PLANNING WATCH / PLAN-IT LOS ANGELES

Although it is hard for the general public to fathom what takes place at City Hall, we know this much about recent changes imposed on LA’s Department of City Planning. Gail Goldberg, the Director of Planning, recently quit her job. One week after her last day at work, the Mayor nominated the Chief Zoning Administrator, Michael LoGrande, to become the new Director of Planning. Many others have written about this management change, with plenty of ink and tears spilled over the new Planning Director’s level of knowledge, seniority, and servility to real estate developers. But, I don’t think the real question is the new planning director's history and style, but why the Mayor and his consigliere, Austin Beutner, decided they wanted a City Hall backroom player to take over the Planning Department. Some turn to personal scheming for an explanation, but I think the deeper answer is the poor state of the local, regional, and national economies. As they continue to decli...

Although it is hard for the general public to fathom what takes place at City Hall, we know this much about recent changes imposed on LA’s Department of City Planning. Gail Goldberg, the Director of Planning, recently quit her job. One week after her last day at work, the Mayor nominated the Chief Zoning Administrator, Michael LoGrande, to become the new Director of Planning. Many others have written about this management change, with plenty of ink and tears spilled over the new Planning Director’s level of knowledge, seniority, and servility to real estate developers. But, I don’t think the real question is the new planning director's history and style, but why the Mayor and his consigliere, Austin Beutner, decided they wanted a City Hall backroom player to take over the Planning Department. Some turn to personal scheming for an explanation, but I think the deeper answer is the poor state of the local, regional, and national economies. As they continue to dec...

Why is former LA Mayor Richard Riordan, according to Rick Orlov in the Daily New s, trying to persuade local municipal unions to accept wage and benefit cuts? It is his contribution to business efforts to recover from the recession through wage and benefit cuts. Not only will it not work, but it is part of a larger process which several astute analysts, such as Paul Krugman, argue is leading to another depression. See highlighted explanation below. I remain skeptical, however, that the author's solution, essentially a second New Deal, will work. After all, it took WWII to resolve the economic crisis of 1929-1945. More Red Flags for the Economy By Mike Whitney http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article258 79.htm July 05, 2010 " Information Clearing House " -- Bonds are signaling that the recovery is in trouble. The yield on the 10-year Treasury (2.97 percent) has fallen to levels not seen since the peak of the crisis while the yield on the two-year note h...