Office of the Los Angeles City Controller
Ron Galperin is Los Angeles City Controller. A former chairman of the LA City Council's Ad Hoc Commission on Revenue Efficiency, he formerly practiced law in Century City and is a member of the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council.
Could there be new uses for city-owned land? Did you know the city owns almost 9,000 parcels of land and properties across LA County? LA City Controller Ron Galperin released a map last year of unaccounted-for property, with a view to making the city more accountable and transparent, as well as pushing elected officials to amplify the value and best use of these sites.
A plan to fix LA’s homeless crisis Ron Galperin, the City Controller, has a new report detailing ways LA could curb the spread of homeless encampments. Among the recommendations, it calls for cleaning up tent encampments that have sprouted up on sidewalks, under freeway overpasses, and along the LA. river, as well as providing more storage options for the homeless and setting up emergency encampments on city property.
The effort to ban developer donations Photo by Tim Ahem There's a development boom underway in Los Angeles. Big commercial and residential projects are being built across the city. Not everyone is happy about this growth and Angelenos opposed to these projects argue that developers have too much clout in City Hall. So some Los Angeles elected officials have called for a ban on political campaign contributions from developers who have projects pending before City Hall. The proposed ban comes just two months before voters will decide on Measure S, a ballot initiative that would place a two-year moratorium on new development projects that require zoning variances or other special exemptions. Is such a ban legal, or is it "misdirection" from the real problem -- a dysfunctional planning process that ill serves a city in need of smart, optimistic thinking about how to grow for the future? DnA talks to developers and critics of money in land-use politics.
A "Public Relations Nightmare" for the Department of Water and Power The Job Training and Joint Safety "institutes" at LA's Department of Water and Power were created by the City Council 14 years ago. Since then, they've received about $4 million a year — with no requirement for public accountability. In fact, nobody seems to know what they do.
Why LA’s Streets Are So Bad 25% of Los Angeles streets get a grade of “F” from the City’s own Bureau of Street Services. Rehabilitation would take $4 billion the Bureau doesn’t have. But it has failed to collect $191 million that it is actually owed, and $21 million it has collected have been returned. That’s according to “LA Streets: The Road to the Future,” which reports on an audit by City Controller Ron Galperin.
City Controller Refuses to Pay $4 Million into DWP Nonprofits LA City Controller Ron Galperin has escalated the battle over two controversial non-profit trust funds at the Department of Water and Power. The Job Training and Joint Safety Institutes have refused to reveal how they’ve spent $40 million in city money over the past 10 years. Now Galperin says he won’t pay this year’s allocation of an additional $4 million.
Public Debate Over Public Art When it comes to arts funding, there’s never enough money. But a recent audit by L.A.’s city controller reveals that $10 million for public art has been sitting in an account - unused - for years. That’s almost as much as the entire budget of LA’s Cultural Affairs Department.
Los Angeles Goes Transparent A recent study of 30 cities showed that Los Angeles was seventeenth in transparency, way behind New York, Chicago and San Francisco. LA officials promised for years to open up city records so the taxpaying public can find out how the money's being spent. Now, the newly elected Controller, Ron Galperin, has done it, putting enormous gobs of raw data online at Control Panel LA .
Waste, Fraud, Abuse and Los Angeles Politics San Fernando Valley City Councilman Dennis Zine and Westside attorney Ron Galperin have joined me in the KCRW studios. They are candidates to replace Wendy Greuel as Los Angeles City Controller. But what does the Controller do? We ask Raphael Sonenshein, who was executive director of the Charter Reform Commission that re-designed the Controller's job, then hear from the candidates themselves.
The Race for City Controller Wendy Greuel's campaign for Mayor leaves a vacancy in the office of the Los Angeles City Controller . But it's safe to say that a lot of voters don't know what the Controller does. City Councilman Dennis Zine is the best known candidate for Controller and has raised the most money, but he's made himself unavailable for our program between now and Election Day. His opponents are Ron Galperin and Cary Brazeman .
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
