Results tagged “wendygreuel”

This is local government at its finest, folks. Last year when then-City Countroller Laura Chick tried to audit then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a lawsuit against Chick was brought forth. At issue? Chick wanted to audit the City Attorney's workers compensation program, but Delgadillo balked, throwing a lawsuit in the way. More broadly, the question being asked in the lawsuit, does the elected City Controller have the power to audit another elected official?

Thousands of rape kits still remain untested, finds a follow-up to a year-old audit that revealed some 7,500 rape kits sat untested on the shelves of LAPD labs. City Controller Wendy Greuel plans to release the the full findings tomorrow morning. Her office said today that the backlog has been reduced to 65%. However, Greuel says the Department’s record keeping is inconsistent, making it difficult to give entirely accurate numbers. In early October, it was reported that 3,157 kits were left to go with the full backlog completion due in the summer of 2011.

Last year, then-City Controller Laura Chick wanted to do a performance audit on then-City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office. Delgadillo successfully blocked it with a court order, but the fall out over private attorney fees for Chick, totalling $200,000, has lingered. The most recent tentative court ruling was pushed yesterday another month so Greuel and Trutanich can work things out.

City Controller Wendy Greuel is expected to release her second audit since entering office last July later today. According to her office, a wastewater disposal contractor took advantage of the city's lack of oversight and a poorly written contract to overbill and overcharge.

Tomorrow is the special election for Los Angeles City Council District 2 to fill the seat vacated by Wendy Greuel, who is now serving as the City Controller. There are ten candidates vying for the win, among them familiar names and faces from other public offices and elections: Tamar Galatzan (Criminal Prosecutor and current LAUSD Board Member); Jozef "Joe" Thomas Essavi (LA County Commissioner; Christine Essel (Businesswoman/Neighborhood Advocate); Michael McCue (Boardmember, Neighborhood Council); Pete Sanchez (Community Organizer);

In her first audit since taking office as City Controller, Wendy Greuel this morning released findings about waste within the Los Angeles Convention Center. There's nothing catastrophic revealed in the audit, but it points out too many examples of lax oversight that cost taxpayers money.

City Controller Wendy Greuel's first audit, to be released tomorrow morning, will focus in on the city's convention center, which is said to have a $1 billion impact on the region each year. Former Controller Laura Chick, now keeping an eye on stimulus money spending statewide, always found the most ridiculous wasteful spending practices around city hall, garnering major headlines almost every time an audit was released. It will be interesting to see Greuel's results, but all signs point towards some solid findings. In a media advisory, her office hints towards opportunities to make things more efficient not taken by leadership, a lack of policy on fee waivers and lack of oversight on employee overtime, including one employee who made nearly twice their annual salary in overtime.

The L.A. City Clerk is reminding residents of Council District 2--that's Sherman Oaks through Shadow Hills--to register by Tuesday in order to participate in the September 22 special election to fill the seat vacated by Wendy Greuel, who left to become City Controller.

No big surprise here. City Controller, and former Councimember for District 2, Wendy Greuel will endorse Chris Essel for the council seat. Both women have backgrounds in the film industry business. This is the second big endorsement for Essel in the past few weeks. She most recently gained the support of former Mayor Richard Riordan. Assemblymember Paul Krekorian was endorsed by Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley earlier this week and no word on big endorsements yet from the other frontrunner, Tamar Galatzan, but in an e-mail blast yesterday, a tongue-and-cheek top ten reasons to elect Tamar list touted that she "has voted for Wendy Greuel more times than Essel and Krekorian - combined." That's because she's a long time resident of Council District 2. Krekorian, for example, just moved into the boundaries this summer.

When Wendy Greuel became City Controller, her seat in the popular 2nd District of Los Angeles opened, leaving over 10 candidates vying for the spot. Before any debates have occurred, community organizers are bringing together the community this Saturday to "lay down a community based platform that will drive the issues that frame the upcoming election for the open CD2 City Council seat," according to an e-mail blast. "The CD2 Town Hall is designed to put the needs and desires of the community first, to frame the campaign with a real focus on the issues that matter, and to position the candidates so that the debates and forums start with a real foundation of vision and commitment to improving the quality of life in CD2." Greg Nelson, retired General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, will open the town hall. There is also a blog dedicated to the council district race. Info for Saturday's town hall is below:

[UPDATE: Shortly before noon, the City Council voted to approve the annexation. Read more here]

Just a week on the job and City Controller Wendy Greuel is kicking butt. The city's Emergency Management Department was charged with feeding some 3,200 officers that were deployed for the Michael Jackson memorial service in case the crowds outside the Staples Center grew, possibly to a million people.

