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Monday, September 27, 2010

AUDIO: L.A. City Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner of KABC radio with Peter Tilden (9/27/10)

Here's a link to a good interview with L.A. Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner on 790-KABC radio with Peter Tilden (5a-9a). A wide range of topics were covered by the city's top mover and shaker.

LINK: L.A. City Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner on KABC Radio with Peter Tilden (9/27/10) - Good Interview

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Is Federal Investigation of LAUSD School Board Members Heading Toward UTLA and Signature Gathering Fraud?

SUMMARY: UTLA and Sue Burnside (who worked on Jose Huizar's City Council campagin) are at the heart of a Federal probe regarding collusion and fraud that Zuma Dogg hears is running rampant between the two. Burnside does a whole hell of a bunch of UTLA campaigns -- and does the Independent Expenditures (I.E.) for UTLA.

Zuma Dogg feels that these are some of the things to consider regarding the Federal Grand Jury Investigation into LAUSD boardmembers, L.A. City Councilmember Jose Huizar and what we may expect to see next regarding this Federal matter.

And first of all, the L.A. Times story about Tokofsky and Huizar taking $30,000 as consultants when they were sitting on LAUSD school board AIN'T THE KINDA THING THAT TRIGGERS A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION.

So ZD and the circle of people he is vetting information with regarding this story are not sure exactly where it will end up going, or what the consultancy fees will end up leading to, but we all agree...IT AIN'T ABOUT THE $30,000 CONSULTANCY FEES!

So from here on in, I'll simply be sharing the tidbits I have been hearing, here and there, as the small circle of ZD insiders on this matter help paint out a possible picutre. BUT AGAIN, this is MY speculation, based on everything I have heard over the past three years as an LAUSD watcher; and more recently the stuff I have heard regarding the signature gathering of Sue Burnside & ASSociates during the LAUSD board race with Ben Austin.

I HOPE UTLA IS NOT INVOLVED (see PACE).

Like all the hardcore politically shadiness, dare I say corruption, it's a tangled web. And I am sleep deprived and don't have enough nutrients in my system, so it's harder to focus and concentrate, so I will tell this one piece at a time. Here it goes:

Hey Sue Burnside & ASSociates...way to run a political signature gathering business...

