Council backs mayor’s veto in race bias case
The career of Los Angeles Fire Chief William Bamattre dangled in the balance Wednesday as the City Council backed away from a settlement offered to a black firefighter who accused the department of racial discrimination.
After a lengthy closed session with city attorneys, only six of the 15 council members voted to buck Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s veto of the deal. Janice Hahn, Tom LaBonge and President Eric Garcetti joined the council’s three black members in an attempt to keep the settlement in place. But at least 10 votes would have been needed to override the mayor.
Firefighter Tennie Pierce, a robust personality whom some firefighters called Big Dog, sued the city after dog food was slipped into his firehouse meal two years ago by several firefighters. . .
Noncitizens key issue in state’s health debate
GOP balks at covering undocumented workers
(11-30) 04:00 PST Sacramento—Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ambition of extending health care insurance to all Californians already faces a challenge from members of his own party over concerns the governor might propose spending tax dollars to extend coverage to illegal immigrants.
Leading Republican lawmakers in both houses said this week that there is no support in their caucus for subsidized care for noncitizens because they believe such services will encourage more illegal immigration.
“California is not responsible for paying for the medical care of the undocumented—people who are here illegally, period,” said Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks (Sacramento County). “We are not the health maintenance organization for Mexico. . .
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will be on at 4:00
2 officials blamed in molester shuffle
SACRAMENTO — Two top parole administrators ordered a group of high-risk child molesters shuffled among several Los Angeles County motels earlier this year after agents could not find them housing compliant with a new law, the state inspector general reported Tuesday.
The report by Inspector General Matt Cate, a nonpartisan watchdog over the correctional system, said the administrators then lied to investigators and lawmakers, denying any knowledge of the episode.
Moving the 11 parolees among motels near schools in Los Angeles, Pico Rivera, Norwalk, South Gate and El Monte clearly violated the intent of a law barring high-risk child molesters on parole from living within half a mile of a school, Cate said. . .
Assemblyman Todd Spitzer will be on the show at 6:00
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
Council Votes To Sustain Mayor’s Veto Of Firefighter Settlement
LOS ANGELES —The Los Angeles City Council has voted 9-6 to sustain Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s veto of a $2.7 million settlement for firefighter Tennie Pierce, who alleged discrimination and harassment because his colleagues fed him dog food at a Westchester fire station in 2004.
Photos of Pierce participating in firehouse pranks and hazing prompted Villaraigosa to issue his veto and the council to reconsider the settlement.
Council members Janice Hahn, Tom LaBonge, Bernard Parks, Herb Wesson and Eric Garcetti unsuccessfully voted to override the mayor’s veto, which required 10 votes. . .
Firefighter settlement sharply splits council
A torturous debate left the Los Angeles City Council sharply divided by race Tuesday as members weighed whether to restore a settlement offered to a black firefighter whose dinner had been laced with dog food.
For the first time, the council heard directly from Tennie Pierce, the target of the incident, who had filed a discrimination case against the city.
At their lawyer’s recommendation, council members initially voted to pay $2.7 million to keep it from going to trial. But last week — amid a storm of public reaction — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vetoed the action, setting the stage for Tuesday’s council session. . .
Taxpayers may eat it in the dog food debacle
Tennie Pierce, an African American Los Angeles Fire Department veteran who was secretly fed the chow by colleagues two years ago, will get $2.7 million if the settlement of a lawsuit against the city is allowed to stand.
But if Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s veto means the case goes to trial, who knows? The price might drop, but it could go way, way up, with taxpayers footing the bill.
After focusing of late on the antics of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, I felt remiss for ignoring the daily dramas at L.A. City Hall. . .
School dances return under new rules
ALISO VIEJO – Dancing shoes can come back out at Aliso Niguel High School.
Principal Charles Salter announced Tuesday that he is lifting a nearly three-month ban on dances as long as students abide by a new contract.
Students and parents will have to sign the dance contract before attending each event. Students can expect noticeable changes when the music is turned back on. . .
Principal Charles Salter will be on the show at 4:00
An anonymous listener emailed us some photos of Tennie Pierce…the black firefighter who was served dog food in his spaghetti by fellow firefighters and awarded more than $2.7 million to settle a lawsuit alleging racial harassment within the Los Angeles Fire Department.
What’s worse? A mouthful of dog food? Or what you see here?
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
Council Postpones Decision On Hazing Settlement
LOS ANGELES —The City Council postponed a decision Tuesday on whether to override Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s veto of a $2.7 million settlement with a black Los Angeles firefighter who claimed that he was the target of discrimination.
The 15-member City Council could override Villaraigosa’s veto with 10 votes, or sustain his decision and pursue the case in court. Members discussed the issue Tuesday for about two hours.
On Nov. 8, the City Council approved the settlement with Tennie Pierce, who said he suffered discrimination and harassment when fellow firefighters fed him dog food at a Westchester fire station in 2004. . .
2 officials seek ouster of fire chief
...On Monday, The Times was anonymously provided with a transcript of a June 21 closed session in which the council discussed the pending Pierce litigation. In that transcript, Deputy City Atty. Vibiana Andrade said that Pierce was a known prankster and that there were photos.
“For example, if you knew that two weeks before [the incident] he had been pranking, and I’ve got pictures of him engaging in pranks with his fellow firefighters and he’s part of the group, then his claim that he’s an outlier and that because he’s African American he was subjected to this, sort of looks a little silly,” Andrade said. . .
