Monday the 13th. It's a new dawn and a kinder, gentler Underbelly.
Everybody's there but Bogus Bill Bogaard. Gordo's running the meeting.
Joyce Streator does the pledge. Not sure why they got her there, but she's way classier than anybody sittin' up there now.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Virginia Hoge anti-free speech fascist wack job talks about her two year investigation into he who cannot be named. She hates the Weakly and wants them taken into account for giving him a job. She wants JUSTICE! Bitch is nuts folks! She has a mountain of evidence, though. A MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE! She wants an honest press. Edward Dallas says he's retirin' and wants to volunteer. He calls lotsa folks whipper snapper and he's leavin' 'cause he's got a long commute.
Gordo says Bogaard's due back any minute.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They're doin' a coupla hundred thou's worth of contracts but nobody talks about it.
BOB HOPE AIRPORT REPORT: Mr. Magoo lookin' airport exec talks about how they wanna expand the airport. They asked for a flight curfew and are waitin' for the FAA to approve it. Streator's the airport president. There's lotsa insider speak in the report but it sounds like they spent some money do fix up some things at the airport. They got state of the art baggage x-ray machines and they spent a buncha money to make houses quieter near the airport. That cost over $100 million. Man, if they didn't like the airport they shoulda lived someplace else. But hey, they created over 40 jobs. 40 whole jobs. But they do gotta program for local contractors to work for the airport. McAustin asks about getting light rail to the airport.
Bogaard's back in charge.
$600K FOR HOUSING: Yup, we're spending money for affordable housing. The bunnies are gonna line up with their hand out to get some. Some outfit called Mercy Housing's first in line. They're gonna buy foreclosed houses and fix 'em up. You betcha! We're gonna get 30 units for the $600K. If you make less than $68K per year, you can get a $300K house for only $70K.
BILLING CONTRACT: They're gonna pay a company $300K but will make $200K more then if they don't do the contract. These guy bill faster then the Fire Department and get money. OK. That makes sense. A company can do it better so it costs us less money in the long run.
SOME COUNCIL PALS QUIT, SOME OTHERS GET APPOINTED: Make a contribution, maybe you can be a commissioner too. Mr. Tillman comes up and says he thinks somebody who was not appointed shoulda got appointed. Tillman's a wack job from way back. Yikes some assholes never disappear. The guy talks about stuff going back to 1955. Loooney with a capital LOON! Hoge and Tillman. There's a pair.
WE GOT A WATER SHORTAGE: And the council's telling us when we can water the grass and how much it's gonna cost us. Phyllis Currie and Eric Klinker are there to pick our pockets. We can only water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and we gotta fix leaks in 72 hours. Public comment: Alec from You Think Well isn't big enough to see over the podium. He's 8 and says we should take short showers. His sister Aline says kids can learn to save water. Rosalind Macoo says seniors need help paying for water and giving $2.50 a month is a joke. Jennifer Serja pimps her company 'cause they got kids writing about water and wants the Council to be stricter. They go for it big time. What's it gonna cost me really? Then they do hte ordinance that's really costin' us money. Thanks to Holden for pimpin' that one for us. Whatever happened to people who stuck up for us poor folk who pay bills.
PLANNING TIME LIMITS: They're gonna let developers have more time to build their abominable edifices. They can already get a one year extension and now can get a second one and will give people who expired a chance to get theirs extended too.
CITIZEN SURVEY: They paid somebody to survey voters about what they think about the council, I mean the city. Sure, it's about Pasadena, not how good the council's doing. People like Pasadena, love the fire department and police, don't bitch about development and traffic so much anymore. The data cruncher dude says there's a 10% margin for error. That's pretty big I think. People worry about the economy and think education kinda stinks. 40% of us think we're not gettin' our fair share. Holden wants to know how it all breaks down by district. Guess he wants to use it for his next campaign. No surprise they spend a lot more time on this then on the water stuff. That's about costing me money and telling me what to do. This is about what voters like. They're all interested in what people in their own districts think.
STRATEGIC PLAN: How's this work with the voter survey? Funny how it comes afterwards. Steve Mermelle does the honors on this one. They're gonna be financially stable. That means anytime they overspend they're gonna raise our electric and water bills. Everything else is bullshit really. They want us to be safe and fix the economy and have less traffic. ok. But what's the survey say you oughta be doing instead of this crapola.
They're gonna have two councilmembers on the general plan committee. It's gonna be Bogus himself and Terry Tornek.
Madison wants to know what happened at Boza and the Urgent Care was supported.