FIRST OF ALL, look at this list of Sue Burnside & Associate clients.
Gil Cedillo for U.S. Congress
Curren Price for Senate, IE
Eric Garcetti for LA City Council
Martin Heinrich, NM1, DCCC
Measure H, Beverly Hills Hilton
Harry Teague, NM CD2, DCCC
Pasadena School Bond
Atlas Project
Coalition to Protect California's Budget & Economy
LaMotte for LAUSD Board
DCCC
CA Democratic Party
Joe Baca for Congress
Hooley for Congress
Michael Furer for Assembly
Laura Richardson for Assembly
Chuck Calderon for Assembly
Ron Calderon Senate
Monica Garcia for School Board.
Jose Huizar for LA City Council
Bob Hertzberg for LA Mayor
DNC, OR, NM and CA
DCCC
New Mexico Dem Party, Kerry for Pres
America Votes
Move On: National vote by mail program
Moving America Forward
Coalition for a Better Colorado
Mike Machado for Senate
CA Alliance for Tom Umberg, 69 AD
Joe Baca Jr. for CA Assembly
Josie Gonzales for S.B. Supervisor
Graham Richard for Mayor, Ft Wayne IN
Martin Ludlow for LA City Council
Santa Monica Malibu School District Bond
Forward Oregon, Democratic Party
John Lauritzen for LA School Board (2003 & 2007)
New Mexico Democratic Party (2002 &'00)
Indiana Democratic Party, JLT
California Democratic Party
NRDC, grassroots organizing for AB 1058
Lois Capps, CA 23CD
Linda Sanchez, CA 39CD
LAUSD Prop. "K", School Bond
Llyod Levine for Assembly, 40thAD
Wendy Greuel for 2^nd City Council (02,03)
Carson Unified Formation, No on D
No on D, A, E & S - Prohibition of Fireworks
Tom LaBonge for City Council (9/11/01 & 03)
Diane Watson, CA 32^nd CD, Special
Marlene Canter for School Board
New Mexico Democratic Party, Gore
Gloria Negrete McLeod for Assembly, 61AD
League of Conservation Voters (CD 27 & 36)
Jack Scott for CA Senate (Primary & General)
Carol Liu for CA Assembly (2000 & 2002)
Handgun Control - Utah
Proposition 1A
Nell Soto for Senate, Special Election
Congressman Joe Baca, Special Election
Huntington Beach Union High School
Coalition for Kids, Hayes for School Board
DCCC, 1998 CA 9 Congressional Targets
Washington State Democratic Party
Tom Udall for Congress, New Mexico, ‘98
Yes on 5, CA Indians for Self- Reliance
San Diego School Bond MM
HRC-Protect Our Constitution, HI & CA Project
AFL-CIO, Gloria Romero for Assembly
Loretta Sanchez for Congress, 98 & 00
Montebello School Bond
Lois Capps, Special Election
Proposition L, L.A. County Library Tax
Proposition E, L.A. County Firefighters Tax
Angelenos for Better Classrooms (BB), LAUSD Bond
TASIN, Indian Rally at Federal Court
South Bay Voter Registration Program
Bob Hertzberg, 40^th AD
Congresswoman Jane Harman, 36 CD (96,00,02)
Assembly Member, Senator Sheila Kuehl, 41AD
Assembly Member, Senator Debra Bowen, 53 AD
State Senator Ralph Dills, 26 SD
Proposition 1, Expand Police Stations
Hollywood Park Expansion, Inglewood
South Bay Voter Registration
Senator Roberti, NO on the RECALL
Proposition C, San Diego North County
No on RAND, Petition Drive, Santa Monica
Laura Chick, L.A. City Council, # 3
Southern California Voter Registration
No on 174, No on School Vouchers
S.O.S., Utility Workers of America, P.U.C.
Judy Abdo, Mayor of Santa Monica
West Hollywood, Yes on the Sheriff
John Emerson, 40^th AD Special Election
Community Outreach/Grass Tops
LAUSD Bond Measure Q
Woodside Natural Gas
Education Station
Waste Management
JetBlue
LAUSD Internal Stakeholder
AARP
Direct Impact
NRDC Action Fund/ CLCV
Huntington Beach Union High School
L.A. City Redistricting Commission
Pasadena School Bond
L.A. County Bond - Measure R
TNT Fireworks
Land Use
Playa Vista
Beverly Hills Hilton
Westfield Malls
Woodside Natural Gas
Cascade Historical Ranch, San Mateo
Hilllwood/ Hofer Ranch, Ontario CA
LAUSD Community Outreach, New School
City Of Cathedral City
Huntington Beach Union High School
L.A. School District New Facilities
Pacific Design Center
Sunset Millennium, L.L.C.
So not exactly a chump change company.
But you know what? I would trust Zuma Dogg and his un-professional signautre gathering helpers more than Sue Burnside & Associates.
First of all, according to this Superior Court complaint filed on behalf of Ben Austin vs Burnside and Urteaga, Burnside hired (subcontracted) Robert Urteaga to supervise the signature gathering effort on behalf of Ben Austin, who hired the presitgious firm to complete and verify the 500 signatures needed to get on the ballot for LASUD school board member to replace outgoing member Marlene Kanter. Turns out they made a mistake in the gathering process and Mr. Austin did not qualify for the ballot.
Now suffice it to say, ZD and all his "helpers" on this story agree, Mr. Austin was not exactly the most UTLA-friendly candidate, and Zuma Dogg will go one step further and say it's my opinion hardcore UTLA backers and supporters not only feared ABB (Anybody But Ben), but would be VERY DESPERATE to do ANYTHING to prevent him from winning.
But first, let's look at who Sue Burnside hires and puts in charge of these high level operations: Rober Urteaga: The un-beloved Montebello elected official and subject of a re-call campaign for pay-for-play and a convicted felon for Grand Theft and check fraud. AND BURNSIDE HIRES HIM. Recall Robert Urteaga blog
STORY: 1/31/08 - SAN BERNARDINO - A political consultant faces 19 perjury charges involving bogus signatures on a 2005 voter initiative.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos announced the charges against Joon Il Kim, 30, who is accused of signing affidavits on petitions declaring that he had witnessed each signature.

Kim was an independent political operative who contracted with Burnside & Associates, a Los Angeles political firm managing the petition drive for Pick Your Part Auto Recycling, based in Anaheim.
Wow...of all the people available in the city to help with this job, Burnside just CAN'T seem to find anyone but convicted felons (including for signature gathering itself) TO HELP GET SIGNATURES!!!

