California cities struggle with implications of homeless ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear an appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruling limiting when homeless people can be arrested in California and eight other Western states has left lawmakers who want a crackdown over the homeless’ negative effects on quality of life not even sure what that might look like.
In 2018, the San Francisco-based appellate court threw out a broadly written Boise, Idaho, law allowing arrests for sleeping in public, holding that if there were no shelter beds available, this was a cruel and unusual punishment. But dozens of local governments submitted or co-signed amicus briefs to the Supreme Court arguing that the decision was murky at best. One oft-cited example: If a city has fewer shelter beds than its homeless population, is the city automatically blocked from arresting those sleeping in public?
Some Los Angeles officials fear that’s a likely interpretation.
“The [Boise case] language, rather than citing clear principles where constitutional questions are at stake, makes local jurisdictions vulnerable to lawsuits as they struggle to achieve a balance between the legitimate rights and interests of homeless people and the legitimate rights and interests of other residents and businesses,” City Attorney Mike Feuer told The New York Times.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas called the ruling “ambiguous and confusing” and said in a statement released by his office that the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the appeal “handicaps cities and counties from acting nimbly to aid those perishing on the streets, exacerbating unsafe and unhealthy conditions that negatively affect our most vulnerable residents.”
Large homeless camps called ‘untenable’
It was Ridley-Thomas in September who signaled the arrival of a backlash on homelessness by breaking dramatically with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has called for a compassion-first approach to what he calls “the moral and humanitarian crisis of our time.”
After persuading L.A. County supervisors to vote 3-2 to support filing an amicus brief backing Boise’s appeal, Ridley-Thomas issued a statement saying the status quo in which the city and county accept massive homeless encampments is “untenable. … We need to call this what it is — a state of emergency — and refuse to resign ourselves to a reality where people are allowed to live in places not fit for human habitation.”
Until then, Ridley-Thomas had been seen as a supporter of the view touted by Democrats like Garcetti and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who argue that homelessness can be sharply reduced with the patient, smart use of public resources. Earlier this year, Newsom had named Ridley-Thomas to be part of his state commission on homelessness.
The fear that the Boise ruling would destroy the quality of life in cities with substantial homeless populations was a focus of Boise’s appeal, which was prepared by the Los Angeles-based Gibson Dunn law firm. “Nothing in the Constitution … requires cities to surrender their streets, sidewalks, parks, riverbeds and other public areas to vast encampments,” the appeal asserted.
San Francisco official downplays impact of ruling
While they were outnumbered by lawmakers who feared the worst, some local officials in San Francisco and Oakland were less alarmed with the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to pass on the Boise case.
In interpreting the appellate court’s 2018 ruling, these officials concluded they had the open-ended right to clear encampments that posed clear health and safety risks — so long as they notified those in encampments ahead of time that the camps are going to be cleared and offered the homeless storage for their belongings.
Jeff Kositsky, chief of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he considered the Supreme Court’s action to be a “nonissue.”
Seventy-five miles to the east, Sacramento officials were far more concerned. They fear the upholding of the Boise ruling will interfere with local governments’ efforts to remove the homeless camps that have frequently sprung up in flood-prone areas, especially by the American River in Sacramento.
27 comments
Write a comment
Related Articles
Lawmakers Like Prop 25
SEPT. 27, 2010 By KATY GRIMES Proposition 25 has many of the state’s legislators up in arms, but for very
Union funding endangered by pending Supreme Court case
The average K-12 teacher in California pays at least $30,000 in union dues over the course of a 30-year career,
Should state hike park fees?
AUG. 11, 2010 By KATY GRIMES Even with recent hefty park fee hikes, a battle between supporters of state funded
This issue has reached the crisis stage. If our fearless leaders do not respond to this crisis appropriately we will be facing even worse problems down the road. And maybe not that very far down the road.
The Enablers have had their say. Their policies don’t work. It’s time now to screen first, offer assistance & housing second, and third, the boot to those who refuse to avail themselves of the assistance offered. People should be held accountable. Nobody has a right to violate the rights of others, no matter what their story is.
Your comment makes so much sense it has no place in Crazyfornia these days
You are exactly right. What you said may sound crazy but it’s because what is happening in California is crazy. The Enablers have created this crisis. Since they created it, and they are the ones running the state, they should be made to stop ignoring it and solve it. California state leaders in Sacramento are always saying Cali has the 8th largest economy on earth. They waste billions of dollars on insane “programs.” However, people are stepping on poop on their way to work and homeless people are sleeping on sidewalks because they have no where to do.
Comrades
An early policy in Nazi Germany was remove permanently disabled etc. from society. Perhaps our courts feared a repeat.
A compassionate move of the homeless to military bases for temporary nutrition, mental and physical evaluation and care, grooming, dental and eye care, a small wardrobe of clothes…..
What is wrong with that?
An organized, military approach would work wonders for many of society ills!
This volunteer, charity or bloated grant systems are failing miserably.
Some of the most incompetent whoever lived administer homeless outreach in California.
I have been homeless by no fault of my own, just life’s circumstances and contrary to popular belief we are not all criminals, drug attacks or bums or out here by choice. I am sick of all societies problems being blamed on the homeless and a lot of times by nameless people who leave comments on sites like this.Their answer to the situation is just make them go somewhere else so we don’t catch anything from them. Believe it or not most of us have worked hard all our lives and never thought this would be our lives, especially in our later years , but due to uncontrollable circumstances here we are. And all you holier than thou people need to realize that this could be you. Anything can happen. Now they are trying to criminalize homelessness. We just plain and simple don’t have the income to pay those greedy landlords what they’re asking for their dumps. We have done nothing wrong and have nowhere to go. Listen here STANDING FAST(who doesn’t even have the guts to put their name) the help you’re talking about is a waiting list years and even decades long if you can even get on the list because it’s a lottery system. What good is temporary housing? When your time is up you’re in worse shape than before because it’s that much harder to be out here on the street. Maybe all the complainers should get off their couch and come up with a solution. Or maybe they should be the ones to leave. You don’t hear any homeless people complaining because you have a house. Or because they don’t like the color of it or the tree you planted. All the money these cities have spent trying to make us criminals for just trying to survive the best we can they could have built those tiny houses for everyone in the country. Those shipping containers can be converted into really cute houses and they can be stacked to accommodate more people in a smaller space. They would also be a fast solution because they wouldn’t have to be built. Or if they don’t have the compassion to do that they could designate an area where the homeless could pitch their tents or park their cars or RVs or whatever they have. They could put portable bathrooms and dumpsters and a place for RVS to dump the waste. Then all the high and mighties wouldn’t have to look at us. I shouldn’t have to leave the city I have lived in my whole life because it has become ridiculously expensive and all these snooty, judgmental so and sos don’t wanna look at me. Permanent housing we can afford on our income is the only solution, not kick them out to become someone else’s problem. The same mentality as when people with disabilities were locked away out of site or put in the circus. Come to think of it we are already a side show with all the staring and harassment we go through every day from people like STANDING FAST. It’s just another form of discrimination and believe it or not we have rights to and you don’t have the right to violate ours.
Brenda the Bum:
Go to hell. You have no right to complain.
You’re the exact reason we need mental health treatment for the so-called ‘homeless. You’re so sick you don’t even recognize that you are the source of your own problems
You cant give a home to drug addicted bums and expect them to maintain it.
And you can’t spend 600k per bum unit like LA is and ever get ahead of the demand.
And why should we do it for bums in the first place when our lower and middle class working people are more deserving? At least they are trying to do the right thing by supporting themselves with dignity and obeying he laws.
We are not going to let you live like pigs on the streets and in our neighborhoods and spread your disease and filth. Period.
This ain’t Mumbai—yet.
Homelessness is a systemic issue all around the globe. That indicates there is a far larger problem than you seem to acknowledge. Systemic problems are fundamentally rooted in monetary policy, bad monetary policy.
There is no need to attack the commenter as you did. You’re never going to bully the homeless back to normalcy with fake tough love.
People need to be able to have economic opportunities and the ability to have their earnings pay for their basic needs. Inflation of our money supply destroys that. You’re blind to the deleterious effects of inflation and the systemic problems of homelessness it has created all over the world. You’re in very good, wide company with your willful blindness at least, so you have that.
Even though everyone is working again, half the country has no savings and can barely afford the rent. That’s not due to incompetence or laziness. That’s due to inflation, the stealing of private savings through inflation of the money supply. Sound money is the remedy to so many of these issues. As well as more economic liberty generally.
It used to take 8 weeks for an old builder I know to get permission and then build a house from breaking ground to finish. It now takes a minimum six months just to build a house. And that’s after the five year public review process where you may or may not even get permission to build. That is all due to government. And it has a cost.
The causes of homelessness in all countries except those which have recently suffered a major disaster can be traced to bad government policy on a variety of issues, including communism (which is synonymous with socialism), high taxes, drug-addiction, and so forth.
Homelessness in California is caused by bad State and local government policies including the closing of the State mental hospitals without having an alternative system in place (this was a controversial bi-partisan proposal), early release of criminals, so-called prison-reforms and early release of criminals, etc. I know I’m leaving out a lot of stuff, but what I think does not jive with official policy.
Our State and local officials are trying to appease the Enablers because they don’t want to be attacked in the media. They don’t hear from the rest of us because…. Now this is the thing that bothers me. I know for a fact people are really at the end of their rope with homelessness in many cities now, but I don’t think I know exactly why they are not taking effective action. Nobody seems to want to take the lead and get something going.
In the United States, we have the power to address the problem, even turn the tide in the right direction. We haven’t taken advantage of our opportunities. And now that the Coronavirus has been let loose around the world, going to meetings & so forth is not a wise choice for most people.
I would suggest everyone call their council representatives, mayors, assemblymen, state senators, governors, and the President to say that the homelessness situation is out of control mostly because cities aren’t enforcing vagrancy laws and are building tiny homeless housing in our neighborhoods–mostly those that are lower and lower-middle income but very nice and livable especially the historic neighborhoods; the State is not funding a system of new mental institutions for the mentally-ill so they can’t contribute to the homeless problem and in California is releasing criminals early and stripping the police of their powers to protect us.
Or something like that. If you can keep your comments brief–three separate points maximum and all summarized by one general point.
Leadership is lacking….period.
Just pack and ship, for Detroit or Baltimore is right around the corner…..
New Years special….many as it takes plastic bags, straws and paper cups to make your eventual move comfortable and relaxing.
You can count on Uly in this societal madness!
My dears,
I am sorry that my comments offend anyone. They are meant to be helpful, not hurtful. I am not one to stare at or shame people, no matter how they appear to me. Nor do I assume that every homeless person is in the streets because they are irresponsible. But, statistics show that most are drug addicts, and many were mentally-ill before they started taking drugs.
I know many homeless are minor children, elderly, disabled, mentally-ill who are not addicts, and so forth, and they need assistance yesterday.
I think the homeless problem is caused by two things: bad government policies and low standards of society: Society does not hold addicts accountable, society does not provide proper care & facilities for mentally-ill, society does not protect any of us from criminals, society does not uphold the moral code that made America the Land of Liberty.
In consequence, government refuses to act responsibly. But, Society is made of individuals, which means our attitudes and actions determine how things will go. For the past sixty years we have not been doing too well, and here we are. Time to give up the Anything Goes view of the Universe.
Many of us have been begging our local and state government to adopt policies that can resolve the homeless problem, but our fearless leaders refuse to listen and keep moving forward with programs that cost millions of dollars but are designed to fail. Those of us who oppose these silly programs are called heartless, hateful and other names by the Enablers. Politicians are afraid they will be called names if they adopt programs that will work.
I also know there are churches, private charities, and service organizations that offer all kinds of help to people in need. But, if you are in need you have to seek them out and each community has its own mix of sources for assistance.
Pace.
A simple Regulation change could be done overnight and would greatly speed up the process of fixing the Homeless Crisis in this Godforsaken State.::
All persons considered Homeless, Shall be entitled to camp on Public Property within 1000 feet of the personal residence of ANY Officer of the Court within the boundaries of the State of California.
Watch it get fixed
Yes indeed. Dork has hit the nail on the head. Matter of fact, publish a list of all Judges, Members of Legislature, County and City Government politicians home addresses. Add directions on how to get to these homes. Distribute this list to all homeless bums. Not only watch this get fixed, watch it get fixed so fast your head will spin and fall off your shoulders.They will only take swift action when all the bums are camping, crapping and urinating outside the windows of their gate-guarded homes.
I would add a mandate that every elected official have at least 10 homeless people camping in their backyard. Somehow I don’t think that Pelosi, Feinstein, Schiff and the other limousine liberals welcome the homeless to their neighborhood with open arms.
