Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Despite arguments from experts hired by Beverly Hills city and school officials, a report released by the MTA for an upcoming meeting on Thursday sticks with a proposal to tunnel under Beverly Hills High.
Metro staff are standing by their recomendation for a Westside Subway station at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars after geologists hired by Beverly Hills officials said other alternatives would be safer. In a report released Tuesday, the staff for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority affirmed the agency's position that it would be safe to tunnel under Beverly Hills High School to reach that intersection. Metro's consultants contend that there are no active faults under Beverly Hills High or Santa Monica Boulevard. Their assessment is at odds with testimony presented last week by geologists hired by the city of Beverly Hills and the Beverly Hills Unified School District. "Metro staff have considered the views presented …
The council unanimously approves the budget that closes a $238 million deficit, but leaves next year's budget in the red.
The Los Angeles City Council Monday approved a $7.2 billion budget that delays layoffs but makes close to $70 million in cuts to services and shrinks the city's workforce by more than 400 positions. The budget, first proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and amended by the council's Budget and Finance Committee, closes a $238 million deficit but leaves next year's budget $199 million in the red. The budget relies on $83 million in one-time revenues and cuts, and includes more than $76 million that still needs to be approved by federal and state governments and might not be available until January or later. The budget increases the city's emergency reserve fund by $7.5 million, bringing it to 4.8 percent of the city's general fund budget, …
Monday, May 21, 2012
An audit out of the City Controller's Office, as well as reports from the Los Angeles Times show emergency response times are getting longer.
An audit by City Controller Wendy Greuel released Friday found that Los Angeles firefighters responded to emergency medical calls an average of 12 seconds slower since Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council cut the fire department's staff size in 2009. The audit also found major underlying problems with the quality of the data. Almost one-third of the 1.9 million responses analyzed by Greuel's staff were missing critical information, such as if the responses were to fires or medical emergencies. "It's unacceptable that the LAFD has not been able to accurately track its emergency response times," Greuel said, adding that her audit sets the stage for "a real discussion about what needs to be done to improve public safety for all …
Friday, May 18, 2012
The three proposed options would reach Constellation Boulevard in Century City without tunneling under Beverly Hills High School.
At Thursday's public hearing with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, the city of Beverly Hills presented three options for reaching a subway station on Constellation Boulevard in Century City that do not require tunneling under Beverly Hills High School. Robert McMurry from Gilchrist & Rutter, who was commissioned by Beverly Hills, explained the alternative routes for the Century City portion of the Westside Subway Extension. The project is an expansion of the Purple Line to Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. Many Beverly Hills civic leaders and residents support the subway but are opposed to tunneling under BHHS, while others in Century City and Los Angeles have…
If Metro decides to route a subway under Beverly Hills High School, it will be faced with a lawsuit to prevent tunneling under the campus.
Geologists hired by the Beverly Hills Unified School District argued Thursday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is using flawed studies to support a subway route that requires tunneling under Beverly Hills High School to reach Century City. The controversial route is part of the proposed Westside Subway Extension, an expansion of the Purple Line to Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. The allegations that Metro is relying on faulty data were made during a public hearing before Metro's Board of Directors. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who chairs the board, said the purpose of the hearing was to allow Beverly Hills the chance to present evidence and testimony regarding …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
In a post titled "Jimbo and Me—In Search of the Elusive Professor Dolan" on CityWatch, Mirisch calls on Metro to be more forthcoming with its scientific data.
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Thursday, May 17
The following post first appeared on the website CityWatch and is being republished with permission from the author. WHAT’S METRO HIDING? - James Francis Dolan, PhD. Professor of Earth Sciences at USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The guy may be tone-deaf, for all I know, but he is literally one of the region’s true geology rock stars. The go-to guy when it comes to faults, tectonics and all that jazz. I have no idea if his friends call him “Jim” or “Jimmy” or “J. F.” Somehow with all his contagious enthusiasm and dry sense of humor, I imagine that he’s a Jimbo, but it’s just a hunch. Jimbo Dolan, USC rock star. His rock star qualities became apparent at Metro’s Oct. 19 presentation when, as a member of a panel paid …
Patch editors Sara Fay and Marie Cunningham updated this article live throughout the public hearing.
Editor's note: The live blog is no longer being updated. Thanks for participating and we will have a wrap-up story published later this evening. If you want to follow the latest from the Metro public hearing on the location of the Century City subway station, set a bookmark for this article. Patch editors Sara Fay and Marie Cunningham will keep you posted on the news from the meeting and the commenters. The meeting began at 1:30 p.m. Click the image above to see our live updates. You can also participate in the conversation! We'd love to hear from you. Once we start the live blog, you can enter comments and questions into the live feed. In the meantime, read up on the Westside Subway Extension by clicking here.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
At the request of Beverly Hills, a public hearing on the location of the proposed Century City subway stop will be held.
A public hearing requested by Beverly Hills on the placement of a subway station in Century City will be held Thursday at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the third floor boardroom at One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952. The Metro board held off approving the entire Westside Subway Extension plan at its April 26 meeting after the Beverly Hills City Council requested a public hearing on the placement of the Century City subway station a few days before the vote was to take place. Instead, the Metro board voted to approve three more subway stops from Wilshire and Western to Wilshire and La Cienega. The board postponed a vote on the other proposed stops in Beverly…
It is unclear whether the UCLA Volunteer Center will continue to be a partner in the Westwood Organized Mega Project.
The UCLA Volunteer Center, a major participant in an annual neighborhood clean-up day, may withdraw staff support from the Westwood Organized Mega Project. The university's retreat from the event, dubbed WOMP, would be a big "womp womp," Westwood neighborhood organizations say. The Westwood Organized Mega Project, a day of volunteer service and beautification in Westwood Village, is joint collaboration between the UCLA Volunteer Center, the Westwood Community Council and other local organizations and merchants. The third WOMP was held last month and more than 700 UCLA students participated. In the last week, the Westwood Neighborhood Council, Westwood Community Council and the Westwood Homeowners Associations passed a resolution urging …
See Los Angeles City Council member and mayoral candidate Jan Perry in conversation before a live audience at Cal-State Northridge.
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Wednesday, May 16
(If video window doesn't appear, refresh the page.) Los Angeles City Council member Jan Perry cruised through a list of issues at Cal State Northridge Tuesday in the second of the "Talking About Los Angeles" series of interviews with mayoral candidates. Moderator Christine Essel, the CEO for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, started off the event by saying that she had known Perry for 20 years. Questioned by Essel, Perry touched on redevelopment, jobs, housing, transit, education, pensions and the city's budget deficit. Patch is a co-sponsor of the series, which was organized by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, a Latino voter participation organization; and Cerrell Associates, a Los Angeles political …
Joel Epstein
3:51 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The time has come for the Metro board to put to bed the children on the Beverly Hills School Board and City Council. The City should stop buying its lawyers' hogwash that there is merit to a case against the agency. No self-respecting judge would do other than the right thing by sanctioning Beverly Hills for bringing such a meritless lawsuit. In the interests of the region's millions of commuters… more ›