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GETTING TO KNOW GLORIA MOLINA
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PATTON
COMMENT |
 Excerpts from a July 13, 2004 Board of
Supervisors' meeting |
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Sheriff Lee Baca: Well, there could be that but there's also the opportunity,
if we say, as a county, we need to sue somebody for this reimbursement, we have
the data to verify why that suit is valid.
Sup. Molina: But, right now, we have the data to recognize and understand that
the federal government isn't reimbursing us. We've gone to D.C. together on this
issue because I really believe the feds should reimburse us on those issues and
they haven't done so and they aren't willing to honor the formula that's in place
today.
...
Sup. Antonovich: first of all, we could vote on it today. We could vote on
it next week. The problem is, it occurred yesterday. We have people there that
are not being identified and we are losing revenues as we speak.
Sup. Molina: that is not true. That is not true. Supervisor antonovich, putting
out the wrong information to the public is...
Sup. Antonovich: First of all, it is not...
Sup. Molina: We are not losing revenue by-- if we identify the people, they
don't reimburse us if we identify six more.
Sheriff Lee Baca: We have time. We have time, Mike.
Sup. Antonovich: In order to be reimbursed, you have to identify them.
Sup. Molina: That is not true.
Sup. Antonovich: In order to be reimbursed, you have to be identify and then
go through the formula. The problem is, the people you identify are also in there
because they committed criminal acts. If we want to get tough on crime, we have
to get tough on crime, and it's a decision that this board has to make. Do we
work as a partner with these additional non-sworn personnel to assist in a very
important issue that impacts the safety of our community? Period.
Sup. Molina: Again, the issue is, I think that one of the partnerships that
we have had in law enforcement, and it's not just the partnership with the federal
government but the partnership with the public, and the partnership with the
public is how we respond to the issues before us....
And it is a partnership.
The partnership isn't exclusively with the federal government. We are a government
that serves our county residents and, as we are going out to our county voters
and asking them to increase their sales tax in order to provide more security,
the partnership is with those residents, not with the federal government.
Our partnership with the federal government today is to allow them into our
jails and to conduct these interviews.
And so we have to be very cautious as we start fuzzing up those lines and start
maybe creating a mechanism by which people would not call their sheriffs when
they need to call their sheriffs because they'd be frightened of reporting crime,
of being witnesses to crime, because they would fear doing it.
And you know how effective it is and how important it is that if you cannot
prosecute these individuals because no one will testify and no one will come
forward because they don't trust us, then you're creating secondary problems.
"Tonight Latinos across this country are coming together and they are shouting
one thing - we are united. And we are united because we want to demand the kind
of political respect that we should have. We demand to be counted. And what we
know as well is that the big giant that they keep talking about is awakening.
And he's pretty angry about what's going on. Ya basta! (enough). This community
is no longer going to stand for it.
Because tonight we are organizing across this country in a single mission,
in a plan. We're going to organize like we've never organized before. We are
going to go into our neighborhoods, we are going to register voters, we are going
to talk to all of those young people who need to become registered voters and
go out to vote and we are politicizing every single one of those new citizens
that are becoming citizens of this country.
And what we are saying is by November we will have one million additional Latino
voters in this country, and we are going to march, we are going to march right
to the ballot box because we are tired of being taken advantage of for far too
long and the only thing that many of these people are going to respect is our
vote.
And our vote is going to be important. But I gotta tell you that a lot of people
are saying, 'I'm going to go out there and vote because I want to PAY THEM BACK!'
Jocelyn Y. Stewart
Los Angeles Times Magazine Sunday, September 12, 1999, COVER STORY.
Molina out, Latino advocacy group looks east for new leader - Law - Joseph
Stern to repalce Gloria Molina as chairman of Mexican American Legal Defense
and Educational Fund - Brief Article Los Angeles Business Journal, May 20, 2002
by Amanda Bronstad
THE Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, has a new
chairman after three years under the leadership of Los Angeles County Supervisor
Gloria Molina.