They're done after three hours. Virginia Hoge shows her Hitler face in public and spouts her fascistisms. Let's shut up the newspapers. Man she really must be missing he who cannot be named to come all he way down to the city council to bring him up again.
Hell, let's all go see Harry Potter and fugedaboudit. These idiots're just about takin' our money and gettin' re-elected again and again and again.
I'm done for now.
D.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
It's a New Day: New Rules
OK.
I'm back from beer, hot dogs, fireworks and fuzzy thinking.
We're going back to our original intent here. Commenting and reporting on Pasadena's political goings-on from our own perspective. That's all things city, PUSD, county, state or US guvm'nt and even global or interplanetary.
Banned:
1. Any mention of those no longer here and active (including he who shall not be named).
2. Posts and comments not directly relative to local politics, happenings in the Pasadena area, local leadership, county, state or US politics.
3. Boring the readers.
4. Pretending to be somebody else when commenting or posting
5. Anonymous. Everybody can take 30 seconds to think up an alias, so do it. Less confusion that way. You can be anonymous but we can tell you from all the others.
6. Anything else that gets on my nerves.
Allowed:
1. Fits of temper over stupid government tricks.
2. Snarky comments about local news coverage
3. News that got missed by the above
4. Humor is allowed (preferred!)
5. Cleverness (see #3)
6. Taking me to task for my opinions
7. Your opinion
Procedures:
1. I'm moderating comments. If you're in category 1 or not in category 2, you're probly not gettin' through.
2. Comments need to relate to the original post. (Take note Raphael Henderson's mom.)
3.) Anybody who wants posting privileges can email me at underpasadena@gmail.com and ask for them. Be prepared to explain why you deserve to post here.
If I think of more I'll add 'em later.
D.
I'm back from beer, hot dogs, fireworks and fuzzy thinking.
We're going back to our original intent here. Commenting and reporting on Pasadena's political goings-on from our own perspective. That's all things city, PUSD, county, state or US guvm'nt and even global or interplanetary.
Banned:
1. Any mention of those no longer here and active (including he who shall not be named).
2. Posts and comments not directly relative to local politics, happenings in the Pasadena area, local leadership, county, state or US politics.
3. Boring the readers.
4. Pretending to be somebody else when commenting or posting
5. Anonymous. Everybody can take 30 seconds to think up an alias, so do it. Less confusion that way. You can be anonymous but we can tell you from all the others.
6. Anything else that gets on my nerves.
Allowed:
1. Fits of temper over stupid government tricks.
2. Snarky comments about local news coverage
3. News that got missed by the above
4. Humor is allowed (preferred!)
5. Cleverness (see #3)
6. Taking me to task for my opinions
7. Your opinion
Procedures:
1. I'm moderating comments. If you're in category 1 or not in category 2, you're probly not gettin' through.
2. Comments need to relate to the original post. (Take note Raphael Henderson's mom.)
3.) Anybody who wants posting privileges can email me at underpasadena@gmail.com and ask for them. Be prepared to explain why you deserve to post here.
If I think of more I'll add 'em later.
D.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dormitas taking a break-Happy 4th
TMI (Too much Idiocy) applies here, too. Too much of any number of silly posts and pet peeves by commenters who may or may not be who they say they are.
I'm using the two weeks with no city council meetings to evaluate where I want this blog to go and what I want it to do. Until then, all comments will be moderated, unless you have posting privileges.
Happy Independence Day! Enjoy family, fireworks, hot dogs, cokes and beers. It's a weekend to celebrate our country and what it was founded to stand for. Remember the people in uniform serving overseas and at home. They are protecting our freedom every day.
D.
I'm using the two weeks with no city council meetings to evaluate where I want this blog to go and what I want it to do. Until then, all comments will be moderated, unless you have posting privileges.
Happy Independence Day! Enjoy family, fireworks, hot dogs, cokes and beers. It's a weekend to celebrate our country and what it was founded to stand for. Remember the people in uniform serving overseas and at home. They are protecting our freedom every day.
D.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
File this one under TMI - Too Much Idiocy
Snarky Larry fesses up that his mom's still paying his bills. How is it somebody who runs the local newspaper canafford vacations at the beach and a mansion on the hill but has to get moms to pay for the kid's school?
Here's what Snarky told us today.
My grandmother, Regina Veale Wilson, went all the way through Pasadena public schools. As did my father, Milt Wilson. As did I. Our daughter began in the publics and transferred to an independent, Sequoyah, and two Catholics, La Salle and Alverno. All were the right choices for her at the time. Don't imagine that on a newspaperman's salary private schools were a realistic choice - blessedly, wildly generously, as is her wont, my mother, Marka Hibbs, paid all the tuition. Julia graduated gratefully from Alverno this month, where she had a fantastic education.
