All posts by Mike

Lunada Bay Boys Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The PVEPD Sting Filed Unredacted! Jeff Kepley Seems To Acknowledge Existence Of Bay Boys As A Settled Fact! Tony Dahlerbruch Evidently Don’t Know Nothing ‘Bout Nothing!

August 2, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

So a couple days ago the plaintiffs in the Lunada Bay Boys case filed a ton of papers to go along with their opposition to the City of PVE’s motion for summary judgment. Among this stuff was a totally redacted copy of the private investigator’s report on who leaked advance notice of a planned PVEPD sting operation to catch some Bay Boys.

The City claimed that the contents were confidential, hence the redactions. The plaintiffs disagreed, and asked Judge Otero to make it public. Yesterday Otero agreed, and today the judge filed yet another order requiring the redacted report to be made public. And, subsequently, the plaintiffs filed the whole unredacted report! (As usual, there’s a transcription of this lengthy PDF after the break).

The report is completely inconclusive and basically says that too many people knew about the sting, so it’s not possible to figure out who leaked it. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there, though. In particular, PVE chief of police Jeff Kepley speaks about the Bay Boys as if their existence is an established fact. Turn the page for some more commentary and, as usual, a transcription of the report itself.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The PVEPD Sting Filed Unredacted! Jeff Kepley Seems To Acknowledge Existence Of Bay Boys As A Settled Fact! Tony Dahlerbruch Evidently Don’t Know Nothing ‘Bout Nothing! →

Lunada Bay Boys Judge James Otero Rejects The City Of PVE’s Contention That The Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The Undercover Op Is Top Secret, Orders It To Be Filed Publicly!

August 1, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

Today there were more items filed in the Lunada Bay Boys case. After yesterday’s mass of documents though I hardly have the heart to go through this batch, or even download the ones that appear to be repetitive. But there were a few interesting and new items filed, including an order by Judge James Otero.

A couple months ago the parties were arguing over whether a private investigator’s report on who blew a PVEPD undercover operation was discoverable. The magistrate judge ordered everyone to brief the issue but then the City just handed it over. Then there was some kind of effort by the City to keep it secret, and yesterday it came out with all the other pleadings but the entire thing was redacted, that is, it’s filed under seal.

This is evidently at the behest of the City of PVE, which claims it’s top secret. This led to the plaintiffs today petitioning the court to file documents under seal and at the same time filing a proposed order asking Judge Otero to deny their application. Thus, they’re asking for the documents to be filed publicly. Oh, I forgot to say that in addition to this investigator’s report, Jalian Johnston’s text messages were partly sealed, mostly as to third parties’ phone numbers, it seems.

Anyway, the big news is that this evening James Otero did file an order stating that the investigator’s report was not secret and must be filed publicly, but that the text messages were properly filed under seal. As always, there’s a transcription of the order after the break. Thus I’m guessing we will soon get to read the actual investigator’s report, which ought to be quite interesting.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Judge James Otero Rejects The City Of PVE’s Contention That The Private Investigator’s Report On Who Blew The Undercover Op Is Top Secret, Orders It To Be Filed Publicly! →

Fashion District BID

Annals Of Gentrification Porn — Bad: The Fashion District Closed Off A Street Downtown To Have A Freaking Dinner Party — Worse: They Hired Professionals To Make A Short Pornographic Video Of It — Worst Of All: This Evidently Seems Normal To Them (?)

August 1, 2017 Mike 4 Comments

Just when you think it can’t get any weirder out there in BIDlandia, well … it does! You may recall last month’s revelation that the Fashion District BID paid some Berkeleyites almost $20,000 to study Santee Alley and report that, inter alia, Latinos are confused by lobster rolls. Well, in a similar yet far stranger vein, just the other day, the incomparable Rena Leddy¹ sent me a video, paid for and produced by the BID, of a dinner party they had in the street last October.

The whole thing is not only deeply disturbing, it’s also embedded below the break for your edification if not your enjoyment.² I put it below to calm the autoplay, which I can’t figure out how to eliminate. If you want to download it it’s available at Archive.Org as well.

And really, after you watch it, if you have any freaking idea at all why putatively mature adults would think it was a good idea to make a video like this, please let me know. It’s not just pornographic, it’s transparently so. I suppose it’s OK to be a self-satisfied narcissistic idiot, but why in the world does anyone want to announce to the world that they’re a self-satisfied narcissistic idiot? Seriously, this is why the Fashion District needs to get the homeless out of Downtown? So they can hold more zillionaire black masses like this one? Never gonna understand…
Continue reading Annals Of Gentrification Porn — Bad: The Fashion District Closed Off A Street Downtown To Have A Freaking Dinner Party — Worse: They Hired Professionals To Make A Short Pornographic Video Of It — Worst Of All: This Evidently Seems Normal To Them (?) →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Plaintiffs Oppose City Defendants Motion For Summary Judgement By Filing More Than 50 Documents Including A Bunch Of Deposition Excerpts And Jalian Johnston’s Freaking Text Messages!

