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Dear Editor: The difficulty of balancing the budgets of public school districts here in California, including the CCUSD’s is NOT teacher pension costs, as George Laase (April 25) would have you believe. The problem is the underfunding of public education in California. Period. California’s funding for education is far below that of all but seven states and is the number one cause of strains on public school budgets. In 2012-’13, per student funding in California was $7,518. Since then, funding has increased only 9% to $8,694 per student. Unfor...
My good friend Maria AKA “The Wild Gypsy Lady” told me about the good work the Stentorians are doing at Dorsey High School. The Stentorians is a Black firefighter organization with members in L.A. City Fire Department, as well as L.A. County Fire, and teach skills and physical conditioning to those transitioning from being a regular citizen into the fire service twice a week, they stress self-discipline to persevere to be motivated, and how to work as a team. In a recent program there were 24...
The number of school districts facing insolvency is probably far higher than what is being shown by California’s most recent state-wide annual data, and the reason for this is the districts’ swelling pension costs. According to the survey by Pivot Learning and the California School Boards Association, nearly sixty percent of California's school districts may be forced to deficit spend before this school year ends. The Pivot Learning research—with help from the University of Missouri—sought to explore the degree in which pension costs were un...
According to business media, the U.S. will soon be the world’s number 2 oil exporter. Why are we sending oil overseas when we need to lower gas prices here? Has it really been 46 years since the pentagon removed the last combat troops from South Vietnam, thus ending America’s military involvement in the Vietnam War? The date was March 29, 1973. Sherburne County in Minnesota has agreed to give a property tax break for Google to help bring a new $600 million data center to the City of Becker. Now...
By Bruce Lebedoff Anders Special to the Observer Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "I hate paying taxes. But I love the civilization they give me". After reading the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association president, Jon Coupal's Guest Commentary in the Observer (4/11/'19) a reader might come away with the view that contrary to Holmes' common sense, taxes have no positive function and that in California taxes are out-of-control. According to Coupal, Proposition 13 is the California taxpayer's...
Dear Editor: In response to the Observer’s article, “Culver City Sales Tax 10.25%...Now Second Highest in State,”(4/11/’19) there is another side to the issue: On Election Day, November 6, 2018, 71% of the Culver City voters approved Measure C, the Neighborhood Safety and City Services Protection Sales Tax. The tax, equal to one penny on every four dollars of goods and services purchased within the city raises approximately $4,900.000/year toward maintaining the current level of fire, police and paramedic protections as well as maintai...
I read with interest the California Senator and Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris is proposing a salary increase for teachers of darn near $13,000 per year. It seems for every buck received by the districts three dollars would be from Washington and the Feds. Now don’t get me wrong I like instructors, but if we need to reward groups and causes; we could start with Native Americans who have been decimated since the Mayflower by Europeans-can we give them $15,000 each per year? Then $20,000 g...
By Jon Coupal Every day it seems like the California Legislature careens further off the rails, and we’re not just talking about the state’s infamous high-speed rail project. The rapidity of tax increase proposals that would punish both citizen and business taxpayers is breathtaking. Particularly astounding is the fact that new revenue simply isn’t needed given our highest-in-the-nation income tax rate, state sales tax rate and a litany of other tax metrics that cause residents of other states to fall to their knees in gratitude that they...
It’s raining candies! California Senator Kamala Harris, who is vying for the Democratic nomination for president, has proposed a 10-year, $315 billion plan to boost teacher pay across the country. According to her estimates, this plan would increase the average teacher salary by $13,500. Her campaign admits that this proposed 56% increase in federal spending on education won’t cover the plan’s cost. The feds will provide 3 to 1 matching funds to states that chip in their share. Just a few though...
I’ve come to know the L.A. Area Chamber as an organization with a deep legacy, grounded in a value system that demonstrates our care of community. Those values are reflected in our commitment to investing in public education, dating back to our beginning. The Chamber is a founder of L.A. Trade Tech and with LAUSD, we’ve supported more than $20 billion in facility bonds, raised more than $10 million and contributed thousands of volunteer hours for L.A.’s Cash for College programs. We strive to ensure a quality public education for L.A....
Dear Editor, As a 20 year Culver City resident, I understand the concerns of others that the use of drones may result in problems. However, as a former prosecutor, I have seen that when drones are used according to strict policies, they are effective and can be lifesavers. There was a time when dash cams in police vehicles and body cameras worn by officers in the field were severely criticized. In due course, and speaking from my experience as a trial attorney, the use of evidence obtained from...
March 19, 2019 Dear Editor Thanks to the Observer for your “Clarification” column (3/14) which teaches readers how to read and interpret State Senator John Moorlach’s “Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports” of California public school districts. I would like to add some context to the issues raised by Moorlach and your columnist, who referenced the report (2/21) to, as he stated, “enlighten [us] all”. The presumed enlightenment would hit in an OMG moment when we read that CCUSD is ranked by the Senator’s reckoning as “831 out of 940 K – 12...