Being Pussified… Life With Her Doing ‘Bubble Love” COMEDY BY ED RYAN, [email protected],maiul.com
: I HATE WHEN I GETA GOOD IDEA AND MY PARTNER VETOS On AUTOMATIC ‘”NO” SHE DELIVERE AS SHE IS G;SAZED EYED AT TV
my girl is ambidextrous, I’m under her thumb, but she’s squeezing my balls. Think about it, how the fuck does she do that? I can’t really tell how’s she’s doing it cuz I’m under her thumb getting my ball as squeezed… every time I try to take a look at her techniques, or light lay some charm stops me, usually it’s just her thump pushing down harder, but when I get energized she’s right there with the ball squeeze and I’m down . the under-thumb ball squeeze move is like some wrestling movie she learned … a fucking full nelson. totally dominated with her ability to reach around for the terminate ball squeeze (TBS) the tbs is her go to shut me down when I’m overdoing my hobby, according to her. yea my hobby. yes my hobby involves interaction. but come on the tbs is hurtful beyond the squeezed ball feeling, it’s a rejection, a shut down. my hobbies is coming up with odd ball ideas and trying to sell them to her for application. usually I do my hobby while we watch tv at night she doesn’t want to hear it she’s more interested her Netflix crime flicks, I mean how can I compete with a gruesome scene like cops pulli9ng charred bones out of a fire pit. that’s when she takes me down with a Quick TBS, she turns to look at me and does it with blunt object words like “will you shut your fucking mouth I trying to listen to blab la bla” that’s it I’m down, totally pussified… of course I shut my mouth and obediently look star at the floor… that’s all you can do…try to dis obey and continue with my hobbies… talking shit. but good shit. when I talk shit, I do it right and it drives her nuts…. but good luck, it’s like I’m in some torture chamber with electrodes attached to my balls…. I speak, interrupt the show again, bam she hits you again. “Swill you please shut your mouth, your driving me crazy… ouch I get ball zapped… and totally comply…why. because that’s what you do… shut it down and play like your totally dominated… “start with the charm. slowly…because sheer’s still on guard afraid anything I say is talking shity when its actually me delivering charm. you got to do the proper modulation. Like “honey do you want me to rub your feet” that’s my move out of the TBS deliver charm she likes and for us it’s foot massaging. after 20 years I know what’s she likes. and I’m in position .. sitting on the floor eye level with her wrangled feet she’s resting on the ottoman. the FM ore foot message charm move if done right can totally flip things around. the trick is to begin gently messaging as your asking her if she wants a foot massage. It’s like smoking crack and blowing monster hits into the face… she can’t resist it feels too good to her and she loosens up on the TBS as you message… and. this is important… message the foot as you talk to her toes like you want to adopt them… toe talk totally mesmerizes and I’m free from her thumb ball squeeze move, and when I’m talking to her toes I deliver my odd ball ideas, what are those… well, just random stuff like having hot dogs for breakfast instead of toast.. and she cooks a good hot dog is ,she’s a pro under thumb ball squeezer, imagine what she can do to a hot dog, frying it up at 7am, telling her I want the works then listen to her dice the onions …the chopping noise telling me I’m making it happen. And I’m happy, I’m thinking,. What if my hobbies was stamp collecting instead of talking shit. I m now excelling at talking shit it’s my hobbie, I can say anything ..like “President Trunmp has got his head so far up his ass her looks like a warped dollar sign that needs to be punted to Putin so he can pucker his head through his mouth and tell Putin, look at me I’m the biggest asshole in the universe as I start a war with Iran so dead American soldiers can be used to rally the my idiot base… I’m president Trump , a dirty oligarch who is going to use “:mass murder” to keep powder. … .But what if stamp collecting was my hobbie a win for is finding a defective stamp……like when the stamp picture comes out upside down so the stamp pic of the DC Mall looks like a homeless encampment when its defective and all upside down.. and this it how it starts, in real time… the idea of a homeless encampment pic.. I mean that is a good idea to sell and I’m perfectly poised to deliver… the foot message is at that stage where I’m sliding my fingers through her toe jam slits… putty in my hands…they love the toe jam finger slide…so I start… ‘Hey babe what do you think if I wrote Trump asking him to order a LA homeless scene pic on a stamp so that at least the homeless guys on the stamp pic are working.. by being on the stamp…Take the stamp pic a outside they “Mid Night Mission at chow time San Pedro and sixth LA… a line skid row thugs and hoes right there on a stamp…the funky tents and ,maybe photo shop a log like feces with a sewer rat feasting,,, what a stamp pic what and idea.. yea right she puts me down with a ball squeeze so tight I whine in pain’ ahhh stop squeezing my balls” this is at the point she ‘s telling me I need professional help.. then we end it I tell her about the”LAPD vigilante crimebuster scandal where the California Attorney General Becerra is corruptly covering up for the LAPD. Becerra, Why does the Cal AG is refusing to investigate the complaint filed on 8/1/18…. real bullshit…google it I say and my babe finally likes the idea… but, the toe rub google move is tough (TRG,M) Your pro if you can deliver (GTFRGM) on a demand.. good luck eddie ryan LA kicking it , Killing it, Loving it.
People who own/rent and pay taxes should not have to be afraid of contracting serious infectious diseases, being attacked right outside their door steps, be denied access to public sidewalks, afraid to take their children to parks or the beach or to live with homeless folks in their neighborhood. This is an epidemic that needs a solution and not just complaints. We as a society need to get to the root of the issue – whether it be drugs, mental health issues, education, self help centers, etc. we should stop masking this issue and create some real solutions – if someone wants housing, food, welfare, then they should work to assist in its cost. I believe the homeless need to have a sense of self worth and simply giving out money, food, clothing, or shelter is not dealing with the root issues but instead making the problem worse.
Agree. There actually are cities where they hire homeless people to clean up the streets. They are paid by the hour, enough to pay the rent on a room or studio apartment. They are screened first and if they qualify they can stay as long as they are working. Participants usually find a better job in a few months and move out. It is apparently very successful. It won’t get rid of all the homeless but it is a step in the right direction to helping those who want to get their lives together. Follow Susan Shelley on Southern California News Group.
InfraGard Corp A (PRIVATE FUSION SECURITY FORCE VETTED BY FBI) with Multi-Million DOLLAR Contract LA County IS Doing Community or Gang-Stalking. Many LAPD Crimebuster Vigilantes were Part OF InfraGard and Becerra now Protects CAL AG BECERRA REFUSING TO INVESTIGATE THE LAPD CRIMEBUSTER VIGILANTES BECAUSE CIVILIAN EMPLOYED BY INFRAGARD A MASSIVE SECURITY CORP FBI FOR FUSION CENTER HOMELAND SURVEILLANCE, NOW WORKS WITH LAPD DOING COMMUNITY STALKING(GANGSTALKING) AND ANTI-HOMELESS VIGILANTE HATE CRIMES ONTO TARGETED HOMELESS ALL OVER LA INCLUDING WEST VALLEY. THE SEMI-SECRET POLICE AGENCY IS AS COUNTY SUPERVISORS HAVE PAID MILLIONS ACCORDING TO LA COUNTY CONTRACT WITH INFRAGARD. ALSO, THIS CORP. WITH TIES TO MORMONS CHURCH AND OLIGARCHS, IS NOW TAKING OVER S. CAL GAS. IT IS FOUNDED AND OWNED BY MILITANT MORMONS WITH EX- MILITARY
I’M ED RYAN, AND FOR THREE YEARS I WAS VICTIMIZED BY THIS CREW OF ANTI-HOMELESS HATERS. F THEY ARE THE ORGANIZATION THAT GANGSTALKED OR COMMUNITY STALKED ME FOR THREE YEARS IN LA AS I WAS DOING POLITICAL ADVOCACY FOR LA CHARTER REFORM TO INCREASE SIZE OF CITY COUNCIL TO 40 BHY DISTRICT, SO LA VOTERS COULD ENJOY THE SAME CORRUPTION KILLING AND COMMUNITY IMPROVING BENEFITS THAT BOTH CHICAGO AND NYC HAVE HAD FOR OVER A DECADE. THIS IS PROGRESSIVE REFORM THE LAPD AND PRESENT CITY COUNCIL DOES NOT WANT, AND THAT MADE ME A TARGET . I WAS WRONGLY INCARCERATED 3 TIMES AS LAPD CHARGED WITH VANDALISM CRIMES FOR DAMAGE DONE ACTING IN SELF DEFENSE FROM THEIR AGGRESSION. WHILE BEING STALKED AND HARASSED, I WITNESSED THESE PEOPLE USE SOME VERY MILITARISTIC AND INVASIVE TECHNIQUES,. JUST DESCRIBING WHAT I SAW AND LEARNED CAN MAKE A PERSON SWOUND UNSTABLE AND THAT IS PART OF THEIR”GASLIGHTING METHODS TO SECRETE THEMSELVES IN PLAIN VIEW. THEY USED A LOT OF MILITARY GIZMOS OR SECRET TECHNIQUES TO DO THEIR SURVEILLANCE WOK. ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS I SAW THEM USE THUMP GUNS (KEPT IN TRUNKS OF CARS) WHEN I WAS HIDING AND THEY WANTED TO LOCATE ME SO THE GANGSTALKING COULD CONTINUE. The point of gang stalking is to never stop and induce suicide or self defensive behavior that allows LAPD to arrest and compose a false police report narrative that does not include information about the harassment that caused the behavior. If I was hiding , the general area would become covered with a mist they called “wash” . It was release from canisters with tear gas thump guns WASH. This happened over twenty times, in LA neighborhoods in middle of night. I researched mist and it is a cancer causing agent. it is a cold freon based substance that allows infra-red monitors to detect your body heat signature. THE SUBSTANCE ALLOWED THEM TO SEE WHERE I WAS HIDING BY USING AS SOMETIMES A PLANE SEEM TO BE BEING USED IN TANDEM OR SOME GROUND BASED MONITORING SYSTEM. Also they had ability to observe PEOPLE IN STORES AND RESTAURANT BY somehow ACCESSING THE SECURITY cameras. Security cameras in stores are computer based and they could monitor as images were sent to their phones. I ONCE OVERHEARD they used device to make a restaurant security camera ZOOM IN ON PAPERWORK OF A MAN AT OTHER TABLE AND SHIS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. They were also a mafia like crew and the corrupt LAPD and Them do identity theft gaining personal information this way. Last the could increase the illumination of street lights making a dark street more illuminated so they could find you hiding. They seemed to do this with small hand held device. THEY COULD LOCATE AND GET YOU BACK MOVING SO THEY COULD GANG STALK YOU UNTIL YOU SNAPPED. EXAMPLE ARE MY THREE VANDALISM CHARGES FOR DENTING CARS THAT WERE TO AGGRESSIVE. LAPD SWOOPED IN ARRESTED ME AND MADE IT LOOK LIKE RANDOM ACT OF CRAZED HOMELESS. I WAS HELD IN JAILED AND FORCED TO TAKE INJECTIONS OF HADAL A VERY STRONG ANTI PSYCH. MED. I WAS OFFERED EARLY RELEASE TO PROGRAM, but to get that deal I had to agree to take a HUGE MONTH LONG HADAL SHOT. I HAD NO PRIOR HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS. This is IS AN OLD POLICE STATE WAY TO DISCREDIT SOMEONE VIA MENTAL ILLNESS LABEL. IN REAL LIFE, I AM TRAINED AS A LAWYER. I NOW WRITE AND DO POLITICAL ADVOCACY. BECAUSE InfraGard WAS INVOLVED WITH THE WEST VALLEY LAPD CRIMEBUSTER VIGILANTE CREW, THERE IS NO INVESTIGATION BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
ALSO THESE PEOPLE COULD HACK INTO TO COMPUTERS AT POINT OF PURCHASE BY ATTAINING INFORMATION OR CODES SOMEHOW ELECTRONICALLY AVAILABLE AS PHONE OR LAP TOP IS SWIPED BY CASHIER. I WAS GETTING HACKED IMMEDIATELY AS I BOUGHT ITEMS , AND I FIGURED OUT A HACKER I RECOGNIZED WAS BEHIND ME IN LINE. SOMEHOW THEY WOULD AND BECOME ADMINISTER ON YOUR PHONE OR LAPTOP BY HACKING INFO FROM CODES ENTER IN AT CASHIER
ALSO, I WAS TORTURED 4 TIMES AND INCARCERATED FALSELY 13 MONTHS OVER 3.5 YEARS, NOW, I NEED TO FIND THE LA CITY ATTY FOR CIVIL CASE. ANY INTERESTED ATTY FOR CIVIL CASE EMAIL ME AT 4138635592 THANK YOU
……………………………………………………….
2018, 3 different police whistleblowers told us, the Gangstalking operations are run from the Fusion Centers. The details can be found in government reference documents in “The Governors of Gangstalking.”
The Director of the Fusion Center in each state, is the criminal Boss for these operations. You might think of these people as a “mafia boss.”
In my opinion, the people on this chart have led the Gangstalking Program for greater Los Angeles, for many years. The federal government calls it a Fusion Center.
The people working at the JRIC assume, that if someone’s name appears on the Watchlist, the stalking and harassment is justified, even if it is illegal. It never occurs to these idiots to ask – “Should this person even be on the Watchlist?” or “Why is this person on the Watchlist?”
Federal Judge Anthony Trenga, decided that the Watchlist is Unconstitutional, because the FBI failed to provide any shred of evidence, that someone was a “known or suspected terrorist.”
Targeted Individuals are not terrorists. They are gangstalked because they are whistleblowers and political activists, etc. The CIA wants them silenced, and funds this program through the black budget.