Honestly, who the f*ck cares?
Mike deLeeuw
Here's what Snarky told us today.
My grandmother, Regina Veale Wilson, went all the way through Pasadena public schools. As did my father, Milt Wilson. As did I. Our daughter began in the publics and transferred to an independent, Sequoyah, and two Catholics, La Salle and Alverno. All were the right choices for her at the time. Don't imagine that on a newspaperman's salary private schools were a realistic choice - blessedly, wildly generously, as is her wont, my mother, Marka Hibbs, paid all the tuition. Julia graduated gratefully from Alverno this month, where she had a fantastic education.
Honestly, who the f*ck cares?
Mike deLeeuw
Monday, June 22, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-22-09
Ok folks. It's big water bill night. How long do ya think it'll take for the council to reach into my wallet for the little bit o'o money that's left? I'm guessin' three hours before they approve the increase exactly the way it was always planned.
Goodbye Whole Foods hello Smart and Final. Actually I already shop at S&F on Fair Oaks. Goodbye Cheerios, hello generic Os of Oats. Sorry kids, we're on a budget still.
PRE-FIGHT WARM-UP: Closed session they talked about lots of stuff but won't tell us anything. How much $$$ gets spent in there, anyway?
Everybody's there but not Gordo and not Robinson. Hey, terrific. We're doin' a big bump in water bills and two of these folks are MIA.
A dude in a Pasadena shirt starts to introduce a girl soccer player but then Madison intros some Boy Scouts who do the flag ceremony. One's an Eagle Scout. They post the colors. Nice they did that. Scouts get a bad rap from some lefties, but it's a good deal for kids. Mine are Cubs and Brownies. Then the soccer girl does the pledge. Don Shepherd from a L.A. soccer club talks about Chelsea playing Milan in the Rose Bowl.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Wack job Nancy Nelson's back. If she talks long enough she almost seems normal. I space out so I'm not sure what she's muttering about.
CONSENT CALENDAR: The spend some money without talking about it at all. They're spending about $800K and doing something with $205,000,000 and $123,000,000 that I can't figure out and making changes to some employee contracts. Not sure if that means employees get raises or not. Nobody says anything so how can I know?
PARKING ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT: They got letters from the Chamber of Commerce and another guy complaining about the contract. Tony Soprano looking Intercon guys say they love Pasadena and work hand in hand with the city and pay their employees good money. Dude says they got 100 Pasadena people working for them. Guy says they only got six complaints. Council loves the Sopranos, and we're still havin' the same guys givin' us tickets. If we wanna change something let's stop giving tickets and pull out the friggin' meters! Bogaard's proud of the company and wants the contract to go forward. Beck says the company responds to complaints. McAustin says they oughta wait but nobody else's going theres. She says they need to be customer service oriented or business will go to other places around here. Holden asks a couple of questions but then oes along with it. Madison likes these guys they are in his district and the boss lives in his district. Wonder what's up wit dat. McAustin makes a pitch but she's the only one to vote no. How 'bout takin' out them meters people?
CONTRACT WITH CORVEL FOR WORKER COMP: They're gonna renew a contract to do worker comp claims. Ok. Woman who does the report is cool in a Michelle Obama sorta way. Says they're gonna save $191K by doin' this. I'm good wit dat.
AUDITOR CONTRACT: They're hiring auditors to go over the city books. I'm pickin' up they do this every year and these guys have done it before. Holden asks the controller about efficiency reviews like what Laura Chick did in L.A. He asks if the guy looked at the water rate proposal. He gets told the guy can only do somethings and not others like second guess the water department czarina.
RE-FI FOR LAKE AND WASHINGTON: They're gonna do a refinance of the shopping center at Lake and Washington.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT: We're building units on North Hudson.
APPOINTING PALS TO COMMISSIONS: More donaters get put on commissions.
TREE CALL UP: Haderlein wants somebody to be able to cut down a tree that's trashing a fence. Tornek isn't real convinced so he's voting no. The other fish swim with the school.
ORDINANCES: Zoning code's changed for hearings and property sales and other stuff. And councilmembers aren't going to get a raise this year.
TRASH FRANCHISE: Some more folks get to pay to be able to pick up trash in Pasadena. Ok I guess. We make some money, they get some business. Bogus wants to know if they have to use alternative fuel trucks. Not yet, but sometime. Haderlein says we need to let them know if we're gonna do these kind of regulations.
