Thursday Buzz, 6.29.06

Improper oversight of building inspectors, poor enforcement of orders to correct building deficiencies, ineffective inspections, manipulation of inspection statistics to create a perception of efficiency, lack of training and certification of inspectors and a heavy backlog of inspections and open permits. Auditors found “inconsistent and arbitrary” discipline, even when inspectors were caught making “false or misleading statements, or misrepresentations in writing.”

Director David R. Ellis went back and reshot scenes to make the attacks more violent, the sex more explicit and the language more profane — including adding an expletive-laden line of dialogue for Jackson.

"I had the luxury to go back and tailor the film exactly like the fans demand and they expect," said Ellis, whose experience with "Snakes on a Plane" reflects the increasing influence that Internet fan communities have over what's playing on multiplex screens.

In one of many critical comments by members of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) told Villaraigosa, "In looking at this bill, it's going to be more top-down than it's ever been with you in charge…. There is less engagement by parents, the school boards become rubber stamps … all of which is not, in my opinion, what everyone wants."

Other lawmakers questioned whether the mayor's plan would add to bureaucracy, leaving it unclear just who is in charge of the nation's second-largest public school system. Some worried that the bill might violate the state Constitution, and they questioned whether residents in the district should have a chance to vote on the plan.

Still, after applauding Villaraigosa's passion for seeking to improve public schools, Speier and six of her fellow committee Democrats voted to pass the bill, while one Republican opposed it and two others abstained. One Democrat did not attend.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's agreement would allow schools a greater say in deciding their curriculum and whether to let coaches for teachers on campus. It would essentially give schools the same freedoms charter schools have but without the accountability. The bill also would severely limit the school board's power to carry out most of its current responsibilities, save one: negotiating the teachers' contract.

A weakened school board, as beholden to UTLA as ever, makes an ideal negotiating partner for a powerful union. A superintendent who isn't answerable to the board gives the union enough wiggle room to continually challenge district policy. A situation in which no one is dominant provides a perfect opportunity for the strongest player to emerge as the leader of the district. And UTLA is a strong, well-financed player. No wonder Duffy likes this deal so much.

Election Day in Mexico is Sunday. And after all this buzz about a stronger democracy, a more legitimate election infrastructure, people here still use air quotes around the word “democracy” in conversation.

Late Tuesday in this city’s version of Los Feliz, the Condesa district, Mariana, a young woman at my table in a bright cantina, started talking about how she had been chosen, sort of like jury duty, to be a “polling-place president” on Sunday. This means she has endured weeks of training sessions on how to be a proper Election Day official. It’s all part of the Federal Electoral Institute’s (IFE) efforts to paint the 2006 elections as the most secure yet. This is a PR response to the widespread distrust of government institutions and the political process that is still pervasive in 21st-century Mexico. “We’re part of the First World now,” Mariana said a little mockingly.

I've heard it tossed around that folks in The Valley are stuck in a different decade than the rest of us. Nothing validates this more for me than this line by Brent Hopkins in the excerpt from his DN article today: "Though people joke you can get anywhere in Los Angeles in 15 minutes, on days like this, a simple trip takes an hour." It hasn't taken "15 minutes to get anywhere in Los Angeles" since the 80's.

I just read the "Another parking rage murder" news blurb on LAO and I wanted to add something. I don't think the incident was because Williamson has a hatred of Latinos, but rather that he had an alcohol problem. As a matter of fact, Williamson is married to a Latina and his two sons are half Latino and half African American. His son, Fabian (who may be the son suspected of helping his dad duing the murder), was recently drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 22nd round of the MLB Draft out of Kennedy HS in Granada Hills.