July 31, 2017 Mike 2 Comments

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

So a couple weeks ago defendants the City of PVE and its seemingly erstwhile chief of police Jeff Kepley (collectively known as “the City defendants”) filed a motion asking the court for summary judgment. This was the first of a long line of such motions filed by all the other defendants. And this afternoon the plaintiffs responded to the City defendants’ motion with over fifty documents.

There’s no way I can describe all of these individually, and I even had to write a script to generate links for all of them, which you can find after the break. The links are functional but not pretty, and you can find them with highly selected brief descriptions after the break.

The documents include tons of fascinating deposition excerpts from many of the defendants along with, finally, Jalian Johnston’s freaking text messages, which are about as stupid as one would expect. There’s also a transcript of part of the infamous Brant Blakeman video. This is essentially Aladdin’s cave, and I’m sorry I can’t provide more detail, but read, read, read, and enjoy!
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Plaintiffs Oppose City Defendants Motion For Summary Judgement By Filing More Than 50 Documents Including A Bunch Of Deposition Excerpts And Jalian Johnston’s Freaking Text Messages! →

Central City East Association, Skid Row Neighborhood Council

Why Does Shadowy Anonymous United Downtown Have The Same Phone Number As The Central City East Association?

July 31, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Background: You can read my previous stories on the Skid Row Neighborhood Council formation effort and also see Jason McGahan’s article in the Weekly and Gale Holland’s article in the Times for more mainstream perspectives.

I reported a couple days ago that Liner LLP, the lobbying firm hired by the shadowy anonymous entity known as United Downtown for the purpose of killing the Skid Row Neighborhood Council formation, had finally disclosed their client via their Q2 report. I didn’t realize then that Liner had also filed an amended 2017 registration statement showing United Downtown as a client, which they had previously failed to do.

And there’s a crucial detail in these disclosures that I missed. I was alerted to this matter by a source who spoke to me on condition of anonymity. Take a look at the disclosure statement. In particular, the phone number that Liner gives for United Downtown is (213) 228-8484. Now take a look at Central City East’s contact info (and here’s a screenshot should it become necessary). Their phone number is (213) 228-8484 as well! This would go a long way towards explaining the outsized role played by Estela Lopez in this fiasco as early as January 2017.
Continue reading Why Does Shadowy Anonymous United Downtown Have The Same Phone Number As The Central City East Association? →

Municipal Ethics

Ethics Commission Releases List Of Far-Reaching, Much-Needed, Proposed Updates To Municipal Lobbying Ordinance, To Be Discussed Further At August 15 Meeting

July 30, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

On Friday the City Ethics Commission released a list of proposed updates to the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance. This is scheduled for discussion at the Commission’s upcoming August 15 meeting. These are extraordinarily far-reaching and much welcome proposals, and you’ll find a list with commentary after the break. Just for instance, though, they’re proposing to alter the definition of a lobbyist to make it easier to decide when they’re required to register, to require disclosure of specific City employees lobbied, to require disclosure of positions taken on lobbied issues, and so on.

First though, let me just outline the slightly unusual procedure by which government ethics laws are changed in the City of Los Angeles. Unlike most laws, which are proposed, amended, and passed or defeated by the City Council, ethics laws are proposed by the Ethics Commission. Once the Commission finalizes its proposal, it’s sent to the City Council, which has the right to adopt the proposal or reject the proposal, but they are specifically forbidden from altering the proposal.

Of course, something like this complex procedure is necessary, because it wouldn’t be safe to allow the City Council, the main agency reined in by ethics laws, to rewrite them on their own initiative. They’d very soon be meaningless. However, it seems to make the laws extraordinarily difficult to change in substantive ways. For instance, the Ethics Commission sent up a set of proposals fairly similar to the current set in 2010.

At that time Eric Garcetti was chair of the Rules and Elections committee, where the proposal went first. At the behest of Kerry Morrison, Estela Lopez, and a bunch of other BID staffers, in the midst of a stomach-turning display of flirtatious trivialization, he let the proposal die in committee without even a second hearing. You can read all about this disgraceful episode and even listen to audio of the giggly horribleness of it all. There’s every chance that something very similar will happen this time around. But maybe not, who can say.
Continue reading Ethics Commission Releases List Of Far-Reaching, Much-Needed, Proposed Updates To Municipal Lobbying Ordinance, To Be Discussed Further At August 15 Meeting →

Municipal Ethics, Skid Row Neighborhood Council

United Downtown LA Paid Liner LLP More Than $45,000 To Lobby Against Skid Row Neighborhood Council In Q2 2017. Payments From First Quarter Are Still Undisclosed

July 29, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

You may recall that shady downtown municipal lobbying firm Liner LLP was hired by the even shadier anonymous Delaware incorporated United Downtown LA to lobby against the Skid Row Neighborhood Council formation effort and that I turned them in to the City Ethics Commission for failing to amend their disclosure forms to disclose United Downtown as a client as required by LAMC §48.07.