ZONING CHANGES: They want to change some of the rules about adding on to houses. Lots of talk about whether something should be 20 feet or 10 feet or 16 feet. McAustin's not wanting to make changes here but others want 16 feet and that's what happens. If I add a second story on my house I'll find out what this is all about, I guess. They talk about if basements can be lived in or not, too. When you watch on TV Holden looks at McAustin like she's an idiot. Pretty funny. But not so funny as when Madison is missing and phones in and they show his empty seat when he talks.
MAIN EVENT WATER INCREASE: The water czarina Phyllis Currie says they are going to take it a little slower, but still raise water rates in July. Water costs more. We all have to save water. The department's broke. How'd that happen? McAustin lets the department people give the report. It's still gonna cost 15% more in July and again next year and the year after. Holden asks about senior and low income people. He says the law won't let them cut their rates but he's asking what they're gonna do and says they oughta use general fund money for that. Then he asks what happens when we're not in a drought anymore and gets told that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says take more time so nobody gets laid off and nobody goes out of business. He says if was only about passing along cost increase nobody would complain. He says people who save water shouldn't have to pay penalties and his bill is gonna be higher this year even though he used less water. Bogaard says he's happy with what staff has said. David Powell says we gotta worry that conserving water means there won't be enough in the ground to pump out. Wayne Lusvardi reads a proclamation but I'm not real sure what he's doing that for. Roz McHugh says don't screw over the fixed income people and make sure there's a safety net for people. Nancy Nelson laughs at what goes on with the council. She wants to impeach them and says shame on you. Marydee Romney says they raised water a year ago and now they're doing it again. Michael Hurly says its happening everywhere. He talks about price signals and not laying people off.
McAustin's leading the raise everybody's water rate charge. She says they answered all the questions and the committee's good with raising rates. Councilmembers get in line to talk about how happy they are with the new ideas and how doing any more would mean they gotta lay off people. Man, what do we gotta do to remind these people who voted for 'em. McAustin, Tornek, Madison, Haderlein and Holden all love the water people. Bogaard's already on board. Madison asks about what the city's doin' to cut its water down. He gets a bullshit answer from Beck, but we all see the sprinklers on all the time in the parks and on the streets. He wants to know how they're telling people how to conserve water on their bill. Currie says we're all gonna get a mailing. What's that gonna cost me? How 'bout deducting that cost from my bill? There's a good way to help. Sure it is. So they talk about that kinda stuff and ignore what it's gonna do to the people who gotta pay bills. Man these people get off the important part really fast. Tornek's already paying back the union money he musta got to get elected. He's not representin' the voters on this one. Bogaard wants to know what they're gonna do about the new buildings that need water. Holden says it's never a good time to raise rates, duh! He asks about fixed income people and ants to have the rates reviewed every year. It's gonna go to McAustin's committee so we're gonna see even bigger raises whenever they look at it. Who elected these people anyway? Oh yeah, us fools. They all vote for it, but Madison says he's doing it reluctantly. Yeah, that's gonna make me not so pissed off when I get my big bill in August or September.
Folks, watch your wallets. About all that's left is our electric bills. I'm taking the under on that one and guessing they're gonna do that before Christmas.
Now I'm gonna go flush some dollars down the toilet and bang my head against the wall until I knock myself out. How is it all we get are millionaires on the CIty Council? Man, none of them really gotta work for a living and it shows.
D.
Goodbye Whole Foods hello Smart and Final. Actually I already shop at S&F on Fair Oaks. Goodbye Cheerios, hello generic Os of Oats. Sorry kids, we're on a budget still.
PRE-FIGHT WARM-UP: Closed session they talked about lots of stuff but won't tell us anything. How much $$$ gets spent in there, anyway?
Everybody's there but not Gordo and not Robinson. Hey, terrific. We're doin' a big bump in water bills and two of these folks are MIA.
A dude in a Pasadena shirt starts to introduce a girl soccer player but then Madison intros some Boy Scouts who do the flag ceremony. One's an Eagle Scout. They post the colors. Nice they did that. Scouts get a bad rap from some lefties, but it's a good deal for kids. Mine are Cubs and Brownies. Then the soccer girl does the pledge. Don Shepherd from a L.A. soccer club talks about Chelsea playing Milan in the Rose Bowl.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Wack job Nancy Nelson's back. If she talks long enough she almost seems normal. I space out so I'm not sure what she's muttering about.
CONSENT CALENDAR: The spend some money without talking about it at all. They're spending about $800K and doing something with $205,000,000 and $123,000,000 that I can't figure out and making changes to some employee contracts. Not sure if that means employees get raises or not. Nobody says anything so how can I know?