Joint Regiol Intelligence Center – Los Angeles
12440 East Imperial Highway Norwalk, CA 90650 (562) 345-1100:
[email protected]
Steve Oda, FBI
Robert Fox, LAPD (now retired)
Robert Galarneau, LA Sheriff’s Dept
Alex Vargas, Jr – Deputy Director
Joel Cohen, Manager of Intelligence
Mark Tharp, Manager of Operations
Senior Managers working with JRIC
Alejandro Vargas, Jr and Cynthia Gatiglio have held management positions at the JRIC.
In my opinion, they both know about, and support the Gangstalking operations. It is illegal.
Picture
Picture
Cynthia Gatiglio, 48
aka
Cynthia A Gatiglio, Cynthia Ortega, Cythia Gatiglio
13828 Greenbrier Ave, Bellflower, CA 90706
Related to
Glen M Pool 98 Andrea M Ortega 70 Andred Ortega Bettyl L Gatiglio 80 Hilda Pool 50 Mamie Gatiglio Mark Gatigilo 51 Glen R Pool 47 Julian Gatiglio J Gatiglio ~84 Michael A Gatiglio 55 Ruby Ortega 44 Michael A Chrisafis ~55 Julian A Gatiglio 84 Javier P Ortega 74
Cynthia A Gatiglio, Age 48
3636 N Rose AVE Long Beach, CA 90807
(562) 492-5984
Cynthia A Gatiglio, Age 48
9530 Maplewood ST Bellflower, CA 90706
(310) 920-1057
the opinion of Richard Lighthouse,
At the Los Angeles Police Dept, these two Assistant Chiefs are involved with Gangstalking Operations and the cover-up.
Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau (CTSOB)
100 West First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
http://www.lapdonline.org/inside_the_lapd/content_basic_view/6502
Picture
[email protected]
Picture
[email protected]
Horace E Frank, 59
aka
Frank E Horace, Horace Grant
Corona, CA
Related to
Alana G Frank 29 Marcia A Case 55 Xin Yang Zhen 59 Norma R Young 76 Daniel J Young 47 Gayle L Young 78 Mary E Young 77 Faron A Young 52 Alec E Frank Gordon S Young 77 Michelle A Frank 53 Alan Frank 29
Picture
Picture
Infragard
[email protected]
JRIC states that Infragard plays a important role in their operations. However, Infragard is little more than a privatized spying and stalking organization, in my opinion. This is done to avoid FOIA requests. Their people are recruited, trained, and tasked using the FBI’s “Confidential Human Sources Policy.”
Roger Rieger – President/CEO
InfraGard LA
Cherie Kono – Executive Director
InfraGard LA
Cherie J Kono, 32
Related to
Albert A Cua 49 Dennis A Kono ~31 Dennis A Kono 35 Keith K Kono Domingo M Legarda 61 Amelia A Kono 61
Cherie Jean Kono
1342 N Detroit ST #301 Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 672-8323
Cherie Jean Kono
5505 Halison ST Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 542-0347
individuos apuntados
Individuo dirigido
Personne ciblée
Individu ciblé
فرد مستهدف
目标个人
目標個人
लक्षित व्यक्ति
Individu yang Disasarkan
Целевая личность
লক্ষ্যযুক্ত ব্যক্তি
Indivíduo segmentado
対象者
Zielgruppe
Diangkah Individu
대상 개인
Hedeflenen Birey
Cá nhân được nhắm mục tiêu
లక్ష్యంగా ఉన్న వ్యక్తి
लक्ष्यित वैयक्तिक
இலக்கு தனிநபர்
Individuo mirato
نشانہ انفرادی۔
લક્ષ્યાંકિત વ્યક્તિગત
Ukierunkowana osoba
Цільова особа
فردی هدفمند
ടാർഗെറ്റുചെയ്ത വ്യക്തിഗത
ಉದ್ದೇಶಿತ ವೈಯಕ್ತಿಕ
ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨਾ ਵਿਅਕਤੀਗਤ
ඉලක්කගත තනි පුද්ගලයෙකි
Individual vizat
Məqsədli Fərdi
Proudly powered by Weebly
Too many hands on deck. There is more than enough money to fix this problem. But with so many with their hands out (that aren’t homeless) it gets wasted on temporary fixes. Just because someone is poor doesn’t mean their constitutional rights should be taken away. And yet most of these temporary fixes do just that. Being a sanctuary State while in the heat of a housing crisis is just bananas. We don’t have enough for our citizens we can’t keep giving the little we do to others ( low income housing).
Ed Ryan Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles 2022 Warns Biden On Garcetti anti-transparency for the LAPD Combustor Vigilante Racist Hate Crime violent Harassment onto LA Black Homeless
Why does Garcetti stay totally silent on LAPD Crime buster Vigilante issue. The Racist violent Crimes Happened to LA People by the LAPD, and the Mayor stays totally silent, that is corrupt sand it does not make sense. Joe Biden needs to make LA Mayor Garcetti stand up, and say he wants the LAPD Vigilante Crime Buster Complaint by WRAP to be fully investigated, and to end the racist Crime buster vigilante attacks onto a population composed mostly of LA Blacks. LA Mayor Garcetti needs to Acknowledge the LAPD Crime buster Vigilante Complaint that now is corruptly squelched by California Attorney General Becerra.
The LA Times needs to be chastised for its racist tainted limited coverage of police vigilantes doing violent hate crimes onto the mostly black LA homeless population. And Why is the LA Times totally silent as it becomes clear Attorney General Becerra is refusing the investigation of vigilante racist hate crime by vigilante and police.
Wow— 5150 crazy comments out here on this one!
Aaaaaaanyway– Turns out Jesus wants us to help the homeless– I’m all in baby—- it won’t be easy republicans! But– we must endeavor to persevere. Dig deep!
To: LA Mayor Garcetti
From: EdRyanMayorLA2022
Date: 2/16/20
The recall effort of Garcetti, sounds good on paper, the overall results will not be good. The recall is being organized by Republican Trump loving haters. Average hardworking LA folks are walking into a Trump/Republican elite trap doing recall. Perhaps Garcetti can get a pass and do his last 2.5 years, the right way, as penance. Maybe Garcetti can deliver real “Representational Democracy” to LA by
supporting LA Charter reform to increases LA City Council to 40 district seats. If so, then finally, LA voters get to enjoy the same benefits and rights of “Representational Democracy” that have been granted to voters in NYC and Chicago for over a decade. With more voter participation, there is less corruption and better city services to all neighborhoods across the board. Of course the LAPD Command structure, the entire bloated bunch of overpaid LA Brass, is against Charter reform of this nature. Why? Because the more removed it is from the people of LA the better it is for the LAPD to continue on this corrupt path of abuse , sloth and lack of oversight. The people of LA do not want to be spied on and degraded by a Police apparatus that i9s suppose to protect and serve. I know for a fact the LAPD does, or supports, vigilante hate crime onto problem homeless and political advocates like me, who live as homeless to bait and expose the vigilantes and police who were the subjects of complaints by homeless folks. In fact the WRAP complaint clearly exposes the tip of the LAPD vigilante iceberg that is very real. Check it out. C:\Users\Ed\OneDrive\Documents\CAL. ATTORNEY GENERAL COMPLAINT LAPD CRIMEBUSTER VIGILANTE.pdf. The fact is that the present 15 members pay for play LA City Council is nicely under the corrupt thumb of the LAPD. Also, the racist oriented LAPD does not want LA Representational Democracy that empowers LA Black and Latino communities. The end result is less corruption and The recent LAPD scandals of Latino youth gang affiliation tagging abuse, and LAPD Crimebuster vigilante racist abuse, would probably not happen. Garcetti needs to end pay for play with behest paying billionaires like Rick caruso or corrupt businessmen Turf Terminator. Democracy is about for the people by the people, not what you can take from the people. See if you can turn it around Mr. Mayor, your better than recall republicans, but not by much. Maybe you can knock heads with your sanitation department and figure out the best way to eradicate the rat population downtown and on skid row. If they’re doing it in NYC and Boston, I have to believe, you all can pull it off. My suggestion, rat poison. lots of it. I know what I am talking about, and am very familiar with the rat problem on skid row and elsewhere. I was on the streets during the last three years when your corrupt LAPD, and the even more corrupt, LA city Attorney’s office, kept wrongfully arresting and incarcerating me. I was repeatedly arrested for fighting back against the vigilantes who harass and violence to me. they came at me because I was all about exposing their dirty little “vigilante” thing. The did their best to shut me down with violence, corrupt incarcerations, and verifiable hacking. Now, because I have experience and education to initiate reforms get done much better in the future as I run for Mayor of LA2022, but they still try to shut me down. Right now I campaign from underground with an arrest warrant on me. The LAPD is looking to arrest me on a bogus probation warrant from my going underground when I was finally released from the last wrongful incarceration in March. The LA courts have been totally corrupted by this corrupt LAPD vigilante thing. How many other unhoused folks are wrongly jailed because they to fought back against vigilante harassment and were arrested quickly by LAPD units who just happened to be in the area, to support the vigilantes. No, I don’t want my day in court. I’ve been there, and as a former prosecutor, I can tell when chambers of justice are really chambers of corruption. And in LA, the verdict is, the LA courts are totally corrupted and are clearly, “chambers of corruption. LA neighborhood Prosecutors belong to LAPD crimebuster vigilante Facebook groups like in San Fernando valley, and they knowingly prosecute with LAPD police reports they know to be false. Not one LAPD Police report anywhere says anything about a homeless arrestee reacting to vigilante attack, yet it is fact, since the WRAP complaint, that we know this does go on routinely. Thus, I run for Mayor of LA, not only to police the police, but to do some real good things. We are going to build the needed affordable housing and LA folks who have it tough can finance through the public bank of LA that we will start. And just like LA annexed the port area, we are going to annex East Otay Mesa and created the Key corridor, or LA at the border. This is the growing of LA, thus validating LA’s world class status as the largest Spanish speaking city on earth. East Otay Mesa is perfect location as a brand-new border crossing goes on-line in 2023. Also working in LA’s favor is the area is unincorporated and in need of population. Besides the international economic and academic developments that will be the hall mark of the LA Key Corridor, I’m going to start working with Trump and Newsom to build a city of housing for the California homeless. This is long term, and it will take a world class city like LA to pull it off. This means long term opportunity for LA, but more importantly it is LA influence and love onto an area being divided by Trumps wall of hate. The LA Key Corridor will be an international beacon of America and LA at its best, By the way, Mr. Mayor, if I may return to the LAPD Vigilante issue. How come you never even mentioned the LAPD Crimebuster vigilante complaint C:\Users\Ed\OneDrive\Documents\CAL. ATTORNEY GENERAL COMPLAINT LAPD CRIMEBUSTER VIGILANTE.pdf filed by WRAP on 8/1/18 with Attorney General Becerra. It was published in the press and made very public in the last August. You totally, and still do, refuse to comment on the fact there is clear proof LAPD Crimebuster vigilante operations are being run out of all twelve of the Crimebuster groups across LA. Is the LAPD vigilante problem so big, so deeply rooted, that it is better left untouched? Now you still refuse to say one word about doing the right thing and asking Attorney General Becerra to investigate the complaint. The Latino gang affiliation scandal and the LAPD Crimebuster vigilante issue are example of a corrupt LAPD command structure and a warped, antiquated LAPD policing philosophy that needs to be totally modernized, Why? “Because we are them and they are us”, in other words, we are all one people, and we need to act that way for our own good and for the good of our children and our children’s children. EdRyanMayorLA2022
See new Tweets
EdRyanMayorLA2022#EndLACorruption#Opportunity#Loe
@ERyanMyorLA2022
#Reform #StopLAPDLatinoGangAffilationTagging #BuildAffordableHouse #RepresentativeCharterReform #KeyCorridorLAatBorder
#Reclaim Not Recall:
Reclaim Democratic ideals Garcetti Once held Before Billionaire Behest Pay for Play: EdRyan 2022
@MayorOfLA
@LAist
@HuffPostPol
The homeless issue is a systemic problem, a global systemic problem. Systemic problems are fundamentally rooted in monetary policy. It is no coincidence that the major uptick in homelessness correlated with the dramatic flooding of the world with cheap money by every central bank of the world in the last downturn. All that fiat money went into real assets, like houses, as a store of value as a hedge against inflation. Now, even though everyone is working and earning more, half the country still has no savings and can’t afford the rent.
The remedy is less government and more liberty. We need sound money. We need freer markets, more than ever.
I’m Ed Ryan , and I’m running for Mayor of LA2022. I did 6 months ( 618 to 12/18) in LA Men’s Central “Education Dorm” and kicked it with Drakeo quite often. The Drakeo is a really good person who is is .. I-N-O-C-E-N-T. Before moving to LA, I was a Criminal Lawyer in Mass for ten years. So I know what I’m talking about. Since 2015, I’ve been investigating the real LAPD dirt and getting jailed for it on and off, for the last three years. (see below) In Drakeo’s case, the DA, the LAPD detectives and the Judge are bigger criminals than Drakeo will ever be. The police in LA are corrupt racist who need to be stopped. In San Fernando Valley the racist LA FBI is ok with a crew of LA Sheriff deputies having racist white supremist tattoos. These same deputies have full access to the racist Palantir Predictive Crime system. They use the system and LAPD vigilantes from LA Fusion center to Hem- up people of color they don’t like. I wonder what role Palantir is playing to shut down Drakeo? We will never know because Palantir is a racist construct that requires police state spying on civilians to be effective , and it’s all kept secret. It was developed when the CIA financed racist libertarian Oligarch, Peter Thiel, who is Trump Lover, and full supporter of Racist Trump ‘Law and Order BS.
