Bernard Parks

L.A. Coliseum Fallout Continues

When John Sandbrook took over the scandal-plagued Coliseum, he found himself in battle with a media-savvy pol.

L.A. Redistricting: Bernard Parks' District 8 Looks Like a U.S. Army Tank

This is the second chapter in a (badly Photoshopped) series on the L.A. Redistricting Commission's gerrymandered new voting districts. Previously: "Eric Garcetti's District 13 Looks Like an Evil Squirrel." It's one of the most blatant land grabs in L.A. redistricting history: Westchester, an up-and ... More >>

Antonio Villaraigosa's 2011-2012 Budget Debate Starts Today: Can the Mayor Stop City Hall's Overspending of $52,168 an Hour?

Firing the budget proposal debate: fire safety cuts​Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his proposed 2011-12 budget, designed to stop City Hall from overspending by $1.25 million per day, or $52,168 per hour. Next, the L.A. City Council must tell Villaraigosa thumbs up or ... More >>

Secrets of L.A.'s Highest Grossing PR Firm

Harvey Englander breaks out the champagne​The L.A. Business Journal is out with its annual list of L.A.'s top-grossing PR firms (which is not online for some reason). Topping the list is Edelman, a Chicago-based firm with a 120-person office in L.A. and $13.8 million in L.A. revenues last year.Num ... More >>

Campaign Consultants Stank up L.A. on March 8

City Council candidate Rudy Martinez should have listened to his mom

Bernard Parks v. Forescee Hogan-Rowles

Incumbent's rival in Los Angeles Council District 8 was forced from an investing board for gift-seeking

Jan Perry: Union Campaign Against Bernard Parks Is A "Tantrum"

Brian D'Arcy​Councilwoman Jan Perry called out the leader of IBEW Local 18 today, saying that a union-backed campaign against Bernard Parks is nothing more than a "massive, ridiculous tantrum."Two union groups have so far spent $192,000 $207,000* to defeat Parks in the city election on March 8. Th ... More >>

Death, Money and Megaraves

Why Los Angeles politicians embrace a growing Ecstasy phenom that kills

L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz Buddy-Buddies With Union Chief Brian D'Arcy To Kill Proposed Reform That Would Deflate DWP Worker Pensions

Councilman Paul Koretz received $40,000 from the DWP union for his 2009 campaign​[Updated after the jump with council-floor perspective from Bernard Parks, the L.A. City Councilman behind the push to gain city control of DWP pensions. Originally posted at 3:33 p.m.] Some of the highest-paid u ... More >>

City of Airheads: Villaraigosa Dismantles L.A.'s Vaunted Library System

Mayor mirrors Detroit's disastrous choice

LAX Concession Clash: Councilman Bernard Parks Hands $30 Million To Magic Johnson's Company

Ka-ching! Magic Johnson cashes in.​Overturning the wishes of LAX staff, a five-member council committee on Monday awarded an airport retail contract worth $30 million a year to a business group that includes Magic Johnson. Councilman Bernard Pa ... More >>

When Will John Shallman Sue Laura Richardson?

Laura Richardson, credit risk​Political consultant John Shallman sued L.A. Councilman Bernard Parks last week, alleging that he is owed nearly $150,000 from Parks' unsuccessful 2008 race for the Board of Supervisors.So when will Shallman sue Rep. Laura Richardson? Richardson, best known for her se ... More >>

L.A. Council Once Again Puts Off Tough Choices

​Surprise, surprise. The Los Angeles City Council on Friday put off a vote on the city's budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, opting instead to issue dire warnings while threatening to finally make a move on Monday that could result in hundreds of job cuts. City Hall is facing $585 ... More >>

Los Angeles Councilman Unveils New Grim Sleeper Serial Killer Billboard with Updated Composite Sketches

Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks unveiled six billboards in the South Los Angeles area today. The billboards feature three updated composite sketches of the Grim Sleeper, a serial killer responsible for the murders of 11 people in South Los Angeles between 1985 and 2007.The newest billboard is ... More >>