PARKING ENFORCEMENT CONTRACT: They got letters from the Chamber of Commerce and another guy complaining about the contract. Tony Soprano looking Intercon guys say they love Pasadena and work hand in hand with the city and pay their employees good money. Dude says they got 100 Pasadena people working for them. Guy says they only got six complaints. Council loves the Sopranos, and we're still havin' the same guys givin' us tickets. If we wanna change something let's stop giving tickets and pull out the friggin' meters! Bogaard's proud of the company and wants the contract to go forward. Beck says the company responds to complaints. McAustin says they oughta wait but nobody else's going theres. She says they need to be customer service oriented or business will go to other places around here. Holden asks a couple of questions but then oes along with it. Madison likes these guys they are in his district and the boss lives in his district. Wonder what's up wit dat. McAustin makes a pitch but she's the only one to vote no. How 'bout takin' out them meters people?
CONTRACT WITH CORVEL FOR WORKER COMP: They're gonna renew a contract to do worker comp claims. Ok. Woman who does the report is cool in a Michelle Obama sorta way. Says they're gonna save $191K by doin' this. I'm good wit dat.
AUDITOR CONTRACT: They're hiring auditors to go over the city books. I'm pickin' up they do this every year and these guys have done it before. Holden asks the controller about efficiency reviews like what Laura Chick did in L.A. He asks if the guy looked at the water rate proposal. He gets told the guy can only do somethings and not others like second guess the water department czarina.
RE-FI FOR LAKE AND WASHINGTON: They're gonna do a refinance of the shopping center at Lake and Washington.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT: We're building units on North Hudson.
APPOINTING PALS TO COMMISSIONS: More donaters get put on commissions.
TREE CALL UP: Haderlein wants somebody to be able to cut down a tree that's trashing a fence. Tornek isn't real convinced so he's voting no. The other fish swim with the school.
ORDINANCES: Zoning code's changed for hearings and property sales and other stuff. And councilmembers aren't going to get a raise this year.
TRASH FRANCHISE: Some more folks get to pay to be able to pick up trash in Pasadena. Ok I guess. We make some money, they get some business. Bogus wants to know if they have to use alternative fuel trucks. Not yet, but sometime. Haderlein says we need to let them know if we're gonna do these kind of regulations.
ZONING CHANGES: They want to change some of the rules about adding on to houses. Lots of talk about whether something should be 20 feet or 10 feet or 16 feet. McAustin's not wanting to make changes here but others want 16 feet and that's what happens. If I add a second story on my house I'll find out what this is all about, I guess. They talk about if basements can be lived in or not, too. When you watch on TV Holden looks at McAustin like she's an idiot. Pretty funny. But not so funny as when Madison is missing and phones in and they show his empty seat when he talks.
MAIN EVENT WATER INCREASE: The water czarina Phyllis Currie says they are going to take it a little slower, but still raise water rates in July. Water costs more. We all have to save water. The department's broke. How'd that happen? McAustin lets the department people give the report. It's still gonna cost 15% more in July and again next year and the year after. Holden asks about senior and low income people. He says the law won't let them cut their rates but he's asking what they're gonna do and says they oughta use general fund money for that. Then he asks what happens when we're not in a drought anymore and gets told that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. PUBLIC COMMENT: Paul Little from the Chamber says take more time so nobody gets laid off and nobody goes out of business. He says if was only about passing along cost increase nobody would complain. He says people who save water shouldn't have to pay penalties and his bill is gonna be higher this year even though he used less water. Bogaard says he's happy with what staff has said. David Powell says we gotta worry that conserving water means there won't be enough in the ground to pump out. Wayne Lusvardi reads a proclamation but I'm not real sure what he's doing that for. Roz McHugh says don't screw over the fixed income people and make sure there's a safety net for people. Nancy Nelson laughs at what goes on with the council. She wants to impeach them and says shame on you. Marydee Romney says they raised water a year ago and now they're doing it again. Michael Hurly says its happening everywhere. He talks about price signals and not laying people off.
