Monthly Archives: January 2016

Selma Park

Daily Logs Show BID Patrol Groundlessly Forced More than 150 People, Including Actual Children, to Leave Selma Park on Threat of Arrest During 2013

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BID Patrol surveillance photo of Selma Park from 2007.
BID Patrol surveillance photo of Selma Park from 2007.
In September 2015 I discovered that in late 2007, the HPOA posted signs at Selma Park prohibiting adults unaccompanied by a child from being on the property but that they did so without any legal authorization from L.A. Rec and Parks. They proceeded to use arrests and threats of arrest to enforce the restrictions stated on these bogus signs. Furthermore, they weren’t even properly interpreting the statute under which they made these threats. In any case, with the recent release of all BID Patrol daily activity logs from 2013, I have been able to begin the process of quantifying the BID Patrol’s operations in Selma Park.

There are at least 137 mentions of Selma Park in the daily activity logs.1 Reading through these by hand and tallying the people kicked out of the park I count 159 of them. I skipped as many duplicates as I noticed (due to backup reporting and so on). We noted recently that a 2013 arrest almost certainly constitutes a violation of California Civil Code §52.1(a), which states:

If a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney may bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured.

Here are 159 more color of law abuses by the BID Patrol, which also violations of that law, and this is 2013 alone.

Note also that the BID Patrol officers don’t even seem to know what law they’re enforcing. Sometimes it’s trespassing, sometimes it’s loitering, sometimes it’s who knows what. Also, they even kick kids out of the park under the law which they mistakenly claim disallows adults. Just look here:

10-21-2013_FB2_LOG_10262013_HAGOPIAN.doc
6500 SELMA: SELMA PARK. MADE CONTACT WITH SEVERAL JUVENILES AND ADVISED THEM THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE THE AREA. ALL SUBJECTS COMPLIED AND LEFT THE LOC.

I really have to wonder who actually is allowed in this park according to the BID Patrol? Only non-juvenile children? It’s not reasonable. Look below the break for a list of all 137 items with links to source and some information on my search methodology.
Continue reading Daily Logs Show BID Patrol Groundlessly Forced More than 150 People, Including Actual Children, to Leave Selma Park on Threat of Arrest During 2013 →

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Business Improvement Districts

Off With Their Heads!! Preordained Coronation of Laurie Goldman as Queen and President of Hollywood Media District BID Succeeds by Single Vote in Face of Abortive Palace Revolt Led By Ron Groeper and Friends

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Laurie Goldman and Mike Malick, attended by LIsa Schechter and a bunch of parrots, look down from their haughty thrones upon Ron Groeper and some tarts.
Laurie Goldman and Mike Malick, attended by Lisa Schechter and a bunch of parrots and minions, look down from their haughty thrones upon Ron Groeper and some tarts.
The Hollywood Media District elected its officers at yesterday’s Board of Directors meeting and you can watch the whole thing here. Mike Malick, current president and chairman of the nominating committee, presented an approved slate of candidates, chief among which were Grub-meister Laurie Goldman as president of the Board and also, possibly due to Kissinger’s law,2 Mighty Mike himself as vice-president. Then, as is not only customary but probably legally mandated, Mike asked for nominations from the floor and Bang! Off went the fireworks. Not only was there was a fascinating dispute about the corporation’s bylaws and Brown Act requirements but also, O rarest of Board meeting events! an unexpectedly contested election which installed hand-picked putative shoo-in candidate Laurie Goldman as Board President by a mere one-vote margin, setting a tense and bitter tone for the rest of the meeting, perhaps the rest of the year.
Ron Groeper expressing disbelief (horror?) at yesterday's Media District BID Board meeting.
Ron Groeper expressing disbelief (horror?) at yesterday’s Media District BID Board meeting.
First, and for some reason, some show folk whose names we didn’t catch chose this moment to ask about how board members are replaced and could they get their compatriot in. Mike Malick explained that candidates were recommended by the nominating committee to the board. This prompted a response from Ron Groeper about the legality of the process proposed by Mike which included a reading from the bylaws, never a feature of the meetings of an organization which is harmonious and happy. In any case, the Brown Act precludes board action on non-agendized matters, and so, says Mike Malick, on to the election!
Continue reading Off With Their Heads!! Preordained Coronation of Laurie Goldman as Queen and President of Hollywood Media District BID Succeeds by Single Vote in Face of Abortive Palace Revolt Led By Ron Groeper and Friends →

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Hollywood BID Patrol, Hypocrisy

The BID Patrol Walked Through Hollywood Farmers Market 50 Times in 2013 and Neither Warned Nor Arrested Non-Homeless Cosmo Street Sidewalk Sitters

