Outrage over Spending by Public Housing Officials
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The LA City housing scandal involves rampant misspending of taxpayer money, first reported by KCET public television last March. Controller Wendy Greuel, a candidate for Mayor, didn't start her audit until August. We hear from her and her predecessor, Laura Chick, who says Greuel waited too long. Also, should counties charge convicted inmates for living expenses when they're sentenced to jail? On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, has an Arab Spring arrived during the Russian winter?
Banner image: Screen grab of ousted LA Housing Authority Chief Rudolph Montiel from KCET's SoCal Connected feature on HACLA
Main Topic
Was City Controller Wendy Greuel Slow to Check Out a Scandal? ()
SoCal Connected on KCET has added a third report to its ongoing series on HACLA. That's the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which spends a billion dollars in mostly federal money each year, supposedly to help find homes for people who need them. The first report was last March, and the story has finally caught the attention of elected officials.
Guests:
- Laurel Erickson: KCET, @SoCalConnected
- Wendy Greuel: City of Los Angeles, @Wendy_Greuel
- Laura Chick: City of Los Angeles (formerly)
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Reporter's Notebook
Riverside Jail Inmates Pay to Stay ()
The Riverside County Counsel told the Board of Supervisors that most convicted criminals don't have jobs or assets of any kind. Nevertheless, the Board agreed to join several other counties in charging feels to convicts for time spent in county jail. Phil Willon reports for the Los Angeles Times.
Guests:
- Phil Willon: Los Angeles Times, @LATimesWillon
Main Topic
Has the 'Arab Spring' Come to the Russian Winter? ()
Russian authorities did not clamp down on massive protests in all that country's nine time zones over the weekend, despite repeated shouts of Vladimir "Putin is a thief" and "Russia without Putin." Today, the billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced he'll challenge Putin in next year's presidential elections; the former finance minister Aleksei Kudrin said he'll form a new party to push for liberal reforms; and the Russian Orthodox Church called for election reform. We hear about Saturday's mass protest and political challenges from the left, the right and even the Orthodox Church. Is Putin really at risk of losing his power?
Guests:
- Andrew Kramer: New York Times
- Konstantin von Eggert: Kommersant
- Stephen F. Cohen: New York University
- Fiona Hill: Brookings Institution
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Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
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