January 5, 2012 – Daily Brief

I was coming back from an office in Alta Dena. I left at 4:26 on the button, saw the signs for road closures near CalTech, but wasn’t familiar with the roads that were indicated on the signs, so I thought I could ignore it. As tech savvy as I am it didn’t help: I didn’t have the radio on, I was listening to a podcast about the Iowa Caucus results. I should have clued into the fact that there were thousands of drivers lining up to get off the freeway rather than continue. Alas by the time I was in the mountainous pass, it was too late. Traffic slowed to a crawl and worse yet, didn’t stop completely. It was 3 hours of stopping for two minutes followed by 30 seconds of driving forward. It would have been fine if we had just stopped and everyone got out of their cars and had an impromptu SigAlert party, but no! I consumed 3 hours of John & Ken which made me even angrier than I already was before finally finding KNX and hearing freeway updates every 10 minutes. #WhyItakethebus

#WhyItakethebus Yes, the drivers would have been alert to what was going on. Bad choice of days to visit Altadena.

You’d be surprised. Santa Clarita Transit is terrible about alerting their drivers about delays, road closures, sig alerts, etc. Not only does dispatch not keep the drivers informed about delays, the drivers don’t even alert each other when they encounter delays.

How true. I have seen that with my own eyes.

Too bad you couldn’t have made it to Little Tujunga. I took that several times after the quake – and Sand Canyon is a lot closer in than Acton.

My normal backup route is Sunland Blvd to 210 to Osborne to get up to Little Tujunga… But that whole area was what was shut out. I thought I saw some back roads on the opposite side of Big Tujunga Wash that would have gotten me home. Turns out its via a gated community.

I really wish I could disagree with you on this.

I second this

And who wouldn’t expect it? If the redevelopment article, and his reaction, are his brand of “research” and “opinion,” why wouldn’t one assume that all his opinions and research is appropriated from another?

Oh, do tell! I would have had so much more respect for the guy if he justed owned up to it and said “my bad”. Every time he tries to dig himself out of it, he just sinks in deeper. It is comical.

Wouldn’t he have done better to just ignore your posting rather than going off on you?

Are you really going to make us wait until 11?

There’s been a late development. I need to see how it shakes out. (cue sad music)

Any new eta?

Can’t be sure, but it won’t be tonight, I’m sorry.

Ok thanks. ‘night John Boy…

8 minutes and counting.

Oh I didn’t mean to say he apologized to you in person. He doesn’t visit blogs anymore unless they rise above partisan politics. But he did post this on his facebook “This is the first time I have done this, so I’m willing to admit that. Some of the blog responses on my campaign’s part were immature and not appropriate. I’m human. There is a small group of people in Santa Clarita who have the sole purpose of being mean, stirring the pot, and doing everything they can to hurt people. When things get thrown our way, well, I’m human, and we responded. When people make things very personal, it’s tough not to respond. So, as a campaign, we will not associate with the bloggers anymore. Mistakes were made. I apologize for them. “

“When people make things very personal…” What the? Does anyone know what he’s talking about?

You’d also love that he says we mocked his ethnicity and origins. No one who authors posts on SCVTalk has remotely touched on Jon Hatami’s orginis. It was Petz, a commenter not an author, who asked what the origin of his name was in a comment, and it wasn’t a slam on his ancestry at all.

I didn’t like how some of the people here called him “Juking Jon”. I felt they were attacking his professional ethics without providing any evidence that he has ever “juked the stats”. Perhaps he felt that was a personal, correction :” very ” personal attack. If he did feel that was a very personal attack, he should have dealt with that head on at the time. If I were him, I would demand evidence. If the posters were unwilling or unable to provide any evidence, that would pretty much put the issue to bed, and the posters would look like a bunch of malcontents. That, at least, would make sense. He didn’t do that. Instead he shot himself in the foot. That doesn’t make any sense, and it just reeks of bad judgment.

Part of being an elected official is knowing how to handle attacks. There are always people that are going to criticize you, even crazy irrational people. Even more important is to know how to respond in the face of well thought out justified substantiated criticism, which is what this was. The response was poor to say the least. I was waiting to hear a “I know you are but what am I” line come from them.

I know I asked him at least 5 separate times on various platforms for a break down of cases he has handle with no response. I personally have a bad taste in my mouth for District Attorney’s because of my own experience and from several conversations with my Deputy friends. In my experience District Attorneys are almost never held accountable for their decisions on our behalf. Many times they take the easy road of least resistance so they can check it off as a win… for instance lowing a violent rape to a sexual assault so they can get the plea deal and look like they won, then later in a political election appear hard on crime even though they let the guy walk with a few hours of community service. The name Juking Jon may have started out as a joke but after weeks of dodging direct questions the name stuck.

