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Re: The Culver City Red Light Camera Contract - Has It Been Signed Yet? Save $$$ Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers: I wrote you the attached letter a few days before the May 12 meeting during which you voted to continue the City's red light camera program and re-elect Redflex as the vendor. Then after the meeting I sent City Manager Nachbar the May 19 letter included in the thread below. Early last month I used the Public Records Act to obtain some City documents, and those showed that as of...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Can anyone help me understand what is going on with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the deputies who man the central jail? I know some deputies who are truly good people with ethics and a caring personality, and yet we hear of alleged violent beatings, “gladiator” type fights – and sometimes the deputies film them. Six deputies and a sergeant went on trial at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. I have been told the first job dep...
It was 21 years ago in 1993 that the 50-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas ended as, some believe, federal agents caused the fire which destroyed the structure and killed so many. Can we take a moment to remember Culver City resident Jose de la Trinidad, 36? He was allegedly shot five times in the back by Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies as he held his hands above his head. It was on Nov. 10, 2012 on East 122nd St. at 10:30 p.m. when deputies claim Jose was reaching...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Douglas Lydic, 29, escaped from a police car in December 2013 in Commodore, Pennsylvania while handcuffed. Prosecutors declined to charge him with fleeing since he was merely being “detained” at the time. However, they did charge Lydic with the theft of the handcuffs. This fall for the first time the freshman class at the University of California’s nine undergraduate campuses will have more Latino (17,589) than white (16,378) students admitted. Thanks to a f...
I love the ninja turtle movies but I also love turtles. Real turtles are not ninjas, not appropriate pets for youngsters, and not legal to sell if their shells are less than 4 inches in diameter. Real turtles also carry salmonella which transmits to children and adults when hands are put in mouths, eyes etc. without serious washing in between. Salmonella can be fatal to the young, elderly and vulnerable. Turtles also don't provide the type of sustained interaction that children like which often...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Beginning in 2016 students at California community colleges must maintain a 2.0 or C average to be eligible for a waiver to exempt them from paying tuition. Now that we are in a super duper drought, can we return to an ancient garden practice? Try burying a narrow-neck unglazed pot up to the neck, place plants close by, fill the pot with water, cover the pot hole with a stone and the pot (called an olla) will seep water to the plants’ roots without losing a...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Have you read or heard about Operation Stingray? For those not in the loop or in the process of being cleared by the FBI for non-classified rumors, Stingray supposedly identifies itself to be the telephone company’s tower, but in reality it sends the police all data that you broadcast on your cell phone. Don’t worry. As of this time my source on the Culver City Police Department said, “We don’t use Stingray.” This person is so believably honest that if I...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist With states decriminalizing marijuana and scaling back 1970s-era drug laws, admissions to state prisons have fallen from 689,536 in 2006 to 553,843 in 2012. New York has closed 24 prison facilities since 2011. I sure hope none of the 165,200 employees who received Wall Street bonuses totaling 26.7 billion in 2013 get a rupture taking their checks to the bank. Recently I went through the file folder labeled Culver City Court and would you believe I found a...
Terrorist group Boko Haram made headlines last April when its members kidnapped 276 female students from a government school in Northern Nigeria. The Islamic Jihadist and terrorist organization claimed the abduction, promising to enslave the missing girls. It was not the first time that Boko Haram hit the Northern parts of Nigeria and Cameroon. In fact, the group started its criminal operations on September 7, 2010, when 50 gunmen broke into a prison in the Nigerian city of Bauchi and freed 721 prisoners that later became terrorists. And despit...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist On July 27 in Louisville, KY ex-POWs of the Korean War will gather for their 61st and probably final reunion commemorating the armistice which paved the way for their release. Visit koreanwarexpow.org. Do you realize there are 7,861 United States military personnel still unaccounted for? I was looking through one of my five four-drawer filing cabinets recently when I came across a letter dated May 24, 2005 from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles...