The downside of the California recall is that I've lost all confidence in the
national political pundits, all of whom are positioning themselves as experts
on California politics. Granted, the dynamics of the recall are voter revolt,
so the traditional alliances aren't all that important, but it seems to me that
the pundocracy should at least endeavor to learn the basics. So in the interest
of universal consciousness-raising, here are a few basic facts.
Democratic Party politics are dictated in this state by two large machines
and two small ones. The Willie Brown/John Burton machine, actually started by
John's now-deceased elder brother Phillip, rules the Frisco Bay area, and the
Howard Berman/Henry Waxman West LA machine rules the south. Phillip Burton was
the master of gerrymandering, and he engineered the scenario that ensures Democratic
control of the legislature and the dominance of Frisco over LA thirty years ago.
There are two smaller but increasingly important Latino machines, one run by
Gloria Molina in LA, and the other by Chuck Calderon and Richard Polanco. The
Calderon/Polanco machine is more pro-business and moderate, and less "Latino
pride" and feminist than the Molina machine. There's a lot of bad blood between
the two Latino machines.
The Machine Lives Alatorre Is Gone, But His Legacy Isn't by Tony Castro
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/99/19/politics-castro.php
This is par for candidates backed by the Eastside machine. In 1982, a Los Angeles
Herald Examiner investigation found that then-Assemblyman Art Torres, now head
of the California Democratic Party, then Assembly candidate Gloria Molina and
several of their aides were all registered to vote at the same small East Los
Angeles apartment. No action was taken against them, and Torres retaliated by
introducing legislation that would make it a crime for anyone to publish a legislator's
home address.
Primary Colors Los Angeles Magazine, Feb, 2001 by Bobbi Murray The judiciousness
with which colleagues choose their words when describing Polanco (none would
speak for the record) suggests another facet of Ns reputation--a long memory
for those who cross him. Polanco's tiff with Supervisor Gloria Molina, herself
no slouch at indulging political grudges, is the stuff of legend. Molina ran
her first assembly race against Polanco in 1982 and won--in defiance of the old-boy
network that had already anointed Polanco its man. The 1st District council spot,
some speculate, would be little more than an eight-year way station for Polanco
as he gathers political chits to make a run for a seat on the Board of Supervisors,
the one--by sheer coincidence--presently held by Molina.
Los Angeles Business Journal, June 16, 2003 Rogers & Associates has named Robert
Alaniz senior vice president, public affairs and member of the firm's Latino
strategies group. Alaniz was previously press secretary for L.A. County Supervisor
Gloria Molina and director of public affairs at the L.A. Community Redevelopment
Agency.
LA County Supervisor vote to continue accepting Mexican IDs despite District
Attorney's warning
By Michelle Rester The L.A. Daily News (Los Angeles) January 15, 2003
Los Angeles County will continue to accept matricular consular cards from illegal
Mexican immigrants seeking services despite the district attorney's warning of
potential security risks associated with the IDs.
Los Angeles County supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to allow immigrants to continue
using the cards, issued by the Mexican Consulate, to open bank accounts, get
library cards, report crimes and receive county services. The program, now in
its infancy, will be evaluated in a year. But District Attorney Stephen Cooley
and Supervisor Michael Antonovich expressed concern about security, noting that
the consulate does not conduct fingerprint or criminal background checks or require
sufficient verification.
The identification cards are just that, said county Supervisor Gloria Molina,
who disagreed the cards would be used for anything other than matching a face
and name to perform regular tasks like signing children up for Little League,
reporting domestic violence and other crimes, as well as opening bank accounts
to avoid risky and expensive cash living.
"I think for a long time many of these individuals have been invisible in this
process," Molina said.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune Usual suspects shoot down invader health cost reform
attempt Recommendations intended to curb illegal immigration and the estimated
$350 million per year Los Angeles County spends providing immigrants free health
care have been shot down. -- County supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Gloria
Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky cast the majority "no' vote earlier this week. --
Yaroslavsky and Molina say they aren't necessarily opposed to recommendations
made by Supervisor Michael Antonovich....