McAustin's leading the raise everybody's water rate charge. She says they answered all the questions and the committee's good with raising rates. Councilmembers get in line to talk about how happy they are with the new ideas and how doing any more would mean they gotta lay off people. Man, what do we gotta do to remind these people who voted for 'em. McAustin, Tornek, Madison, Haderlein and Holden all love the water people. Bogaard's already on board. Madison asks about what the city's doin' to cut its water down. He gets a bullshit answer from Beck, but we all see the sprinklers on all the time in the parks and on the streets. He wants to know how they're telling people how to conserve water on their bill. Currie says we're all gonna get a mailing. What's that gonna cost me? How 'bout deducting that cost from my bill? There's a good way to help. Sure it is. So they talk about that kinda stuff and ignore what it's gonna do to the people who gotta pay bills. Man these people get off the important part really fast. Tornek's already paying back the union money he musta got to get elected. He's not representin' the voters on this one. Bogaard wants to know what they're gonna do about the new buildings that need water. Holden says it's never a good time to raise rates, duh! He asks about fixed income people and ants to have the rates reviewed every year. It's gonna go to McAustin's committee so we're gonna see even bigger raises whenever they look at it. Who elected these people anyway? Oh yeah, us fools. They all vote for it, but Madison says he's doing it reluctantly. Yeah, that's gonna make me not so pissed off when I get my big bill in August or September.
Folks, watch your wallets. About all that's left is our electric bills. I'm taking the under on that one and guessing they're gonna do that before Christmas.
Now I'm gonna go flush some dollars down the toilet and bang my head against the wall until I knock myself out. How is it all we get are millionaires on the CIty Council? Man, none of them really gotta work for a living and it shows.
D.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Council Blow by Blow for 6-15-09
OK. It’s budget night. This is gonna be too painful to watch.
Everybody’s there but McAustin. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
PRE-FIGHT WARM UP: Tornek wants to adjourn for William Burroughs who’s not the writer one but a guy who did a lot around town in that old money Pasadena way. He was even in the Valley Hunt Club. He died and they’re closing in his memory. You know, we can talk about how these old guys re kinda dinosaurs but
PUBLIC COMMENT: Diamond Monday Rasta man wants to open a pot dispensary. Wacko Nancy Nelson went to Ambassador College and wants it to be an arboretum.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They’re spending $300K for dial a ride and $24 mil for ARTS buses. $300K for bridge design for La Loma. A guy from First Transit comes to say they like having that $24 mil contract.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: They didn’t meet by Holden’s got stuff to get approved. City Investments: They worried they’d get hammered by the economy. Treasurer dude runs through what we all know but the council forgets that we all are having tough times. It’s a little better now. Pasadena’s doing better than most and are meeting all the legal rules. There’s $60 mil in one fund and $216 mil all together. So you gotta raise my water rates because? Oh, they’re borrowing millions to buy a new helicopter. Now I like having the eye in the sky to watch the gangbangers when they break into my neighbor’s car, but it’s a lot of $$$. They’re getting’ more money for a bunch of projects. Hey, it’s another $10K here and $5K there and pretty much it adds up to $750K. Oh. It gets passed without anybody saying “Whoa there” that’s a lot of money.
THEY BEAT IT TO CLOSED SESSION before the budget. Yo guys, lotsa dead time here while you spend money and make decisions in private.
BUDGET: We’re spending a bazillion dollars. Holden says they might have to make changes if they don’t pass the water rate increase. Right, that’s gonna happen. These people got no desire to save me and you money . They’re all jumping on how great they are to pass a budget without anybody really talkin’ about it. Holden, McAustin, Haderlein and Madison talk about how wonderful they are to do the budget and keep services going but nobody’s askin’ when they balance the budget by chargin’ us more for things like water. Madison wants them to give up their automatic pay raise. He says it’s not much money and the lawyer says it wouldn’t happen until 2010. Beck says he’s happy the council decided funding priorities. The finance guy’s got a beard now. They’re spending $681 mil. They got 2360 workers on the payroll and are spending $64 mil on projects. They’re runnin’ a deficit so they gotta fix that. They’re cuttin’ $8 mil and using $25 mil in excess reserve. That means they made a lot more money before and just kept it. I got a idea: get the Mayor and council to stop spending money on every little thing so I don’t have to pay a boatload more for water and trash. They’re still spending like they used to. Nobody’s cuttin’ anything much. Oh, and the state’s gonna really screw them over too. Public Comment from Wacko Nancy Nelson who says it’s outrageous to use the water rate hikes to balance the budget. She’s nutso but she’s right about a lot of this. She says she gets calls from Arizona about what the city council in Pasadena does. Holden’s already talkin’ defense for the water increase. Great. They already decided what they wanna do and it's raise my water rate and get me to pay instead of them saving enough money so I don't haveta pay.
Hey folks, it's budget night. Bend us over and give it to us good City Council. But hey, our council's got $25 mil extra but they still gotta get me to pay more.
SORRY FOLKS, I BEAT MY HEAD AGAINSTH TE WALL SO HARD I COULDN'T WATCH THE REST UNTIL TODAY.
