April 15, 2010
SERVING LOS ANGELES COUNTY WITH NEWS YOU CAN USE
Vol. XXX, No. 1175 FIRST COLUMN
Black Conservative Tea Party Backers Take Heat BY VALERIE BAUMAN AP WRITER
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They’ve been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement — and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s first black president.
BLACK CONSERVATIVE — David Webb (center) poses with Newt Gingrich and an unidentified woman. Webb is an organizer of New York City’s Tea Party 365 Inc. movement and a black conservative radio personality.
“I’ve been told I hate myself. I’ve been called an Uncle Tom. I’ve been told I’m a spook at the door,” said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government. “Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks,” he said. Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they
consider its common-sense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they’re black — or that most tea partyers are white — should have nothing to do with it, they say. “You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?” asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger. Opponents have branded the tea party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns — and reports that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month’s heated health care vote give them ammunition. But these black conservatives don’t consider racism representative of the movement as a whole — or race a reason to support it. Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her tea party involvement is “not about a black or white issue.” “It’s not even about Republican or Democrat, from my standpoint,” she told The Associated Press. “All of us are taxed too much.” Still, she’s in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the tea party movement; it’s believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics. Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama’s election — and their distaste for his policies — with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan
See TEA PARTY, page 4
L.A. Mayor Backs Down, Says City Services Shutdown a Last Resort BY CHRISTINA HOAG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP) — In the end, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was forced to admit that he didn’t have the power to shut down city services. But his threat to do so drew attention to the desperate fiscal situation facing Los Angeles. Villaraigosa proposed closing city departments that don’t make money, such as parks and libraries, for two days a week starting April 12. He later backed down from his hardline stance over the budget crisis, conceding that he would need the City Council’s approval and requesting $20 million from the power utility to keep the city solvent. It was a “plan of last resort,” said his deputy chief of staff, Matt Szabo. “We understand that we need to work with the council if, in fact, we would need to implement such a plan,” Szabo said. “But we have to have a final contingency plan that we’re not going to run out of money.” The statements capped a day of ramped-up pressure on the mayor from the City Council, the controller and labor unions after he announced April 6 that he was going to furlough about 22,000 city employees two days a week because the city will run out of cash next month. The worst economic decline since the Depression, a steep drop in tax revenue, and burgeoning expenses have led to the city’s current dire financial situation. The city has a $212 million budget deficit that
YEL Program Schools Kids in Subjects They Love: Music, Fashion, Sports BY SAM RICHARD MANAGING EDITOR
The situation occurred often: Andre Jones finished his homework. And soon after, boredom began. He couldn’t hang out in the neighborhood to rid the monotony due to the presence of gang members in the area, near 104th and San Pedro streets, the sixth-grader says. “I don’t want to be around that
… because it’s going to ruin my life in the future, and I can go to jail and stuff like that,” he says. Jones, 13, eventually found at least two extracurricular activities to participate in: dancing and learning to be a DJ in the Youth Edutainment League, a program that gives locals, ages 12 to 18, the opportunity to learn about the sports, music and film industries, and prepare to enter into them. YOUNG DJ — Youth Edutainment League founder Darius Farrelly (left) instructs student Davion (center) as he uses DJ equipment. YEL is a program that provides local youth, ages 12 to 18, with the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the sports, music and film industries. Photo by DAMIEN SMITH
Approaching its fourth year in November 2010, YEL has been expanding despite its challenges, and founder Darius Farrelly plans to continue growing the program by helping place it in more schools throughout the Los Angeles area. Developing a Legacy Y.E.L. blossomed from one concept: the “minor league.” Farrelly wrote the phrase in 2000 on notes for his father’s eulogy — the same day he was told an aneurism suddenly snatched away his dad’s life. He didn’t want Dennis Sylvester Farrelly to become a forgotten man. Dennis Farrelly cared for the local community and children in New York. He coached local youth softball teams, purchased balls and secured playing locations for the kids. He advised young Darius and his buddies about how to treat girls on their way to games. And he even cared enough about Darius and his friends to fashion paper towels into See YEL, page 11
some have estimated could grow to $1 billion in four years without drastic cuts. The City Council’s chief legislative analyst, Gerry Miller, told council members April 7 that the mayor cannot shut down city services without council approval. “The mayor does not have the unilateral authority to do that,” Miller said. The city also would be violating labor contracts, which stipulate no furloughs, said Bob Schoonover, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents about 10,000 city employees. Villaraigosa and the council are in a political tug-of-war over rate hikes requested by the Department of Water and Power. After the council approved a smaller rate hike to cover increased costs of coal and natural gas, the DWP reneged on a previous promise to transfer $73 million to the city’s general fund, saying without the higher rate hike, it could not afford to give the money. The council responded by asking the mayor to press the DWP for the funds since he appoints the utility’s board of commissioners and general manager, but he proposed a service shutdown. On April 7, the former DWP commission president Nick Patsaouras filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to force the utility to fulfill its obligation to make the transfer. The suit states that the DWP already has an 8 percent surplus, enough to provide the money. Patsaouras stepped down from the
NEWS IN BRIEF THE SOUTHLAND L.A. Finds $63M in Extra Cash, But Deficit Increases (AP) — Los Angeles’ top administrator says the city’s coffers have about $63 million more than expected but not enough to solve the financial crisis. Chief Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna said April 9 that the extra money resulted from an increase in property tax revenues and other cost-saving measures. However, Ciranna says the Department of Water and Power’s refusal to transfer $73 million to the city means the deficit for this fiscal year has increased by $12 million. The city now faces a $224 million deficit. The DWP has said it does not have the money in its surplus fund to pay the city after the City Council refused to grant the utility its requested rate hike. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed slashing most city services to close the shortfall, but has backed off that plan.
commission in October 2008. Villaraigosa went on a media blitz April 7, appearing on CNN, Fox Business News and local radio to explain his shutdown move. “On May 5, we’ll be out of cash,” he said on CNN. “If I don’t do these actions now, we won’t be able to pay the bills.” He later announced he would ask the DWP for $20 million but warned that its board may not approve the transfer. Szabo said the DWP may be more likely to approve the transfer if it can reach a compromise on the rate hike with the City Council. He called the council’s smaller rate hike “a reasonable compromise” but added that DWP must have flexibility to adjust rates in the future in line with its costs. The council and controller also ratcheted up pressure on the DWP. Controller Wendy Greuel announced an audit of the utility to verify its claim that it was financially unable to give the city $73 million. “I want to take the politics out of this process and provide an independent review of the DWP’s finances,” she said. Meanwhile, the council passed a series of motions to wrest control of the DWP away from the mayor. The council wants to ask voters next year to give it the power to remove the DWP general manager and commissioners. The council also wants voters to decide if it can control rate increases and the DWP budget. The city has started to feel the See SHUTDOWN, page 9
L.A. Teachers Union Votes for Deal to Shorten Year (AP) — Los Angeles teachers have voted to approve a deal to shorten the school year by at least five days in an attempt to deal with a budget shortfall and fend off layoffs. The United Teachers Los Angeles said in a news release that teachers on April 10 approved the two-year agreement struck last month between the union and school district administrators. Under the deal, union members will take five furlough days in the next school year and seven the following year in exchange for saving more than 2,000 jobs, including those of 284 librarians, nurses and counselors threatened with layoffs this summer. The release says about 21,000 of the roughly 27,000 union members voted for the agreement. Next, the LAUSD board will have to vote on the agreement.
www.lawattstimes.com
See BRIEFS, page 3