I have no doubt Drakeo is being is innocent. I knew him and his crew well in jail. I did legal research and sometimes shared food with the blacks, and the Woods threaten a beat down. When I( told them no way was I going to hate like them, things got tense for me. I remember Drakeo Clowning the Wood shot-caller so it wasn’t going to be a problem.
Drakeo is innocent all day long, but the criminal justice people in Los Angles are the dirtiest crew of lying racist ever to walk the earth. The LAPD shreds anything to do with the truth when it wants to convict someone of color who they can’t control. The LAPD is running this case not the DA and not the judge, The Racist Corrupt LAPD calls all the political shots in LA , and they are back by real dirty slime from the ultra-racist LA FBI. In any other jurisdiction Drakeo would be out NOW.
In Drakeo’s case, the Prosecution clearly caused the mistrial through it’s totally racist prosecution theory focusing street lyrics. They demonized Drakeo and his artistic interpretations. In LA, racist courts support racist cops, and fill California prisons with people of color. It’s racism ugly evil at the utmost. In Drakeo’ case, the Prosecutors now violates Drakeo’s constitutional rights to a fair trial. The prosecution illegally gained information from the mis-trial they caused. Now they try to use that information to convict in a second trial. That is called ‘Double Jeopardy” and is unconstitutional, but not in LA when the LAPD have it in for a Black man who is making it with his art that people listen to. What a sick farce. And it is happening to a real good man, This is a man who has way too much love for life and people to be doing what the LAPD is trying to hang on him.
The LAPD has metaphorically lynched a lot of Black men in their day with the racist three strike rule and phony murder beefs, and here we go again. Give me a break. This is the same LAPD who uses vigilantes and electronic harassment to drive homeless victims to suicide through continued harassment . Just read the ‘LAPD Crimebuster Vigilante Complaint “ below. What they do is wholesale manslaughter on a daily basis. Using LAPD Vigilantes to harass, threaten , confuse and depress, they ‘induce suicide” in homeless victims of color. Inducing suicide is manslaughter, these people have blood dripping from their hands.
The re-trial of Drakeo is as racist as it gets. I will call for your release, and say that Govern Newsome should \step in and pardon ,now because the community who now protest in LA will not stand to see their artist from their streets lynched by a criminal racists wearing cop and court garb. Drakeo is not the Rapper that racist prosecutors try an hang, No it has been done before. In fact, the police and prosecution have handbooks on how to do it best. Drakeo is a LA artistic hero who has his back against the wall, LA needs to support Drakeo. I will follow this very closely, and expose every piece of racist dirt they use on him. I haste the racist injustice corrupting LA and preventing fairness to people of color. I hate it from the bottom of my heart. Drakeo is an innocent man. He is artist translating the street life to art. The LAPD just does not like that, especially since street lyrics in LA have a lot to say about LAPD and The LA Criminal Justice system doing racist hate crimes on a daily basis.
Now, I run for Mayor of LA 2022 from the LA underground as the dirty police have a probation warrant to arrest and shut me down, again. That is not going to happen, I will stay underground and keep ripping the lid off the Racist Corruption that is real racist and way to sick to understand. We are talking about Oligarch greed as Billionaires like Rick Caruso bribe their way to profit from misery. They pay millions into corrupt pay for play, Behest Funds. Caruso and other luxury developers Build profitable luxury housing, they get a free pass, and don’t have to build the required number of affordable units. The end result, an LA for only the rich. In LA the lack of affordable housing can be traced pay off stopping Affordable housing from being built. No affordable housing for regular LA folks, that is sick. When I’m Mayor of LA our building Department will build affordable housing, We will use eminent domain to transform their office towers and hotels to affordable housing. My campaign slogan is “Take the Power”, and I mean it.
Rick Caruso also the LA Police Commissioner who created the LA Community Police Division to be what it is now, a division of Spy rats who recruit civilian vigilantes from the Neighborhood Counsels across LA. These are the same neighborhood counsels created by 1999 Charter Reform that refused to give LA Voters real power via a large 40 seat City Council like seen in NYC and Chicago. LA voters get no power of representative democracy to stop racist corruption. The small LA City Counsel of only 15 members city is easily corrupted by LAPD strong Arm Threats and pay/play greed. The LAPD has full control, which mean the mostly unseen millionaire LA elite, and Billionaire oligarchs like Rick Caruso, who pay-off the LAPD Brass, have control.
See : Los-Angeles-AG-Complaint-update-20181.pdf, and learn how LAPD Vigilantes recruited by LAPD Topanga Community police SLO’s and LA City Attorney Topanga Neighborhood Prosecutor, use ‘LA Crimebuster Facebook groups to organize vigilante harassment stalk and constantly harass victims ( usually homeless person of color) by coming up-close into victims personal space to repeatedly photograph with their phones. The AG complaint is a 70 page (partially ser forth below) detailed document filed by attorneys for WRAP social justice agency. LAPD Vigilantes have harassed and caused me to be wrongfully incarcerated 6 times since 2015 https://youtu.be/WfOn1BM5BHw , as it is my instinct to fight back in self defense, These LAPD are used as “provocateurs’ by both LAPD and LA Sheriff, and use psychological “no touch” torture techniques borrowed from the hated Stasi secret police, It is unbelievable but very true, This horror of what they do is do bad and kept so secret that no LA elected or appointed official has made any comment about the complaint when filed with California Attorney General Becerra in October of 2018. His office has refused to investigate the complaint, The LAPD division of community police and sheriff are deeply involved in using the LA Fusion Center and are constantly doing surveillance LA Fusion Center or the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence center. Palantir is CIA Financed Predictive Policing system that relies on racial profiling https://www.mintpressnews.com/palantir-the-paypal-offshoot-becomes-a-weapon-in-the-war-against-whistleblowers-and-wikileaks/236545/#.XuBX0rRC0QI. Why is this “LAPD Crimebuster Vigilante” complaint staying so quiet, that even the LA Times abides by the need to silence it.? The CIA and The LA FBI and Homeland Security are deep state entities with whom LAPD command have ‘Liaison” officers for. The LA Times has a record confirming CIA ties to the newspaper. LA Times reporters have been kicked out of foreign countries because they CIA agents masquerading as reporters. Yes, The LA Times works with or for the CIA. Reporter working for the CIA fired from LA Times, now …https://anarchimedia.com/2019/01/02/reporter…Jan 02, 2019
The LA Times never asked Mayor Garcetti or City Attorney Feuer about it, and they never asked Attorney General Becerra why he refused to investigate the complaint, The reason is the complaint exposes how the rights of LA people are trampled daily by LA law enforcement and a Judicial system that knows all about it and cooperates in ways that corrupt LA courts and completely denies the constitutional rights of those targeted. people of color , and politic advocates like me.
Below is : Los-Angeles-AG-Complaint-update-20181.pdf, In you can read how the LAPD Community Police use Vigilantes from LA Crimebuster groups to Racially Harass.
CONTACT Paul Boden, Executive Director, Western Regional Advocacy Project: [email protected] Tristia Bauman, Senior Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty: [email protected] Steve Diaz, Deputy Director, Organizing, Los Angeles Community Action Network: [email protected] August 1, 2018 Updated November 20, 2018 Attorney General’s Office California Department of Justice P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 Dear Eleanor and Kelli, Similar to other communities in Los Angeles County, and across the country, the City of Los Angeles lacks sufficient affordable housing and emergency shelter to meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.1 Without access to affordable housing and emergency shelter, homeless persons in Los Angeles reside in public and private outdoor spaces, leaving them vulnerable to a seemingly growing and alarming trend of anti-homeless vigilantism and abuse in California. 2 As Los Angeles has failed to develop and implement constructive solutions to remedy the city’s unsheltered homeless crisis, fatigued groups of private citizens have engaged in anti-homeless intimidation, harassment, and violence in an effort to displace homeless individuals from shared public space. Reports we have received throughout the state indicate that private groups – ostensibly organized around protecting public safety – often work in concert with local governmental actors, such as police, to intimidate, harass, or physically remove homeless people 1 The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s Homeless Count 2017 Report notes that around 34,189 people experienced homelessness on any given night in 2017; 74% of the 2017 homeless population was unsheltered and only 26% was sheltered. Per Tent City, USA: The Growth of America’s Homeless Encampments and How Communities are Responding, a report from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, California had the highest number of reported homeless encampments in 2017, further demonstrating the lack of affordable housing and emergency shelter available to homeless individuals in the state. 2 No Safe Street: A Survey of Hate Crimes and Violence Committed Against Homeless People in 2014 & 2015, a report from the National Coalition for the Homeless, reports that the National Coalition for the Homeless has documented “1,650 acts of violence against homeless individuals by housed perpetrators over the past 17 years (1999-2015).” Of the documented attacks, the majority—334—have taken place in California. 2 and their property from public view. For example, private groups of individuals may partner with local law enforcement to evict a homeless encampment from public space without due process of law. Moreover, these private citizens often escape any punishment for their harassing, discriminatory, or even violent conduct because local law enforcement consistently fails to act upon complaints from homeless people and their advocates. Los Angeles is a place where vigilante activity against homeless people has been documented and reported, but to no avail. Homeless persons complaints about this activity have been ignored or insufficiently addressed, despite the City of Los Angeles’ stated interest in protecting homeless individuals from undue abuse. Indeed, the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission is dedicated to addressing “divisive attitudes that can lead to inter-cultural tension, hate crimes and related violence” against vulnerable groups, including the homeless population.3 Therefore, we seek an investigation into the potential civil and human rights violations of homeless people in Los Angeles described below. 1. Potential Cyberharassment and Cyberstalking of Homeless Persons by Crimebusters Transient Homeless Encampments and Crimebusters of West Hills and Woodland Hills Members Residents of the City of Los Angeles navigate one of the most challenging rental housing environments in the country, and many individuals are too poor to afford permanent housing.4 Los Angeles also lacks sufficient emergency shelter to support those facing homelessness. Without access to affordable housing and emergency shelter, homeless individuals resort to residing in public and private outdoor spaces. Private citizens fatigued by a lack of governmental response to the city’s unsheltered homeless crisis have formed anti-homeless vigilante groups to facilitate the displacement of homeless people from the community. Such anti-homeless vigilante groups include the Crimebusters Transient Homeless Encampments (“CTHE”)5 and Crimebusters of West Hills and Woodland Hills (“CWHWH”) groups.6 3 Recognizing that the homeless are “particularly vulnerable, and often avoid contact with law enforcement,” the Commission has established the Homeless Victim Data Project to “build a comprehensive data collection system that will ultimately provide the detailed information necessary to better understand and address crimes against homeless individuals.” 4 According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s Homeless Count 2017 Report, the “median rents for existing housing stock has risen faster than median income over the last 25 years,” leaving a large portion of vacant housing units unaffordable for many individuals in Los Angeles. In fact, Tent City, USA: The Growth of America’s Homeless Encampments and How Communities are Responding, a report from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, reports that a majority of California renters “pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent, and nearly one third pay more than 50 percent, increasing their risk of housing insecurity and eviction.” 5 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2036526946631611/ 6 https://www.facebook.com/groups/WHWHCS/ 3 CTHE and CWHWH are Facebook-based communities comprised mostly of residents from neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley, including West Hills, Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, and Winnetka. As of June 26, 2018, CTHE, established in 2017, has 2,706 members, and CWHWH, established in 2016, has 9,632 members. The shared mission of the online forums is to “make our neighborhoods a safer place to live and help protect each other.”7 To actualize the goal of fortifying community safety and general wellbeing, the forums function as spaces for crowdsourcing crime-related news. CTHE and CWHWH assist “residents and community members in having one central place” to share photographic and videographic evidence of suspicious activity and criminal acts.8 While the forums’ purported objective of increasing community security is arguably benign, the forums’ actual function is to facilitate anti-homeless cyberharassment and cyberstalking, and/or the use of electronic communication to annoy, threaten, or harass. Several of the posts and discussion threads on CTHE and CWHWH discuss homelessness as a nuisance and threat to community safety, leading to the digital humiliation, taunting, shaming, and derision of homeless persons: ● Members have discussed using extreme means for punishing or displacing homeless persons: In a CTHE discussion thread from March 2018, a member discusses the idea of installing battering rams on vehicles to respond to homeless individuals walking through traffic [see Figure 1 in Appendix]. In another CTHE discussion thread from January 2018, members suggest several violent tactics for removing homeless persons from around a local restaurant: baseball bats, fire hoses, pigeon spike strips, Clorox, stink bombs, poison oak, and even “sugar solution spray” (“Every insect and ant will overwhelm them, as they have overwhelmed our community”) [see Figure 2 in Appendix]. Instead of developing constructive solutions for responding to the homeless presence in Los Angeles, cruel anti-homeless acts have been considered and threatened. ● Members have spread private and possibly defamatory information about homeless persons: In an effort to make members aware of potential community nuisances and threats to security, members provide information on homeless persons that is private and, often, that casts homeless persons in a negative light. Such information includes names and information regarding homeless individuals’ identity, criminal records, mental health status or treatment history, and history of drug or alcohol dependency. For example, Sean Dinse, an LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the Topanga Community Police Station, has repeatedly used his capacity as local law enforcement to access and publicize sensitive 7 https://www.facebook.com/groups/WHWHCS/ 8 https://topangaareapolicefoundation.wordpress.com/about/board/ 4 information on homeless individuals [see Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, and Figure 6 in Appendix]. In one particular case, in response to a member complaining about a homeless individual littering [see Figure 12 in Appendix], Officer Dinse shared a screenshot of a law enforcement database entry displaying the homeless individual’s personal information [see Figure 7 in Appendix]. Such invasions of privacy and use of personal information to target and potentially defame homeless people may violate existing laws. They also increase homeless persons’ general vulnerability to targeted abuse, and they help to fortify anti-homeless sentiments. ● Members have captured and shared photographs and videos of homeless persons and their property without consent: Several posts in CTHE and CWHWH feature photographs and videos of homeless persons and their property. Oftentimes, such posts are accompanied with text that associate the homeless individuals with unfavorable characteristics (e.g. laziness, uncleanliness, criminality), inciting anti-homeless sentiments [see Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10, and Figure 11 in Appendix]. While the photographs and videos are disseminated with the intent to alert members to suspicious activity and criminal acts, the content, instead, invites the violation of homeless persons. For example, in a August 2017 CWHWH post, a member accuses a homeless individual of littering and shares a series of photographs of the individual’s belongings, including his car [see Figure 12 in Appendix]. The member prompts others in CWHWH to “[n]otice Mr. Perelman’s license plate.” The sharing of the photographs with identifying information intrudes upon the homeless individual’s privacy and potentially makes the homeless person vulnerable to targeted abuse. In another case, an Admin for the CWHWH group posted a photograph of a homeless individual’s car and encouraged members to help them locate the car seemingly for displacement [see Figure 13 in Appendix]. Again, such content potentially leaves