Hillel Aron

Garbage Monopolies Coming to L.A.?

Hillel Aron
The Kotanjian family has been picking up L.A.'s garbage for more than 100 years. First there was Simun Kazarian, who walked dirt roads picking up trash in the 1900s with a horse and wagon. In the 1920s, his son George started AAA Rubbish. George's nephew, Samuel Kotanjian, bought him out......

Richard Riordan Pension Reform Surprise

Hillel Aron
Richard Riordan says his favorite quote is from a famous rabbi named Hillel the Elder, who died in the year 10 AD. "If not now, when?" recites Riordan, "and if not me, whom?" It's a somewhat mangled and self-centered version of the quote, the second part of which is, "If......
One union has already come out swinging against a new plan from former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan to privatize future pension investments.; Credit: Kevin Scanlon

Union Fires Back At Riordan Over Pension Proposal, Calls Plan "Mean"

Hillel Aron
Last night, former Mayor Richard Riordan told the L.A. Weekly that he was about submit papers to start gathering signatures for a charter amendment that would completely overhaul how pensions are doled out to city employees. (The papers will be submitted Monday morning.) The SEIU -- which represents about 10,000......
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Medical Weed's Stay of Execution in L.A.

Hillel Aron
Medical marijuana in Los Angeles has an inertia that's a marvel to behold. For years, it has existed in a state of quasi-legality — condemned by each successive presidential administration, encouraged by the state Legislature, and awkwardly condoned by the city. No matter what laws are enacted or court decisions handed......
Picturesque Mammoth Creek is the current object of the DWP's desire.; Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF MAMMOTH COMMUNITY WATER DISTRICT

DWP Goes After Prized Creek in Mammoth Lakes

Hillel Aron
Mammoth Lakes is a stunning ski resort town high in the pristine Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, which offers backwoods cross-country trails, thrilling downhill runs, hot springs and tiny glaciers in shadowed ravines. Most of its 8,230 residents are working-class folk; they staff the cafés and hotels crammed with skiers and......
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Credit: ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN BARTLETT

Downtown L.A.'s Underwater Home Mortgage Crisis

Hillel Aron
In many movies, downtown Los Angeles is a stand-in for New York City. Its nooks and crannies mimic that most urban of American cities, and Ramon Garcia's condo on Seventh and Spring streets is no exception. His seventh-floor window overlooks a courtyard in the Bartlett, a 1911 bank designed by......
Credit: ILLUSTRATION BY NOAH PATRICK PFARR

Firing the Bad Teachers: Ted Olson and LAUSD Parents Sue

Hillel Aron
Superintendent John Deasy sat in an aisle seat in a Los Angeles courtroom, his left leg crossed over his right, his foot bobbing up and down like a bottle on a stormy sea. The case was Doe v. Deasy. If the stone-faced chief of L.A.'s troubled school system was nervous,......
Credit: ILLUSTRATION BY PJ MCQUADE

Howard Berman's Last Stand

Hillel Aron
The chickens are coming home to roost for U.S. Rep. Howard Berman and his little brother, Michael. For four decades, the Berman brothers dominated California's backroom gerrymandering — a much-pilloried process in which politicians drew up their own voting districts in order to guarantee victories at the ballot box. Good-government......