DON'T LET CALIFORNIA TAKE PASADENA'S MONEY: They want Carol Liu and Anthony Protantino to promise not to take any city money to balance the state budget. Our vultures want their vultures to stay away. Good plan people. Maybe if you were showing Pasadena doing the same thing, but hey, we can charge lots more for water and then tell state people to not do the same thing to us. They're beyond hypocrites to HIPPOCRITES, big, slow moving creatures that suck up everything possible. Bogaard wants Pasadena to join a lawsuit against the state, too. So we pay more for lawyers? Good idea. Oh, yeah, Bogus Bill's a lawyer, ain't he? AND these guys even think the legislature's working to fix the problem, but California's gonna be out of $$$ in July and the morons in Sacramento ain't gonna even give up their luxury cars and big perks.
REDEVELOPMENT MONEY FOR VILLA PARK AND OLD TOWN PASADENA: The gotta make special findings to make sure it's legal to use the money for what they want. They're gonna look at Lincoln Avenue to put in parking. This one's over $3 mil.
HOUSING DEPARTMENT FUNDS FOR HOMELESS HOUSING, WELFARE HOUSING: They're doing something, but it's hard to tell exactly what. This is someting like $6 million that nobody talks much about.
CHANGING THE PLANNING CODE: Bruckner says they need to make changes so projects that get continued have to be noticed again. Business can't show their stuff on public property. Woman making the presentation is really cute and looks like she's 20. nancy Nelson wacko wants to know why they care about garage sales and says homeless should be able to aharass people and sell junk on sidewalks. Great idea. Whatever happened to runnin' 'em off when they harass people. I mean, I am real sympathetic to families who lose their jobs and can't have a lace to live, but the filthy people who lurk in doorways and stand at the freeway and hassle everybody gotta go.
BOGUS SAYS THEY'RE DOING A STRATEGIC PLANNING EVENT on Thursday. Like anybody can see that since I guess it's not gonna be on TV. Not that any of us care about what the council's gonna be up to.
Great meeting. Too 3 hours for them to get through it. They did the budget. $600+ million in about half and hour. And I find out they got $25 mil extra they are gonna use for pet projects. Hey! How about using some o'that to keep my water bill the same?
Typical. Least my councilmember was there. Think McAusin's gonnna tell her people she's not responsible because she wasn't there when they did the budget?
Weenies and weasels.
D.
Everybody’s there but McAustin. Madison does the pledge and gets it right.
PRE-FIGHT WARM UP: Tornek wants to adjourn for William Burroughs who’s not the writer one but a guy who did a lot around town in that old money Pasadena way. He was even in the Valley Hunt Club. He died and they’re closing in his memory. You know, we can talk about how these old guys re kinda dinosaurs but
PUBLIC COMMENT: Diamond Monday Rasta man wants to open a pot dispensary. Wacko Nancy Nelson went to Ambassador College and wants it to be an arboretum.
CONSENT CALENDAR: They’re spending $300K for dial a ride and $24 mil for ARTS buses. $300K for bridge design for La Loma. A guy from First Transit comes to say they like having that $24 mil contract.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: They didn’t meet by Holden’s got stuff to get approved. City Investments: They worried they’d get hammered by the economy. Treasurer dude runs through what we all know but the council forgets that we all are having tough times. It’s a little better now. Pasadena’s doing better than most and are meeting all the legal rules. There’s $60 mil in one fund and $216 mil all together. So you gotta raise my water rates because? Oh, they’re borrowing millions to buy a new helicopter. Now I like having the eye in the sky to watch the gangbangers when they break into my neighbor’s car, but it’s a lot of $$$. They’re getting’ more money for a bunch of projects. Hey, it’s another $10K here and $5K there and pretty much it adds up to $750K. Oh. It gets passed without anybody saying “Whoa there” that’s a lot of money.
THEY BEAT IT TO CLOSED SESSION before the budget. Yo guys, lotsa dead time here while you spend money and make decisions in private.