Gloria Molina, Los Angeles County Supervisor "We are politicizing every single
one of these new citizens that are becoming citizens of this country.I gotta
tell you that a lot of people are saying, "I'm going to go out there and vote
because I want to pay them back."
Gloria Molina is the former national chair of the MALDEF board.
Los Angeles County Supervisor, Gloria Molina, is cozy with Anti-semite separatist
Hector Carreon, publisher of La Voz de Aztlan. He is the former web master of
anti-Semitic "Nation of Aztlan" and presently the publisher of "La Voz de Aztlan,"
(The Voice of Aztlan), a vicious anti-Semitic on-line publication. He is a Chicano
separatist who calls California "Alta California." He admires leaders like Yassar
Arafat and Fidel Castro. He considers Israel's defense against terrorism as immoral,
and Hamas' suicide bombings that target Israeli civilians, as noble. His editorial,
Anthrax Terrorists May Be Zionists was reprinted by the "Syria Times" last October,
2001, and portrayed by the Arab world as a credible piece of news. A follow-up
article was also posted FBI Closes in on Anthrax Terrorist -- Prime Suspect is
a Zionist.
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PATTON
COMMENT |
Here is a brief bit about her involvement
in the billboard wars of 1998: |
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California's Bizarre Billboard War Over Immigration By Julie Reynolds
Date: 07-16-98
California's troubled quarrel over immigration has sprouted into a very large
format indeed. Billboards near the Arizona-California border, and close to Los
Angeles have sparked controversies that reveal emotions too strong to be concealed
for long. PNS commentator Julie Reynolds is an editor for El Andar Publications
and the Electric Mercado web site in Santa Cruz, California.
Many residents only saw larger-than-life images of Latino criminals. Los Angeles
County Supervisor Gloria Molina was furious and reported that 85 percent of the
constituents who called her office were upset about the "negative, stereotypical
images of Latinos," according to her aide Miguel Santana.
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PATTON
COMMENT |
CHAPTER THREE HUGH RODHAM'S ROLE IN LOBBYING FOR GRANTS OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
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http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/clinton/pardonrpt/ch3031302hcgrcprdrpt.pdf
Kaiser Family
Daily Health Policy Report
Thursday, August 22, 2002
Los Angeles County Supervisors Approve Reductions to County's Health System
[Aug 22, 2002]
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 21 voted unanimously to
close 11 of the county's 18 public health clinics, close four school-based health
centers and end inpatient services at High Desert Hospital in Lancaster, Calif.,
as part of a plan to help reduce a $710 million budget deficit in the county's
health system, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports (AP/Sacramento Bee, 8/21). The plan
also will reduce funds for childhood immunizations, tests for sexually transmitted
diseases and examinations for communicable diseases. In addition, the county
will lay off 4,230 health care workers by 2006, the Los Angeles Times reports
(Briscoe/Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 8/21). The supervisors first approved the
plan, which will save the county an estimated $150 million, on June 26 (AP/Sacramento
Bee, 8/21). Under state law, the supervisors had to hold public hearings on the
plan, after which time they voted on the proposal a second time. At a hearing
yesterday before the vote, about 700 health care advocates and residents criticized
the plan, but supervisors said that the "cuts were unavoidable."
Scheduled Reductions County health officials will begin to eliminate services
on Aug. 30, and the 15 health clinics and centers will close by October. In addition,
the county plans to convert High Desert Hospital to an outpatient clinic in May
2003, although supervisors approved a six-month pilot program that will allow
the facility to "try to generate new revenue by offering unused beds to neighboring
hospitals and medical groups." Supervisor Gloria Molina said, "We are on our
last leg, unfortunately, in this whole area. This is one of the most unfortunate
votes I will ever make on this Board of Supervisors" (Los Angeles Times, 8/21).
The county Department of Health Services plans to propose additional reductions
in October, such as the closure of emergency room and inpatient services at Harbor-UCLA
and Olive View medical centers (AP/Sacramento Bee, 8/21).