homeless individuals open to targeted harm (in this case, the potential destruction or displacement of personal property with help from Sean Dinse, the aforementioned LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the Topanga Community Police Station [see Figure 13 in Appendix]). Also, the galvanizing effect of the post speaks to the organized, collective nature of CTHE and CWHWH. ● Members have generally participated in anti-homeless rhetoric and behavior: The members of CTHE and CWHWH regularly engage in digital behavior that degrades the homeless population in Los Angeles. Members have referred to homeless people as “[l]ow life scum” [see Figure 2 in Appendix], “lemmings” [see Figure 14 in Appendix], and other derogatory names. Members have used images of homeless individuals to create and share distasteful memes, including a “Happy Birthday” image addressed to 5 Sean Dinse, the aforementioned LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the Topanga Community Police Station [see Figure 15 and Figure 16 in Appendix]. In addition, members have used the forums to conspire to destroy the property of homeless persons. In one discussion thread, one member asks another to “group up” and target an identified homeless person by throwing “his [expletive] in the dumpster” [see Figure 17 in Appendix]. When members questioned the legality of performing such actions, such consideration of legal ramifications were rendered inconsequential (“I welcome LAPD to prosecute me”). The community safety concerns supposedly motivating such anti-homeless rhetoric and behavior are further called into question when considering other content posted in CTHE and CWHWH that is violent for the sake of being violent. In one discussion thread, a member asks, “Is there anything that we can do to make these vagrants scared of us instead of the other way around?” [see Figure 18 in Appendix] In response, another member comments, “Ha this page went from observe and report to cattle prods and firecrackering them in some kind of bum war, Now things are getting interesting lol.” More comments suggesting other ways to incite fear in homeless individuals (e.g. using stun guns) are also found in the thread. In a separate discussion thread, in response to a post concerned about the presence of a homeless individual in an outdoor public space, a member suggests an especially violent solution: “Lynch him!” [see Figure 19 in Appendix] Such anti-homeless sentiments and discussions are not only generally ethically questionable, but are also in violation of the groups’ own delineated guidelines: the description for CWHWH notes that there is no tolerance for “any Mean-Negative or Inappropriate comments or posts,” “Shaming,” or “Rude or Negative Behavior.”9 Beyond Facebook, the activities of the online forums have spread and been mimicked in other media, including radio: an Admin for the CWHWH group recently shared a link to a local radio station’s web page that encourages local citizens to submit and share photographs as evidence of a “vagrant invasion” in “Los Angeles and Orange Counties.”10 Under California’s criminal law, there are statutes that may define the above activity as cyberharassment and cyberstalking, consequently prohibiting such activity.11 While digital 9 https://www.facebook.com/groups/WHWHCS/ 10https://kfiam640.iheart.com/content/2018-05-14-how-has-the-homeless-problem-affected-your-neighborhood-send -us-photos/ 11 Section 653.2 of California Penal Code 653.2 prohibits the use of an electronic device to distribute identifying information of a person to incite others to harm or harass that person. Section 653m of California Penal Code 653.2 proscribes a person from making repeated phone calls or electronic communications with the intent to annoy or harass another person. Also, Section 422 of California Penal Code 422 criminalizes threats to kill or physically harm someone over electronic communication. Content found in CTHE and CWHWH may also constitute defamation, libel, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. 6 anti-homeless actions are not physical, such actions still engender a sense of fear in homeless persons and contribute to a social climate that justifies conflict and, specifically, the victimization of those navigating homelessness. 2. Participation of Local Law Enforcement in the Potential Cyberharassment and Cyberstalking of Homeless Persons In instances where an individual is being subjected to harm, local government actors, especially local law enforcement, should be readily available to provide relief. For homeless persons victimized by the anti-homeless activity of CTHE and CWHWH, local law enforcement has historically not been a reliable source of assistance. In fact, it appears that local law enforcement has failed to provide relief for homeless individuals victimized by anti-homeless vigilantism because it has supported and contributed to anti-homeless vigilante causes. Both CTHE and CWHWH were founded by Fern Peskin-White, a former member of the West Hills Neighborhood Council’s Homelessness Committee, a board member of the Topanga Area Police Foundation, a volunteer with the Topanga Community Police Station, and an Admin for CTHE and CWHWH. Peskin-White has repeatedly maintained that CTHE and CWHWH operate in collaboration with the Topanga Community Police Station in Los Angeles. In their biography listed on the website for the Topanga Area Police Foundation, Peskin-White notes that they created a “Facebook Group for our community called ‘Crimebusters’” that runs “with the help of 7 Senior Lead Officers from the Lapd Topanga Division.”12 On CTHE and CWHWH, Peskin-White has continued to claim that local law enforcement is in support of and encourages the activity of the groups. In one discussion thread, for instance, Peskin-White insists that posted content is “legal” because “police run this page” [see Figure 20 in Appendix]. In another discussion thread, Peskin-White responds to critics of the officers of the Topanga Community Police Station by stating, “we’ve All been so very lucky to have them here as our Admins since the day I created this group” [see Figure 21 in Appendix]. Some individuals involved with the maintenance of content within CTHE and CWHWH are individuals employed by the Topanga Community Police Station: ● Sean Dinse is an LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the Topanga Community Police Station. As noted under “Potential Cyberharassment and Cyberstalking of Homeless Persons,” Dinse has repeatedly used his position as local law enforcement to locate and share private and potentially defamatory information on homeless individuals. Of note, Dinse 12 https://topangaareapolicefoundation.wordpress.com/about/board/ 7 has established a pattern of offering sensitive information to the groups’ members upon request, demonstrating his active involvement in the anti-homeless vigilante acts of CTHE and CWHWH [see Figure 5 in Appendix]. Dinse has operated as an Admin for CWHWH in the past. ● Brent Rygh is an LAPD Senior Lead Officer for the Topanga Community Police Station. Similar to Dinse, Rygh has participated in posting content within the groups. In one particular CWHWH August 2016 post, Rygh shares a post where they caution members not to offer money to homeless people, for “[i]t’s nearly impossible to tell what kind of person you are giving your money to and what they are using it for” [see Figure 22 in Appendix]. Such content contributes to a societal narrative that homeless people can be deceitful and, generally, dangerous. Additionally, Rygh has confirmed that CTHE and CWHWH are products of the united efforts of local law enforcement and Peskin-White. In an August 2016 CWHWH post, Rygh writes, “Fern Peskin-White began this group in close collaboration with local Senior Lead Officers and worked with us to develop rules and practices would be employed before launching” [see Figure 23 in Appendix]. Rygh has operated as an Admin for CWHWH in the past. Notably, other local law enforcement actors are members of CTHE and CWHWH, including Topanga Senior Lead Officer Duc “Duke” Dao, Topanga Senior Lead Officer Sean Brown, LAPD Deputy Chief John Sherman, and LAPD Watch Commander Amira Smith [see Figure 24 in Appendix]. Local law enforcement’s participation in sustaining CTHE and CWHWH is disheartening because its participation lends legitimacy and authority to the egregiously anti-homeless rhetoric and actions found on the online forums. Additionally, local law enforcement should be the first line of defense for homeless individuals seeking reprieve from victimization. With local law enforcement’s involvement in spaces that facilitate anti-homeless vigilantism, homeless individuals are unable to recognize local law enforcement as a dependable arbiter of relief. 3. Harassment, Intimidation, and Violence Against Homeless Persons by Crimebusters Transient Homeless Encampments and Crimebusters of West Hills and Woodland Hills Members Photographic and videographic content is circulated within CTHE and CWHWH. Such content indicates that members have had in-person interactions with homeless individuals involving anti-homeless harassment, intimidation, and violence: 8 ● Members have verbally abused homeless persons: In several videos featuring in-person interactions between homeless individuals and CTHE and CWHWH members, the members have engaged in the verbal abuse of the homeless individuals, performing name-calling, yelling, and threat-making, among other actions. In one notable CTHE video, a member confronts a homeless individual residing on a sidewalk during the evening. After inquiring about the status of the homeless individual (via asking, among other questions, whether or not the individual is [0:29] “high”), the member, around 0:40, questions why the homeless individual has not displaced themselves: Member: So when are you gonna clear all this [expletive] up and get out of here? Homeless Individual: I’m not cleaning nothing. Member: You’re not? But everybody wants you gone. Following the member invoking those anti-homeless sentiments, the homeless individual throws an unidentifiable object onto the sidewalk, inciting the member to aggressively and repeatedly order the removal of the item ([1:17] “Pick that [expletive] up!”). After the homeless individual refuses to pick up the item, the member because increasingly belligerent, resulting in yelling, more use of expletives, prejudicial name-calling ([1:44] “You don’t do [expletive]. You [expletive] lay on here on the sidewalk. You don’t do a goddamn thing”), and threat-making ([1:32] “Dude, you’re gonna have a problem on your hands”; [1:59] “I’ll turn this [expletive] camera off and make sure you pick it up”; [2:29] “Man, you got something coming, boy”). Such verbal abuse indicates that anti-homeless rhetoric is being invoked both online and in real time. The video described above is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gG9GIB_lWasLfELewlM_GVMheJL4iOMu/view?usp= sharing. Anti-homeless verbal abuse has been evidenced in other cases involving seniors (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FEMUYgEjgCgArj3rOyDa0N1bBO5ltBil/view?usp=sh aring) and parents with small children (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D0t7BIkEKOI90g_NmFAVcIsTnbOX_G2J/view?usp= sharing), regardless of actual or perceived homeless status. ● Members have repeatedly confronted and captured photographs and videos of targeted homeless individuals without consent: In addition to documenting one-off interactions with homeless individuals, members have also documented repeated interactions with specific homeless persons. For example, a homeless person given the nickname “Erwin” has been the subject of several photographs and videos posted to CTHE and CWHWH [see Figure 25 in Appendix]. “Erwin,” in fact, is the homeless individual being verbally abused in the CTHE video discussed above. Such consistent 9 interactions with specific homeless individuals that involve the aggressive capturing of photographs and videos of the individuals without consent potentially constitute stalking. Interactions with homeless individuals captured on video and in photographs indicate that anti-homeless sentiment and behaviors cultivated in the online communities of CTHE and CWHWH are escalating offline; in other words, these online exchanges have material consequences. This escalation must be curtailed to avoid serious physical and other harms to an already vulnerable population, which is disproportionately comprised of members of marginalized groups like people of color and persons with disabilities. 4. Failure of Government Actors to Address Abuse of Homeless Persons Local governmental actors in the City of Los Angeles have been made aware of the activity of CTHE and CWHWH. Yet, local government actors have not taken steps to effectively address acts of anti-homeless vigilantism, even with evidence that such vigilantism may be supported and sustained by local law enforcement. In fact, in several exemplary instances, local government actors have responded to citizen complaints and reports of anti-homeless vigilantism with inaction or ineffectual solutions: ● November 2017: An email was sent to an officer of the Topanga Community Police Station regarding the anti-homeless content circulated within CTHE and CWHWH. The only action taken by the Topanga Community Police Station was the removal of a few antagonistic posts. ● November 2017: An email was sent to an officer of the Topanga Community Police Station regarding members of CTHE and CWHWH displacing donation bins thought to attract the presence of homeless individuals. No response to the email has been provided. ● November 2017: An email was sent to an officer of the Topanga Community Police Station regarding the abusive actions of CTHE and CWHWH members. Specifically, the email detailed CTHE and CWHWH members aggressively encouraging local businesses to displace nearby homeless persons. Instead of offering constructive solutions in response, the addressed officer only requested that the author of the email identify themselves, and not remain anonymous, in order to have an “adult” exchange. ● December 2017: An email was sent to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Operations Division regarding the shaming, bullying, and potential stalking of homeless individuals facilitated by CTHE and CWHWH. No response to the email has been provided. 10 ● January 2018: A email was sent to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Operations Division regarding the potential cyberharassment and cyberstalking taking place within CTHE and CWHWH. No response to the email has been provided. ● January 2018: An email was sent to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Internal Affairs Group regarding the potential cyberharassment and cyberstalking taking place within CTHE and CWHWH. In response, an investigation into the information the email provides was initiated. As of June 26, 2018, no follow-up has been provided on the status of the investigation. ● February 2018: An email was sent to an officer of the Topanga Community Police Station regarding the potential cyberharassment and cyberstalking taking place within CTHE and CWHWH. No response to the email has been provided. ● On separate occasions, calls were made to the Topanga Community Police Station and the LAPD to report the anti-homeless vigilante activity of CTHE and CWHWH. During a majority of the calls, help was offered but never actualized. Following several exhibits of anti-homeless harassment, intimidation, and violence, both physical and digital, individuals facing homelessness have not been able to rely on local government actors to refrain from or protect them from ongoing harm. Local government actors’ lacking or ineffective action against anti-homeless vigilantism both allows the continuation of anti-homeless vigilante acts and, more generally, establishes the idea that anti-homeless rhetoric and behavior are not egregious enough to warrant redress. While California’s hate crime legislation does not consider homelessness a protected status, homeless people often are members of protected classes that have historically been targeted for similar forms of harassment, intimidation, and violence.13 In the City of Los Angeles, such harassment, intimidation, and violence appear to happen in the form of anti-homeless vigilantism, necessitating that homeless individuals of the city—citizens of the city—be provided pathways to relief. Anti-homeless vigilantism, without consequences from local government actors, not only brings harm to those navigating homelessness, but also harms communities by deteriorating the relationship between the unhoused and their housed neighbors; escalating conflict. In fact, the February 26, 2018 minutes of a West Hills Neighborhood’s Joint 13 Several homeless individuals who have been violated by CTHE and CWHWH to some capacity have identities (e.g. are disabled) that are in fact protected identities, making the documented abuses intersectional abuses. 11 Homelessness Committee board meeting notes that committee co-chair Thomas Booth expressed “concern about recent trends on social media” and asked committee members to “step back and make an effort to bring both sides together to find solutions for homelessness without inflaming community members.” Additionally, in a March 15, 2018 article from local publication Valley Vantage, “Word on the Street: Homeless Foes Have Gone Too Far,” local writer Kathleen Sterling admonishes those who: “hide behind their computer screens hurling vitriol out on social media,” when responding to homelessness in Los Angeles. Furthermore, anti-homeless vigilantism harms the Los Angeles community by staining the city’s reputation among civil and human rights advocates, and undermining the city’s stated effort to secure justice and protection for marginalized and oppressed people. We ask for an investigation into vigilantism as described above in Los Angeles, and also into the growing trend of anti-homeless vigilantism throughout California. We are happy to provide you with additional information upon request, and we would welcome a meeting to discuss these issues further. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours truly, Paul Boden, Executive Director, Western Regional Advocacy Project Tristia Bauman, Senior Attorney, National Law Center on H
good
Indictment: Dr Atlas
Mass- Murder
Crimes Against humanity
Send Doctor Atlas to prison after Trump. Doctor Atlas , a propagandist committing crimes against humanity, assisting in the murdering of thousands of Americans by telling them Mask wearing is harmful and not needed.
