Residents of Laurel Canyon trekked downtown and waited four hours to address the City Council about a hillside development matter. When it came their turn to speak, twelve of the fifteen council members disappeared into the press conference room behind the chamber for a photo op with the mayor and Controller Laura Chick. David Zahniser has the story in today's Breeze:

For weeks, Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick has promised that her plan to audit the Los Angeles Unified School District will not distract her from her other duties at City Hall.

The same could not be said, however, of Los Angeles City Council members, who were so focused on promoting Chick's audit -- and appearing with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a signing ceremony for Chick's proposal -- that they left the public to address 12 empty seats during Tuesday's council meeting.

[snip]

"We're not being heard by anyone," said retiree Don Garrison, moments after he spoke at the podium. "We're making our comments to a bunch of empty seats."

The Council came back and voted 13-0 against the residents' position.