4th of July Parades Throughout LA County to Kick Off Independence Day

From Santa Monica to Pasadena, south landers will celebrate the holiday with a series of parades.

Parades marking the 239th anniversary of the nation’s independence will be held Saturday throughout Los Angeles County, with three having a connection to the Special Olympics World Games.

Santa Monica’s ninth annual Fourth of July parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Main Street and Pico Boulevard. Its theme is “Inspirational Heroes.” Special Olympics global messenger Will Montgomery will be the grand marshal.

The Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association 4th of July Parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Warner Avenue School. It will be led by Special Olympics World Games athletes Laura Cook, Luke Rose and Destiny Sanchez.

South Pasadena’s 33rd annual Festival of Balloons Fourth of July Parade will have the theme “South Pasadena Welcomes the Special Olympics World Games.” It will begin at 11 a.m. at Mission Street and Diamond Avenue.

The Special Olympics World Games will be held from July 25-Aug. 2. It will be the biggest sporting event to be held in the Los Angeles area since the 1984 Olympic Games.

The 67th annual Pacific Palisades Fourth of July Parade will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunset Boulevard, between Via de la Paz and Drummond Street. Its theme is “Palisades Parade: Pride! Passion! Patriotism!”

Businesswoman and longtime Pacific Palisades resident Joyce Brunelle, who submitted the winning entry, said it was inspired by the community’s residents and businessmen and women who volunteer their time on behalf of various projects.

KFI-AM (640) morning show host Bill Handel will be the grand marshal.

Westchester’s 16th annual Fourth of July Parade is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and will be held along Loyola Boulevard from Westchester Park to Loyola Marymount University. The theme is “American Beach Party.”

The grand marshal will be Royce Clayton, who was raised in Westchester and played shortstop for 11 Major League Baseball teams from 1991 to 2007.

San Gabriel’s 4th of July Parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Mission Elementary School, then head east on Broadway and conclude at Smith Park, where there will be a family picnic and barbecue.

The Valley Village Homeowners Association Fourth of July Parade will begin at Colfax Elementary School at 10 a.m. The parade is billed as a “red, white and blue celebration” where residents are encouraged to create their own floats and displays.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, will be among the participants.

The parade will conclude at Valley Village Park where the association will provide corn dogs, watermelon, cold drinks and cupcakes.

The 12th annual Great American Kids’ Bike Parade will begin at 10 a.m. at 1 Granada Ave. on the beach bike path in Long Beach.

Sierra Madre’s 4th of July Parade will include children on decorated bicycles, classic cars and a marching band. The 1.3-mile two- hour parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Sunnyside Avenue, and travel the length of Sierra Madre Boulevard to Sierra Vista Park.

Former Mayor Clem Bartolai and his wife Nina will be the grand marshal. Clem was a member of the committee that organized the first Fourth of July parade and celebration, was a member of the parks and recreation and planning commissions and a founding member of the Sierra Madre Community Foundation.

Nina has served on the Sierra Community Commission for more than six years. She and her husband were both involved with the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association, Sierra Madre Historical Society and Friends of the Library.

Rosemead’s parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Muscatel Avenue and Valley Boulevard and will include floats, bands, dignitaries and classic cars.

The Sunland-Tujunga Independence Day parade is set to begin at 10 a.m. at Foothill Boulevard and Mt. Gleason Avenue, head west along Foothill Boulevard and end at Sunland Park. Its theme is “Celebrating Our National Forest.” Smokey Bear will be the grand marshal.

Via: North Hollywood-Toluca Lake

Continue Reading...

New Bill Would Allow Cities to Ratchet Up Sales Taxes Even Higher

Although Californians already pay some of the highest sales taxes in the nation, a bill that recently passed the Assembly paves the way for the sales tax to go even higher.Assembly Bill 464 increases to 3 percent (from the current 2 percent cap) the maximum sales tax rate that can be levied by local governments.

That potential 3 percent sales tax levied by cities and counties is in addition to the statewide 7.5 percent sales tax, which could result in a combined 10.5 percent tax in some areas of the state. Tax hikes require majority voter approval for general purpose levies and two-thirds approval for special purposes.

The average state and local combined sales tax in California is 8.5 percent, according to a recent report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office. The lowest rate of 7.5 percent predominates in rural counties, while the highest rates are in urban areas. Residents in eight cities in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County are currently paying a 10 percent sales tax because their counties have received exemptions from the 2 percent cap.

“AB464 is about local control and flexibility,” said the bill’s author Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, on the Assembly floor May 14. “It gives local voters the ability to raise revenue to fund important public services, including transportation, public safety and libraries. This bill is crucial, because if just one city in a county reaches the [2 percent] cap, then the entire county is precluded from having voters raise any additional taxes, hindering key transportation projects or attempts to enhance public safety.

Via: California Political Review

Continue Reading.....

L.A. County social workers strike over salary increases, caseloads

In the first strike by Los Angeles County employees since 2000, more than 1,000 social workers took to the picket lines Thursday in a major escalation of a labor dispute over salary increases and caseloads.

The timing of a 6% raise is among the main sticking points in contract negotiations. But union leaders focused the public face of the dispute on social workers' caseloads, which protesters said were so high that they jeopardized the safety of the county's most vulnerable children.