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BID Patrol Officer Courtney Kanagi (badge #130) in 2011.
BID Patrol Officer Courtney Kanagi (badge #130) in 2011.
A search of the newly released 2013 daily activity logs of the BID Patrol reveals 50 mentions of the Hollywood Farmers’ Market. You can read all of these with links to the logs at the bottom of this post. Now, we have written before about how the BID Patrol only arrests and warns homeless people for violating the abhorrent LAMC 41.18(d). Finally we have conclusive proof that this is true on a massive, previously unsuspected scale, and it comes from the BID Patrol’s own logs.
Here is just one example out of many, many, many. On March 11, 2013 at 11:50 AM, BID Patrol Officers Courtney Kanagi (badge #130) and G. Merkens (badge #112) recorded the following activity:

1150 BACK-UP FB3: FARMER’S MARKET (IVAR/SELMA); INFORMATION BOOTH CALLED RE: A MALE TRANSIENT AGGRESSIVELY PANHANDLING; OFFICERS MET UP WITH THE SECURITY AND FB3; OFFICERS ADVISED MALE OF HIS VIOLATION; COMPLIED BY LEAVING THE AREA WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENT.
Mass violations by non-homeless people of LAMC 41.18(d) on Cosmo Street on October 12, 2014 go unaddressed by the BID Patrol.
Mass violations by non-homeless people of LAMC 41.18(d) on Cosmo Street on October 12, 2014 (and every other Sunday) go unaddressed by the BID Patrol.
In other words, Kanagi and Merkens were in the Farmers’ Market at 11:50 AM and did not arrest, warn, or even mention the gangs of people who appear every single Sunday and sit on the sidewalk on Cosmo Street north of Selma to eat. But during this same watch they warned 37 (thirty-fricking-seven!) “TRANSIENTS” (their word) outside of the Market for violating LAMC 41.18(d). Three of these warnings took place a mere 15 minutes after Kanagi and Merkens logged their presence in the Market:

1205 CONTACT (3): HOLLYWOOD/CAHUENGA; OFFICERS OBSERVED 3 TRANSIENTS SITTING; ADVISED OF THEIR LAMC VIOLATION; COMPLIED BY STANDING UP AND LEAVING THE AREA WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENT.

Continue reading The BID Patrol Walked Through Hollywood Farmers Market 50 Times in 2013 and Neither Warned Nor Arrested Non-Homeless Cosmo Street Sidewalk Sitters →

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Announcements

Andrews International BID Patrol All 2013 Arrest Reports and Daily Activity Logs Now Available

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Screenshot of a random daily activity log from 2013.
Screenshot of a random daily activity log from 2013. Click to enlarge.
I am pleased to present a stunning dump comprising all BID Patrol arrest reports and all daily activity logs.3 Kerry Morrison was conscientious enough to supply these in their original .doc format, allowing for effective and reliable batch searching. We’ll be writing on the results4 later tonight, but for now I just wanted to get links to these up here. Note that the files are as I received them, except that I had to change the file names a little bit to (a) get them to sort properly and (b) to be acceptable to the Archive, which has strict rules on filenames.
Continue reading Andrews International BID Patrol All 2013 Arrest Reports and Daily Activity Logs Now Available →

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Public Records Act Pragmatics, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition

Stop LAPD Spying Public Records Lawsuit Switched to Judge James C. Chalfant, Hearing Continued to March 8, 2016

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The Rampart LAPD Station. Why? Don't know.
The Rampart LAPD Station. Why? Don’t know.
The City of Los Angeles, which is being sued by the National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles and the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition because of its flouting of the California Public Records Act, filed a motion a couple weeks ago asking that the judge be changed. Last Thursday this motion, which was peremptory, was granted, and here is the order. It’s now in Judge James C. Chalfant’s courtroom, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Department 85, and the initial hearing has been set for Tuesday, March 8, at 1:30 PM.
Continue reading Stop LAPD Spying Public Records Lawsuit Switched to Judge James C. Chalfant, Hearing Continued to March 8, 2016 →

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Selma Park

A 2013 Arrest for Violating PC 653b at Selma Park Further Confirms Ongoing Pattern of Civil Rights Violations by Andrews International BID Patrol

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BID Patrol Officer Islas in 2014.
BID Patrol Officer George Islas (badge number 128) in 2014.
Long-time readers of this blog will recall that in 2007 the HPOA, by hook and by crook, put up signs in Selma Park in Hollywood (illegally) declaring it off-limits to adults unaccompanied by children. Subsequently, the Andrews International BID Patrol spent the next eight years falsely arresting people and shooing them out of the park on the basis of these unauthorized signs, until we got them taken down by the City in September 2015. Subsequently, Kerry Morrison told a friend of this blog that “A/I says that after looking into this, it is unlikely that any arrests ever were made by A/I in Selma Park with specific regard to the signs and penal code section you recite (as opposed to public urination, drinking, and other reasons)…” Today, in the form of an actual A/I arrest report from July 2013, we have more evidence that, even though Kerry is almost certainly telling the truth about what she was told by A/I, what she was told by A/I is not the truth.
Continue reading A 2013 Arrest for Violating PC 653b at Selma Park Further Confirms Ongoing Pattern of Civil Rights Violations by Andrews International BID Patrol →

