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Read more Walsh Confidential Go to the Archives, if you dare...WALSH_ARCHIVES.html

Below are cartoons from the site: redevelopment.com

GO TO: “REDEVELOPMENT THE UNKNOWN GOVERNMENT”, this tells the story of CRA abuse in Ca.

Click on the individual cartoons below and go to the chapters that briefly explain each topic. Or just enjoy the cartoons and get an overview of how a CRA/RDA steals from the taxpayer and enriches greedy developers.

This booklet was created by Assembly member Chris Norby, who has been a leader in fighting CRA abuse.

CRA FUTURE BATTLE PLAN PART 1 ...CONTD FROM HOME PAGE: LET ALONE HARD INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING. LEAVING THE JOB TO THIS WEBSITE:HOLLYWOODHIGHLANDS.ORG. OUR WEBSITE IS NOT HERE TO WISECRACK AND PASS ENDLESS SNARKY COMMENTS. WE ARE NOT GADFLIES THAT ANNOY WHO CAN EASILY BE SWATTED AWAY. TO PURSUE THE INSECT METAPHOR FURTHER. WE ARE LIKE SCORPIONS WHOSE STING IS FEARED.WE ARE NOT MOSQUITO BITES ON THE BODY POLITIC. WE ARE LIKE DOUBLE TESTICULAR CANCER! BROWN IS IN A BIG HURRY CRA-WISE. THIS PAST MONDAY BROWN TAPPED THE THREE PEOPLE TO SIT ON THE UNDERTAKERS BOARD TO RUN THIS BRAND NEW REMNANT OF A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR AGENCY. LO AND BEHOLD, THE BOARD HAD ITS FIRST MEETING (TWO HOURS LONG) LESS THAN 96 HOURS AFTER ITS THREE MEMBERS WERE PUBLICLY NAMED BT THE EX-MAYOR OF OAKLAND. THE BROWN BOARD ANNOUNCED WEEKLY MEETINGS INTO THE INDEFINITE FUTURE. BY COMPARISON, THE DISBANDED CRA BOARD MET TWICE A MONTH. WHAT'S THE RUSH? BROWN IS USING THE UNDERTAKER BOARD TO EMPLOY VELVET EXTORTION TO SWELL THE CAMPAIGN COFFERS NECESSARY TO PASS JERRY'S TAX HIKE IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR. BROWN WAS HURRIEDLY SEEKING HEAVYWEIGHT LOBBYIST TYPES AND A WELL KNOWN BUSINESS FIGURE TO FRONT THE FLEDGLING BOARD. SEVERAL PERSONAGES WERE OFFERED A SEAT AND REFUSED, RIGHTLY FEARING THAT GETTING INVOLVED IN BROWN'S PECULIAR TAX INITIATIVE CAMPAIGN FUND RAISING SCHEME MIGHT LEAD TO CAREER-CRIPPLING REPUTATION DAMAGE. THOSE WERE WISE MOVES ON THEIR PARTS. SO WHO GOT ROPED IN BY THE GOVERNOR WITH PROMISES OF FUTURE PAYOFFS? LET'S START WITH THE CASE STUDY OF CHAIRMAN OF THE UNDERTAKER BOARD :NELSON RISING. WALSHCONFIDENTIAL FIRST MET NELSON WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT OF CATELLUS ,THE REAL ESTATE ARM OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC. HE ALSO SERVED AS HEAD OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IN SAN FRANCISCO. THIS GUY OOZES CREDIBILITYAND DISTINCTION. AT THE FIRST UNDERTAKER BOARD MEETING THIS PAST FRIDAY, HE WAS THE ONE WHO ASKED THE FEWEST QUESTION OF THE FORMER CRA STAFF, WHICH THE UNDERTAKER BOARD HAS OBEDIENTLY ACCEPTED AS THEIR OWN STAFF. NO QUESTIONS ASKED EXCEPT BY WALSHCONFIDENTIAL. 