William Fujioka

Speaker John Pérez Hits A Snag, As L.A. County Balks At Taking Over Vernon

Speaker John Pérez​For the last eight months, Speaker John Pérez has been trying to shut down the city of Vernon and turn it over lock, stock and barrel to the county of L.A.You'd think he might check with the county first to see if they want it.But apparently not. The Times reports that at a Bo ... More >>

L.A. County Emergency Response System, $700 Million and 3 Years in the Making, Implodes at Final Hour

L.A. County CEO William Fujioka makes almost $340,000 per year.​Updated after the jump with appalled response from the L.A. County Board of Supes. Also, for clarity: The CEO only chaired the oversight board for this project. There is a giant roomful of folks -- especially county attorneys -- r ... More >>

L.A. Childrens Services Chief Trish Ploehn Had Lawyer Write Threatening Letter To County CEO Two Months Before Reported Ouster

DCFSDCFS' Trish Ploehn, soon-to-be ousted?​Two months before reports surfaced that the head of L.A. county's embattled child services division was slated to be replaced, her lawyer sent a letter to county CEO William T. Fujioka warning there was a "smear campaign" in the works against Trish Pl ... More >>

Did AOL's Patch Take Content Again -- This Time From An NBC Los Angeles Story About Sand Replenishment In Venice?

Talk of the SoundPatch admitted to biting this photo in New York.​Updated after the jump with reaction from Patch's Venice editor. First posted at 7:07 a.m. We reported recently on a couple of instances in which Patch, AOL's new network of hyper-local news sites, has been caught stealing cont ... More >>

Top 25 Earners In Los Angeles County Government Revealed: All Make Nearly $350k And Above

​In the wake of the Bell salary scandal, we let you know about the Los Angeles County government's top-five earners -- including a sheriff's "commander" who was number one with $440,915.61 in take-home last year -- in a report earlier this month. Now we're going to roll out a list of the top ... More >>

More Than 200 L.A. County Employees Took Home $250K Or More Last Year

​The city of Bell hasn't been the only local government paying some of its employees handsomely. It turns out that some Los Angeles County workers make nearly Bell-level incomes, often because they take in beaucoup overtime bucks or "other earnings." LA Weekly obtained a county document that ... More >>

Seven Nominated For Resurrected Martin Luther King Hospital Board Of Directors

​Seven nominees were forwarded Thursday to become the first board of directors of the soon-to-be rebuilt Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital in Willowbrook. The hospital, which will be staffed by University of California physicians, was scheduled to open in 2013. The Los Angeles County Board of ... More >>

Broad Museum's scandalous math: A $7.7 million land gift to billionaire from broke Los Angeles City Hall

By Tibby Rothman What can $1 a year get a billionaire in Los Angeles these days? Hard bargainer​Evidently, a property worth $7.7 million. According to a document obtained by the L.A. Weekly, that's the value of the prime downtown square footage near Disney Concert Hall that Mayor Antonio Villarai ... More >>

L.A. County Ponders Layoffs Too

William Fujioka.​Los Angeles City Hall isn't the only place facing budget problems and layoffs: The county of L.A.'s CEO on Monday proposed 131 layoffs as part of a belt-tightening measure to keep the county's books in order. As with the city of L.A., county revenues have been hit by the rece ... More >>

Public Unwelcome at Grand Avenue

An obscure body of five will decide if Eli Broad gets public land for his art museum

#&*0#&!!! Mad at the City Council

Grand Avenue: Is L.A. City Hall's Pet Project Foundering?

Not a stick of the posh project is up, but a taxpayer subsidy could hit $123 million

Philanthropist Daphna Ziman's War for Foster Kids

Sacramento's politicians created a fat budget deficit. Then, local bureaucrats misspent state funds meant for foster kids. Now, foster kids might pay dearly. By D. Heimpel When wealthy philanthropist Daphna Ziman, wife of real estate magnate Richard S. Ziman, walked into the meeting room of the Lo ... More >>

Yvonne Burke's Crumbling Kingdom

She was hailed as a black pioneer and hero. Did she sell out?

Eli Broad's luxury Grand Avenue project is now half-owned by Dubai

Buying Time at Playa Vista

Is purchase option a gift horse or Trojan horse?

In Search of a Home

Children’s Museum’s plan for edge of Griffith Park has few fans