Doctor Atlas is a Doctor willing to assist in the murdering of thousands of Americans in his support of Trump. By issuing clear statements of propaganda regarding the virus , Atlas is causing the deaths of many. The doctors below should be proud to support calls for Doctor Atlas to be tried in the Hague for “Crimes Against Humanity”, on par with the Nazi Doctors.
Supporting Doctors
. PhilipA.Pizzo,MD Professorof Pediatrics (InfectiousDiseases)and of Microbiologyand Immunology andFormerDean,Stanford Schoolof Medicineand FoundingDirector,Stanford DistinguishedCareers Institute Incontrast,encouragingherd immunitythroughuncheckedcommunitytransmissionis not a safe public healthstrategy. Infact, this approachwould do the opposite,causinga significantincreaseinpreventable cases, sufferingand deaths,especiallyamong vulnerablepopulations,such as older individualsand essential workers. UpiSingh,MD Professorof Medicine (InfectiousDiseaseand GeographicMedicine)andof MicrobiologyandImmunology andChief,Divisionof Infectious Diseases BonnieMaldonado,MD Professorof Pediatrics (InfectiousDiseases)and of EpidemiologyandPopulation HealthChief,Divisionof PediatricInfectiousDiseases andSenior AssociateDeanfor FacultyDevelopmentand Diversity LucyShapiro,PhD MicheleBarry,MD ProfessorofDevelopmental ProfessorofMedicineand BiologyandDirector,Beckman SeniorAssociateDeanfor CenterforMolecularand GlobalHealthandDirector, GeneticMedicine CenterforInnovationinGlobal HealthandSeniorFellow, WoodsInstituteandthe FreemanSpogliInstitutefor International Studies CharlesProber,MD ProfessorofPediatricsandof MicrobiologyandImmunology andSeniorAssociateVice ProvostforHealthEducation SteveGoodman, MD, MHS,PhD ProfessorofEpidemiologyand PopulationHealthand AssociateDeanofClinicaland Translational Research DavidRelman,MD ProfessorofMedicine (InfectiousDiseases)andof MicrobiologyandImmunology andSeniorFellow,Freeman SpogliInstituteforInternational Studies JulieParsonnet, MD ProfessorofMedicine (InfectiousDiseasesand GeographicMedicine)andof EpidemiologyandPopulation Health SteveLuby,MD ProfessorofMedicine (InfectiousDiseases) andofEpidemiology andPopulationHealth andSeniorFellow, FreemanSpogliInstitute HarryGreenberg, MD ProfessorofMedicineandof MicrobiologyandImmunology andAssociateDeanfor Research LeeM.Sanders,MD,MPH AssociateProfessorofPediatrics andofHealthResearchand Policy(Epidemiology) and Chief,DivisionofGeneral Pediatrics AnnArvin,MD EdwardS Mocarski, ProfessorofPediatrics Jr,PhD (InfectiousDiseases)andof Professorof MicrobiologyandImmunology Microbiologyand andFormerViceProvostand Immunology, Emeritus DeanofResearch JohnBoothroyd,PhD DylanDodd,MD,PhD ProfessorofMicrobiologyand AssistantProfessorof Immunology Pathologyand of Microbiologyand Immunology JasonAndrews,MD,SM, DTM&H AssociateProfessorof Medicine(InfectiousDiseases) andofEpidemiologyand HealthPolicy DavidStuddert,LLB,MPH, MichelleMello,JD, ScD PhD Professorof Law andMedicine, Professorof Medicine(Health StanfordHealthPolicy,Stanford Policy)andProfessorofLaw Law School Joshua Salomon,PhD Professorof Medicine(Primary CareandOutcomesResearch) andSenior Fellow,Freeman SpogliInstitutefor International Studies MelissaBondy,PhD Professorand Chair of EpidemiologyandPopulation HealthandCo-Directorof the StanfordCenterfor Population HealthSciences John Carette, PhD Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology ManuelRicardoAmieva,MD, PhD Professorof Pediatrics (InfectiousDiseases)and of MicrobiologyandImmunology LoreneNelson,PhD,MA AssociateProfessorof EpidemiologyandPublic HealthandFacultyDirector of the StanfordCenterfor PopulationHealthSciences AbrahamVergheseMD, MACP,FRCP(Edin) LindaR.Meierand Joan F. LaneProvostialProfessor, ViceChairfor the Theoryand Practiceof Medicine StephenJ Galli,MD JasonWang,MD,PhD ProfessorofPathologyandof AssociateProfessorofPediatrics Microbiologyand Immunology andMedicineandofHealth andFormerChair,Department ResearchandPolicyand of Pathology Director,CenterforPolicy, OutcomesandPrevention AnnHsing,PhD,MPH ProfessorofMedicine(Stanford PreventionResearch Center/CancerInstitute)and EpidemiologyandPopulation Health EstherJohn,PhD,MSPH Professor,Departmentof EpidemiologyandPopulation HealthandCo-leader, PopulationSciencesProgram, StanfordCancerInstitute ThomasC Merigan,MD ProfessorofMedicine,Emeritus FormerDivisionChiefDirector, CenterforAidsResearch, Emeritus SteveAsch,MD,MPH Professorof Medicine,Primary CareandPopulationHealth DavidA.Stevens,M.D., GaryK.Schoolnik,MD F.A.C.P.,F.A.A.M.,F.I.D.S.A. Professorof MedicineProfessorof Medicine- InfectiousDiseases,Emeritus InfectiousDiseases,Emeritus andPresident,California InstituteforMedicalResearch, InfectiousDiseasesResearch Laboratory,Calif.Inst.forMed. Res. Jack Remington,MD Professorof Medicine (InfectiousDiseases)and Chief, PaloAltoMedicalResearch Foundation Stan Deresinski,MD,FIDSA ClinicalProfessorof Medicine InfectiousDiseasesand GeographicMedicine Holden Terry Maecker, PhD Professor of Microbiology and Immunology ArunaSubramanian,MD ClinicalProfessorof Medicine, Chief,Immunocompromised Host InfectiousDiseases Divisionof InfectiousDiseases andGeographicMedicine Helen M Blau, PhD Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director, Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology Cornelia L.Dekker, MD Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), Emerita ShiritEinav,MD AssociateProfessorMedicineInfectiousDiseasesand GeographicMedicineand of Microbiologyand Immunology Wah Chiu, PhD Professor of Bioengineering and of Microbiology and Immunology DeanL.Winslow,MD,FACP, FIDSA,FPIDS Professorof Medicine– InfectiousDiseases Denise Monack, PhD Professor of Microbiology and Immunology RobertShafer,MD Professorof MedicineDivision of InfectiousDiseasesand GeographicMedicine Doug K Owens, MD, MS Professor of Medicine and Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies CybeleA.Renault,MD, DTM&H ClinicalAssociateProfessor (InfectiousDiseases)Program Lead for GlobalHealth (StanfordInternalMedicine ResidencyProgram) Hector Bonilla, MD Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine Sharon Chen,MD,MS ElizabethS. Egan,MD,PhD ClinicalAssociate Professorof Assistant Professorof Pediatrics Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) (Infectious Diseases) and the Tashia and John Morgridge EndowedFaculty Scholar Jenny R.Aronson, MD ClinicalAssistant ProfessorDivision of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine CatherineBlish,MD,PhD PaulL.Bollyky,MD,D.Phil AssociateProfessorof Medicine AssociateProfessorDivisionof Infectious Diseases and Infectious Diseases Department Geographic Medicine and of Medicine Immunology TalalSeddick,MD SrutiNadimpalli,MD ClinicalAssistantofProfessor ClinicalProfessorof ofPediatrics(Infectious Pediatrics(Infectious Diseases) Disease) TimStearns,PhD ProfessorofBiologyandof GeneticsandSeniorAssociate ViceProvostforResearch MichaelFischbach,PhD AssociateProfessorof Bioengineeringandof MicrobiologyandImmunology MayaAdam,MD ClinicalAssistantProfessorof PediatricsandDirectorof HealthMediaInnovation KerwynCaseyHuang,PhD ProfessorofBioengineeringand ofMicrobiologyand Immunology SamanthaJohnson,MD,MPH PhilipM.Grant,MD ClinicalAssociateProfessorof AssistantProfessorofMedicine Pediatrics(InfectiousDiseases) InfectiousDiseasesand GeographicMedicine JakeScott,MD ClinicalAssistantProfessorof MedicineInfectiousDiseases andGeographicMedicine Dora Ho, MD, PhD Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine RoshniMatthew,MD ClinicalAssistantProfessorof Pediatrics(InfectiousDiseases) andAssociateMedicalDirector, InfectionPrevention& Control Clea Sarnquist, MD Clinical Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) JustinSonnenburg,PhD AssociateProfessorof MicrobiologyandImmunology andCo-Director,Centerfor HumanMicrobiomeStudies MarisaHolubar,MDMS ClinicalAssociateProfessorof MedicineInfectiousDiseases andGeographicMedicineand AssociateDirector,Stanford AntimicrobialSafetyand SustainabilityProgram Joanna Nelson,MD ClinicalAssistantProfessor Departmentof Medicine– InfectiousDiseases Peter Sarnow, PhD Michael Baiocchi,PhD Professor of Microbiology and Assistant Professor, Department Immunology of Epidemiology and Population Health Glenn M.Chertow, MD, MPH Norman S. Coplon Satellite Healthcare Professor of Medicine, and by courtesy Department of Epidemiology and Population Health Bonnie Halpern-Felsher,PhD, FSAHM Professor of Pediatrics, Taube EndowedResearchFaculty Scholar Professor,and by courtesy Department of Epidemiology and PopulationHealth, Director of Fellows’Scholarship, Department of Pediatrics, Director of Research, Division of Adolescent Medicine A.C. Matin, PhD Professor of Microbiology and Immunology Hayley Gans Clinical Professor, Pediatrics – Infectious Diseases PaulGrahamFisher,MD Professor, Neurology and Pediatrics, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, Epidemiology and PopulationHealth, and Human Biology, The Beirne Family Professor of Pediatric NeuroOncology, The Dunlevie Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Chief, Divisionof Child Neurology, Vice Chair,FacultyAffairs, Department of Neurology VictorHenderson,MD Professor,Departmentof EpidemiologyandPopulation Health TaiaT. Wang,MD,PhD, MSCI AssistantProfessorof Medicine andof Microbiologyand Immunology Lisa Goldman-Rosas,PhD, MPH Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Director, Office of Community Engagement Tina Hernandez-Boussard, PhD, MPH,MS Associate Professor of Medicine, Biomedical Data Science, and Surgery, and by courtesy Department of Epidemiology and Population Health AbbyKing,PhD Professor, Epidemiology and PopulationHealth, and Medicine (StanfordPrevention ResearchCenter) Director, Healthy Aging Research& Technology Solutions (HARTS)Laboratory Faculty Director, Our Voice Global CitizenScience Initiative Past President,Society of Behavioral Medicine MitchellR.Lunn,MD,MAS, FACP,FASN Assistant Professor of Medicine, and by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health MindieH.Nguyen,MD,MAS, AGAF,FAASLD Professor, Department of Medicine, and by courtesy Department of Epidemiology and Population Health Latha Palaniappan,MD,MS, FAHA,FACC,FACP Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and, by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health AllisonW. Kurian,M.D., M.Sc. Associate Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and of Epidemiology and Population Health Associate Chief for Academic Affairs, Divisionof Oncology Director, Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program,Coleader, PopulationSciences Program,Stanford Cancer Institute KariNadeau,MD,PhD Naddisy FoundationProfessor of Pediatric FoodAllergy, Immunology and Asthma, Professor of Pediatrics and Professor by Courtesy of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery at LPCH and Department of Epidemiology and PopulationHealth MichelleC.Odden,PhD AssociateProfessor,Department of EpidemiologyandPopulation Health LesleyS.Park,PhD,MPH Instructor, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health,Associate Director, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences LianneKurina,PhD Associate Professor, Primary Care and Population Health, Bing Director of the Program in Human Biology LoreneNelson,PhD,MS Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health Faculty Director of Research, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences Juno Obedin-Maliver,MD, MPH,MAS Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and, by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health RitaA.Popat,PhD ClinicalAssociateProfessor, DepartmentofEpidemiology andPopulationHealth DavidH Rehkopf,ScD,MPH Associate Professor, Departments of Epidemiology and PopulationHealth, Department of Medicine, (Primary Care and Population Health),Co-director,Stanford Center for PopulationHealth Sciences GaryM.Shaw,DrPH NICUNurses Endowed Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Chair Dept of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and, by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health HollyTabor,PhD Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health) and Associate Director, Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics Thomas N. Robinson,MD, MPH Professor of Pediatrics and of Medicine and, by courtesy, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health Julia F Simard,ScD AssociateProfessor,Department of Epidemiology& Population Health AliceS.Whittemore,Ph.D. Professor (Emerita) of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Departments of Epidemiology and Population Health and of Biomedical Data Science KristinSainani,PhD AssociateProfessor,Department of EpidemiologyandPopulation Health MarciaL.Stefanick,PhD Professor of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center), Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and by courtesy Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Director, Stanford Women’s Health and Sex Differences inMedicine (WHSDM) Center
Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer supported a deceptive notice to ratepayers in a class action settlement over the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in what amounts to a City slush fund, according to attorneys for Consumer Watchdog. On Monday, Consumer Watchdog filed its final court papers in an appeal of a class action settlement in which the City Attorney’s office did not provide any notice to Angelenos or the court of the $242 million transfer. Though the $242 million transfer was not disclosed to consumers in time to exercise their right to opt-out or object to the settlement, the settlement barred consumers from challenging it in court. Read Consumer Watchdog’s opening brief here: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/site… The Court of Appeals filing comes as scrutiny intensifies over public corruption at the City Attorney’s office involving the settlement of another DWP ratepayer case. Two City Attorney special counsels secretly represented both the ratepayer plaintiff and the City/DWP defendant. The City Attorney failed to inform the court, the public or ratepayers that attorneys he hired represented parties on both sides of the case. City Attorney Mike Feuer’s Number Three deputy, Thomas Peters, resigned over the weekend, the third resignation in two weeks in connection with the scandal. Consumer Watchdog called for all three resignations and that of top deputy Jim Clark at the beginning of March when it learned about the scandal. DWP billing errors have been a perennial problem for Angelenos, with outrageous examples, like a family being overcharged $60,000 for a leaky toilet.The special counsel quickly settled the action, with little scrutiny and no investigation and no real changes to DWP’s practices. The City Attorney’s special counsel Paul Paradis received $36 million no-bid contracts in the settlement from DWP. Read Consumer Watchdog’s letter calling upon Attorney General Xavier Becerra to take over a public corruption investigation at the City Attorney’s office: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/de…