70 YEAR OLD NELSON RISING PLAYED THE PART OF A HOLLYWOOD DRESS EXTRA, SITTING BETWEEN THE OTHER TWO OTHER UNDERTAKER BOARD MEMBERS IN HIS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PLUS SUIT, LENDING CREDENCE TO THE OCCASION BUT NOT MUCH ELSE. THE DIRTY WORK WILL BE LEFT TO THE OTHER TWO JERRY PICKS. POOR, POOR MR.RISING. HE SITS ON THE BRAND NEW UNDERTAKER AGENCY BOARD, ABOUT AS HELPLESS AS GERMAN CHANCELLOR VON HINDENBURG, BETWEEN THE OTHER TWO CRAFTY BOARD MEMBERS. WHILE THEY DO THE HEAVY LIFTING METAPHORICALLY FOR THE IN PLACE SUCCESSOR TO THE SECOND REICH, OTHER WISE KNOWN AS THE COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF LOS ANGELES , NELSON RISING JUST STARES INTO SPACE. WITH ONLY THREE MEMBERS, JERRY WAS SUPER CHALLENGED TO MAKE POLITICALLY CORRECT CHOICES .THAT'S HOW WE WOUND UP WITH TWO WHITE GUYS AND AN ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN MEE SEMCKEN EXPANDS HER SFV CHINESE DIRTY LAUNDRY BUSINESS THANKS TO JERRY MEE (IT'S ALL ABOUT HER) SEMCKEN IS A FIFTY FOUR YEAR OLD SMALL TIME POLITICAL FIXER OPERATING OUT OF THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY FROM HER SAN MARINO MANSION. SHE CALLS HERSELF THE LEE CONSULTING GROUP. HER CLIENTS CALL HER JOHN SEMCKEN'S BETTER HALF. SHE PEDDLES THE POLITICAL POWER SHE ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGING MARRIAGE VOWS WITH JOHNNIE BOY WHO IS NUMBER TWO AT ED ROSKI'S REAL ESTATE COLOSSUS, MAJESTIC REALTY. THE UNDERTAKER BOARD JOB IS HER LAST SHOT AT BECOMING A BIG TIME POLITICAL FIXER.GOOD LUCK,MEE! UP TILL NOW, MEE'S CONSULTING GROUP HAS BEEN SMALL POTATOES. A BIG CONTRACT FOR HER WAS GETTING THE COUNTY TO OKAY REMOVING PENALTIES FOR CHOPPING DOWN THREE OAK TREES AT A SGV PRIVATE SCHOOL. IN HER PAST SHE WAS CRA LIAISON FOR THE CITY OF L.A. , WHICH MEANS SHE WAS UP TO HER ASS IN CRA PALACE INTRIGUE. NOT ONLY DOES MADAME MEE KNOW WHERE ALL THE CRA BODIES ARE BURIED, SHE WAS HIRED AS CONSULTANT TO PICK THE POLITICALLY CONNECTED MINORITY BUSINESS TO DIG THE GRAVES. PERFECT PICK,JERRY ! LOW PERSON ON THE TOTEM POLE IS TIM MCOSKER,NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BROTHER PAT, FIREFIGHTERS UNION CHIEF AND RECENT CITY COUNCIL LOSING CANDIDATE. BIG TIM IS NO SLOUCH HIMSELF; HE IS OPERATING NOW AS A GLORIFIED LOBBYIST FOR DOWNTOWN MEGA- BUSINESS INTERESTS. HE WAS MAYOR HAHN'S CHIEF OF STAFF AND ASS DEEP IN THE FLEISHMAN -HILLARD SCANDAL THAT ENDED WITH A LOBBYIST'S IMPRISONMENT. ANOTHER PERFECT PICK, JERRY! HERE IS HOW THE SCHEME WORKS. THE UNDERTAKER BOARD IS SITTING ON BILLIONS. IF YOU ARE A LABOR LEADER OR HOLD A CRA CONTRACT WHICH IS IN LIMBO, YOU SHOW UP AT FORMER CRA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CURRENT UNDERTAKERS BOARD BAG LADY CHRIS ESSEL'S DOORSTEP WITH A SHITLOAD OF BROWN TAX INITIATIVE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION PLEDGES STUFFED IN YOUR POCKETS READY TO UNLOAD.E SSEL IS BEING KEPT WARM BECAUSE OF THE EXCELLENT WORK SHE PERFORMED WHEN SHE WAS FAMOUS AMONG INSIDERS FOR THE SKULLDUGGERY SHE EXPERTLY PERFORMED BACK IN THE CRA DAY. SCUM RISES TO THE TOP. MS. CHRIS WORKS OUT THE QUID PRO QUO DETAILS OF THE CONTRACTOR'S OR UNION LEADERS SIZABLE DONATIONS TO BROWN'S "SUPER-PAC" THAT IS BANKROLLING THE GOVERNOR'S TAX HIKE INITIATIVE CAMPAIGN TO BE VOTED ON BY THE ELECTORATE REAL SOON. THEN JERRY B. MAKES SURE THE FAVORED CONTRIBUTOR/CONTRACTORS GET THE FAVORS THEY WANT FROM HIS APPOINTED GANG OF THREE. SWEET DEAL, ISN'T? THE CRA'S MADAME LA FARGE MISS CHRIS ESSEL WILL GO TO WORK RIGHT AWAY SMOOTHING OUT THE DETAILS WITH MEE AND TIM UNTIL THE DIRTY DEAL IS DONE, WHILE NELSON RISING SNOOZES SENIOR-CITIZEN STYLE IN THE MIDDLE SEAT AND BROWN RAISES MILLIONS TO CONVINCE CALIFORNIA VOTERS TO VOTE FOR HIS TAX HIKE ON A CONFUSING NOVEMBER BALLOT. VOILA! THE CRA HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED BY BROWN INTO AN ATM MACHINE NEAT TRICK HE IS GETTING AWAY WITH! HERE IS A BLOW BY BLOW ACCOUNT OF MY EXPERIENCE IN FRONT OF THE UNDERTAKER BOARD DURING ITS MAIDEN VOYAGE THREE DAYS AGO. SO LITTLE TIME. SO MANY WINDMILLS. I,JOHN WALSH, AMERICA'S LEAST WANTED, ARRIVED AT THE GARLAND CENTER BLDG., THE SCENE OF THE PAST CRA CRIMES. UPON ENTERING, A SECURITY OFFICER TOLD ME I WAS BANNED FROM THE BUILDING. I TOLD HIM I WAS HEADING FOR A PUBLIC MEETING IN THE AUDITORIUM SO HE WOULD KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME IF HE CALLED LAPD TO ARREST ME. AFTER THAT I DIDN'T SEE HIM AGAIN. INTIMIDATION NEVER WORKS AGAINST ME. ASK THE MAYOR. I SAID HELLO TO NELSON RISING AND REMINDED HIM THAT THE LAST TIME WE MET WAS IN THE NINETIES AT THE OPENING OF THE TAJ MAHAL, THE MTA OFFICE BLDG. ADJACENT TO UNION STATION. HE WAS CORDIAL BEFORE THE MEETING. I SPOKE UNDER THE BROWN ACT GUARANTEE OF PUBLIC COMMENT ON SEVERAL MOTIONS. FIRST OF ALL, I INQUIRED WHETHER EACH BOARD MEMBER HAD FILED WITH FPPC A STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC INTERESTS (CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION). NO ANSWER. AFTER THE MEETING, ESSEL CONSULTANT, DAVID BLOOM, INFORMED ME THAT THE BOARD MEMBERS HAD NOT FILED TIMELY. THAT THROWS THE ENTIRE MEETING UNDER A LEGAL CLOUD. THE MEETING WAS BARELY AN HALF HOUR OLD WHEN THE LOBBYING BEGAN IN EARNEST. A LOBBYIST FOR A MAJOR CONTRACTOR SPEAKING AS I DID UNDER PUBLIC COMMENT TRIED OPENLY TO PERSUADE THE BOARD TO ACT IN FAVOR OF THE CONTRACTOR WHO WAS PAYING THE LOBBYIST TO APPEAR AND INFLUENCE THE BOARD . I HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE STATE FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION SEEKING AN INVESTIGATION CENTERING ON THIS VIOLATION OF STATE LAW. THE CRA UNDERTAKER BOARD HAD