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June 29, 2022
Four From The 1980s
Snow on the Charles River, Agfachrome, 1985.
The Cloisters, 1986. I don't even remember visiting the Cloisters or how I happened to be there, but no denying the photographic evidence.
Canoes, Polaroid Polapan instant slide film. Late 1980s, but I don't recognize the location.
Filed under Architecture,Photography | permalink | June 29, 2022 at 06:39 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2022
Million Dollar Theatre
A good shot of the Million Dollar Theatre while the Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride was passing by. Photo by westwood1727.
Filed under Architecture,Cities/Urbanism,Cycling,Naturism-Nudism,Photography | permalink | June 28, 2022 at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2022
California Cannabis Cultivation Tax Headed For Repeal
A trailer bill in Sacramento would, among other things, repeal the cannabis cultivation tax which is currently assessed against cultivators at the rate of $10.08/ounce of dried flower.
Filed under California,Marijuana | permalink | June 27, 2022 at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
Herb Ritts Took A Photo In Desert Hot Springs?!
I had never heard of that before. "David with Lampshade, Desert Hot Springs, 1989".
Filed under Art,Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Photography | permalink | June 27, 2022 at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
Desert Recreation District in Cathedral City
The City of Cathedral City is considering joining the Desert Recreation District. Doing the same in Desert Hot Springs has been discussed occasionally. The main drawback for Desert Hot Springs is that some form of additional tax would have to be levied to pay for it. Cathedral City is considering a new property tax to pay for it, according to this article in The Desert Sun, but in keeping with the usual deadhead standards at the newspaper, the article doesn't really tell us what the tax rate would be.
Cathedral City is preparing to have voters decide whether to impose the tax — which would be 15 cents per square foot on single-family residential units — in the Nov. 8 election.
"15 cents per square foot on single-family residential units." Assuming this is a complete and accurate description of the tax, I would take that to mean SFRs would be taxed at 15¢/s.f. of inhabitable space (of course); and that in multi-family buildings it would be applied to the square footage of the residential units themselves, excluding common areas; and that commercial and industrial properties would be exempt. But that would be a difficult tax to sell and to assess. So I went digging into the agenda for the city council of Cathedral City and, quelle surprise, that is not how the tax would be assessed.
Here are the facts, which were just too, too difficult for a Desert Sun reporter to research:
These actual proposed rates look to be more fair and palatable than the Desert Sun story led me to believe. Now I wonder why a condo unit will have to pay $24 more than a rental unit. Do condo residents use more recreation facilities than residents of rented apartments?
TL;DR: The Desert Sun continues to suck badly. If you want to know what's happening in your city government, you need to watch your city council meetings (at least).
Filed under Coachella Valley | permalink | June 27, 2022 at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2022
Oh, The Brutality!
The NY Post uses the words "slapped" and "hit." Giuliani himself said "All of a sudden, I feel this, 'Bam!' on my back;" and goes on to say "I feel this tremendous pain in my back." Fortunately, there's video accompanying the NY Post article.
The "hit" was the same sort of gentle tap you might make on any friend's back, just to let him know you are there. The words spoken were a lot stronger than the touch, but the words are covered by the first amendment.
Filed under Politics | permalink | June 26, 2022 at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2022
Front Page Of The Onion Today
Filed under Politics | permalink | June 25, 2022 at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)
Supreme Court Six
The Supreme Court has already ruled that we have a constitutional right to do exactly this.
Filed under Politics | permalink | June 25, 2022 at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)
Ketchup Popsicle
In Canada, you can buy factory-made ketchup popsicles, but French's has also made the recipe available for those who just want to make their own:
- 3¼ cups (810 milliliters) tomato juice
- ½ cup (125 milliliters) French's® Tomato Ketchup
- 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) FRANK'S RedHot® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- Caesar Rim ["salt, spices (including red pepper), sugar, citric acid, corn maltodextrin, dehydrated onion, natural flavour (contains soy)"]
- WHISK tomato juice, Ketchup and RedHot sauce in large pitcher or measuring cup until well blended.