"We don't have enough manpower to thoroughly investigate the cases," said Gerson Salazar, a dependency investigator who said he handles cases for 67 children. "They're extremely complicated cases and you can't resolve these issues in two weeks with [the size of our] workforce and be competent."

Political observers called the focus on child safety a smart move at a time when public sentiment about government-employee unions is dismal and many Angelenos in the private sector are still suffering from the recession.

"It's a public relations job unions have been forced into," said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "You have to start pleading a case that you feel is going to resonate with the public more than protecting pensions, more than getting raises. I think it's smart politics."

Negotiators for the county and SEIU Local 721, which represents 55,000 workers who have been without a contract for more than two months, did not meet Thursday and have no plans to return to the bargaining table this week. In addition to social workers, the union represents many of the county's lowest paid workers.

Via: LA Times

Continue Reading....

Stores selling Obamacare policies popping up across California

As shoppers hunt for holiday bargains this season, they may find something unusual for sale at the mall: Obamacare.

With enrollment deadlines looming, California officials, insurance companies and agents are staking out retail space to sign up thousands of people as part of the Affordable Care Act. These sales tactics reflect how dramatically the healthcare law is changing the insurance industry.

Until recently, most health insurance companies and agents didn't put much time into selling policies to individuals and focused more on catering to employers and large groups in the workplace. But the health insurance mandate and billions of dollars in federal premium subsidies have made individual policies a far more attractive market.

California's health insurance exchange and other government-run marketplaces are rushing to sign up people by Dec. 23, the deadline to have coverage in effect Jan. 1. Open enrollment lasts until March 31.

A state lawmaker and union organizers last week opened a mall store in a predominantly African American area of Los Angeles. In Orange County, insurance agents are signing up dozens of people each week at Laguna Hills Mall, and healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente has rented five retail locations in Northern California to sell exchange policies.

The Covered California exchange has posted solid enrollment since opening Oct. 1, primarily through its website and call centers. It has signed up nearly 80,000 people in private health plans through Nov. 19 and an additional 135,000 people have applied for Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for the poor.

Via: LA Times

Continue Reading....

Los Angeles County: Labor groups protest at county building over Prop. 13 tax loophole

Labor and community advocacy groups staged a brief sit-in outside the office of Los Angeles County's chief executive Friday calling on the county to scrutinize the property tax assessments of a major downtown property owner.

The activists from the ReFund LA Coalition say commercial property giant Brookfield Office Properties structured its recent acquisition of four downtown skyscrapers to take advantage of a tax loophole and avoid having the properties reassessed at fair market value as required by Proposition 13 when a change of ownership occurs.

The coalition has recently targeted prominent Los Angeles property owners as part of a campaign to reform the property tax law.

They say the company could avoid paying more than $10 million in property taxes a year by taking less than a 50% stake in a new entity that will take title to the properties and others now held by Brookfield.

About 100 activists rallied at Brookfield's Bank of America Plaza on South Hope Street and then marched to the county's Hall of Administration, where they rallied and then sat and chanted outside of county Chief Executive William T Fujioka's office until Fujioka emerged and took a copy of a letter stating their demands.

The activists called on the county to scrutinize Brookfield's properties -- along with those of other major commerical property owners -- and reassess the newly purchased properties, and to take a stand in favor of reforming Proposition 13 to close the loophole for commercial property owners.

SEIU Local 721, which is in the midst of contentious labor negotiations with the county and is part of the ReFund coalition, made similar requests as part of the contract talks but has accused the county of ignoring them.

Some union members have questioned why that issue is being brought up as part of the negotiations. But SEIU member Jesse Pinedo, an accountant supervisor with the county's internal services department, said he thinks it is important.

"This affects us, too, because with those funds, they can give us the raise that we deserve," he said, as well as paying for other public services.

Via: LA Times

Continue Reading.....

Big-Government Foster Care

Residents of Los Angeles County, reeling from allegations of gross incompetence and probable negligence by Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), have been blessed with the creation of a blue ribbon commission, set up by county supervisors.  The allegations arose after social workers and supervisors failed to prevent the torture and murder of a young child in Palmdale, despite ample evidence that the child was in great danger.

DCFS director Browning moved to immediately fire four employees associated with this tragedy.  Seeking to fire employees so quickly is in itself is a kind of reform, since union rules, including a ridiculous appeal process, make it almost impossible to fire a social worker for mere incompetence.  Similar incompetence once resulted in a two-week suspension.  Just ask Rocio La Voie.

Ms. La Voie received a ten-day suspension for actions not so different from the incoherence exhibited by the four employees associated with the horror in Palmdale.  Indeed, Ms. La Voie believed that her original suspension was too harsh, and appealed it!

Mr. Browning has his hands full with recalcitrant unions, a much too high percentage of impossible-to-fire employees, and politicians who have gotten it wrong, decade after decade.  During the past 15 years, the number of children in foster care has decreased from a top of over 65,000 to a little over 21,000 today.  Yet the budget for DCFS is within about 10% of what it was, when foster care placements were at a peak.  By any measure, this large reduction in foster care placements, while maintaining a similar budget, should have resulted in significant savings, as well as a huge improvement in overall care for our abused and neglected children.  Yet there has been no savings, and by all accounts, no improvement in overall care.  

Via: American Thinker

Continue Reading....