Perhaps the cuts would be avoidable if Los Angeles and the remainder of the
Union enforced their immigration laws and cut off this innundating tide: Posted
by Armed Liberal at 11:50 AM June 24, 2002
County-USC doctors recount this story to illustrate a dynamic that makes them
both proud and frustrated: People who are turned away from other medical facilities
for lack of funds come from across the region and the state, even from abroad,
to L.A. County's public hospitals for a wide range of essentially free medical
care.
But the strain of caring for the poor and uninsured is forcing local officials
to reconsider the amount of care they offer. The health department is asking
the Board of Supervisors this week to adopt a strategy that would reduce the
number of places patients can receive general medical care but, for the time
being, preserve high-end hospital care and emergency rooms.
By doing that, the county will be attempting what critics say is an impossible
balancing act-maintaining its commitment to take all comers, even while making
it more difficult for patients to find medical help. It may also run the risk
of flooding already overburdened emergency rooms with patients who have been
unable to get basic medical care.
"We have been providing a higher level of services to the uninsured than any
other county in this state," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "We're going to have
to downsize the number of services we provide. They're just going to have to
drive farther, wait longer."
Two Latino Activists Travel Separate Paths Traditional politics versus community
organizations
Frank del Olmo Times Staff Writers
25 July 1983
Any Latino activist in Los Angeles can talk about the political limits that
Latinos face locally because so many people in their community are not citizens.
But nothing illustrates the problem so poignantly as the experience of Assemblywoman
Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles).
"When I was elected to the Legislature last year, my own mother couldn't vote
for me because she isn't naturalized," Molina said.
"She has studied to become a citizen, but I guess she's intimidated by the
test," the first Latina ever elected to the California Assembly added sadly.
"I may have to take her by the hand and just tutor her through it. And I know
there are so many others like her. All the talk about how big our population
is, how potent we are, won't mean a thing unless we motivate all our people,
young and old, to vote."
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PATTON
COMMENT |
OK, so what is the connection between Kaiser and Molina? Not much yet. Circumstantial
right now. But damn, I know something is up. Read this about Contreras and Kaiser:
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http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/oct_03/oct_03_11.html
October 2003 o Vol 3, No. 9 o
'Strategic Alliance' Undermines Healthcare Worker's Solidarity
By Charles Walker
Some pro-union California healthcare workers undoubtedly cheered, while others
were taken aback, to learn that Tenet Corp., a major hospital chain, had agreed
not to fight a unionization drive by a major California union, the Service Employees
International Union's Local 250 (SEIU), a 50,000-strong powerhouse in the state's
healthcare industry. Not that any of the pro-union workers wanted the national
114-hospital chain that Tenet owns to remain non-union. But some of the workers,
namely many registered nurses, wanted the chance to have a choice of unions.
They objected to their ballot choices being limited to SEIU or no union. They
wanted a third choice on the ballot, the California Nurses Assn. (CNA), an independent
union of 50,000 registered nurses with some ties to the steelworkers union.
It's clear why the two unions would be jousting over jurisdiction; but why
has Tenet turned 180 degrees from its decidedly anti-union stance, forming what
the corporation and SEIU call a "strategic alliance." In other words, what's
in it for Tenet? "Wall Street analysts," reported the LA Times, "viewed the deal
as a shrewd move by the company under severe pressure from multiple government
investigations of its business practices to buy labor peace and quell criticism
from a union with deep resources and strong political connections in Sacramento,"
the state's capital.
There was a time when the CNA and SEIU Local 250 got along, cooperated and
showed one another a commendable degree of solidarity. But in 1997, "AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney and Kaiser's CEO announced they had concluded an historic
agreement for labor-management cooperation," David Bacon, a labor writer, wrote
at the time. "In return for gaining major wage increases and benefits for its
members, the union cooperated with Kaiser's controversial cost-cutting campaign
to replace registered nurses with lesser-licensed hospital staff."