SHOW MORE
1 Comment
SORT BY
Add a public comment…
Anthony K1 year ago
Thank you Consumer Watchdog for taking action. The rate hikes with LADWP have been ridiculously high.
REPLY
Transcript
this Jamie Court I’m with consumer
watchdog a president consumer watchdog
and we’re here at consumer watchdogs
offices in Carthay Circle in Los Angeles
and we’re here today because there is a
public corruption scandal that has
embroiled the City Attorney’s Office and
the DWP over billing issues and
disclosure and we’ve talked for weeks
now
about try not to hit it here try not to
we’ve talked for weeks about how city
attorney Mike furor and the City
Attorney’s Office had attorneys
representing both the city as defense in
a DWP Mis billing case representing the
DWP and attorneys working for the city
also represented the plaintiff in that
case Antoine Jones unbeknownst to anyone
this was done in order to give a
settlement that didn’t really resolve
the core billing issues a quiet quiet
burial and as a result the consumers in
LA
millions of DWP ratepayers today still
face big billing problems with their
water and power bills and we don’t know
why and we don’t have an end in sight
and that scandal has resulted in four
top attorneys being on the hot seat at
the at the City Attorney’s office three
of them have actually been fired or have
resigned depending upon how you want to
look at it we’re gonna talk a little bit
about what’s happened in that case in a
minute and why Mike Feuer the city
attorney needs to submit to an outside
review and take more actions to fix this
problem but today we’re here with
another troubling troubling example of
the failure of the city attorney and the
DWP to disclose
to the ratepayers of this city the costs
and the charges that they face and we
are here with two members of the
consumer watchdog staff who are really
important to this case they are a Carmen
barber who is the rate payer and the
executive director of consumer watchdog
who as you will see in this matter is
the plaintiff in the objection to an
LADWP settlement and Ben Powell who is
the attorney representing from super
watchdog and representing Carmen in this
challenge this is a case that has
nothing to do with the hundreds tens of
millions of dollars that consumers have
been Mis built this is a case that has
to do with a transfer of money that
happens every year from the coffers of
DWP to the coffers of the city the
general fund and that is a transfer that
should be disclosed to the public and
also should not happen in this case Ben
is going to talk about how a lawsuit
settlement that basically purported to
resolve this issue but allowed these
transfers to continue mislead the public
and the fact is the city attorney signed
off on a notice that failed to disclose
a quarter of a billion dollar transfer
from DWP ratepayers to the city he
failed to a lot to to adequately tell
the public of these costs and he failed
and he failed to live up to his
responsibilities to the courts we
believe which is why we’re bringing this
action but also to the public to be
truthful and honest about the cost the
DWP ratepayers face so that when they
get a settlement notice in this
litigation they would have an honest
choice about whether the to be part of
the settlement or to objector to not be
part of this element because the city
attorney was not honest and we warned in
the head of time
DWP was not honest ratepayers didn’t
have a chance to really understand that
they were losing a quarter of a billion
dollars a year and had nothing that they
really could do about it so I’m gonna
let Ben talk to this failure to disclose
where we are with this notice in the
case this is the notice that went out to
consumers that fail to mention the
quarter of a billion dollar transfer and
this is really fine print we rely on our
city attorney and DWP to actually get
that fine print right and not to try to
bury the lead
and so that Ben is going to tell you
where we are with this case and Carmen’s
going to tell you why as a rate payer
she’s offended by this practice and then
we’ll talk just generally about where we
are with the entire DWP corruption
scandal and what needs to happen next
thanks Jamie so like you mentioned my
name is Ben Powell I am a staff attorney
with consumer watchdogs litigation
project so there’s been a long history
of voter outrage over municipalities and
cities sort of using rate payers as an
ATM and taking rate payer money and
using it directly for city purposes
there’s been multiple times over the
years where California voters have
actually passed ballot initiatives like
propositions 2 13 to 18 and 26 for
example to stop these kinds of transfers
but invariably the city attorney finds
ways around them the City Council or
maybe the mayor’s office wants more
money so what do they do they go ahead
and raid the DWP coffers for that money
so yesterday consumer watchdog filed our
final papers in court and the appeal of
this class action settlement that Jamie
mentioned where the city attorney’s
office failed to disclose this quarter
of a billion dollar transfer to class
members in that case so this is the
notice that the postcard notice that was
actually sent out to class members and
it’s not indicated in there even though
this 242 million dollar transfer was
occurring and it was not disclosed the
settlement still barred these class
members ability to challenge that action
that’s that transfer in court this
settlement was about these very types of
transfers once they start out as rate
payer funds earmark maybe for a specific
purpose like infrastructure or keeping
rates down and they’re transferred and
co-opted for a completely different
purpose
here that was being sent to the city’s
general funds for general purposes and
this money is desperately needed by the
LADWP for infrastructure repairs in
these types of situations you know see
the rolling blackouts that were planted
last year because of the overload on the
grid so these transfers are done even
when the Li DWP desperately needs this
money and the connection here and put
everything in context is that the city
attorney represented the city and the
LADWP in this settlement action and when
notice was sent out to advise consumers
about the settlement they specifically
did not mention this 242 million dollar
transfer this is a significant due
process violation because as a class
member when you receive notice you’re
supposed to be told what you’re giving
up and that wasn’t done here what people
were left out of understanding was that
if they didn’t opt out of the settlement
they would not be able to challenge this
in court you’re asked to either stay in
and accept the benefits of the
settlement or to opt out or object and
if you’re not given the proper
information you can’t make an informed
decision to do that this is a pretty
basic concept in class actions where
when you receive a notice you’re
supposed to be able to have enough
information to exercise your rights to
be heard as a class member and that
didn’t happen here either the strategic
the sediment was strategically designed
by the parties in the City Attorney’s
office so that any activity occurring
after notice was sent out was not
included and it all of that was released
and they didn’t have the opportunity to
actually challenge that transfer in
court even though they knew the City
Attorney’s Office knew that that
transfer would be occurring just a
couple of months later they actually
knew about it months in advance and
signed off on and but their mo just
seems to be protecting this established
system of using the LADWP as an ATM if
they were really operating as a city
attorney they should be ensuring that
the LADWP is aboveboard and is acting as
a good actor but instead what they’re
doing is seem to be acting more like
defense attorneys for and defending
these otherwise bad actors these these
cases that come up or due process
concerns or sort of center stage don’t
come up very often so when they do we
like to take a stand on behalf of
consumers the trial court unfortunately
in this case did approve this settlement
despite the problems with the notice and
the fact that the city attorney hid this
transfer from the court and from the
class so we objected we
Carman bulbar our executive director and
a DWP rate pair to uphold the basic
rights of class members and the
integrity of the class action system as
a whole if people deserve the truth
consumers deserve the truth and if
they’re not being given the truth in
these types of major cases by the City
Attorney’s Office then we can never
expect them to be fully informed to make
these informed decisions and they’ll
lose these rights to transfer these
types to challenge these types of
transfers in court and we thought that
was important enough to get involved in
so my name is Carmen Bolivar as I said
I’m the executive director of consumer
watchdog and I’m a DWP rate payer I pay
my bill every month and as a rate payer
I expect the money that I sent to LADWP
to go to provide me electricity water
and trash services now I might think
this bill is too high but at least I
think that when I pay the DWP they’re
using that money to provide me
electricity to fix the water pipes that
are spewing all over the city
to replace broken trash cans what I
don’t expect is that a quarter of a
billion dollars every year of my rate
payer money is being funneled to a
secret slush fund at the city of Los
Angeles to use for any purpose other
than providing me electricity service
it’s outrageous that’s why as a rate
payer and consumer watchdogs executive
director I am the plaintiff in this case
because it’s outrageous number one that
the secret tax is hidden in our bills to
begin with it’s doubly outrageous that
when the ratepayers got together and
sued the city over it came to a
settlement over these outrageous
practices city attorney Mike fear and
the DWP again hid from the public
another 242 million dollar transfer
there is no way as a rape as the
executive director of a consumer
organization let alone as a rate payer I
could have figured out from this note
that that 242 million dollar transfer
was about to happen because it is
nowhere in that postcard when ratepayers
received that they would never know and
they lost their rights to object that’s
why as a rate payer I objected to this
settlement if for example there’s a
class action lawsuit against Toyota for
exploding airbags and the class
settlement offers a $5 coupon to every
consumer consumers have a right to know
that’s coming so they can say wait a
second that’s not enough that’s not a
fair settlement of this I want to bring
action on my own that’s exactly what
happened in this DWP case the city and
DWP hid a quarter of a billion dollars
that was being moved from my DWP bill
and
if in the city of Los Angeles to the
city without disclosing it to the public
and that’s outrageous we deserve full
information and the ability to make an
informed choice that’s why we filed this
objection to the settlement and are
finalizing this appeal today turn it
back over to Jamie to talk about the
broader endemic problems of ethics
violations at the City Attorney’s Office
well this is a part of a much larger
picture this is the billing cover-up
scheme bulletin board and what you have
to know is the reason we’re not hearing
the mayor or the City Council condemned
this DWP billing scandal despite the
fact that it involved a no-bid contract
for 36 million dollars to a company that
operates out of a three million dollar
oceanfront condo and is named after a
lamborghini aventador utilities the
reason we’re not hearing more is because
the DWP every year gives tribute to the
city of about a quarter of a billion
dollars from rate payer funds and it’s
blessed by Mike furor the city attorney
in this case it’s not just blessed it’s
hidden from ratepayers in the settlement
that was supposed to stop this but isn’t
gonna stop these transfers these
transfers will go on they may be less
but they will go on that’s why we’re
objecting but mr. Fuhrer is caught in
the middle of the scandal and let me
explain what’s recently happened of the
four attorneys involved in the city
attorney scandal the chief assistant
city attorney Tom Peters resigned on
Friday consumer watchdog had called for
the four top deputy two top deputies and
four special counsels to resign on March
6th because of this cover-up because of
the scandal to date three of these four
deputies are gone
Paul Cecil Paul
artists Tom Peters the top deputy Jim
Clark should resign immediately he knows
according to the deposition that these
city attorneys represented both the
plaintiff and the defense the DWP and
did tell the court didn’t tell the
public didn’t tell the ratepayers
so mr. Fuhrer needs to force mr. Clark
to do what the other attorneys have done
and leave the City Attorney’s office and
frankly mr. Fuhrer needs to open himself
to scrutiny by the Attorney General on
outside authority cannot be reviewing
his own department which he’s doing
right now
so these resignations are just part of a
larger larger shake-up that’s needed at
DWP and
today we’re hoping that as the court
goes forward and a quarter said there’s
a prima facie case of fraud against the
public against the court that we’re
going to see mr. Clark resign shortly as
the top deputy we’re going to see mr.