BUDGET: We’re spending a bazillion dollars. Holden says they might have to make changes if they don’t pass the water rate increase. Right, that’s gonna happen. These people got no desire to save me and you money . They’re all jumping on how great they are to pass a budget without anybody really talkin’ about it. Holden, McAustin, Haderlein and Madison talk about how wonderful they are to do the budget and keep services going but nobody’s askin’ when they balance the budget by chargin’ us more for things like water. Madison wants them to give up their automatic pay raise. He says it’s not much money and the lawyer says it wouldn’t happen until 2010. Beck says he’s happy the council decided funding priorities. The finance guy’s got a beard now. They’re spending $681 mil. They got 2360 workers on the payroll and are spending $64 mil on projects. They’re runnin’ a deficit so they gotta fix that. They’re cuttin’ $8 mil and using $25 mil in excess reserve. That means they made a lot more money before and just kept it. I got a idea: get the Mayor and council to stop spending money on every little thing so I don’t have to pay a boatload more for water and trash. They’re still spending like they used to. Nobody’s cuttin’ anything much. Oh, and the state’s gonna really screw them over too. Public Comment from Wacko Nancy Nelson who says it’s outrageous to use the water rate hikes to balance the budget. She’s nutso but she’s right about a lot of this. She says she gets calls from Arizona about what the city council in Pasadena does. Holden’s already talkin’ defense for the water increase. Great. They already decided what they wanna do and it's raise my water rate and get me to pay instead of them saving enough money so I don't haveta pay.
Hey folks, it's budget night. Bend us over and give it to us good City Council. But hey, our council's got $25 mil extra but they still gotta get me to pay more.
SORRY FOLKS, I BEAT MY HEAD AGAINSTH TE WALL SO HARD I COULDN'T WATCH THE REST UNTIL TODAY.
DON'T LET CALIFORNIA TAKE PASADENA'S MONEY: They want Carol Liu and Anthony Protantino to promise not to take any city money to balance the state budget. Our vultures want their vultures to stay away. Good plan people. Maybe if you were showing Pasadena doing the same thing, but hey, we can charge lots more for water and then tell state people to not do the same thing to us. They're beyond hypocrites to HIPPOCRITES, big, slow moving creatures that suck up everything possible. Bogaard wants Pasadena to join a lawsuit against the state, too. So we pay more for lawyers? Good idea. Oh, yeah, Bogus Bill's a lawyer, ain't he? AND these guys even think the legislature's working to fix the problem, but California's gonna be out of $$$ in July and the morons in Sacramento ain't gonna even give up their luxury cars and big perks.
REDEVELOPMENT MONEY FOR VILLA PARK AND OLD TOWN PASADENA: The gotta make special findings to make sure it's legal to use the money for what they want. They're gonna look at Lincoln Avenue to put in parking. This one's over $3 mil.
HOUSING DEPARTMENT FUNDS FOR HOMELESS HOUSING, WELFARE HOUSING: They're doing something, but it's hard to tell exactly what. This is someting like $6 million that nobody talks much about.
CHANGING THE PLANNING CODE: Bruckner says they need to make changes so projects that get continued have to be noticed again. Business can't show their stuff on public property. Woman making the presentation is really cute and looks like she's 20. nancy Nelson wacko wants to know why they care about garage sales and says homeless should be able to aharass people and sell junk on sidewalks. Great idea. Whatever happened to runnin' 'em off when they harass people. I mean, I am real sympathetic to families who lose their jobs and can't have a lace to live, but the filthy people who lurk in doorways and stand at the freeway and hassle everybody gotta go.
BOGUS SAYS THEY'RE DOING A STRATEGIC PLANNING EVENT on Thursday. Like anybody can see that since I guess it's not gonna be on TV. Not that any of us care about what the council's gonna be up to.
Great meeting. Too 3 hours for them to get through it. They did the budget. $600+ million in about half and hour. And I find out they got $25 mil extra they are gonna use for pet projects. Hey! How about using some o'that to keep my water bill the same?
Typical. Least my councilmember was there. Think McAusin's gonnna tell her people she's not responsible because she wasn't there when they did the budget?
Weenies and weasels.
D.
Friday, June 12, 2009
My Water Bill's Going Through the Roof - Where's My Local Paper?
S-Nooze is sleepin' I guess. Pretty much nothing in the S-Nooze under mayoral butt-sniffer Larry Wilson about how my water bill's going up, uP, UP!
So, what's wrong with my local paper that's ignorin' the biggest water bill raise in California? Oh, Larry's too busy kissin' Mayor Bill's ass and keepin' the Bitchin' Biddies happy.
Me, I just get f*ucked! Thanks S-nooze for missin' another big story that REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE!
You gotta give it to the weak Pasadena Weekly for doin' a story last week. Somebody's watchin' while PWP picks my pocket.
D.
So, what's wrong with my local paper that's ignorin' the biggest water bill raise in California? Oh, Larry's too busy kissin' Mayor Bill's ass and keepin' the Bitchin' Biddies happy.
Me, I just get f*ucked! Thanks S-nooze for missin' another big story that REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE!
You gotta give it to the weak Pasadena Weekly for doin' a story last week. Somebody's watchin' while PWP picks my pocket.
D.
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