NO RIGHT TO CONVENE A MEETING BEFORE THEIR CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS HAVE BEEN FILED WITH FPCC AND AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. THE UNDERTAKER BOARD HAS NO LOBBYIST REGISTRATION AND LOBBYIST WERE NOT REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS LOBBYISTS ON THE PUBLIC COMMENT SPEAKER CARDS THAT MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ORDER TO SPEAK IN FRONT OF THE BOARD. THE UNDERTAKER BOARD HAS NO INSPECTOR GENERAL OR AUDITOR-CONTROLLER, EITHER! INCIDENTALLY, THE MEETING WAS VIDEO TAPED BY CHANNEL 35, THE L.A. CITY CHANNEL AND IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. THE BOARD LET DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY KELLY MARTIN KNOW IN A HURRY THAT SHE WOULD SOON BE OUT OF A JOB AS BOARD COUNSEL. WHY? SHE IS A REPUBLICAN HAVING SERVED AS REPUBLICAN MAYOR RIORDAN'S CHIEF OF STAFF. THE LAST THING BROWN'S GANG OF THREE, ALL REGISTERED DEMOCRATS, WANTS IS SOMEONE WHO IS EMPLOYED BY REPUBLICAN CITY ATTORNEY TRUTANICH, SNOOPING AROUND THIS QUASI- LEGAL MONEY STORE. NELSON RISING HAS A SPOTLESS CAREER RECORD UP TILL NOW.. RESIGN, MR RISING IN ORDER TO GUARD YOUR REPUTATION ! AS I SAID TO HIM FACE-TO-FACE: "DON'T TURN NELSON RISING INTO NELSON FALLING!" THE BOARD AGREED WITH HOLLYWOODHIGHLANDS.ORG THAT IT WAS ABSURD TO CALL THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY THE SAME NAME AS THE DISBANDED AGENCY: CRA/LA. A NAME CHANGE IS IN THE WORKS. I SHALL RETURN TO THE UNDERTAKERS BOARD MEETING THIS THURSDAY. MORE TO COME AND THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ ABOUT IT. VENCEREMOS! http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hindenburg_paul_von.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hindenburg_paul_von.shtmlhttp://articles.latimes.com/2004/nov/19/local/me-fleishman19/2http://HOLLYWOODHIGHLANDS.ORGshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1shapeimage_5_link_2shapeimage_5_link_3
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THE TOMBSTONE “THINGY” THAT CAUSED ALL THE CONTROVERSY EXPLAINED. (ONLY THE POLITBURO OF LA CITY COUNCIL COULD HAVE MADE SO MUCH OF A LITTLE ARTS AND CRAFTS RIFF ON THE CRA. ) AS YOU CAN SEE THE SEVERED HAND OF THE CRA IS GRASPING AT THE THE LAST TAX PAYER DOLLARS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, WHILE POISED AT THE MOUTH OF THE RECYCLE BIN, AS WE ARE SURE THEY WILL TRY TO DO. I THOUGHT IT WAS COOL WHEN I WON THE DISTRICT ART CONTEST IN 5TH GRADE, WHEN I GRADUATED FROM ART CENTER YEARS AGO, I EVEN THOUGHT IT WAS COOL WHEN I DESIGNED THE FIRST PROTOTYPE OF THE LA WEEKLY ...BUT NOTHING HAS COMPARED TO BEING CALLED AN “ARTS AND CRAFTS QUEEN” BY THE INCOMPARABLE SIMONE WILSON - TOO COOL - THANKS SIMONE.http://www.poetpatriot.com/jokes-polquote.htm#Bureaucracyshapeimage_7_link_0