Some patient's advocates have also criticized the Kaiser/SEIU labor-management
pact. Jamie Court, executive director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for
Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, told the Orange County Weekly of May 16, 2003,
"Kaiser and SEIU cut deals over the years that basically speeded up the de-skilling
of the nurses' profession," he said. "They allowed unlicensed personnel, housekeepers,
to answer patient call buttons. They stepped up the role of unlicensed professionals
in the delivery of medical care at hospitals. It was cheaper for Kaiser, and
it was good for SEIU because they represented the less-skilled workers, but it
was bad for registered nurses and bad for patients."
Earlier, the patient advocate's group charged that Los Angeles County Federation
of Labor Chief Miguel Contreras lobbied "heavily for two weeks side-by-side with
Kaiser, the state's largest HMO, to stop" legislation meant to ease mandatory
arbitration of patients' most serious allegations of malpractice, "despite the
fact that it would have given workers more choices and labor has been working
to stop mandatory arbitration in employment contracts.
The only known motivation for Contreras to take a position counter to workers'
interests is the fact that the union that put him in power, SEIU, has a 'partnership'
with Kaiser in which each helps the other quietly. For example, it was an SEIU
local that cut a recent deal with Kaiser that paid unlicensed telephone call
center clerks financial bonuses for not scheduling doctors appointments, not
transferring calls to nurses and hanging up."
The history of the dispute indicates that there's more to the clash than merely
a jurisdictional dispute, even though the SEIU's Nurse Alliance, claiming 110,000
nurses nationwide, competes for representation of nurses. That history shows
that the dispute originated with President Sweeney's labor-management pact with
Kaiser. That indicates a basic difference, a principled difference, between the
two unions. While the SEIU seeks "shortcuts" to the admittedly tough job of organizing
health care workers, the CNA asked, "organize to what end?" Speaking about the
SEIU-Kaiser "strategic alliance," the CNA's principal spokesperson, Rose Ann
DeMoro, rightly declared six years ago, "You can't be on the side of the public
and the side of the corporation at the same time. The agreement places the union
in the position of being a special interest, while we should be the strongest
to be advocates for patient care."
http://www.hispanicprwire.com/release_KPMedical2_ENG.htm
EAST LOS ANGELES CELEBRATES EXPANSION OF KAISER PERMANENTE MEDICAL OFFICES
LOS ANGELES, CA--(HISPANIC WIRE - BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002--Kaiser Permanente
celebrated the grand opening of its expanded East L.A. medical office building
today by inviting the community to enjoy a "Taste of East L.A.," with the very
best in local cuisine. Physician-led tours in both Spanish and English highlighted
the cultural spirit of the new two-story, 50,000-square-foot Mexican, modern-style
building located at 5119 Pomona Boulevard.
Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Gloria Molina and Assemblywoman Judy Chu
joined the well wishers in applauding architects Taylor & Associates and Barrio
Planners for having realized Kaiser Permanente's vision of a medical building
that reflects the community.
The growth of Hispanic electoral power as Latinos reach for the future - Main
Coverstory
Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino-October
2003 by David Liss
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PCH/is_5_4/ai_113053704
Hilda Solis: In time there will be Hispanic vice-presidential and presidential
candidates, governors, senators and cabinet level officials. There are many individuals
who are filling greater roles in encouraging Hispanics to become involved in
public service, to vote, and to become active in their communities.
My mentor is Gloria Molina, who serves on the LA Board of Supervisors. She
is more important than many statewide office holders and helps many Hispanics
in her district. Fabian Nunez is a Pico Union area assemblyman who will move
up in the state leadership in California.
Maria Elena Dorazo, with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 11,
has staved to fill a critical role in mobilizing the Latino vote. Miguel Contreras,
director of the LA county AFL-CIO, helps to mobilize religious groups to get
people elected and to fight initiatives that hurt people.
Ms. Solis once memorably said, "We are all Americans whether we are legalized
or not." She's now a two term member of the United States House of Representatives.