City Hall's 2010 DWP Debacle

How Beutner, Carr, Carson, D'Arcy, Freeman, Greuel, Raj, Santana, Szabo, Villaraigosa & Co. pushed L.A. to the cliff edge

Police, Fire Department Cuts Likely For L.A., Experts Say

Councilman Bernard Parks says cuts to the LAPD inevitable.​In the recent golden years of Chief William Bratton, the Los Angeles Police Department's budget and hiring was a political third rail, and the City Councilmostly steered clear of budget and officer reductions (and when it didn't, it go ... More >>

L.A. Council Votes To Close 475 Marijuana Dispensaries

​The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday gave tentative approval to a law that would eventually shut down all but 70 of the city's medical marijuana dispensaries. The ordinance would some day close down 475 of the 545 pot stores that the Weekly has found to be up and operating. The council ha ... More >>

Claiming Poverty, L.A. City Council Tries to Defund Its Critics

But then drops its threat to slash the 90 neighborhood councils

Los Angeles City Hall offers $500,000 for Grim Sleeper

By Christine Pelisek In response to a four-month investigation by the L.A. Weekly that last week revealed the existence of an active serial killer who has been slaughtering people in South Los Angeles since 1985, the Los Angeles City Council voted today to reward $200,000 to any person who supplies ... More >>

Local Election Results: Ghostly L.A. Voters Deliver Surprises

... and mixed messages for Parks, Ridley-Thomas and Villaraigosa's cousin

The Deja Vu of Bernard Parks vs. Mark Ridley-Thomas

Stubborn black leaders stage a replay of '92, as the black community fades

Why L.A. Is Park Poor

A "broke" City Council and befuddled downtown bureaucrats sit on $130 million

The Cop Tax

Or was it a trash tax, or no tax at all?

Bamboozled in South L.A.

A new building will benefit everybody but the people who live there. So what else is new?

Pastor, Present, and Future

After 27 years at the pulpit, and 12 as South-Central’s ranking ambassador, Cecil Murray, resigns as pastor of First AME

People vs. the Police — Take Five

The Stanley Miller beating prompts more promises of citizen involvement. Haven’t we been here before?

No Room for the Inn

The fight over a vacant lot in South L.A., where many rooms rent by the hour

They brought me on because they needed money to build

Excerpts from the L.A. Weekly’s interview with Sherri Franklin, candidate for the 8th Los Angeles City Council District

Black and Blue

The Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation fights for the LAPD's soul -- and its own

Still Kicking

Bernie Parks weighs political future to even the score

So Long, Bernie

But not before the desperate police chief tries to get the last word

A Fail to the Chief

Verdict in on Parks, but the jury's out on police reform

The Bernie Blow-off

Secret meetings on police chief's future could have been open to the public

Beyond Bernie

The future nears for the LAPD

Chief Obstacles

Why Bernard Parks shouldn’t get a second term

Willie Williams Rerun?

This police chief also looks like a one-termer

1 Person, 0 Vote

The undemocratic ways of the L.A. City Council

The Bereaved

L.A.’s lost its chance to reform its police. Hooray.

Coming Alive

The City Council figures out its new role

Nagging Reforms

Let Bernie Parks lose another argument

Righting the Ship

What it will take to fix the LAPD

Parks in Charge

Police chief has convention and council firmly under control

God, the Mayor and Bernard Parks

So just who is responsible for our chief of police?

Bernie Dresses Down

It takes a Bernie Parks to make Gil Garcetti look good

Hiding behind Badges

Let’s bring in an outside review of LAPD scandal

The Insiders

Time for oversight panel, inspector general to step from the shadows

It’s Chinatown, Jake

The behind-closed-doors transformation of the downtown rail yards

Face-off on Police

Parks Jumps In

The chief’s firm stand on the limits of reform

The Pace of Reform

Pushing Mader out turned back the clock for the LAPD