How else do you think Cooley has a “conviction rate of over 95%?” http://stevecooley.com/page/8/

Exactly. Sounds good but really it could mean he is soft on crime. I wanted a break down from Juking Jon which would show he has lost some cases. He just ignored my request.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game…

While it doesn’t matter to me. Obama’s ethnicity seemed to be a huge problem for Republicans over the last couple years. Many didn’t like Obama having a Kenyan father, so why would they like Hatami having a Iranian father?

Outsourcing blame to “a member of the campaign” for the virulent responses posted yesterday and Tuesday night under his name is very likely a charade by Mr. Hatami. Campaigns for local office are truly “mom and pop” operations where the candidates are fully involved in every facet and detail. During the last election cycle I recall seeing Frank Ferry and Tim Ben intalling and removing their campaign signs. If his excuse is true, which I believe unlikely, then it very well calls into question Hatami’s ability to oversee the complex operations ofnthe city of Santa Clarita since he apparently cannot oversee his comparatively and relatively small “Team Hatami.”

Nothing like the passive voice of “Mistakes were made” laced in a backhanded “apology”. This is the first time, after many opportunities, where Jon shifted blame to his “Team”, but oddly, he won’t name just who said it. If his prior description of his team is accurate, it’s a local cop or a prosecutor. Classy. Those first reactions were so far out of line – vulgar, defamatory, dishonest, ignorant, personal, defiant, childish and topped off with several threats of litigation. If you are a district attorney and someone attacks others publicly AND vows to sue them under your name and then you post – all from an IP address you have verifiably used in the past and with your personal email, and you don’t refute it immediately, it isn’t just your “responsibility”, it’s your doing. I’ve been asking around, and prior to that post, he hadn’t offered that excuse to anyone else.

“Those first reactions were so far out of line – vulgar, defamatory, dishonest, ignorant, personal, defiant, childish and topped off with several threats of litigation.” One could even call his statements libelous. The good prosecutor may want to tread carefully.

So you are saying this isn’t protected as free speech as a parody? #smirk

The bloggers are the only ones who really care. A terrible campaign start. Let Petz just comment that it seems irresponsible to make a union member like Hatami , whose wife is a card carrying union member in the Santa Clarita station a council member. Hatami is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” for the public unions. Petz says NO WAY. Putting Hatami on the council is just as bad an idea as putting Mikec on the Newhall Water District Board. This community needs a candidate who will dig into the numbers to look for pension spiking and the long term fiscal situation of the city.

Petz, you left just as an opening was being made. Oh, what could have been! Even mikec would have been cheering for you from under the bus. BTW, I spotted a vacant Petztek in the 7-Eleven parking lot last night. I’ve been concerned for your safety. Glad you’re alive.

The Aztek is very ill.

What, did it have one of those hot dogs from 7-11? Those things will KILL you.

We all wonder what Steve Jobs and his design team could have done with the Aztek.

They would have made sure it never saw daylight.

There’s no fixing that thing. Likely they would have slapped FORD badges on it and leaked spy photos to the automotive press hoping to discredit Ford’s designers as delusional….

Aztec, Edsel Part Deux?

No kidding. How awesome. In California even the whales are celebrities.

She’s a giving whale too. From your link: “Two weeks later, Black watched from the inflatable as CA 51, along with a calf, a juvenile and a young adult known as CA 27, corralled a school of salmon. That was unusual. But not as unusual as what followed. The juvenile surfaced with a dead salmon in its teeth and gently released it alongside the inflatable. A crew member reached out and hauled it aboard, earmarked for dinner. “It makes you wonder,” Black says.”

Whales are smarter than chimpanzees, which makes evolutionists quiver….:)

Quiver with delight, perhaps! Various forms of intelligence have evolved all across the animal kingdom–pigeons can count (to 9!), fish use inter-species communication, crows use tools, bees convey information symbolically, monkeys plan for the future, dragonflies use a form of cost-benefit analysis, and my dog can do some really awesome tricks.

What about the black sheep in the family?

I prefer to think of these whales as vegetarians, thank you very much.

I watch a show on Animal Planet where a great white was killed by an Orca… It ate its liver and bailed on the rest.

LOL! I’m not allowed to watch Animal Planet anymore.

This is the day’s biggest news for sure. I expect a full report!

This is indeed good news. But I just got a new toy in the mail and I’ll be making my own this weekend iThink.

whoa? what’d U get?

iGrill

good move! I’ve been eyeing one.

Don’t you mean, i’ing one?

