozens of regions across the U.S. have since seen their efforts fizzle, most recently last month when just five of 11 Colorado counties voted to form an independent state.

But in the northern rural counties of California, the idea has widespread backing from frustrated residents craving economic opportunity and control.

"We are staking our futures on our ability to live and thrive in this area," said Kayla Nicole Brown of Redding, a 23-year-old student of early American history who has become a leader in Shasta County's movement for the sake of her 10-month-old son, Hunter. "And if we can't, we have to leave."

::

In Yreka's Palace Barber Shop, a State of Jefferson flag hangs near heads of bear and elk, and a tiny stuffed Bigfoot doubles as cheerleader, a sign proclaiming Jefferson "the 51st State" in its hand.

Owner John Lisle, 55, chats easily about California's "growing urban/rural divide." As he rattled off obstacles to those "making a living off the environment" on a recent evening, a young customer weighed in.

"I think we should do it," blurted Isaiah Solus, 14, a descendant of Siskiyou County pioneers from Portugal. "We're a whole different part of the state. We need our own water, we need our own rules.... We need a whole different set of things than the city people."

The menu of grievances includes a proposal to remove Klamath River dams, a crackdown on gold dredging and a fire prevention fee for rural areas that has been challenged in the courts as a tax.

They are recited in the remotest pockets, where the movement's talking points have spread thanks to Facebook and websites devoted to the cause.

The Scott Valley stretches green and languorous in the shadow of the pristine Marble Mountains. Punky Hayden, 72, was born here the year the movement first sparked, and his father, a county supervisor, spoke of it often.

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Korean War POW finally laid to rest

Sixty-three years after his capture during the Korean War, Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt was laid to rest Saturday in an Inglewood cemetery with full military honors in the presence of his widow.

Clara Gantt, 94, said she was happy that she had lived long enough to bury her husband.

"I wish it could have been earlier, but it's one of those things," she said. "I just prayed to the Lord to let me live to receive him, and he did."

Gantt was taken prisoner defending his unit's position near Kunu-ri, Korea, in 1950 and presumed dead. His remains were only recently identified and returned to his wife, who never remarried.

During Saturday's celebration of his homecoming, some spoke of Sgt. Gantt's good character and bravery and his wife's enduring strength and devotion.

"Not only did one come home, but one fought a good fight down here," said Pastor Lamont Leonard. "Love is Mother Gantt," he continued, and, reading from Corinthians: "Love is patient."

Other speakers praised Clara Gantt as a woman of true faith who trusted God to bring home "one of Inglewood's own heroes."

"They don't make 'em like you anymore," Mayor James Butts said, his words met with cheers.

Ozell Edwards, 58, Clara Gantt's nephew, said he's never seen his aunt break down like she did when her husband's casket arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in the early morning hours of Dec. 20. His remains were among those returned to the U.S. by a South Korean citizen and were identified at a forensics lab in Honolulu, according to the Defense Prisoner Of War/Missing Personnel Office.

"It's been a long road. I've been hearing about it all my life," Edwards said. "We didn't think this was ever going to happen."

Standing in front of his casket at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Clara Gantt laughed as she fondly remembered her husband, an understanding man. She loved being married, she said.

"We understood one another," she said. "Anything I said, it was agreeable. Anything he said, it was agreeable. We just loved each other."

When he reenlisted, she told him, "I see you love the service, I will not hinder you. That's your life. Wherever you go, I will go."

"And that's the way it was," she said.

Frank Aragon, a volunteer with the Patriot Guard Riders, said he felt honored despite the sadness to be a part of such a special service. Members of the motorcade, including dozens of other veterans, came from as far away as Ventura and San Diego to pay their respects.

"We know what it's like, and we like to welcome our heroes home," said Aragon, a 69-year-old Vietnam War veteran.

Lt. Col. Solomon Jamerson, who also attended the funeral, said he was listening to NPR when he heard Sgt. Gantt's remains had been found and were being returned to his widow.

"I said, 'Oh! That's Joe!' " the 86-year-old recalled, eyes gleaming with the memory.

Jamerson, who served with Gantt in Korea, remembered the man as eager to help a "young greenhorn" learn the ropes.

