I just received a Press Release from Jay Handal the Chair of the WLANC and West Area Budget Representative saying:

Budget and Finance Committee Agree

This just in!  We did it!  Now we need 8 votes on Friday.

$45,000, no sweeps, clerk does elections. Dollars are coming from clerks election budget. No mail-in voting. NCs will help with elections.

No I’m not talking about the weather.

Bernard Parks introduced a motion in the Budget and Finance Committee (which he chairs) to increase the Mayors recommended $5,000 cut in neighborhood council funding to a drastic $38,800 per NC!  This is just plain stupid.

I’ve always said Councilman Parks is a bitter old man who has never forgiven the City for allowing Mayor Jim Hahn to fire him.  Not only did he vow revenge by running for City Council but he has run for every open seat available to him since and lost.  This of course makes him and even more bitter man and decides he’s going to take it out on his constituents who voted him City Councilman in the first place!  Smooth move Bernie, smooth move.

Today, at the Budget and Finance Committee meeting over a hundred Neighborhood Council representatives came out to speak on why this funding should remain.  Two hours of Neighborhood Council testimony ranging from people representing the Harbor all the way to West Hills and everything in between still was not enough to persuade Councilman Grieg Smith (how is Grieg pronounced Greg? I don’t know) to side with the NC’s saying he cant lay city workers off.  I’m a city worker! I should be happy!

Not!  WTF Bernie? WTF Grieg?  You guys suck.

Neighborhood Councils do all the dirty work that City Council should be doing but don’t want to get their hands dirty by shaking our hands and thanking us.  Neighborhood Councils are what truly make this city great and for the past seven years they have been doing a formidable job with inadequate funds.

Neighborhood Councils came under attack and they responded today.  I hope this doesn’t get too ugly.  I plan on getting my hands dirty for this one.

In the end, the committee voted on $35,000 in annual funding, no sweeps of any kind and the City Clerk does the elections with reduced amount of funding from the budget.

We need no less than $45,000.  I urge you all to call your councilmember and ask them to push the $45,000 annual neighbrohood council budget but you can forget about Parks and Smith since they dont support the NC’s.

Greuel, Rosendahl and Hahn support us already so call these guys:

Reyes 213-473-7001
Zine 213-473-7003
LaBonge  213-473-7004
Weiss 213-473-7005
Cardenes  213-473-7006
Alarcon  213-473-7007
Perry  213-473-7009
Wesson  213-473-7010
Garcetti  213-473-7013
Huizar  213-473-7014

Really Manny?  Was this another Manny being Manny moment?  Has his legacy been tainted?  Is it all just a bad dream?

This morning, Manny Ramirez was suspended by MLB for 50 games for violating the leagues drug policy.  Hmm… This does not mean it was for steroids as everybody around baseball is already assuming.  Manny claims the drug he took was prescribed by a physician for a medical condition he would like to keep private.  My first thought was: “HAHAHAHAH it all makes sense now!  Manny has been smoking weed all these years which explains his personality and hi jinks over the last 15 years. “  I never once believed he was on roids.  Now it turns out he has been taking this medication to boost his sex drive but it is not Viagra.

So yes, it was a performance enhancer…. in the bedroom.

Seriously though… did Manny just pull a Jamaal Wilkes?  Does Manny need a sex drive boost now that he is the Mayor of Dodgertown too keep up with his “fans”.  Does Manny have his own private room where he takes his fans like Jamaal had in the Forum and Magic inherited after Jamaal left?  Or is Manny taking this drug to restart his sex drive after losing it because he juiced up while with the Red Sox?  Only time will tell.

I for one will add this to the “Manny being Manny” list.

So what will happen to the Dodgers now that Manny will miss the next 50 games?  Dodgers are currently 21-8 and a comfortable 6.5 games ahead of the 13-13 Giants.  If the Dodgers win half of the next 50 then we should still be in very good shape leaving us with a 46-33 record and 13 games above .500.  I’m not too concerned.  Yes Manny is a huge part of this teams success and yes he will be sorely missed but in a little over a month we had this record with him, then in the last three months we should be equally as good if not better.  The final 83 games of the season will be very interesting to watch as Manny tears apart the National League just like he did last year.

Volunteers will take to city streets and help make a difference in various ways.  Big Sunday is the largest regional community service event in the Nation.  This year I will be volunteering at two separate events.  One on Saturday and another on Sunday.

Saturday in East Hollywood on the corner of St. Andrews and Virginia for a community clean-up from 8am-12pm.  After putting in a couple of hours of brush clearance, cleaning tree wells and parkways I plan on heading down the street to the Fountain Community Garden Work Day were we will finish building the garden from 9-12pm so that the community can finally begin growing their food.  After another couple of hours I will head down Fountain to Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall and participate in the 3rd annual Hollywood Clean-up Day which runs from 10am – 2pm.  Food, Fun, T-Shirts and Tote Bags to everyone who participates.  YAY!

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust is organizing a Big Sunday Event at the Francis Ave Community Garden in Koreatown.  Come by and help us plant shrubs, paint existing structures, put down gravel, mulch and help out in any other way to help this special Koreatown gem.
Another Big Sunday event that I wont be able to attend but highly recommend will be a project to build a learning garden at Thomas Star King Middle School.  Come by and help out as they clean and green their space. On Big Sunday they’ll be installing a beautiful and peaceful new learning garden. Not only will they be installing a learning garden but they will also be painting and cleaning the Fountain Avenue Breezeway entrance. They will host a “recycled clothing store” with proceeds going to Children’s Hospital, and will host a health and wellness fair, a community outreach fair, a book exchange and a safe play space for young children so everyone can get involved. All the while there will be live music.