Now that Wendy Greuel has officially vacated her seat as the 2nd District Councilmemember for her City Controller post, we're going to begin to hear more about those who are officially running. Councilman Jack Weiss' popular Valley field deputy Joan Pelico was rumored to be taking a stab at running, but it seems not any more. She's been re-hired by Weies' successor Paul Koretz at the satisfaction of a handful of neighborhood groups who urged him not to replace her. Following in the footsteps of Greuel's film industry to politics move, Chris Essel of Paramount has announced her campaign. Additionally, a local medical marijuana dispensary owner, Frank Sheftel, announced his intentions to run at various community meetings. While there's been no official announcement, Assemblymember Paul Krekorian is "still strongly considering stepping into the CD2 race," a spokesman told us. No official word yet from City Attorney and LAUSD School Board Member Tamar Galatzan or Director of Street Services Bill Robertson.

In her inaugural speech as the City Controller, Wendy Greuel vowed to continue former Controller Laura Chick's quest to legally audit--financially or performance-wise--the offices of the Mayor, City Attorney and City Councilmembmers. Chick had tried to audit former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office, but he balked and the matter went to court where Chick lost. “If there is any question about this, I shall take this issue to you, the voters of the city of Los Angeles,” Greuel said yesterday. If you follow city politics, answer this question: if she fills the role just like Laura Chick did for the past eight years, will we be soon calling her Mayor Greuel?

"We've got a room full of people, all claiming to have been left out of the Bicycle Plan Update process. You can't call that the result of effective outreach!" That was Councilmember Wendy Greuel last Wednesday at the big bicycle transportation meeting chastising representatives from the Planning and Transportation Departments on not performing sufficient outreach for the now controversial bicycle plan. It looks like she has taken a cue from Laura Chick--that is, opining harshly, but telling it how it is--and is ready to become City Controller in July (let's keep that fire lit in her). .

North Hollywood: What do you do when the city owns a vacant lot that's being used by people as an unofficial trash landfill? Clear it out and make it into a park. On Monday, Councilwoman and Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel and others will make the first ceremonial dig on the Bellaire Pocket Park Project, located at the corner of Bellaire Ave and Strathern St.

Now with Wendy Gruel heading to the City Controller Office on July 1st, her seat will be soon vacant leading to a possible campaign if a special election is approved by City Council (and it's likely to go that way instead of an appointment). Tomorrow is the last day to submit proof of residence and voter registration within Council District 2, which stretches from Sherman Oaks and Studio City through North Hollywood into the Northeast Valley neighborhoods of Shadow Hills, Sunlund and Tujunga (see a PDF map here).

"I want to have an aggressive agenda and hit the ground running," said Carmen Trutanich, who will become LA City Attorney on July 1st, to the Daily News. He plans to name a transition team and develop an agenda for his first 100 days in office. Not only that, he's opening his doors to Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel for a department audit, something current City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and former Controller Laura Chick sparred about. "I spoke to (Controller-elect) Wendy Greuel about having her come in to give me a base line on what we need to do. I will follow her with my own auditors to confirm with another set of eyes on what needs to be done."

Bell Cab introduced the city's first hybrid taxis in Los Angeles today in what politicians hope is the just the first of many in the city's fleet of 2,303. Controller-Elect and current Transportation Committee Chair, Councilmember Wendy Greuel requested the city to create a green taxi plan and today challenged other cab companies to follow suit. "Taxi's in Los Angeles might be different colors on the outside, but my goal is for them all to be green on the inside," she said.

Newton also points something funny and interesting out: Eng's press photo page contains three pictures, two of which display him in automobiles.

