October 23, 2013 – Daily Brief

I had to look up "stack and swivel," the term used by the Mayor in the Boydston/Ferry exchange. It turns out that this is an old military term connoting the literal act of grabbing a male by his private parts in order to move them quickly or in a certain direction. Basically, Mayor Kellar was asking Council member Boydston if he wanted him to grab Frank Ferry by his junk and move him out of the council chamber.

You know, Bob Kellar may just be the most interesting character in all of these goings-on (salty phrases or no). While Ferry is yelling and gesticulating, he's telling Boydston to let Ferry have his turn; I think his dislike of Boydston's council-persona outweighs his desire to keep things calm and orderly.

The stack and swivel comment reminded me of other SCV elected officials making antiquated and head scratching comments, like former Hart Board member Dennis King's use of the terms "loaders" and "narcs."

Kellar has a way of speaking that will be lost to time. Almost like he's always sounded like someone born 20 years earlier. I'm hot and cold on him as a politician, but I always like to hear him talk.

A "fancy pants lawyer"? People in the legal profession in Los Angeles County only consider lawyers with big 100+ lawyer-law firms in Downtown LA or Beverly Hills or Century City to be "fancy pants". Lawyers in Pasadena, Westwood, Universal City, Encino, Santa Monica and Malibu, for example, are never considered "fancy pants lawyers" and are generally looked down upon by lawyers at the large elite law firms. However, being a lawyer in a "fancy pants law firm" does not mean the person is the-best-in-their-specialty. LA is full of lawyers who are wildly successful in representing their clients and who win big cases for their clients are in one man or small law firms outside of the high rent neighborhoods. The reality is that beating one's opposing lawyer is what counts. The lawyer mentioned in today's news summary, Robert P. Silverstein is currently "the best in the business" in terms of defeating in court corrupt public officials who scheme to deny citizens their rights under California statutory and case law as it relates to planning and zoning. I saw the written products of Mr. Silverstein's legal work in a minor skirmish, where he was working to force the City of Santa Clarita to comply with the California Public Records Act. I said to myself "D*mn that guy is good." The case where Mr. Silverstein proved he can "beat the best" involved an extreme level of skullduggery at Los Angeles City Hall relating to a high rise condominium project. See: http://www.laweekly.com/2012-08-30/news/Ho http://www.law360.com/articles/364734/holl I read the trial judge's decision in that case. It was a barn-burner in terms of Mr. Silverstein having proven unlawful conduct by both high level City of LA employees and City of LA elected officials. The City of LA and the developer of that highrise were ordered to redo the Environmental Impact Report for the project. According to LA Weekly, Mr. Silverstein then discovered even more wrongdoing in the do-over, in the form of LA City officials and the same developer hiding geologic reports seemingly indicating the tallest-high-rise-in-Hollywood would be built right on the trace of an active earthquake fault, which is illegal under the Alquist Priolo act. See: http://www.laweekly.com/2013-08-08/news/ho http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/08 Beginning 13 years ago, I got to know both of the Santa Clarita based members of the Sanitation District Board, Bob Kellar and Laurene Weste. They are personable people, and Laurene is good at remembering the nuances of what it is important that she say. However, it's my expectation that ultimately Mr. Silverstein will take both their depositions in the Sanitation District case, and it's my expectation that they will be left like whimpering puppies by the time their questioning under oath is complete. The Sanitation District employees will not do very well at all. And as to the third Sanitation District Director, Mark Ridley Thomas, I wonder if he will have any interest in preparing to be grilled and humiliated like the elected official participants in the Hollywood high rise case have been. I think Mr. Ridley Thomas will figure out that protecting his reputation and re-electability is more important than risking not telling the truth in order to achieve the Sanitation District puppet-masters' goals. So please don't call Robert P. Silverstein a "fancy pants lawyer" because it gives a false impression of what the Sanitation District officials are in for. I think that Mr. Silverstein figuratively wears black leather motorcycle boots, and that he will deliver a sh*t kicking with them. For good or bad, the proceedings in the Sanitation District case will politically change Santa Clarita forever.

Wow. Who's paying his bills and where do I contribute?