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Central City East Association

Video of Yesterday’s Central City East Association Meeting Now Available

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Edward Camarillo at the January 26, 2016 meeting of the CCEA at 725 S. Crocker Street.
Edward Camarillo at the January 26, 2016 meeting of the CCEA at 725 S. Crocker Street.
I’m formally initiating coverage of the Central City East Association with some video of yesterday’s meeting of the Board of Directors at CCEA headquarters at 725 S. Crocker Street. You can find Part 1 and also Part 2. Note that the record is not complete because the Board went into closed session and I couldn’t stick around to see them reconvene. Part I consists entirely of CD14 representative Jose Huizar policy director Martin Schlageter talking about homeless issues in the BID’s territory and then, most interesting of all, taking questions from the Board members. The level of micromanagement is astonishing. We hope to write on some of the details later, but check some representative Q&A after the break. Part 2 is mostly taken up by a representative from the Runyon Group seeking CCEA support for entitlements for their ROW DTLA project (this project was formerly known as Alameda Square). Someone here will be writing on this soon in some detail.
Continue reading Video of Yesterday’s Central City East Association Meeting Now Available →

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Hypocrisy, Municipal Ethics, Street Vending

Law-and-Order-Touting Anti-Street-Vending Central City Association Flack Marie Rumsey is a Hypocritical Defier of the Revolving Door Ordinance of the City of Los Angeles

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Marie Rumsey in happier days back at CD13.
Marie Rumsey in happier days back at CD13.
When last we wrote of Marie Rumsey, late of CD13 but now moved on to greener pastures with the revoltingly Schatzian nightmare horror-show the Central City Association, she was introducing thuggish opposite-of-Alinsky Jessica Borek of the not-so-very-law-abiding-their-own-selves Rodriguez Strategies to the Board of Directors of the racketeer influenced criminal conspiracy known as the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance.

Since that time we’ve learned a little bit about the government ethics laws of the City of Los Angeles, such as they are, and, amazingly, it turns out that Marie Rumsey is, was, and, for all we know, shall be violating them big-time. This, you will remember, is the woman who, in March 2015, went on and on and on and on about how there would be no way to enforce health codes and laws if street vending were to be legalized and how desperately bad that would be for everyone. Well, let us now enlighten you about the law Marie Rumsey was breaking even as she spoke those fateful words.
Continue reading Law-and-Order-Touting Anti-Street-Vending Central City Association Flack Marie Rumsey is a Hypocritical Defier of the Revolving Door Ordinance of the City of Los Angeles →

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Lawsuits

Defendants in Street Vending Lawsuit (City of LA, Fashion District BID, etc.) Granted Extension to February 25, 2016, to File Response to Complaint

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Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell presenting an award to some people in Burbank.
Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell presenting an award to some people in Burbank.
This is not a big deal, but I just thought I’d mention it. On Tuesday all the parties to the street vending lawsuit filed a stipulation asking Judge O’Connell to extend the deadline for the defendants to answer the initial complaint until February 25, 2016. Today the judge filed an order granting that request. The reason for the delay is the settlement conference scheduled for February 11, 2016. You read it here first, friends!


Image of Judge O’Connell in Burbank seems to me to be a public record in California since I got it from the website of the California Judiciary.

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Public Records Act Pragmatics, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition

City of Los Angeles Files Boilerplate Motion in Stop LAPD Spying CPRA Case Stating that Judge Joanne O’Donnell is too Prejudiced to Officiate

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell.
There’s a (relatively) new development in the Stop LAPD Spying v. City of L.A. Public Records Act case. Unfortunately the L.A. County Superior Court doesn’t seem to have an automated filing notification system like the Federal District Courts do, which is why I missed (until now) this interesting motion that the City of L.A. filed on January 12, 2016. It is a Motion for an Order Establishing Peremptory Challenge to Judicial Officer as well as a Declaration of Julie Raffish. Julie Raffish is the Deputy City Attorney that’s defending the case for L.A. In this declaration she claims that:

Joanne O’Donnell, the judge before whom the trial or hearing in this action is pending or to whom it has been assigned, is prejudiced against the Respondent [City of Los Angeles] or its attorney or the interest of the Respondent or its attorney, so that the declarant [Julie Raffish] believes that she cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before the judge.

Now, this is obviously a boilerplate motion, and, at least as of today, the first three hits on a Google search on los angeles superior court peremptory challenge to judicial officer are forms for this, using the identical language to the motion filed by Julie Raffish. But there’s more!
Continue reading City of Los Angeles Files Boilerplate Motion in Stop LAPD Spying CPRA Case Stating that Judge Joanne O’Donnell is too Prejudiced to Officiate →

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