Another of her cronies has not been as successful but he's still pretty important:
It's showtime: Villaraigosa, Parks, and company bring fame, power, and-heaven
forbid-charisma to the city council- Los Angeles Magazine, August, 2003 by Kevin
Roderick
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1346/is_8_48/ai_106225244
Villaraigosa has embraced the activist path ever since he got into politics
through union organizing and his appointment to the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority board by county supervisor Gloria Molina. With her backing, he defied
the reigning speaker, Willie Brown, and Eastside power player Richard Polanco
and ran for the assembly Two years later Villaraigosa was the Democrats' majority
floor leader, and two years after that he was speaker himself, a liberal who
was able to win friends even among the Republicans.
In the mayoral race, Republican incumbent Richard Riordan endorsed Villaraigosa.
So did billionaire Eli Broad, as well as Governor Gray Davis and most of the
other top elected Democrats. After he led the primary field it looked as if Villaraigosa,
with establishment backing, would be the city's first Latino elected mayor since
the 19th century Before the general election, however, Hahn--also a Democrat--picked
up the support of prominent San Fernando Valley moderates and conservatives.
He aired ads attacking Villaraigosa for signing a clemency request on behalf
of drug dealer Carlos Vignali, the son of a friend.
10 Well-Established Latina Powerhouses in Los Angeles - Brief Article
Los Angeles Business Journal, Feb 28, 2000
Hilda Solis
State Senator
IN 1994, Soils became the first Latina elected to the state Senate. Then 37,
she quickly established herself as a force in Sacramento with her successful
work to raise the state's minimum wage while supporting other labor and domestic
violence measures.
Now, the El Monte Democrat is challenging longtime congressional incumbent
Rep. Matthew Martinez, D-Monterey Park, in one of the nation's most watched primary
races.
The open March 7 ballot may work in her favor as she's garnered endorsements
from several high-ranking Republicans like county Sheriff Lee Baca -- as well
as from key labor groups, including the County Federation of Labor, and has the
support of county Supervisor Gloria Molina, another powerful local Latina. If
Solis doesn't succeed in her current congressional bid, insiders believe she
can make it in a future election.
A ton of other examples are out there. Chi Mui, a Chinese immigrant, now a
citizen, started off in politics working as a volunteer for Molina. He's now
serving his first term on the San Gabriel City Council. Before that he was the
Senior Field Deputy for Richard Polanco, who was the Senate Majority Leader in
California until 2001 when he resigned due to his involvement in the Clinton
pardon scandal (interestingly enough, Polanco is the person who Molina beat in
her first race for the Assembly).
http://www.beverlyhillsbaseball.com/tonycastro/molina012903.html
The Most Powerful Woman in L.A. January 29, 2003
LOS ANGELES - If you thought the most powerful woman in California was either
Sen. Diane Feinstein or Sen. Barbara Boxer, new House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi
or maybe even Rep. Loretta Sanchez, think again.
The title still belongs to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.
Here's another one, Fabian Nunez, who was mentioned in that first article I
clipped in this email. Nunez is now Speaker of the California Assembly. Here's
an interesting link:
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/Fabian-Nunez-Radical.html
By Lloyd Billingsley August, 2000
Excerpt from 'Union Card, Green Card' - The Radical Vanguard (Fabian Nunez)
in the Los Angeles Labor Movement
If [Bert] Corona is a founding father of Latino activism, then its radical
son is Fabian Nuņez, who until mid-June was the political director of the powerful
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Nuņez left the federation when the Los
Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation, appointed
him head of government relations.
"We don't have economic power because we don't own the means of production,"
Nuņez told a rally in January 1995, where he urged the crowd to "bring Washington
to its knees." A year earlier, in October of 1994, Nuņez and his militant colleague
Juan Jose Gutierrez of the group One Stop Immigration, coordinated a rally of
70,000 immigrants against Proposition 187. Protestors waved Mexican flags and
displayed an American flag with only 13 stars. They called Governor Pete Wilson
a pig, compared Prop. 187 to Hitler's laws against Jews and told "Anglos" to
go back to Europe. Gutierrez is now Senior Political and Community Organizer
for the SEIU.