So that's the background cast of characters. Now look what happened:
a) Austin hires Burnside and somehow Urteaga ends up on the job. (After the fact, Burnside claims she knew nothing about it and was on vacation, on her honeymoon, completely outside of the range of ANY accountability...even though it's the middle of the biggest campaign season ever. THAT'S LIKE AN ACCOUNTANT TAKING A HONEYMOON THE FIRST TWO WEEKS IN APRIL!
b) Urteaga ACCIDENTALY makes a mistake and ends up gathering signatures from outside the district and candidate doesn't qualify to make it on the ballot.
c) According to the Superior Court Case, Austin was told the signautres were being verified and WERE verified (checked by the company) before they were turned in to the Clerk's office.
Ooops! Another "Burnside Bad!" They used the wrong program or something when they verified the signatures...that they got in the wrong area!
d) They turned the signatures in on the last day, so there would be no time for the clerks office to check them for mistakes in case they needed to go back out and get more.
DO YOU KNOW WHO TURNS IN SIGNATURES ON THE LAST DAY??? ZUMA DOGG DOES! Because he is out there getting them himself, or with a couple of voulenteer helpers -- and I blow the first two weeks not even getting them. SO ZUMA DOGG TURNS THEM IN ON THE LAST DAY FOR GOOD REASON. You mean to tell me the superstar signature gathering company of all time waits until the last minute to turn in the most important project they have going: THE LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

YOU CAN'T BE THAT MUCH OF A FUCK UP ON PURPOSE IF YOU TRIED!!!
So knowing that UTLA was spending boatloads of cash to back Steve Zimmer, the long time UTLA teacher from Marshall High to BEAT Ben Austin in a desperate attempt to not lose the school board seat to someone endorsed by everyone UTLA HATES (like Villaraigosa and Eli Broad);
IS THE FBI INVESTIGATING UTLA FOR SIGNATURE GATHERING ISSUES THAT MAY RELATE TO THIS ISSUE?
Did someone at UTLA pull some strings (drop some cash) to have Urteaga (either with, or without Burnside's knowledge) run a "Bad News Bear" bamboozle pattern on Austin's signature gathering effort? (Drop the ball on purpose?)
I spoke with some people on this possibility, and even though he may be a pain in the but, and be a HUGE part of the problem in the whole LAUSD picutre, people think AJ Duffy is a good guy and decent competitior (and wouldn't be dumb enough) to get mixed up in anything like that. And the people I speak with (even his haters) feel it's pretty hard to imagine that he would pull something so shady as paying someone for something like that.
But, PACE...NOT SO FAST!
People were not as quick to jump to your defense. PACE stands for Political Action Committe for Education (or something like that) and is the UTLA political action committee. UTLA can't spend money on campaigns becasue they are a non-profit organization. So PACE does the spending for them.
Is it possible someone from inside PACE had Urteaga (contracted under Burnside) to fumble the signatures and make sure Ben didn't make it onto the ballot?
I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS THE CASE: When I started this story, I told you I am vetting out this story and trying to project where the hockey puck is going in this story and thinking aloud as to some of the scenarios that could have played out.
So did someone, maybe someone from PACE broker some kind of deal with Burnside and/or Associates to purposefully throw the signature gathering campaign for UTLA-challenger Ben Austin?
And the part that I can't tell you is...I AIN'T GOING DOWN THIS PATH FOR NO REASON ALL ON MY OWN!
In other words, looks like some lazy politicians (see client list) are going to have to go out and get their own signatures next time, cause I think we may find one of them is gonna be shut down. AND THAT'S WHEN IT ALL UNRAVELS. When it's in L.A Times you'll believe me. And the significance of THIS political firm is that client list. WOW, imagine if Feds could get to that and take a peek around. AW YEA!
Alright, that's enough for now.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Barack Obama Says We Need To Pour More Money Into A BROKEN School System (Zuma Dogg Says Barack Obama Needs To Implement Deming's 14 Points FIRST!)

Did I just hear Barack Obama say the problem with the school systems is lack of funding? Oh, good; throw more money into a broken system. I guess with more money, you could produce drop-outs more quickly.

NO, the problem is not lack of spending; it's lack of innovation; it's lack of implementing Deming's 14 points. IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE LIVING IN A 21st CENTURY COMPUTER GENERATION, AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS STILL STRUCTURED AND OPERATING UNDER A 1950's MODEL WHEN AMERICANS ALL WENT TO WORK IN THE FACTORIES. There was a reason the system was functioning that way.

Until there is a laptop computer on every school desk, DON'T EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT SPENDING MONEY ON ANYTHING ELSE. With computers you could and should be able to do more with less teachers.