- POUR mixture into popsicle molds of your desired shape and size. Freeze at least 8 hours or until solid. Serve frozen, sprinkled lightly with Caesar Rim, if desired.
One undefined serving contains 11 grams carbohydrates and 658 mg sodium.
If you like to experiment, add some mayonnaise into the recipe and let us know how it turns out.
Filed under Food and Drink | permalink | June 25, 2022 at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2022
Old Stuff In Slides
Greg in Washington DC, Kodachrome, possibly 2001.
St. Patrick's Cathedral and Atlas, Agfachrome, 1983.
Two Wall Street, 1985.
Myself at Tanglewood, late 1980s.
Filed under Architecture,Photography | permalink | June 24, 2022 at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2022
Desert Hot Springs LGBTA+ Pride Proclamation Video
Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Gay Issues | permalink | June 22, 2022 at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2022
First-Ever Pride Proclamation In Desert Hot Springs
Desert Hot Springs' first-ever proclamation recognizing LGBTQIA+ Pride was delivered at tonight's city council meeting by Mayor Scott Matas.
Mayor Matas reading the proclamation.
Planning Commissioner James Nindel speaking on the significance and need for the proclamation.
And while I'm on the subject, you should check out GayDHS.com.
The City Council meeting tonight was a lot of the usual administrative items that they always have to handle at this time of year: landscape and lighting districts, putting DVD bills on the property tax bill, etc. But there was one significant item: approval of $3,172,000 to Onyx Paving Company and approval of a total project budget of $4,298,600 for a total redo of Palm Drive north of Pierson. This includes not just resurfacing, but bike lanes, sidewalks, additional street lighting, a 4-way stop at 12th Street and newly painted crosswalks. Palm Drive north of Pierson will be reduced to two lanes for motor vehicle traffic. The additional space gained will be used for the sidewalks and bike lanes. Councilmember Nuñez suggested the sidewalks should be 8 feet wide. Assistant City Manager Porras said that 8 foot sidewalks could be constructed where there are no sidewalks, but to tear out all sidewalks to rebuild them to an 8-foot width would really expand the size of this project [and I think it would probably need to be re-bid and, thus, delayed].
Mr. Nuñez's really bonehead suggestion was to retain the current four lanes for motor vehicles on Palm Drive, but WIDEN the road to be able to add sidewalks (16 feet) and bike lanes (maybe another 16 feet or so?). I'd suggest Mr. Nuñez actually go look at that segment of Palm Drive. It has the least traffic of any segment of Palm Drive. Residences north of 12th Street already suffer cramped front yards and driveways and no street parking is permitted. A narrowing of this part of Palm Drive has been under discussion for years. There are businesses along Palm Drive north of Pierson, including the new Dollar General, that are close to the roadway. The city couldn't add 16 feet to a side without the considerable expense of having to tear out or rebuild some commercial buildings.
And then there's the utter lack of need for a 4-lane road that far north in the city. The population won't grow much at that end of the city, unless someone is planning on building multi-family housing up the sides of the mountains. The growth in the city is all farther south, west or east.
The item was approved 3-1 with Mr. Nuñez voting against. Councilmember Betts was absent tonight.
Finally, there was this:
It was okay because no conflagrations were on the schedule for tonight.
Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Gay Issues | permalink | June 21, 2022 at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2022
Something Stinks, Do You Smell It Too?
For years now, Arden Wallum and Nancy Wright have treated MSWD board meetings as if they were their own little coffee chats, speaking spontaneously and freely without recognition from the board president, even interrupting other speakers, including board members, staff and members of the public.
Since the board meeting where then-President Duncan called the cops to eject Director Grasha, every board meeting has begun with the attorney reading the "rules of procedure." I'll summarize:
- The rules of procedure were adopted by the board;
- Rosenberg's Rules of Order are followed;
- Directors should refrain from responding directly to public comments;
- The President is responsible for maintenance of order and decorum;
- No one speaks who has not been first recognized by the President;
- No board member should speak more than once on a subject until every other board member has had a chance to speak;
- No board member shall interfere with the orderly progress of the meeting; and
- The President regulates the amount of time spent on each agenda item.