A headline in last week's Observer bears some clarification: "City Dips Into Reserves Again: $2.5 Million Shortfall." While the headline is eye-catching, I find it misleading. The article itself, by reporter Lynn Bronstein, provides a more accurate picture: "General Fund operational costs are anticipated to be fully covered by operating revenues, with some use of reserves for one-time costs and Capital Improvement Projects." This means that our ongoing expenses are fully covered by our revenues...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Ladies, are you considering the military as a career? Does becoming an officer appeal to you? We know about West Point but have you heard about The Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership (WWIL) at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA? Since 1995 it’s been the home of our nation’s only all-female corps of cadets, grooming young women for military command. May 13, 2014 was the 150th anniversary of Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington was the home of Ge...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist I was scanning a California history book and came across Hong Yeng Chang. The State Supreme Court in 1800 denied Chang’s application to practice law because of the federal Chinese Exclusion Act even though he studied at Yale and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1886. You just have to love the Los Angeles Police Department unless you just happen to be a taxpayer. Perhaps everyone remembers the paragraph in this column when the officers were given t...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist The North Korean government has officially approved 18 hairstyles for women and 10 for men in an effort to clamp down on Western influences by trimming their hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle. INC., in the March 2014 issue, mentioned a Culver City company I never heard of. It’s Media Temple that started in 1998 and does IT services. In 2013 it had 207 employees with almost $50 million in revenue (2012). This company increased head count e...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist My, oh, my, I just finished reading the May/June 2014 issue of Mother Jones. Yes, I know it isn’t cheap, but after winning big bucks shooting craps in the alley behind the post office I decided to read about the crazies. Check out Page 7 and you can read the “rumors” about Hillary Clinton. For example, she majored in lesbianism at Wellesley and entered into a sham marriage to Bill Clinton to cover up the truth. Then, when Bill was governor, the Clint...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Were your toes tingling when you heard home prices in the Los Angeles metropolitan area went up 18-20% from February 2013 through February 2014? My tootsies were jumping up and down so much I almost called everyone’s friend, Fire Chief Chris Sellers, to send the paramedics. We bought our condo in 1977 from the builder for $52,000 and soon thereafter Prop. 13 was voted in. I hope you remember the “good old days” when prices and taxes were not low in relat...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist As a longtime member (since 1977) on May 14, 2014 I attended the monthly meeting of the Culver City Democratic Club, held the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Rotunda Room of Veterans Auditorium. The speaker was Bob Stern AKA “the godfather of modern political reform in California,” who discussed the many reforms over the past 30 years he had been involved with. We can all be pleased. Councilman Jim Clarke is actively pursuing my sug...
United Parents of Culver City Issued the following press release in support of Measure CC school bond. United Parents of Culver City, the all-volunteer parent group dedicated to promoting the interests of students in the Culver City Unified School District, strongly urges you to vote YES on Measure CC, the school bond on our June 3rd ballot. Culver City schools have received statewide and national recognition for the caliber of the education they provide. That's not only a positive for each and...
By Neil Rubenstein Observer Columnist Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming to our meeting last night. Yes, the Progressive Leadership of Culver City comes together at 7:30 p.m. in the Harry Culver Room in the Veterans Memorial Building whenever the stars are in the right conjunction. The discussion focused on the legislator who has done the most for our city of 40,000 residents. The first person to shout out our hero’s name was the happy recipient of a dozen kosher tacos. After several n...
I am writing in support of Measure CC. I am the mother of two children in Culver City schools, Linwood E. Howe Elementary and Culver City Middle School. A quality education is one of the building blocks of not just a good society, but a great one. CCUSD has done a brilliant job of weathering the budget storms of the past decade; they have prioritized teacher salaries and quality programs over facilities upgrades. Now, however, there are upgrades needed to our facilities that are becoming dire....
While I usually vote against anything that increases my taxes, I'm voting FOR Measure CC. It's a NECESSARY bond measure to ensure our Culver City schools don't fall into disrepair. I've witnessed firsthand dangerous electrical issues, asbestos issues, seismic problems, rain falling into classrooms, puddles that don't go away, rusty water coming out of drinking fountains, ceiling tiles falling down during class, a library with rain damage to paneling from 5 years ago that has not been repaired at...
The Board of Trustees of the Culver City Education Foundation strongly supports Measure CC. This bond measure for school facilities will have a great impact on CCUSD students, the school district and community. Our purpose is to "support and enhance quality educational programs for every student." Passage of Measure CC will provide $106 million for making necessary repairs and upgrades to CCUSD school facilities which will improve the educational environment. Endorsing Measure CC is consistent...
On June 3, 2014 we all have the opportunity to make a positive difference in Culver City by voting Yes on Measure CC, the school facilities bond measure that will be on the June 3rd ballot. Culver City will celebrate its Centennial Birthday in 2017. From the beginning our schools have been excellent and a selling point for potential new residents. Our schools are a major reason we are a well-known, enviable city. However, today we are competing against new communities such as Agoura, Valencia,...
Please join me and thousands of parents and vote Yes on Measure CC, the CCUSD school bond measure on the June 3rd ballot. All seven school PTA groups have endorsed Measure CC because the PTA is the nation’s oldest and largest child advocacy organization and they fully understand that the conditions of our classrooms and schools are sub par compared to schools in districts like Santa Monica-Malibu and Inglewood. Every school will be impacted by this bond. Most of our schools were built 50 y...
I am voting Yes on Measure CC, the Culver City School bond measure on the June 3rd ballot, because our District classrooms and facilities are outdated and in desperate need of repair. Most of our schools were built 50-70 years ago. Our students deserve modern classrooms that provide tools they need to compete and to prepare for a four-year university or other career pathways. As a member of our business community, I understand the investment we are making to modernize and upgrade our schools...