Check this article out. Apparently he is a full-out totalitarian. http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/affairs071404.htm
Fabian Nunez Should Apologize to War Hero or Resign
By DAVID KLINE
Every year, the state Assembly holds a major celebration of Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr. and his civil rights achievements, complete with singing and a reading
of "I Have a Dream."
Lawmakers also stop what they're doing to honor foreign dignitaries, to celebrate
Cinco de Mayo and, earlier this year, to participate in a demonstration of martial
arts.
But lawmakers don't do anything to celebrate this country's most precious holiday,
Independence Day.
This year was to be different. On June 28 there was to be patriotic singing
and a speech or two in honor of the founders' work in creating this great, independent
nation. The keynote speaker was to be Admiral Jeremiah Denton Jr., best known
for refusing to speak against his country even when faced with torture by the
North Vietnamese.
So Denton knows a thing or two about the importance of freedom, liberty and
independence, and is a perfect choice for a Fourth of July speaker.
But Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, doused the celebration. On
June 23, Nunez aide Diane Pugh sent a memo to lawmakers saying, "Problems have
arisen both with regards to the spirit, content and participation of various
individuals with regard to the ceremony."
Pugh wrote, "It has now turned into a ceremony more in line with Veterans Day
and with ideological overtones that were not presented or agreed to. We are hoping
these issues can be resolved -- if not I doubt the Speaker will ok the proceedings."
...
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PATTON
COMMENT |
It should be noted that Denton did deliver
a speech in the Capitol on June 28-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a conference
room available. Another individual mentioned in that first article is Miguel Contreras.
Here's an interview with him shortly after the last LA Mayoral election where
his guy, Antonio Villaraigosa, was beaten by James Hahn: |
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June 10, 2001 Miguel Contreras: No Election Night Tears
by Greg Goldin The Los Angeles Times
Question: What was at stake for labor in this election?
Answer: Well, at the end of the day, we knew it was probably going to be win-win
for working families. It was going to be a different mayor from what we've had
for the last eight years. That the next mayor was going to be more open to addressing
issues like housing and a living wage. The crusade, if you want to call it that,
was about a first-ever Latino-labor union mayor. But we ended up with a labor-friendly
mayor.
Q: When you meet with Mayor-elect Hahn, what will you tell him?
A: To look at the agreements that have been negotiated at [the massive entertainment
and retail complex currently being built at Hollywood and Highland boulevards
by] TrizecHahn and at the Staples agreement that we just signed here for the
community and for the unions. Those should set the standard for bringing new
development into Los Angeles. Also, to work with us to establish the Playa Vista
project, to work with us on the expansion of the Los Angeles Airport, to work
with us on the renovations at L.A. harbor, to work with us on new downtown hotel
developments and other projects in the city.
Q: How does pushing for those big-ticket public-private construction projects
address the plight of perhaps hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers in Southern
California? They're never going to get those jobs. They toil in sweatshops, plastics
factories, furniture and cabinet-making shops.
A: That's absolutely true.
Q: How did your drive to elect Villaraigosa fit into this equation?
A: Why did we try to achieve Mayor Villaraigosa in Los Angeles? The work force
that needs to be organized in Los Angeles is a Latino work force in low-end service
jobs and manufacturing. So what better than a mayor who speaks their language
and understands their culture and looks like them and is pro-labor. Clearly it
was in our favor to elect a mayor like that, to send a message to these workers
that unions are the tool they need to assimilate into the mainstream and to start
living their share of the American Dream.
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PATTON
COMMENT |
For Mr. Contreras this was not to be the
only time he had to address how his priorities related to his Latino constituency.
Check out this link: |
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LA Weekly http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/33/dissonance-cooper.php Dissonance
Say It. Ain't So, Miguel.
L.A.'s top labor leader shills for the HMO vultures by Marc Cooper
L.A.'S LABOR BOSS, MIGUEL CONTRERAS, PULLED A nasty, fast one last week and
needs to be rushed to the woodshed for some wall-to-wall counseling. As head
of the 800,000-member County Federation of Labor, Contreras is often lionized
as the linchpin of local progressive politics.