Development

Party Review: 'Drop Dead CRA Day' at City Hall


By Simone Wilson Wed., Feb. 1 2012 at 4:20 PM

Comments (6)




































Out with a bang.


Today is a very special day.


Today is the day that all 400 redevelopment agencies (RDAs) across California -- including the massive L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) -- are shut down for good. And all the property taxes they've been raking in, for buildings within areas they've declared "blighted," will now go directly to the state for essential costs like education and emergency services.

Woot woot! This calls for a little celebration. Leave it to oddball Los Angeles citywatchers John Walsh and Miki Jackson, of HollywoodHighlands.org, to host a bona fide funeral party (emphasis on the party) for the CRA ...

... down at City Hall. Under the same roof, if you'll recall, that has sheltered decades of shady dealings between the CRA, City Council politicians and fat-cat developers who came sniffing for handouts. (No such thing as too rich!)

"Drop Dead CRA Day" was a bittersweet affair.




The CRA "always hands out the Jim Jones Kool-Aid to everybody, telling them how everything was going great," says Jackson, left.



Walsh paired a dollar-bill tie with his signature plaid suit jacket to mark the occasion. Jackson, apparently an arts-and-crafts queen, fashioned the CRA a terrific tombstone -- plastered in skeleton hands and more dollar bills.


Although public commenters expressed relief that the CRA could do no more harm, they were visibly pained to recall horror stories of land grabs past.

"We had a vibrant community... not a blighted slum," remembered Gordon Pattison, a former Bunker Hill resident, of his long-ago neighborhood, before the CRA wiped it out and installed a business district. "Nine thousand people were displaced at the time."

Valerie Stewart, surviving daughter of actor Nick Stewart, stepped to the podium to remember her parents' historic Ebony Showcase Theater, once a groundbreaking outpost for black theater -- until the CRA seized it in the '90s through "eminent domain," one of their most notorious practices.

Recent City Council candidate Candice Graham backed her up on that one: "Dealing with the CRA actually killed him," she said of Stewart's famous father.

Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, though, the worst is behind us. Partytime!

But don't forget, this is City Hall we're partying at here. Meaning the public-comment-period festivities were precluded by an hour-long ceremony to designate February 1 as Rob Dyrdek Day, in exchange for the seven skate parks that said Rob Dyrdek has constructed throughout Los Angeles. Every single councilmember was given time to stand up, praise Dyrdek and spew junk statistics on the city's dropping crime rate. (And, in Venice politician Bill Rosendahl's case, brag about how much more skaterific his district is than everyone else's.)

Then, once the spotlight was finally turned on the CRA death folks, two cops from the City Council's paranoid security outfit told Walsh and Jackson that they weren't allowed to wave around their sign while yelling at councilmembers. Or even hold the sign in council chambers at all, even inside a plastic bag.

One guard also started interrogating Jackson about what was in the Kool-Aid pitcher. (Seriously.)




City attorney tries to make up for an embarrassing First Amendment violation moments earlier.


So the focus turned from the CRA to an even more popular topic at L.A. City Hall: the First Amendment. Jackson dropped some constitutional truth bombs on the council about her right to hold up the tombstone thingy -- so true, in fact, that [an underling for] L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich jumped from his chair five minutes later, chased her and Walsh out into the hall (see right) and nervously invited them to come show the City Council their sign.


So they did. And it was beautiful.






Update: From here, the CRA's unfinished business and construction projects will be handled by a three-member successor agency and an oversight board. Governor Brown just appointed L.A.'s three agency members today: lawyer and lobbyist Timothy McOsker, rich developer dude Nelson Rising and professional consultant Mee Semcken.


We were initially unsure how the CRA would be held accountable for all its assets, seeing as it had stealthily transferred its $1 billion to City Council coffers when it got wind of Brown's big murder plot. But the smooth creation of this successor agency suggests that the state will get that money back. (The governor's spokesman has been contacted for more info.)

Brown's CRA replacement team will be tasked with "unwinding the redevelopment agency's hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, complex land deals, employee obligations and development loans," reports the LA Times.

Sounds like quite the afterparty.

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

CRA, Drop Dead CRA Day, First Amendment, Governor Brown, John Walsh, Miki Jackson, RDA, redevelopment agencies

 
COMMENTS FROM THE LA WEEKLY STORY ABOVE  Kim Cooper 1 day ago 
Thanks for the photos and coverage of this momentous occasion. The former Bunker Hill resident quoted above is Gordon Pattison, whose family owned the last two Victorians left standing on Bunker Hill, the Salt Box and the Castle. The CRA seized both, with false claims that the neighborhood was a slum. Gordon said today that he was speaking to Council on behalf of the wonderful old people he knew as a child growing up on Bunker Hill, whose community was scattered and defamed. 

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  Simone Wilson 1 day ago in reply to Kim Cooper 
Thank you!! 