These guidelines are applied to Director Grasha but usually to no one else. Let me say up front that they do really need to be applied to Director Grasha. He cannot control himself and attempts to run amok at almost every meeting.
The board President is Russ Martin. Nancy Wright is Vice President, but that gives her no special rights when the President is present and presiding.
At the June 16, 2022, study session the discussion of the budget begins at 6:56 in the video of the meeting. President Martin said that before they began to get into the budget, he wanted to discuss some good news about the financing of the new wastewater treatment facility. He recognized staff member Steve Ledbetter to deliver the good news. Arden Wallum began speaking immediately, without asking for recognition and without apology. Mr. Wallum said it was good news, indeed, and asked Mr. Ledbetter if he would like to share the info. Then Mr. Wallum just kept talking. But Director Grasha interrupted with a "point of order," saying "This kind of news should be backed up with documentation." Vice President Wright, unrecognized and unapologetic, said something but she was too far from her microphone to be heard clearly. Mr. Grasha continued, "Making assertions that certain things have happened without the documents being forwarded to the board prior to the meeting." Then Mr. Grasha, never knowing when it's in his own best interest to just shut up, wandered into vague accusations that there have been many lies from other directors and staff. His suggestion that the board should never hear any news unless it's backed up by solid, printed documentation that has already been distributed to the directors is just nonsense. It's common for staff of any agency to share good (and sometimes bad) news with their respective boards as soon as possible, even though sometimes the paper verification won't be received for weeks or even months. If the staff did not do this, directors like Mr. Grasha would accuse them of attempting to hide something.
Ms. Wright began speaking again (unrecognized, of course). She said this is a public meeting so it will be public information...as if that were some sort of satisfying logic.
Mr. Grasha countered with another point of order, "Would you get your board member under control, please." President Martin asked Mr. Grasha if he had made his point. There was no response, so Mr. Martin again recognized Mr. Ledbetter and this time Mr. Wallum let Mr. Ledbetter speak.
He reported that he spoke to the State Water Resources Control Board on June 15 and was told that the assistant deputy director has approved that the new wastewater treatment facility can proceed "at 100% grant funding." Those grants will come from a number of different buckets, but the important thing to my ears is "100% grant funding" which on the bare face of it says to me that someone else will be paying for the construction of the new facility, and it doesn't get any better than that. 100%. He said 100%. The documentation will not be finalized for two to three months, because, jeez, do you have to ask? It involves water and government money from multiple sources. That is not a small and nimble operation.
Mr. Wallum, unrecognized, thanked Mr. Ledbetter and continued to talk, adding no substantive information. Then he asked President Martin if he would like him to introduce the budget. Mr. Martin said he would.
Here's the link to the agenda for the June 16, 2022, meeting with budget info included.
The board had discussed the budget at a workshop earlier this month (video).
Mr. Wallum introduced Finance Director Arturo Ceja. The district has 53 staff positions and this budget seeks to add one more in wastewater. The salary matrix is unchanged from the previous budget.
Director Grasha interrupted to repeat, using different words, his wish to see some documentation of the agreement by the state to 100% fund the construction of the wastewater treatment facility. Mr. Ceja repeated what Mr. Ledbetter had said, in essence. The documentation isn't there because the district doesn't have it yet.
Then Mr. Grasha went on to say that he couldn't find anything in the budget to reflect "the $10-million fine that we're facing that will be required to be paid in October." He's talking about the fine for untimely reporting of a sewage spill at the Horton wastewater treatment plant. The maximum possible fine would be $9-million, but nobody expects the maximum possible fine.
Several voices erupted at once; one of them might have been Mr. Ceja's. Someone sounding like Mr. Wallum said "Irrelevant." Other voices were unclear. Then President Martin spoke saying "You're getting off-topic." Mr. Wallum said "There is no $10-million." Mr. Grasha (who was never recognized to begin with, either) spoke up, "This is a board meeting, not a staff meeting, Mr. General Manager. This is between the five directors. This is the directors' budget. This is what you expect us to provide you and it needs to be complete and the public needs to be assured..."
