L.A. City Council Meeting Canceled Because Members Jose Huizar, Paul Koretz Were Late; Others Were Known No-Shows

By Dennis Romero Tue., Jan. 25 2011 at 1:37 PM

The chambers of ACTION!

Ah, the great city of L.A. Shit gets done! Mountains get moved! The City Council ... cancels meetings because slacker members don't show up on time.
Yeah, you heard right.

For the second time in four months the second largest city in the nation's scheduled council meeting was scrubbed because not enough of your representatives showed up on time. They so care.

Blame this one on councilmen Jose Huizar and Paul Koretz. Koretz's spokespersons aid he was stuck in traffic. Huizar had an earlier press conference downtown but apparently didn't indicate he wasn't going to show.

Other no shows had asked beforehand to be excused (okay, kids, as long as you do your homework): Janice Hahn, Bernard Parks, Bill Rosendahl and Dennis Zine.

To be fair, Rosendahl was recovering from surgery. Parks said he had a press conference, too.

"We need to respect the public's time as they respect ours," said council President Eric Garcetti, who pulled the plug at 10:17 a.m. "Our constituents came here at 10 a.m. Our council rules say that we should be here at 10 a.m."

Small matters on Tuesday's menu included the controversial transfer of $1 billion in redevelopment cash to city coffers so Gov. Jerry Brown would keep his hands off it.

What a city: $178,000-a-year council members -- they're doers.

-With reporting from City News Service. Got news? Email us. Follow us on Twitter, too: @dennisjromero.

Tags:

Bernard Parks, city council, Jose Huizar, Los Angeles

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Yj Draiman

Do we need an ethical bailout to go along with the financial one?

Let us discuss the need for honesty and integrity as the basic principle of leadership. Defines quality leadership as a process beyond technical competence. Successful leaders continually demonstrate honesty and integrity as an essential element of their professional fabric; a lack of commitment to the principle renders all other skills meaningless. Depicts honesty and integrity as essential elements of human behavior that promote and support quality relationships. Defines honesty and integrity in the context of building trust and maintaining credibility. Provides a sound philosophy that increases the probability for long-term success and professional fulfillment.The matter raised "legitimate and genuine concerns", adding: "My concern ... is that without integrity and legitimacy and honesty, and then Government cannot function. This must now be settled, otherwise it saps at the very heart of what is the highest office – and the highest office-holder."Is honesty for suckers?— A worldwide recession sets in when it turns out that a vast subprime mortgage system was built on a foundation of fraud.— Government officials are convicted of fraud and misappropriation of funds and backdoor deals.— Cheating is rampant in high schools and colleges.

— And in sports? The same deal. Doping scandals, cheating, chemical and otherwise, pervades football, baseball and other sports. — Wall Street is being manipulated by corporate America bilking investors out of billions of dollars.

If so many people are cheating, how can honest people play by the rules and not be at a disadvantage — in school, at work, in sports, in business? Do we need an ethical bailout to go along with the financial one?Are you a chump if you play by the rules?

Compiled by: YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles

Robert

Hilarious excuses. They want to respect the public's time is the biggest joke of all because on Friday's the clowns take up to 2 hours giving presentations to their political payback friends. Garcetti should have waited a little longer. Most of those community members in chambers most likely took the day off. Huizar I'm told got a heads up his constituents were in the audience ready to go at him for grading them on their volunteer work in his community. Would have loved to see that on my computer. Huizar behaved like a coward and hid out til Garcetti canceled meeting

Yuval Kremer

One correction: I believe it's roughly $1 Billion in Debt and encumbered funds (money that has to be spent on CRA projects) that's being transferred to the City, not cash...that debt is paid off over time with a portion of the tax money generated in the CRA redevelopment areas. Governor Brown wants to pay off existing obligations and complete projects that are well under way, but stop CRA's from taking on new projects and continuing to receive tax monies that could go to schools, public safety, etc. At least that's my take on the complicated financial aspects of CRA's and the cooperation agreement proposed between the City and the CRA. Here's a reference for the debt aspect of it:

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_17...

Yuval Kremer

Eric says "we need to respect the public's time", which is funny, b/c when Eric pulls the trigger on cancelling the meeting so quickly, he is really NOT respecting the public's time. People drove from all over to speak against the CRA Item on today's agenda, and they knew that they were blowing out 1/2 of their day to do so, and Eric knows that. Council meetings usually start late...it's funny how, when there's a controversial item on the agenda, Eric is only willing to wait 17 lousy minutes, before ending the meeting, which means everybody has to come back again another day, and Eric gets a few hours off and gets to avoid a controversy for another day. Eric: it's never about us; it's about you.

PS: I can't remember how many times I've waited more than an hour or even hours to speak at City Hall hearings (and they only let us speak for 1 or 2 minutes), but Eric can't wait 17 minutes...he gave this same spiel last time I remember him cancelling a meeting.