|
|
|
Garcetti's diary, day 3
In which the councilman from the 13th district tells the readers of Slate about the Los Angeles housing crunch, council chamber gadflies, the day's legislative agenda, office manager Sally's birthday and a round of playground hoops after work at the neighborhood elementary school.
The baskets are 10 feet high, with giant and very forgiving backboards. A couple of kids from the neighborhood start playing with a kickball at another hoop, and we invite them to join us instead. They are young, fifth-graders, so we split them up: Carlos plays on Steve's team and Matthew joins me. We play two games of two-on-two and one game of H-O-R-S-E. Matthew's third-grade brother, Justin, who can't quite throw a ball up to the basket yet, watches from the sidelines.Talking to Carlos, I learn that his father also works at City Hall. I realize that Carlos Jr. is the son of a janitor I know, Carlos Sr., who has told me before that he lives in the neighborhood. I have an extra basketball at home, so I give Carlos my ball and walk home to dinner.
Earlier installments of Eric Garcetti's weeklong diary are at the same Slate link.
Comment posting has been turned off
© 2003-2008 • About LA Observed • Contact the editor
| A little-known analyst turned hedge fund manager named Steve Eisman figured out what would happen to the mortgage business.
| You have to go back almost four years to find local gas prices this low. It's mostly good news, of course, but there are some wrinkles.
| Hennessey + Ingalls Art and Architecture bookstore opens a branch in Hollywood this week.
| Bush sought to "make the pie higher," but President-elect Barack Obama says it's time "to make sure we're growing the pie …"
| Legendary 19th-century photographer Carleton Watkins, who is the subject of an exhibition at the Getty, traveled hard miles around California with a simple motto: stand "where the view looks best."
| For every dollar I put into my first car, I got back a lifelong education in auto repair, and this disease.
| Erin Kaplan responds
Here’s a way city hall can strong arm the Dodgers into paying at least part of the cost of providing public transportation to the stadium during baseball season.
Sponsors
Premium Blogads
Books, Blogs & Events
Get RSS Feeds
of LA Observed
of LA Observed
LA Observed publishes several Real Simple Syndication feeds for easy scanning of headlines. If you wish to subscribe to a feed, most popular RSS readers will do it for you. You can also enter the web address from the XML button below or click on a specific feed. For more help with RSS, try here or here.
Suggested topic for next installment of Eric Garcetti's diary: How the lives of Hollywood's residents and business owners have been made intolerable by the constant closing of Hollywood Blvd. and other streets for movie shoots, street fairs, corporate promotions, chalk-mural drawing (no lie), and other nonsense that benefits the few at the expense of the many. Forget about getting home on time. Forget about getting your kid to the doctor. Forget about living a normal and peaceful life--there's a "Nike Fun Run" that trumps your right to use the public streets! And who has brought us this gridlock, noise, and disruption? Hollywood City Councilman Eric Garcetti. Should be an enthralling diary entry....
Posted by: Scott Kaufer at May 20, 2004 08:40 AM