All over the Valley (and soon spreading into Hollywood, Westwood and beyond), speed limits are increasing and not because there is a need for better traffic flow. "Because of state law, when local government wants to use radar enforcement, they have to use up- to-date traffic surveys to justify the posted speed limit," Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, who this year introduced a bill to change the law to help protect cyclists and pedestrians, explained at a press conference this afternoon.

He may not currently live in Los Angeles, but he represents a good chunk of it. State Assemblymember Paul Krekorian is rumored to be running for LA City Council District 2, currently seated by Wendy Greuel who will be the city's new Controller in July. If true, most people believe the popular Burbank politician will clear the field and be a sure shoe-in. A Krekorian spokesperson does not deny the possibility of this outright, but tells LAist "he remains committed" to his current job. Others rumored to run for the seat include LAUSD Board Member and City Attorney Tamar Galatzan, Council Distrct 5 Field Deputy Joan Pelico, Former Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council President Kenneth Gerston, Current Studio City Neighborhood Council President Ben Neumann and Lisa Sarkin of the Studio City Neighborhood Council.

It will not be until July that Councilmember Wendy Greuel will be vacating her seat to become City Controller, but the list of possible candidates continues to grow. "A lot of people have come to me and said I should look at it," Lisa Sarkin of the Studio City Neighborhood Council told Rick Orlov of the Daily News. She says she's encouraged by David Vahedi, who with his neighborhood council background is in a tight runoff for Council District 5 seat against longtime politician Paul Koretz (that election is on May 19th).

It was rumored to be a simple swap. If Wendy Greuel won City Controller, which she did last night, City Controller Laura Chick would run for Greuel's empty seat in Council District 2 in the Valley. In an upset to many, Chick announced this morning that she is moving on from elected city politics.

"We are facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit and before we have to cut any additional city services, I want to ensure we crack down on the most egregious tax cheats," said Councilwoman and City Controller candidate Wendy Greuel today of the city's new webpage calling out 16 businesses who owe the city more than $100,000 in taxes. Volvo owes over $112,000 and Fidelity, $165,000. But that's not the worst. A handful owe over a million dollars including United Valet Parking and company called Crystal Enterprises owes over $3 million. Before publishing the list (.pdf), the city sent out letters notifying the tax cheating business that they would be published. Five of them--at a total of $2.1 million-avoided publication by entering into settlement discussions with the City Attorney's office and one is under review.

On the upcoming March 3rd ballot, we will be voting for city councilmembers, the mayor, the city attorney and city controller candidates. The latter is one of the most unusual, but extremely important for government. The controller, who often has to take a pit bull stance, audits departments, and not just for their financial accounting but on their efficiency and productivity. Basically, are they serving the people in a timely, professional and efficient way while not going in the red?

Last night on KCRW's Which Way, LA, the controversy over the parking meter increases was discussed. But first, let's start off with what the city's City Council Transportation Committee Chair, Wendy Greuel, was sending out yesterday

"I'm very reticent right now to raise any property taxes at this time," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said a press conference yesterday morning when asked about Councilmember Richard Alarcon's "luxury" tax that would tax households at least $1,000 larger than 5,000 square feet.

"This is not the way it's supposed to work in LA nowadays," an unnamed source tells former Daily News Editor Ron Kaye, who broke the news that Nick Patsaouras, president of the DWP Board of Commissioners, will be running for City Controller. Considered a shoe-in for the job, Councilmember Wendy Greuel has already raised nearly $700,000 for her Office of the Controller campaign, according to the latest candidate filings. The Controller's Office is city's watchdog on spending and operations, however it has no power to enforce findings in audits. As important as the job is, it's also not a popular one with other councilmembers and city staff.

Passed unanimously at today's City Council meeting, Los Angeles took another step forward to possibly adopting bicycle sharing, as seen in Paris and at the DNC in Denver. As explained in today's meeting, bicycle sharing in LA can be exemplified by the rental carts at LAX: you pick up a bike at one spot, use it to get to a destination and drop it off at another spot. The approved motion directs the Department of Transportation to "examine the feasibility of creating a bike sharing program in the City of Los Angeles and submit recommendations to the Transportation Committee within 45 days." It's a small step, but like Coucilmember Wendy Greuel said today, "we have a long way to go to be a bicycle city."