President Martin called him out of order. Mr. Grasha countered saying Mr. Martin was out of order. Mr. Martin acknowledged that he never recognized Mr. Grasha, but he let him proceed until he "went on this rant."
So, while Mr. Martin may have been right on procedural matters, Mr. Grasha was right in what he said. If Mr. Wallum wants to interrupt a director he should seek recognition from the president before he does so. The only person who had been recognized to speak was Mr. Ceja.
The budget is anticipating a 38% increase in revenue from property taxes, from $1,517,480 this fiscal year to $2,099,989 next fiscal year. Salaries and wages are budgeted to increase about 12.3%, from $4,268,359 to $4,795,173. The biggest increase in budgeted expenses is in capital improvements which will rise from $30,589,349 in 2022 to $87,180,394 in 2023; an increase of $56,591,045, or 185%.
At this moment, the board secretary interrupted to report that Russell Betts had a question. The secretary's interruption was out of order, IMO. She should have either notified President Martin silently (but I don't think they have a way to do this) or wait until Mr. Ceja had finished his presentation. A public comment is not quite an emergency. Mr. Betts said he would be happy to wait until the public comment period, whereupon the secretary responded "Thank you. We'll allow Mr. Ceja to finish his presentation." Oh, we will, will we?! Who actually is presiding at these meetings? The board secretary and Mr. Wallum act as if they're in charge.
Director Grasha (recognized!) said he saw nothing in the budget to address the expenses of meeting the as yet unestablished chromium-6 standard two years hence. We don't know what the standard will be, we don't know what the expense might be, and it's not going to be in the next fiscal year, so what does he want? President Martin called on Mr. Wallum to answer that. Mr. Wallum said the district has no idea what the standard will be. Mr. Ledbetter pointed out the budget does have a line item for a chromium-6 compliance study.
Mr. Grasha continued, failing to acknowledge that no one knows what the target level will be, saying in essence that the district should follow the credo "Ready. Fire. Aim."
Ms Wright spoke up, unrecognized, saying that in the last few years some water agencies have found less expensive ways to deal with chromium-6.
President Martin called for public comments. Pamela Edmondson spoke first. She had three (maybe four) questions
- It appears to her that the total budget is $114-million. Is that correct? Does that cover some of the things brought up by Mr. Grasha?
- The budget shows a revenue increase. What is there to substantiate those increases? Can you really count on that revenue?
- Will those increased revenues provide for hiring additional employees, covering unexpected expenses like chromium-6, or even paving 20th Avenue to the new wastewater treatment facility?
- How close was the district on the 2021-22 FY budget?
Mr. Wallum suggested Mr. Ceja would be the one to answer these questions. President Martin said he was concerned that the board couldn't have a back and forth with a public commenter. "You can," Mr. Wallum incorrectly advised.
The $114-million figure is the Gann limit, not the total budget. Mr. Ceja said he was very conservative in estimating future revenues. (The budget anticipates an increase in water revenue of only 1% and a 2.7% increase in sewer revenue.)
Ms. Edmondson asked if she could ask a follow-up question. President Martin told her to go ahead. Will the interest rate hikes have any influence that the district can foresee? Mr. Ceja said that the district has access to loans at lower than market rates as well as grants. Mr. Wallum spoke again without asking for recognition, saying that the district has already locked in some loans at low interest rates.
Ms. Edmondson said she had one more question. What about new employees or paving that road? Mr. Wallum said that the district had not yet been required to pave the road, but they might be expected to.