"He pitched in and helped me to overcome the mysteries of guiding the unit, taking care of artillery pieces and so forth," Jamerson said. "I thank God for the closure this has brought to Clara's family."

Gary Boyle celebrated his 65^th birthday in the church, with a family he had never met but with whom he felt a deep connection. He said his mother waited decades for news of his father after he was shot down in Korea in 1951. She never got word. He's still waiting.

With nearly 8,000 service members still missing from the Korean War, he said, receiving remains is like winning the lottery.

"What are the odds?" said Boyle, who is a board member of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs.

"To me, this is the greatest gift I could have, to see a wife receive him back, something I wanted for my mother for 60 some years," Boyle said at the service, wearing a brown flight jacket that read MIA on the back, in memory of his father. "We honor you, we love you, you're so admired, I can't begin to say."

Dozens of veterans, some in uniform, others holding flowers, gathered at the grave site to pay their respects to a fallen brother in what today is commonly referred to as the "forgotten war."

Just as the casket was raised to be moved into its crypt, Clara Gantt stood and with the help of her niece slowly made her way to her husband's side. She spoke to him a moment, then leaned forward to kiss him goodbye.

samantha.schaefer@latimes.com

nt, then leaned forward to kiss him goodbye.

samantha.schaefer@latimes.com

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Tet Festival organizers hope to lure more crowds to new venue

Organizers of the largest Tet Festival in the U.S. — an event long linked with Garden Grove — are not only moving the event, but also undertaking a robust marketing campaign in hopes of luring more immigrants and vendors to the festival's new home at the Orange County fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

For weeks, a team led by Nina Tran, president of the Union of Vietnamese Students Assns., which organizes the festival, scoured neighboring cities for a replacement venue after Garden Grove officials demanded more money to help host the event.

"We really wanted to be closer to the Vietnamese community, but this is our best option," Tran said of the fairgrounds. "It's a great space and the staff has been so supportive to work with."

The Lunar New Year celebration will run Feb. 7-9, 2014, at the O.C. Fair & Event Center.

Vietnamese Americans applauded the news on social media; many supporters had worried about where the festival would be staged.

"It's an ideal solution," said John Truong of Santa Ana, a regular at the Tet Festival for the last decade. He attends with his extended family, who come from Texas and Australia. "It's not exactly in Little Saigon, but it's close enough and we won't have trouble with parking."

Indeed, Tran cites ample parking as one of the advantages of the new venue. She and Billy Le, former president of the student group, toured the fairgrounds last year before negotiations with Garden Grove officials turned difficult last fall.

Garden Grove Councilwoman Dina Nguyen said the festival cost the city nearly $1.2 million over the last 11 years, a figure organizers said seemed inflated. The City Council had asked organizers to provide financial statements from previous events, with Mayor Bruce Broadwater angry that he could not see a detailed accounting of expenses.

Negotiations for the 2014 celebration involved a public meeting in September that drew hundreds to Garden Grove City Hall, with community activists pleading with council members to keep the "largest Tet festival in the free world" where it is.

Contract talks ended in late October, leading Tran's team to begin scouting spots in Westminster and Santa Ana, looking at mall space, parks and a civic center. Some community members urged the group to return the event to Westminster, birthplace of Little Saigon and a city next door to Garden Grove.

"We have the Tet parade — why not the Tet Festival?" Westminster City Councilman Sergio Contreras wondered. "I remember going to the festival years ago — just right here — and it would be great to welcome them home."

Tran said she would have preferred to stay close, but Westminster lacked a venue that could hold crowds that can reach more than 50,000 during the three days of festivities.

"We wanted to keep it central to the Vietnamese population," she said, "and we understand that older adults may not have the means to attend as it's a bit far away" at the fairgrounds.

While her team works on security details with Costa Mesa police and the Orange County Sheriff's Department, organizers will also look into busing people from Little Saigon to the fairgrounds.

"We have festival vendors totally geared toward the Vietnamese population, but we also have vendors seeing this as an opportunity to connect with other populations," Tran said of the venue change. "We've been very blessed — and we feel welcomed" working with fairgrounds staff.

ahn.do@latimes.com

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