We have all heard of success stories across the country where a teacher is able to produce outstanding results where others are not able to. WITH THE INTERNET YOU CAN VIDEO THE TEACHER GIVING THE LESSONS, AND KIDS COULD WATCH THE LESSONS ON THE INTERNET.

Also, the best grade I ever received in college was a Biology class (although I actually flunked biology in high school) because it was a computer based class, with NO teacher, just a workbook and the quizzes were given on computer with mulitiple choice, like the Trivia Whiz game.

That was a long time ago.

You cannot reach the kids and keep them interested in the 1950 classroom model. We need more vocation in school.

More to come on how to overhaul the education system. That's an initital take.

But I can see Barack Obama truly is an LA City Councilmember kinda guy as President. So I'm gonna have to start blogging in a way to catch his attention on the 14 points. I KNOW his advisors know about Deming, as I am certain someone with Barack's education, must be aware of, as well.

I just need to get him to remember Deming, because I can clearly see the direction Obama is going here, and if you are going to start making an argument on pouring more money into a broken school system, then y'all better be pulling out your Deming notes from college and read the blueprint for 14 point success, "Interpreting Deming's 14 Points" by one Uncle MC Zuma Dogg.

Hey Barack, Holla at ya boy, Big Uncle Icon MC Zuma Dogg...213-785-7272. I'll tell you what it will take to transform the education system. I'll need about five (5) hours in a seminar presentaion environment. Ask your boy Villaraigosa about me. He'll tell you.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Zuma Dogg on the Future of LAUSD (There ISN'T a future!)

Does anyone reading this actually think LAUSD is going to pull itself out of this mess? I mean, seriously...which way does it look like things are headed?

Does anyone reading this have a SHRED of confidence that anyone with the knowledge and power to overhaul the system is actually involved?

Even if the right answers were out there, you would never get all the powers that be to agree to move in one, focused direction.

Have fun talking about "fixing" LAUSD for the next decade. It will be declining each day. Have you seen the future?

Do you have confidence that Monica Garcia, Ray Cortinez, Antonio Villaraigosa and AJ Duffy are going to move things in the right direction for you?

It still isn't bad enough, yet. As someone who really wakes up every day and tries to think of solutions and predict trends and see into the future...I think the future of LAUSD and the future of LA City is more of a horror movie than anything else.

DO YOU REALLY THINK MANUFACTURING IS GOING TO MAGICALLY REGENERATE AND KIDS ARE GOING TO BE SHOWING UP TO KINDERGARDEN READY TO LEARN?

No one is taking the situation seriously, and even if they were, you have a bunch of selfish, greedy, dummies that couldn't figure out what to do even if they weren't evil and vindictive and callous.

Not trying to be bitter on purpose. I just like to make predicitions of future trends and I like to be accurate.

I warned people to get the hell out of the stock market znd people didn't like to hear that one either.

People NEVER like my predictions. They criticize me. They mock me. They scream at me. They disown me.

(But they all call me a year later to appologize and thank me for trying to alert them.)

So criticize away. But if anyone reading thinks the future of L.A. looks like anything other than Highland Park/Echo Park...

What leads you to believe that? All of the high-quality jobs have left the region and the only thing left are low paying clerk jobs.

Meanwhile, the population trend is moving toward larger families with a lot of kids -- at a time when parents are out of work or earning low wages.

The middle class has been driven out...business has been driven out...and low-income, unskilled workers with big families are causing a population boom. And many of the kids are entering the school system unable to speak the language being taught. I don't know about you, but I couldn't pass first grade if I couldn't speak the language.

So anyone who has kids and is entitled to an opinion on this issue is going to have to have some serious conversations as to how to drive this ship.

But it will never work, because if you say the wrong thing, you may hurt some people's feelings. And maybe they will sue!

But seriously, people better forget about fitting the city to the "Grand Ave Project/LA Live/MOCHA" crowd and start gearing it up for the future of the city.

See also:
ZD's "State of the Region" (Intro to SCAG: SouthernCalifornia Governments)
ZD's "State of the Region" (SCAG Pt 1)
ZD's "State of the Region" (SCAG Pt 2)

March 16, 2009 12:49 AM

Zuma Dogg said...
If the powers that be responsible for student achievement at LAUSD (like the school board and teachers union) would like to know what it will take to improve student achievement and increase the graduation rate, contact ZumaDogg@Gmail.com or call 213-785-7272. I would be glad to spend a full day outlining what it will take and how to achieve the goal.