Now Mr. Martin called on Mr. Betts for his comment. He spoke about the spill at Horton and the impending fine. He said DWA had been fined $1-million for a sewage spill that they had. Ms. Wright began to speak. Mr. Betts addressed the President saying he would like to get his statement out without being interrupted. Mr. Betts said the Desert Sun reported the DWA fine was $1-million. His question was how is a fine ($10-million or whatever) handled in a budget. President Martin responded that the district was never facing a $10-million fine. The maximum is $9-million. "That's splitting hairs. I'll correct myself to $9-million," Mr. Betts said. Mr. Martin responded, "You're interrupting me."
At this point in the meeting there had been many interruptions by different people, and President Martin sat there silently every time. But now, when a ratepayer calls in with a very legitimate question of how to budget for a potentially large fine of an unknown amount, the President gets snippy and decides the rules will be enforced. Mr. Martin went on to say there had been a lot of back and forth (between whom he did not say) and they were not prepared to give any info. Then Attorney Pinkney spoke up to say there wouldn't be a $9-million fine or anywhere near that figure. The district has been in discussions over the matter but the discussions are still confidential.
Mr. Betts spoke again, "Mr. Chair, may I ask." Mr. Martin replied "Just a moment, just a moment." But Mr. Betts continued speaking "We're way off of the question. I didn't ask for any of these answers."
"You brought it up, sir," Mr. Martin replied. "No I didn't bring...I brought up a very specific question."
"Okay, that's enough. You're cut off," Mr. Martin announced.
There you have it. If you've followed MSWD meetings for as long as I have, you've seen their well-established practice, regardless of who is board president, of being very sloppy in allowing back-and-forths with public commenters. I don't think they should do it that way, but there is no question that the standard of conduct at MSWD board meetings permits casual back and forth conversations between the public and either staff or the board. But now that someone wants to ask a real question about how a potential $9-million fine can be budgeted for, the ax drops, the board is going to work to the rules and the ratepayer can just shut up and fuck off.
This is from the same board that knew about the spill and the potential fine, but never informed the public until Director Grasha brought it up at a board meeting. Some shit stinks here. I just can't tell yet how deep the shit is or who has stepped in it.
President Martin felt the need to add "One of the things that was another mistake that Councilman Betts made was the fine for DWA. Nancy can you clarify that?" Ms. Wright said the fine was $150,000-$160,000 plus building some project. "The $9.5 million what it was in the newspaper, that was somebody else made those. They took what the maximum fines could be. I don't think I've ever seen a maximum fine actually used." The $9.5-million figure was never put out by the regional board.
All still leaving Mr. Betts question unanswered. I'd like to know the answer too. Yes, the board can mut a public commenter who is abusing his privileges, but that doesn't mean the comment and question just go away. I'd like to know how it is budgeted and I'd really like to know why the board is so defensive that they can't even hear the question. The answer might be as simple as "We just don't put it in the budget; when we know the final amount, then we'll adjust the budget." Maybe. But nobody was willing to say that.
BTW, the DWA fine was $181,947, but half of that amount will go to "purchase and install the Cathedral Canyon Lift Station Flow Meter Monitoring Vault and Sample Box to detect flow variations that indicate pipe breakages and take water samples to identify pollution in the river channel and local groundwater." But DWA's fine was for the sewage spill. It's my understanding (not that anyone on the MSWD board would ever feel the need to explain to the public) that MSWD's violation was that the sewage spill was not reported in a timely fashion, so we may be comparing apples and applesauce.
Mr. Grasha had another point of order. But now that President Martin had strapped on his testicles, he interrupted Mr. Grasha to say he was not recognized and Mr. Grasha stopped.
That was the end of the budget discussion. The board meets again on Monday, June 20 (no Juneteenth holiday for them!) to vote on it.
If you'd like to see a meeting properly and efficiently conducted in accordance with the Brown Act, you only need to look to the City Council of Desert Hot Springs. It's extremely rare for the City Manager to speak up unless called on by the Mayor. If anyone tries to speak over another person, Mayor Matas will shut that down instantly. He never, never, ever permits a back and forth with a public commenter. And no one is on a first-name basis while the meeting is proceeding.
Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs | permalink | June 17, 2022 at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
Death In Death Valley
Sounds like same ol', same ol', but not. David Kelleher [my age!] died trying to walk from the parking lot at Zabriskie Point to Furnace Creek. This foolishness was entirely survivable. I acknowledge it's June and we just had a heat wave, but Zabriskie Point is one of the more popular and easily accessible sites in the park, located right on state highway 190 that bisects the park, east to west. If you're out of gas at Zabriskie Point just sit and wait. Someone will be along eventually, even in June. There are the standard well-built toilets at Zabriskie Point that one could shelter in during daylight. Walking from Zabriskie Point to Furnace Creek is very do-able AT NIGHT. It's all downhill and nighttime temps are certainly below 100°(F), possibly even below 90°. Of course, while walking that route one should stay on the highway, on the chance that some other night traveller will come along in a motor vehicle. Once one gets to the gas station at Furnace Creek, one should wait to get a ride back to Zabriskie Point, since it's all going to be uphill in the return direction.
Kelleher left Zabriskie Point. His body was found about 2½ miles down highway 190, thirty feet from the pavement where he was hidden from view.
Filed under California | permalink | June 17, 2022 at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
Anza Prefers Its Cannabis To Be Illegal
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has denied a permit for a cannabis dispensary in Anza. Anza, which has been plagued with numerous illegal cannabis cultivation sites (and nearly equally numerous raids from the Sheriff), prefers the status quo. I imagine a great number of the residents of Anza are the sort of people who think that things just go away when you make them illegal.
"Supervisor Chuck Washington, who represents Anza, said he’s 'not naive enough to not think that no one in Anza Valley is using cannabis.'" Anyone who can accurately translate that string of negatives is entitled to one free reefer from any dealer in Anza.
Filed under Marijuana | permalink | June 17, 2022 at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2022
A Variety
Rockefeller Center, Agfachrome, 1983. This one had taken on a bit of a magenta cast and the easiest way to get rid of that was just to make it black & white.
One Financial Center in Boston with the shadow of the Federal Reserve Bank falling on it, 1983.
At gay pride in Boston, 2001, Kodachrome.
Wrigley Building, 1984.
Filed under Architecture,Gay Issues,Photography | permalink | June 16, 2022 at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
Another Wrong-way Driver On Comm Ave IN THE SAME PLACE!
Actually, this one is going the wrong way outbound, while the other was inbound. The problem lies in the confusing intersection shown below. The outbound Green Line runs right up the middle of Comm Ave until it reaches this corner. After the run, Comm Ave picks up two additional side roads for local traffic, while the Green Line shifts to the right so it runs between the outbound Comm Ave lanes and the outbound local Comm Ave road. Sometimes cars going outbound will turn onto the Green Line tracks and get stuck. This intersection didn't even have traffic lights until the 1990s.
However, the confusing intersection at Packard's Corner is no excuse for the driver in the earlier video who was driving inbound in the outbound lanes. Probably just drunk.
Filed under Cities/Urbanism | permalink | June 16, 2022 at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2022
Photos From The MSWD Groundbreaking
Yesterday was the groundbreaking ceremony for the new wastewater treatment facility for the Mission Springs Water District.
MSWD General Manager Arden Wallum.
Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas.
If you're missing a 50mm Canon lens, you left it sitting like this atop a loudspeaker.
Filed under Coachella Valley,Desert Hot Springs,Photography | permalink | June 11, 2022 at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2022
Comm Ave, Allston
A bit of Commonwealth Avenue in the neighborhood where I used to live.
Filed under Automotive,Cities/Urbanism | permalink | June 7, 2022 at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2022
Mosquito Repellers
Wirecutter researched mosquito repellers and found a few that actually work when there's no breeze. The top pick is a $40 gadget. Second pick is a $35 gadget. But their "budget pick" is nothing more than classic mosquito repelling coils that you light like incense. "These inexpensive mosquito coils work as well as our picks, but they’re not as portable, versatile, or durable. And unlike our picks, their burning ends release a smoke that has an odor." [Emphasis added.]
Filed under Health | permalink | June 5, 2022 at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