How the imams terrorized an airliner
Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.
Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted “Allah” when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix.
“I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud,” the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department. . .
Cintas warned against firing immigrant force
A Mississippi Democrat in line to become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has warned the nation’s largest uniform supplier it faces criminal charges if it follows a White House proposal to recheck workers with mismatched Social Security numbers and fire those who cannot resolve the discrepancy in 60 days.
Rep. Bennie Thompson said in a letter to Cintas Corp. it could be charged with “illegal activities in violation of state and federal law” if any of its 32,000 employees are terminated because they gave incorrect Social Security numbers to be hired.
“I am deeply troubled by Cintas’ recent policy change regarding the Social Security Administration’s ‘no match’ letters,” Mr. Thompson said in the Nov. 2 letter. “It is my understanding that hundreds of Cintas’ immigrant workers have received these letters. I am extremely concerned about any potentially discriminatory actions targeting this community. . .
Which officer shot girl can’t be known
So many bullets were discharged during a siege last year at a South Los Angeles auto shop that investigators cannot determine which LAPD officer fired the shot that killed 19-month-old Suzie Peña, Chief William J. Bratton said Monday.
The finding, which follows a 15-month investigation that used outside weapons experts, complicates the Police Commission’s task today in deciding whether the officers should be disciplined.
Suzie Peña was shot twice as her father held her in front of him as he exchanged gunfire with Los Angeles police officers in July 2005. The fatal shot hit Suzie in the head but did not lodge there. Investigators could not determine which of the bullet fragments they found had hit her. . .
Monday, November 27th, 2006
Black leaders seek end to racial slur in show biz
Black leaders today challenged the entertainment industry, including rappers, to stop use of the racial slur that Michael Richards uttered in his tirade.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and others said they will meet with TV networks, film companies and musicians to discuss the “n-word.”
“We want to give our ancestors a present,” Jackson said at a news conference. “Dignity over degradation. . .
Alleged Cunningham co-conspirator hires celebrity attorney
In the latest twist to former U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s tale of greed and corruption, celebrity defense attorney Mark Geragos has joined the legal team of one of the former congressman’s alleged conspirators in a massive bribery scam.
Geragos, whose former clients include pop star Michael Jackson, former first brother Roger Clinton and former Congressman Gary Condit, said Wednesday that he recently began representing Poway businessman Brent Wilkes.
Court documents allege that Cunningham’s conspirators, one of whom is believed to be Wilkes, lavished the congressman with cash, loans and gifts in recent years. . .
Governor sets goals on health care, state deficit
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called Sunday for health care for every uninsured Californian and declared he would eliminate the state’s structural budget deficit in his second term, all without tax increases.
The Republican governor said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he wants to focus next year on health care, prisons and school accountability but offered few details on how he would pay for proposals that could cost the state billions of dollars.
Schwarzenegger said he plans to devote next year to making health care more affordable so uninsured Californians, estimated at more than 6 million, can obtain coverage. . .
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
Fury on the airwaves undid bias settlement
It seemed like a slam-dunk when the Los Angeles City Council made a near-unanimous decision to pay black firefighter Tennie Pierce $2.7 million to settle a racial harassment lawsuit that claimed he had been tricked into eating dog food by station mates, then taunted for months.
But almost immediately, other voices in Los Angeles demanded to be heard.
The talk show team on KFI-AM (640)’s “John & Ken Show” wasted no time making the case a cause celebre, pumping up listeners with daily drive-time diatribes against the settlement. Council members began backtracking. The fire chief intensified his push to toughen department discipline. And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tried to offer something for everyone — vetoing the settlement but demanding an end to the kind of hazing that led to the headlines. . .
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
City hazing settlement is vetoed
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the first veto of his administration Monday, striking down the City Council’s approval of a lawsuit settlement that would pay $2.7 million to an African American firefighter who contended that he was a victim of racial harassment.
The case involved Tennie Pierce, who sued the city after discovering that dog food had been mixed into a spaghetti dinner served him by fellow firefighters. But the settlement’s size, which was the largest in Fire Department history, triggered a swell of negative public reaction that deepened when a website posted photographs of Pierce engaged in hazing pranks.
The mayor’s veto sent a rebuke to the council, which had voted 11 to 1 for the settlement earlier this month, and to City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, who recommended the deal although some of his deputies knew from lawsuit testimony that Pierce had appeared in photos of Fire Department hazing. . .
Officer in Taser case identified
The UCLA police officer videotaped last week using a Taser gun on a student also shot a homeless man at a campus study hall room three years ago and was earlier recommended for dismissal in connection with an alleged assault on fraternity row, authorities said.
UCLA police confirmed late Monday that the officer who fired the Taser gun was Terrence Duren, who has served in the university’s Police Department for 18 years.
Duren, who was named officer of the year in 2001, also has been involved in several controversial incidents on campus. . .
Dirty Dancing Banned in the O.C.
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16, 2006 — A popular high school principal in the wealthy enclave of Aliso Viejo — in California’s so-called “O.C.” (Orange County) — has put his foot down on “dirty dancing.”
Charles Salter has banned all dances until the kids clean up their act, and now parents and schools from California to Connecticut are cheering.
What moved the head of Aliso Niguel High School to make such a drastic move?
“Freak dancing” or “freakin’,” an intimate hip-hop dance style between a boy and a girl, or two girls. . .
Principal Charles Salter will be on the show in the 6 p.m. hour