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  James_McCuen 1 day ago 
The truth about Downtown LA's skyline is the bulldozing of Victorian homes and historical buildings. A better use of funds would have been to help existing owners restore existing structures. Gordon Pattison pointed out the irony of destroying residential neighborhoods to establish commerical office buildings and then later converting abandoned commercial office buidings to residential (eg. Tom Gilmore). The other reality is that Property Tax diversion (tax increment) should never be used as Redevelopment agencies across the state have used them. Just study the reports by State Controller John Chiang and his predecessors - Precious tax dollars were used to enrich politically connected developers in some jurisdications and in other areas make up for local municipalities who couldn't control their own budgets by augmenting work normally covered by the general fund. The numbers are factual, not feel good PR releases from those with financial conflicts of interest. Now we see what a true financial turkey Redevelopment really is when the City of LA wouldn't dare take on the debt and liabilities of the State's largest Redevelopment Agency, CRA-LA.   Finally, be carefull when a politician speaks of "blight." Just look up the HUD Section 108 loan guarantee program which is supposed to be used for "Slum Clearance." A classic example is the $30 million HUD loan used for the "new" Kodak Theater in the $625 million Hollywood and Highland complex - a gift and bailout for CIM Group. The real blighted property was at the Northwest end of Hollywood and Western - That was a more appropriate use for HUD Section 108. 

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  Rick Abrams 1 day ago in reply to James_McCuen 
Northwest Hollywood Western:  Yes and No.  In 2005, when CIM wanted to construct a CRA project, CRA's John McCoy admitted that 7 properties north of the intersection on Western were not part of the CRA/LA because they were NOT blighted.  Now, that is quite something -- the CRA admitted that properties that a developer coveted were NOT blighted!!! Through the use of false claims of LAUSD eminent domain, CIM Group bought up these properties. Then one mysteriously burned down and the others were closed up -- but still provided easy access to drug dealers and whores -- a subject about which we suspect CIM Group knows a lot.  The resulting crime wave was so horrendous that the city, with CIM's urging, condemned the CIM properties.  After these non-blighted properties had been condemned, CRA/LA agreed to pay CIM $17.3 M.  To further deteriorate the corner, CIM Group then evicted all the low income tenants from the St Franics Hotel. What needs to be done: (1) The CRA trustees need to claw back the $17.3 Million from CIM Group; (2) Criminal investigations need to be conducted into the frauds which have been perpetrated upon the public by both the CRA and CIM Group. It is great that LA Weekly has resumed its leadership role to rid Los Angeles of corruption. 

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  KateB 1 day ago 
Let's not forget the vibrant neighborhood of Chavez Ravine which was destroyed for "public housing" which turned into Dodger Stadium. 

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  Rick Abrams 1 day ago 
Way, way back in 1915, the City of LA produced a Traffic Study, and at that time, it warned us about greedy landowners who would oppose the natural topography and human nature to spread out Los Angeles' famed residential neighborhoods interspersed with appropriate commercial and manufacturing.  In 1915 the City said, "No municipality is justified in adopting a policy which would tend to retard the removal of business centers to their natural geographical location. Such a policy would be nothing less than a deliberate exploitation of civic resources for the benefit of the limited number of property owners enjoying abnormal incomes from rental privileges; and at best, could only serve as a palliative, since the final location of the business center of any growing city is regulated entirely by its topography and is altogether beyond individual or corporate control." Yet, the CRA/LA and its latest Champion, trust fund baby and mayor wannabe Garcetti, were those Exploiters who concentrated traffic congestion first in Bunker Hill and then in Hollywood, bringing upon Los Angeles its nightmare traffic, its horrible air quality, its decaying infrastructure.  In regard to Hollywood where the CRA/Garcetti gang have been romping around for the last decade, we have an exodus of population.  Hollywood has 26,000 fewer people than projected thanks to the harmful actions of the CRA and Garcetti. Los Angeles' woeful condition did not just happen; it was systematically created by people like Garcetti who thinks Miki Jackson doesn't have First Amendment rights.  If these Exploiters of civic resources had listened to Mike Jackson a ten years ago, LA in general and Hollywood in particular would not be such a mess. 

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BIG THANK YOU TO LA WEEKLY AWARD WINNING - AND DESERVING - ACE REPORTER SIMONE WILSON FOR HER SHARP EYED COVERAGE OF THE CRA - HER LATEST CRA STORY AND PHOTOS ARE REPRODUCED HERE. TO READ MORE OF WILSON’S WORK JUST CLICK HERE.http://www.laweekly.com/authors/simone-wilson/shapeimage_9_link_0