There are several ways to analysis local governments including school districts. State Senator John Moorlach had his staff prepare a report on the financial soundness for California’s nearly one thousand Public School Districts entitled “Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports” (CAFR). Culver City ranked 831 out of 940 K-12 school districts in the state, the UPN racking was 740 with a population of 40,345. Its UPN was negative $55,973,000 with a per capita UPN of negative $1,387. Nearly 2/3 of the school districts are running negative. By compa...
It’s a major disappointment to me and others that our Culver City Unified School District is ranked 831 out of 940 school districts in the State of California. Could it be that another parcel tax is on the way? You are darn tootin. I believe those on the Culver City School Board are very nice, but are over their head in financial soundness. So I am recommending Saundra Davis -- who has all the credentials -- to hit the road running. If you remember, she served eight years and has more honors a...
The ladies who ride Metro buses and light rail through Culver City can breathe easier now, since the judge sentenced 27-year-old Ager Linder to 54 months of probation and ordered him to stay away from all forms of public transportation. Ager pleaded no contest to two counts of child molestation, 3 counts of sexual battery and one count of battery on a public transportation passenger. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office said Ageralso groped 8 female passengers between the ages of 15 and 27 b...
Friends, before I leave on a well-deserved vacation, I would like to enlighten you all on some problems that are easy to verify. According to California State Senator Moorlach, California is ranked 42nd in financial soundness. The Golden State has 58 counties and Los Angeles County is ranked 47th for financial soundness. Culver City Unified School District is ranked 831 out of 940 districts in the entire state for fiscal soundness. Finally, looking at our state’s 482 cities, we see Culver C...
Well folks, I think I might have gotten the solution to our female firefighter problem. But first, it seems we are getting more and more dangerous forest fires every year. The State of California uses both men and women prisoners to help combat fires on the “line”. Now, if it were up to me, I would send our fire chief to Sacramento and offer jobs to those female prisoners when they get paroled. It’s good for everyone, since the ladies get training behind bars. California gets skilled fire perso...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist To the surprise of absolutely no one, California’s new governor has proposed a $209-billion state budget with billions in increased spending and lots of tax hikes. And, as a bonus, he is proposing new mandates on businesses and local governments as well as depriving Californians of the right to vote on certain kinds of local debts. From the perspective of taxpayers, this is not a propitious start. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget calls for spending of $144 billion...
In the coming months, the Department of the Interior will likely issue a new draft of his five-year plan to expand energy drilling in America's outer continental shelf (OCS), the submerged federal land off America's coasts. Unsurprisingly, the plan has environmentalists up in arms. As soon as former Sec. Zinke unveiled it back in January, a green coalition including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club said the plan would cause "severe and unacceptable [environmental] harm." Such concerns are unfounded. Expanding offshore d...
Mayor Small, did you know Caroline Carpenter became the very first woman to earn honors as the leader for the Los Angeles Fire Department at the Valley Recruit Training Academy 81? “I’m small, “said Carpenter 26, “but I have a big heart”. Carpenter explained top recruit status meant she earned the highest overall combined score in tests that included ladder, hose and academic assessments. Long Beach Press – Telegram. Just a thought, why couldn’t the car pool lanes be open to all vehicles during...
Since I am very thankful to be alive and able to write this story, Thanksgiving seems an appropriate time to share an experience that happened this summer. I was going to call it “A Tutorial in Terror” until my publisher, Steve Hadland, expressed his relief that I was well and said he had felt like running a headline saying “She’s baaaack!” I thought that was catchier and I was going to steal it without a smidgeon of guilt. However, a similarly captioned article in the Calendar section o...
Kid Scoop Media Mentor By Sharmin Shanur- On November 3, 2018, March For Our Lives, coordinated a pre-election rally starring the Parkland Survivors, Gilbert Cisneros and many other famous faces in an effort to galvanize young people to vote and, consequently, increase voter turnout in Orange County Throughout the day, the Vote for Our Lives Team, organized buses that would take UCI students, as well as community members, to early voting polls and allow them to submit their ballots. The Parkland...
Did you realize Culver City ladies have a better chance if winning the Lottery than being a member of the Fire Department. Women have always been discriminated against with wages and benefits as compared to their male colleagues. Now a days our daughters can go to the military academies, serve on submarines and handle combat situations, but how does the power structure continue to by-pass females? The City Council could do some research and will find what former Mayor Richard “Alex” Ale...
Next week the voters will face an array of state and local positions including state propositions and three local issues for Culver City voters to decide. As each party wrestles to take control of the United State House of Representatives and different factions fight over the propositions there are two glaring issues that the public needs to notice. First, the obscene amount of money both parties are spending to capture congressional seats. Second, the absolutely misleading ballot designations and campaign claims designed to scare voters into...
Over the past several weeks the Culver City Observer has run letters, Columns and Commentaries on the on the tax increase measures on the November 6 ballot. In order to keep the citizens of Culver City informed with the diverse n opinions on the issues we have put all of the letter we have published in our print editon on our home page this week. Be sure to check in on Tuesday night for the latest returns....