Let us know how the ribs turned out Lar. We also have Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ opening at Town Center this year. Their website is not clear as to when exactly. Based on the info on the site it looks like they do true slow smoke cooking. My expectations are high. Can’t take any more baked/braised than smothered in BBQ sauce ribs that are supposed to pass for slow smoked. Maybe we will finally have some good BBQ available in the SCV.

Well…. Brisket and pulled pork were picture perfect. Plenty of smoke and they were both so, so moist. The ribs were good too, definitely spent some serious time in the smoker. I think they needed a bit more rub, but they were really good. Sides were good and solid, nothing outstanding. But it’s really all about the meat at a place like this. They have a smoker out front, it’s largely to burn some wood and draw people in with the smell. They have the production smoker inside. I think they will do a lot more business in this high traffic area. The owners were there and we chatted it up a bit, they were really nice guys, from Texas and passionate about ‘que.

Thanks! Looks like Longhorn’s is due a visit by the Mrs. and me……..

WHAT>>!>>?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? OMGWTFBBQ?!?!?! I literally went by there on Monday after golfing and they looked no closer to opening than they did a month ago. Damn the paper on the windows hiding all the surprises!!!! I’m goin tonight. Wait, is FVSC happening tonight too?

So I stopped by with my wife and daughter last night. Having never had the privilege of trying them in Castaic, I’m a total Longhorn’s n00b. So I’m reviewing from the virgin perspective. Walked in and there was a good crowd of 3 parties seated, one at the counter. For opening without much fanfare (perhaps a soft-opening?) not bad. A gentleman I assume to be the proprietor was sitting with one of the groups chatting with them (only guessed he was the proprietor because when they left, he went back into the kitchen…). Looking around at the tables and chairs, they appear to be Taco Bell’s leftovers, as well as the countertops and the ceiling and lighting. Rather disappointing. But hey, I get it, keep the budget down. Looking over at what was formerly the drink bar, there were lemonades and teas out as well as the various sauces, but they were sitting in standard home use crock-pot style slow cookers. Cost-cutting yes, but comes off all the wrong ways. I noted the lack of prominent placement of a beverage machine, then further noticed sign indicating a refill fee for fountain drinks (tea and lemonade free refills). OK, I’ll stick with tea. After the party at the counter finished their transaction (some difficulty with the credit card machine and the customer’s card missing a visa or mastercard logo, I dunno, we paid cash) we ordered. I got the two meat plate with brisket and pulled pork, the wife got chicken. We both had BBQ beans, she tried the coleslaw and I the Bacon Mac & Cheese. We took our seats and the smell of the smoke burning outside was making our mouths water. My sweet tea was made to perfection but my wife complained her lemonade was watery. A few minutes later, our names were called and the food was ready. The brisket was AMAZING. The smoke was perfect, cooked nearly perfectly, although a tiny bit dry as if it might not be sliced to order. But just a little bit… not bad. The sauce easily made up for it. The pulled pork was insanely good! Not a single complaint there except that there wasn’t more of it on my plate. Again, being a virgin, I tried all three sauces. Sweet, Spicy and Mustard. I’m not a huge mustard guy, so meh on that (I suppose it’d be great with the sausage, but I didn’t have any), I really like both of the others, but the spicy takes it for me. Great sauce. Both my sides, well, I coulda passed. The Bacon Mac & Cheese was missing the cheese flavor, and just some dried up slightly overcooked bacon bits sprinkled on top. Cook the bacon into the cheese sauce, and you’ve got something. (Longhorns you can have that idea for free, just comp me some free coke refills.) The BBQ Beans, the didn’t have the right consistency. Too thick, not really rich. I dunno. Not good, not bad, just sorta in the middle. Conclusion: It was good BBQ. Clearly the best in Santa Clarita to date. I look forward to going back. But, for my money, its overpriced. In today’s age, if I’m spending $26 for dinner for two, I’ve come to expect a couple things, including unlimited refills on my soft drinks, regardless of what they are, comfortable seating (not chairs anchored to the floor that swivel…) and bringing my food out to me with real utensils and not plastic plates and cutlery. I hope that they step up the game, because I genuinely enjoyed the meats. Like I wanted to take pounds of it home. But its really lacking for a dine-in experience, and that is truly disappointing.