Well, yesterday was the filing deadline for Second Quarter disclosures, and Liner filed theirs on time. It’s required by law for lobbying firms like Liner to disclose their clients and also how much money they got paid by each client. This time they actually did list United DTLA³ and it turns out that they were paid a stunning total of $45,010.40 to lobby against the SRNC. And this is just for Q2.⁴ It’s likely, or at least possible, that when the Ethics Commission gets around to investigating my complaint they’ll find that Liner was paid even more in Q1.

Oh, and check out the address that they put on the form for United Downtown. That’s Liner’s address. Full-service anonymization going on. That this much money was spent to stop a neighborhood council suggests that the NC system is really badly broken somehow.
Continue reading United Downtown LA Paid Liner LLP More Than $45,000 To Lobby Against Skid Row Neighborhood Council In Q2 2017. Payments From First Quarter Are Still Undisclosed →

Cory Spencer v. Lunada Bay Boys

Lunada Bay Boys Juvenile Defendant NF Released From Case By Order Of Judge Otero, Judge Oliver Orders Parties To Brief Discovery Disputes Involving Defendants Frankie And Charlie Ferrara

July 27, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

For background take a look at this excellent article from the Times on this lawsuit. Also see here to download all pleadings in this case.

A few days ago the parties to the Lunada Bay Boys zillionaire surf-thuggery case, in a rare showing of unanimity, concord, and like-mindedness, jointly asked Judge James Otero to release the anonymous minor defendant NF from the case, while leaving him responsible for some discovery obligations. Well, just this afternoon Otero issued an order doing just that. No big surprise.

But, as usual, on the discovery front everybody’s still getting fussy, and soon Mom’s gonna have to put their mittens on lest they scratch up their lil faces and so on. In particular, Magistrate Judge the honorable Rozella Oliver issued a post telephonic conference minute order requiring the parties to submit briefs on the ongoing discovery dispute between the plaintiffs and defendants Frank and Charlie Ferrara. I’m not sure what the substance of this dispute is, but I suppose we’ll find out on August 14, when the plaintiffs’ brief is due. As always, turn the page for a transcription of the order.
Continue reading Lunada Bay Boys Juvenile Defendant NF Released From Case By Order Of Judge Otero, Judge Oliver Orders Parties To Brief Discovery Disputes Involving Defendants Frankie And Charlie Ferrara →

Business Improvement Districts

In June 2017 The East Hollywood BID Board Of Directors Approved Minutes From Five Of Its 2016 Meetings. Here’s How I Think That Came About And Some Speculation On What It Might Mean

July 27, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

Maybe you remember that in March of this year I noticed that Nicole Shahenian, executive directrix of the East Hollywood BID, seems to have told the City of Los Angeles a lie with respect to the BID’s 2015 annual planning report.⁵ Briefly, the problem was that Shahenian submitted a letter to the City claiming that the Board had approved the report at its meeting of December 29, 2014, but my collection of minutes suggested that the Board had not met in December 2014.

This fact in itself seems to have some serious ramifications, my theories concerning which you can read all about in the original post. But the discovery of this ghost meeting led me to scrutinize my collection of EHBID minutes more closely. This closer look revealed that a number of meetings from 2016 seemed to have taken place but their minutes seemed never to have been approved by the Board. So in March 2017 I asked EHBID lawyer extraordinaire⁶ Jeffrey Charles Briggs Esq. for copies of all the ones that appeared to be missing.
Continue reading In June 2017 The East Hollywood BID Board Of Directors Approved Minutes From Five Of Its 2016 Meetings. Here’s How I Think That Came About And Some Speculation On What It Might Mean →

Announcements, Skid Row Neighborhood Council

Video Of MK.Org Presentation At The LA Poverty Department, Bad BIDness In The City Of Angels, Now Available

July 27, 2017 Mike Leave a comment

This is just a quick note to announce that video of Tuesday’s presentation at the LAPD is now available for your viewing pleasure. Here are the options:

On Archive.Org — best for desktop viewing and downloading in full resolution.
Part 1 and also Part 2 — On YouTube, which is best for mobile.