But when it came to an urgent, no-brainer, pro-consumer reform of some of the
notorious practices of our morally bereft HMOs, Contreras took a dive. We caught
him smack-dab in bed in the most compromising of positions with the HMO lobbyists
and a kinky trio of spineless local Democrats.
This sordid affair began with a laudable reform measure introduced into the
state Legislature by state Senator Martha Escutia (D-Whittier). Her bill would
have allowed HMO patients (more than 90 percent of California's medically insured)
to escape mandatory arbitration when they have a serious complaint against their
medical provider.
You'd think that state Democrats would stand patiently in line to vote for
this populist, pro-consumer measure. But you'd be wrong. When the bill came before
a key Assembly committee last week, it fell just short of passage and quietly
expired on the table. Three local Assembly Democrats -- Ed Chavez, Gloria Negrete-McLeod
and Paul Koretz -- get equal credit for smothering the bill.
Some critics have pointed to the $42,000 that Chavez has gotten in campaign
contributions from the insurance lobbies as an explanation for the rollover.
But Chavez himself admits to a darker truth. He wasn't flagged off the bill by
Big Business, but rather by Big Labor. Miguel Contreras had vigorously lobbied
him and just about anyone else who would listen to oppose the bill.
Contreras doesn't deny his role. He told local reporters he opposed the reform
bill because rank-and-file union workers were happy with the mandatory-arbitration
system as is. But no record can be found showing that any of the 360 unions that
make up the County Fed opposed the reform measure. And yet Contreras unconvincingly
and pathetically argues, "We did what was best for our members."
What a load of baloney, says Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights, the good people who brought us car-insurance-slashing Proposition
103 and who have been in the forefront of the battle against health-care-industry
greed. "Contreras has got a stable of politicians at his call, and he's using
them at cross-purposes for his workers," says Court. "Here you have a labor chief
who is lobbying hand in hand with the state's biggest HMO to prevent workers
from having a choice to go to court if they are injured by an HMO. Miguel Contreras
is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of Kaiser."
There may be something to what Court alleges. Indeed, it's hard to find any
principled reason for Contreras' championing of the industry hard line. Except,
and this is a big exception, for organized labor's "partnership pact" with Kaiser.
The most powerful of L.A. unions, the Service Employees, entered into the pact
a few years ago -- getting a clear path to organize in return for their support
of industry issues. Now it looks like the first big invoice has come due.
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PATTON
COMMENT |
Interesting turn of events. Check out
this quote from a labor dispute in 1996: |
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http://www.pww.org/archives96/96-05-11-1.html
Miguel Contreras, COPE director for the half-million-member Los Angeles County
Federation of Labor, warned that if Kaiser refuses to agree to a fair contract,
"the unions of L.A. County will fight. If Kaiser wants to fight the labor movement
in Los Angeles, then let's get it on!"
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PATTON
COMMENT |
At
some point, Kaiser must have said the magic word: |
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Kaiser, California Endowment Aid Laid Off Workers http://www.smmirror.com/volume3/issue24/kaiser_california_endowment.asp
Responding to an unprecedented crisis for Southland workers in the hospitality
and tourism industry laid off since September 11, Kaiser Permanente and The California
Endowment will partner with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)
and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) to provide grants
totaling nearly $2 million for displaced workers and their families. A joint
HERE-union employer fund will also provide more than $1 million for emergency
health coverage.
The grants from Kaiser Permanente and The California Endowment (my note- The
California Endowment's website touts their "Multicutural Approach to Health--
now that you've fallen on the floor and gotten back up, you can continue to read)
will extend this effort, providing assistance for thousands of workers and their
families. "We are thrilled that Kaiser Permanente and The California Endowment
are coming to the aid of workers in their time of need," said Miguel Contreras,
Secretary-Treasurer, L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. "This is an example
of how the private sector, philanthropies, and organized labor can join forces
to help the most vulnerable members of our society."
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