Fuhrer agree to submit to an outside
review beyond his office walls of this
whole crisis that’s got to happen
because what’s at stake here is tens of
millions of dollars in rate payer money
which by the way is nothing compared to
the 240 million were challenging in
court so we’re hoping for some
resolution the City Council by the way
has asked for a report back about this
36 million no-bid contract which was
awarded to one of the city’s attorneys
special counsel who was also accused of
representing both the plaintiff and the
defense in this case they brought in a
guy from Ohio who made 15 million in
legal fees and took the Fifth Amendment
when asked if he gave these attorneys
kickbacks or referral fees one of them
claimed they didn’t the other hasn’t
testified this is this is a corruption
scandal worthy of a mafia sting
operation not the Department of Water
and Power in the City Attorney’s Office
I mean we’ve got companies getting tens
of millions of dollars from rape
in no-bid contracts named after
Lamborghinis and operating out of ocean
Punk apartments we’ve got attorneys
taking the Fifth Amendment when they
said when they say what do we do with
that money the court gave us the judge
frankly needs to refer these guys to the
State Bar and he needs to tell mr. furor
that he needs to submit to some kind of
outside review here it’s unacceptable
for ratepayers to lose this much money
every year I would say one other thing
just well we have folks here to open it
up with some questions in the line or
the room something separate and a part
happened today that we should notify
people about and there’s going to be a
statement on our website it’s on
consumer watchdog org 31 days ago the
Insurance Commissioner of California was
petitioned by ten public interest in
civil rights groups to begin a hearing
and rulemaking process to stop the use
of education and occupation and auto
insurance he’s answered that petition
and saying he is going to do hearings
but he is not going to submit to a
timeline for rulemaking this is an
outrageous practice insurance companies
in this state engage in they today
charge you based on your college
education and based on your profession
and it’s illegal it’s not a rating
factor approved by voters the
Commissioner has said he will look at
this he will held hearings on it he will
see how this discriminates against
people he has not committed to a
timeline or a rulemaking Insurance
Commissioner Ricardo Lara needs to
commit to a timeline to deal with this
very fundamental problem we face which
is right now 18 percent of Latinos have
college degrees the other eighty-two
percent pay more for their auto
insurance because insurance discriminate
against them 25 percent of
african-americans have college degrees
the other 75% pay more for their auto
insurance because they’re discriminated
against Ricardo Lara needs to stand up
for these people during the next year
year and a half these hearings need to
lead to rules these rules
need to have a timeline this cannot be
more talk with no action and we are
hoping the Insurance Commissioner is
resolute in a process that moves forward
to get an end to this discrimination and
we welcome participation in that process
we’re glad that these hearings are
happening but we have to tell the
Insurance Commissioner that they need to
result in rules on a reasonable timeline
because this discrimination has gone on
too long so I just wanted to throw that
in there for anyone listening who cares
it’s a big deal in California and it’s a
big deal for the people who were voted
Ricardo Lara who was the first Latino
Insurance Commissioner in the history of
the state he needs and I know he does
take that very seriously
any questions from in the room or a lot
there are a plethora of different laws
and regulations and things about
according to the city charter or the
kosygin’s Constitution and things like
that where they can sort of get around
any type of thing like that to say
you’ll use it as a surplus even though
it may not actually be a surplus it’s
just sort of a matter of funny
accounting at this point and that’s sort
of consistent with all the rest of the
different things that you see going on
we might be inclined to agree with you
but due to some different kind of legal
gymnastics and things like that they’ve
been able to sort of kind of circumvent
all of those two types different types
of regulations successfully for years
with the help of the City Attorney’s
Office I would had I mean the city
attorney should be representing the
public and the consumers not just DWP in
these cases and this surplus I think
we’re looking at was an eight billion at
one point that they had built up a
surplus of eight billion you know that
has been used there to be a piggy bank
for the city of La until voters said
that’s illegal then they settle another
class-action frankly for very little
money I mean if this is the notice that
went out to ratepayers look at this
fifty two million will be given back to
ratepayers the settlement fund 52
million dollars and will limit how much
we transfer each year to 8% of the
surplus 52 million is nothing when you
consider what’s missing in this notice
is the 250 million if you had said the
settlement is currently estimated to be
52 million dollars by the way the city
is going to get another 250 million of
your money in December people might be a
little annoyed which is why it’s not in
the notice
that’s why hiding the ball and the facts
from the public result in these crazily
undervalued settlements where the
plaintiffs lawyers get paid and the city
attorney gets to smile at DWP and
everyone else and the city fathers don’t
come down on the myth on the City
Attorney’s Office when he’s embroiled in
this crazy DWP billing scandal this is a
cozy relationship between the City
Council the mayor the DWP and the City
Attorney’s Office at the expense of the
people of Los Angeles and you know why
it happens because there’s one-party
rule in this city and I’m a Democrat but
these are all Democrats protecting
everybody else’s but and the Attorney
General needs to come in he’s also a
Democrat and look at this and report
back to the public because this is way
too cozy
the term billing scandal the excuse was
I believe oh it was a software problem
and benders well that’s it that’s a
great point and that’s what this chart
actually shows is that there were two
lawsuits
there’s the ratepayer lawsuit against
DWP for just over billing okay because
it’s partly bureaucracy it’s partly
people it’s partly computer then the
city instead wanted to sue Price
Waterhouse Cooper the consult to the
software maker to say it’s their fault
it’s the software Consultants fault we
had the wrong software so when there was
legitimate cases filed against DWP by
ratepayers what happened was the city
got very nervous and they recruited
their own plaintiff a guy named Antoine
Jones who literally four months after
the first case filed his own case
against DWP over the same issue now
these attorneys who represented the
plaintiff while they were representing
the city defendant the DWP
basically said we can’t be caught doing
that we’re gonna find another guy this
guy from Ohio
Jaclyn’s coder to represent Antoine
Jones in a new case so we don’t have to
settle with these original rate payers
if we settle with these original rate
payers we might actually have to do
discovery and confess our sins and hire
some people but instead they said they
this guy filed the case in April one
four months after the original cases
then offered settlement the next day
they settled quickly because they
controlled both sides of the case then
they went to sue the software maker
because they said it’s all the software
a consultant and software makers problem
not not our problem well that all got
tied up in a nice bow until when the
software maker started to defend the
case he found out that the two city
attorneys had recruited the plaintiff in
the case and they did something called a
reverse auction they found a lawyer who
would settle against the city sheep
quickly without discovery and without
any mess so they could sue someone else
and collect their money they got caught
red-handed and you know what outside of
deposition
and under oath where they did tell the
truth and they said they were all in on
it
Mike Fuhrer has yet to say he’s sorry he
knew about it and it’s wrong if he did
that and he’ll never happen again we’d
have a better result here so bad jacket
of all I think viewers should resign but
secondly do we have fortunately since
I’m not a lawyer I don’t know but it’s
something that’s that’s worth looking
into he represented the city department
and the rate payers theoretically had
their own representation but I guess
there is a question as to whether he
abused his authority or trust it’s very
hard to Sioux City entities it’s called
sovereign immunity right so so it’s a
big lift and that’s my non lawyer lawyer
Lee answer to that question anybody on
the line have a question anybody left in
the room but I did hear Jack Humphrey
Vil saying that Mike Feuer should resign
which which is probably a bless of a
question than a commentary well and I
will tell you Mel Levine is part of this
problem he’s very close with Paul key so
he’s very close with Paul paradies the
two special councilor resign I don’t
know where he stands with anyone else
but this is a cozy Club and what’s
really interesting about we’re talking
about today a little complicated is this
transfer that we’re suing over this
transfer right here is how it is the
lubrication for that cosy Club you know
a 250 million dollar annual transfer
from DWP to the city sure makes it you
know feel like no one really wants to
ask too many questions
because the city does have a lot of
essential services
that should be funded that’s true it
just shouldn’t be funded with repair
money in this surreptitious way and so
you know III think that I think that
part of the problem is that we do have a
DWP Commission and Mello vine that
rubber-stamp
what DWP general manager wants to do the
classic case is there’s no bid contract
that we talked about where when I’ve at
the doral the utility is one in a thirty
six million dollar no bid contract they
went to the DWP general manager who
pitched it to the Commission
Fred pickle the rate payer advocate said
absolutely let’s do it we need it
quickly then they approved it the
company was you know didn’t exist till
march of of 2017 after the contract was
was awarded I mean this is crazy
no one’s double-checking the math of
anybody in DWP there’s and and that’s
partially goes to why is the controller
not doing it well his budgets controlled
by the city why did Maria Martinez who’s
the chair of a committee that oversees
in the City Council the DWP was she’s
starting to ask questions now about
aventador utilities no one even heard
the name and he spent 36 million on the
no bid contract to clean up customer
service and no one ever heard the name
of Paul Paradiso aventador utilities
that’s just in crazy that’s crazy
no picture of Paul parody doesn’t exist
online in person here’s a tip for any
enterprising reporter I went to the 1990
New York law school yearbook he
allegedly graduated from New York law
school in 1990 there’s no picture or
name for Paul parodies maybe it was a
misprint maybe it’s not online or maybe
he never graduated from New York law
school in 1990 just like you know he
didn’t really do much of an obit
contract out of his oceanfront condo
well Price Waterhouse is doing a pretty
good job of exposing the city’s foibles
as a defense this is all coming from
Price Waterhouse Cooper and a very good
attorney named Dan Tomas and if you go
to our last press release online you can
read his brief outlay laying out this
whole scheme the one that the judge says
is a prima facie case of fraud it’s
detailed that’s under oath it’s this is
not surmise but fundamentally because of
the corruption in the City Attorney’s
Office at DWP you can bet we’re gonna
get a lot less from Price Waterhouse
Cooper if anything I mean they you know
they could get this case dismissed there
now is Mike fear I think in his own way
is so defensive because he’s does not
want to give up this litigation against
Price Waterhouse Cooper and instead of
looking at the DWP and how outrageous
this whole issue is he’s looking forward
to Price Waterhouse Cooper and saying we
got to go plow forward with that and I
think both things are true he’s got to
find a way to clean up his house or he’s
got to go and he’s got to find a way by
doing that to still isolate what Price
Waterhouse Cooper probably did wrong
which is a part of the problem
the real problem is DWP is also part of
the problem and no one’s acknowledging
this is a human customer service problem
a management problem a leadership
problem and it goes back decades and
it’s and it’s it’s frankly on Eric
Garcetti said I think the reason the
Eric Garcetti will never be president
United States is partially because he’s
got this DWP thing hanging around his
neck that when he starts running
anywhere doing anything all that’s gonna
come out of closet he was he was
complicit and every one of these
decisions and and no one knows who he is
anyway so it’s easy not to run for
president but if you ever do you better
better not have something like this in
your closet and he’s gonna have it in
his closet unless he starts to get off
the on the ball and do something about
it okay thank you all take care
Hi Chris, Your content is amazing and helpful. I shared this with my team and it helped us!