If you get 100 people in a room who have the power to create change and transform the system,

http://zumatimes.com/
ZumaDogg@Gmail.com
213-785-7272

Monday, March 9, 2009

VIDEO: Monica Garcia (LAUSD President) BUSTED Parking State Vehicle in RED NO PARKING Zone

You know what...I've had just about enough of this Villaraigosa-backed puppet, LAUSD School Board President Garcia. It's bad enough that when I called her office today to put in a card for public comment, her assistant told me I had to call a certain phone number. When I called the number provided to me by Garcia's office, it was an out-of-order phone number that does not take calls from outside callers. (It was an internal number of someone's office who no longer is at that number.)

Now everyone who knows me, knows I am not going to let some out of order busy signal thwart my efforts, but imagine how many other people would call the number a few times and then quit. But I called some other numbers until I got to the correct office, where the person comfirmed the number I was given by Garcia's office was on old, outdate, internal number that any outside caller would never be able to get through.

Meanwhile, when I did finally get through, all the public comment slots were magically already filled up. So when you see a room full of people saying great things about Monica Garcia, remember, the real members of the public, who try and call in, get some out of order number. (It's called filling the room with "ringers" to fill up all the slots for Zuma Dogg and anyone else who tries calling the bogus phone number Garcia's office gives out to ordinary, everyday members of the public.

BUT WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT MONICA GARCIA OUTSIDE HER LAUSD BOARDMEMBER OFFICE, IT'S EVEN MORE DISPICABLE: Look how she is driving around in her CA EXEMPT State vehicle on Sunday (maybe on LAUSD business, who knows), with drycleaning in the backseat, CLEARLY parked in the red "no parking zone." By the way, you see her talking on her cell phone in this very short clip (the battery on my camera cut out). She hopped into the car and darted out into the intersection while holding the cell phone as she continued to talk. The whole scenario kinda reminded me of Mr. Magoo (make that Ms. Magoo).

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO: LAUSD President Monica Garcia Parks State Vehicle in "No Parking" Zone
Zuma Dogg captures Los Angeles Unified School Board (LAUSD) President Monica Garcia parking her CA EXEMPT State vehicle in the red "no parking" zone. As you can see she is talking on her cell phone. Although the video cut out, she also drove away while continuing to speak on the hand-held cell phone. And that is drycleaning hanging up i the back seat. I wonder if the car is also used as her personal valet vehicle. Maybe picking up drycleaning is part of the job. But parking here, close to this intersection, where cars would have to drive around the vehicle, close to the stop sign -- and pulling away into traffic while holding the phone sets a bad example to parents and students.

OTHER LAUSD RELATED BLOGS COVER ZUMA DOGG'S COVERAGE:

From: Beckford Parents Blog

Zuma Dogg is EVERYWHERE

Gosh, I love that boy. (LOL) I just read this in the comments section at MayorSam:
Zuma Dogg said: I just recorded video of LAUSD school board president Monica Garcia with her CA EXEMPT vehicle parked in the red no parking zone (with dry cleaning in the back seat). She was talking on her cell phone while driving. My camera cut out, so we'll see if that part is in the video, too.So remember people, Villaraigosa's LAUSD president Monica Garcia wants to remind parents and kids to follow and obey the rules, even though she doesn't feel the need to lead by example, and is perfectly comfortable driving around talking on her cell phone, parking in red no parking zones, with the dry cleaning in the back seat of her CA EXEMPT car with the ZumaCam rolling.Maybe she needs to attend a community training and education seminar with Gavin Newsom who was also busted on the ZumaCam parking in the no parking zone.And don't bother asking how or why Zuma happened to be there to bust her ass. All that matters is that Batman, Spiderman and Zuma Dogg always end up being at the right place at the right time. And that's all you need to know! Batman has the Batsignal. Spiderman has his Spidey-senses and Zuma Dogg has his collective conciousness fueled by community spirt that has been the guiding force pulling him all over town. ;)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Zuma Dogg's blog posting has moved from LADailyBlog.Blogspot.com to ZumaTimes.Blogspot.com starting with this post. LA Daily Blog is exactly one year old. And I think in that year, it covered the entire spectrum of fraud, waste and abuse and I want it to now be an "archive" of that era and "reference manual" for all the shady tricks the Southern California elected officials are pulling on voters. So there is your KISS "ALIVE 1" as ZD works on new material for KISS "ALIVE 2!"