I stopped by yesterday as well. I’m thrilled that they’re back. I’ll be posting at length, sooner or later. BBQ is expensive the first time, when you feel obliged to try as much as you can. It’s a worthwhile expense, because it gives you a pretty good idea of the overall philosophy and competence of the place. After that, just order smaller plates. In the original Longhorn’s, after a while, I would usually get some $6.99 mini sandwich combo. The refill thing struck me as odd, but if a BBQ joint makes their own lemonade, it’s hard for me to order anything else. But, FWIW, while I was there, a soft drink guy was fixing a carbonation system, so maybe there will be a self-serve fountain, but not yet. As for some of the stuff you’re put off by, I’ll refer to my obit of the Castaic location ( http://scvtalk.com/2010/05/26/rip-scv-bbq/ ): I think there is a cultural disconnect that makes it difficult for authentic barbecue to thrive in the SCV. Local patrons are often put off by things that are commonplace in barbecue-friendly areas: the slice of Wonder bread, the sauce held in Crock-Pots, day-to-day inconsistencies in texture and taste, the visible fat in the brisket or pulled pork and the occasional unavailability of a meat or two. Elsewhere, that just goes with the territory, but too many locals find it unacceptable. Worse still, we’re spoiled by the consistency of the assembly-line faux-Q that SCV is famous for. Add to that: unglamorous dining area. The last location had loads of charm with its long wooden tables and what not. The new spot doesn’t score as high, but even as a ghost of Taco Bell, it’s well within the expected range when it comes to barbecue in much of the country. I don’t say any of that to condescend, but to translate. There’s always going to be that tension, and they’ll struggle to find the middle ground between an authentic expression of place and manner and their customers’ expectations. For example, they now serve a fairly tasty roll with their combos instead of a slice or two of white sandwich bread. The sliced bread was a big turn off in the SCV, where people equate it with being cheap. It is cheap, but for whatever reason, it’s standard in every great barbecue place I’ve been to outside of California. In California, I’ve never had bad barbecue at a place that gives you white sandwich bread. It’s a little wink that tells you they are for real. (and with that, I hope LH brings it back, even if on request). The sauce in crock pots are a turnoff to some people I’ve talked to, but I think they’re wonderful. First and foremost, they make their own sauce. Fresh homemade sauce matters so much. At home, I never mess with bottled sauce when making proper barbecue, ever. Also, warm sauce is better, anyway. It’s probably a health code issue, too. Mustard sauce on the pork is pretty good, BTW. All of that to say, adjusting your expectations is step one in enjoying a barbecue joint. In some contexts, it matters, but it helps to embrace the quirks of a dining experience that after all, is usually best enjoyed in someone’s back yard.

I getcha, and thanks for taking the time. I really wasn’t tryin to h8 on it… but I think they could take a couple extra steps to make it a little nicer, even if thats to make it less nice. One expects some of the shortcuts in the places that have been around for years. And by no means do I demand fine china. I’m just sayin, for the price I paid, I would expect more out of those areas. They could have taken the time and the small expense to gut the hell outta the taco-bell chairs and given us the park benches with some sawdust on the floor. Gimme free refills for life, and I’ll come with my sledge and goggles and help with the demo! I guess that’s my whole point. The food is great, but its really lacking the charm. I couldn’t help but feel it was a warmed over Taco Bell, and that’s not just because I knew what it once was. And see, I get the slice of white bread thing. But the roll was tasty! I’ll try the mustard on the pork next time.

I don’t think that people just decided to bash him though. He (or someone from his campaign) came on to the site and started being insulting and belligerent to a large group of people. I actually agree that he is not the worst of the bunch but he went out of his way to come be a turd to this community of people. That’s what has most people (I would imagine) upset with him then anything else.

No debate about his mishandling this issue on this site. But then, we get the posts from Gail Ortiz and Darrell Hernandez occasionally spouting the City position but then being unwilling to answer any follow up questions. I’m sure the City staff bashes the bloggers on this site as much if not more than Hatami – they just don’t do it here.

I think his tirade was far worse than anything that has been said here. Coming from one “mean spirited, and extremeley negative” poster at this site that is a “cancer” on the City of SCV. Jon deserved much more. Now he just looks like a child playing in the big people’s sandbox. The last thing we need in our City government is another person who doesn’t take responsiblity for his own actions. NEXT

For one, the initial post was timely, posted hours after I read the column. A thing happened and I wrote a piece about that thing. If you look at the post again, there’s little in the way of “negative energy”, just the facts more or less. It was long because I wanted to be thorough and if I was going to raise the possibility of plagiarism (which, since he’s claimed authorship and explained the way he composed the piece, is no longer a simply a possibility – he is a plagiarist). (mind you, I know you’re not focused on the post, but bear with me) Then the real story happens. He committed political suicide right here on the front lawn. So naturally people at the very scene where it just happened are going to talk about it. In the context of Jon Hatami, people are going to talk about Jon Hatami. Ed Colley will get plenty of scrutiny here before the season is over. Exploration is well underway, I assure you. But aside from announcing a run, he hasn’t done much of anything in the last year. He has a better chance of winning than Hatami, I’d imagine, but he’s not on center stage just yet.

Testify!