February Archives

February 2002

Board Votes Preliminary Approval for Yaroslavsky Plan to Extend Jury Benefits to Contractor Employees – On February 12, the Board gave preliminary approval to an ordinance ordered by an earlier joint motion by Chairman Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Mike Antonovich to extend five days of paid jury service benefits to eligible employees of County contractors. Yaroslavsky called jury service “one of the fundamental pillars of our nation’s judicial system,” and noted that under the new one day/one trial system, while the inconvenience of jury duty has been reduced, the system has also prompted the courts to summon many more citizens for jury service. Taking effect 30 days after its scheduled final reading on February 26, the new ordinance would require County contractors over a certain size to provide their full-time California resident employees at least five days of paid jury service annually.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky (left) joins renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, who displays a model of his proposed daring redesign of the 37-year-old Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) complex, which will replace four aging buildings with a unified and integrated gallery space. Also pictured are Andrea Rich, President and Director of LACMA, and a Koolhaas assistant. Click LACMA redesign for further details. (1/22/02)

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Board Votes Final Approval for Yaroslavsky Plan to Protect Consumers Against Price-Scanner Overcharges – On February 12, the Board of Supervisors voted final approval for another ordinance spurred by a Yaroslavsky motion, this to establish a regular fee-based inspection program for retail price-scanners to help ensure pricing accuracy and better protect consumers against careless or deliberate overcharges. A survey of major discount retailers by the County’s Agricultural Commissioner/Office of Weights and Measures had found widespread scanner inaccuracies that failed to reflect marked-down sale prices and heavily favored the stores over consumers.

Yaroslavsky joins Acting Department of Health Services Director Fred Leaf (left) to announce the closure of an abortion clinic in East Hollywood suspected of operating illegally under dangerous conditions. The raid was prompted by a tip from a suspicious patient, and led to an undercover investigation by the Health Department’s Health Authority Law Enforcement Team (H.A.L.T.), resulting in the closure and arrest of the clinic’s owner. (1/31/02)

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Boards Acts on Yaroslavsky Proposal to Establish Task Force on Children and Youth Physical Fitness – On January 31, the Board unanimously approved Yaroslavsky’s motion to establish a 10-member Task Force on Children and Youth Physical Fitness, a panel formed to hold hearings and compile information concerning diet, exercise and other factors affecting the physical fitness of children and youth in the County. Yaroslavsky said the motion was prompted in part by a 2001 fitness survey of more than one million California 5th, 7th, and 9th graders which found that nearly 80% were deemed physically out of shape, falling short in such key areas as aerobic capacity, flexibility, upper body strength and body fat. But Yaroslavsky also noted that earlier in 2001, he had received his own fitness “wake-up call” after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes – a condition that can be treated with proper diet, exercise and medical supervision. Yaroslavsky’s County task force is to report back to the Board in six months with findings and recommendations to improve youth fitness.

Yaroslavsky takes time out to honor one of his own – Assistant Chief Deputy Ginny Kruger, his long-time staff member for arts and cultural issues – who was surprised and delighted to learn that the Board of Supervisors would be naming a portion of the County’s John Anson Ford Amphitheatre entranceway in her honor. Kruger has been deeply involved in various capital projects to improve and enhance the County’s unique 1930s-vintage outdoor performing-arts venue. In addition, she has served on the John Anson Ford Foundation Board since its 1995 inception, reviewing and overseeing project plans and greatly increasing private fundraising support efforts. (2/1/02)

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Governor Reappoints Yaroslavsky to State Board of Corrections – Gov. Gray Davis recently reappointed Yaroslavsky to a new term on the state Board of Corrections, a 15-member panel constituted to provide ideas and leadership to improve the quality and performance of city and county correctional facilities in California. The governor originally named Yaroslavsky to the Board in March 2000.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky (third from left) joins (from the left) Jeannette Scovill, Malibu Chamber of Commerce President; Grame Cox, California Office of Emergency Services; Joan House, Mayor of Malibu; and Beverly Taki and Tom Sorce of the Corral Canyon Safety Committee to cut the ribbon and dedicate a newly repaired portion of Corral Canyon Road in the City of Malibu, which had been washed out in the spring 2001 rainstorms and reduced to a treacherous one-lane road. Declared an emergency by the Malibu City Council, the road was the only means of access for some 600 residents of Corral Canyon. A combination of state, MTA and County disaster-relief funding secured through Yaroslavsky’s office helped expedite and pay for the repairs. (1/31/02)

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Yaroslavsky Announces Third District Public Works Projects –

A project for improvements on a stretch of Federal Avenue running from Wilshire Boulevard to 225 feet south of Texas Avenue near the Veterans Administration Center. The work will include the resurfacing of roadway pavement; reconstruction of curb, gutter, sidewalk, and driveways; and modification of traffic signals. The County Department of Public Works will open bids for the project on March 12. Click Federal roadwork for further details

Yaroslavsky Announces Commission Appointments in February (+ designates reappointments)

02/12/02 Severyn I. Askenazy+, Los Angeles County Housing Commission

02/12/02 Laura Fay Shell, Los Angeles County Small Business Commission (Ex Officio)

02/12/02 Leonard Schneiderman, Ph.D.+, Commission for Public Social Services

02/05/02 Judith Dillard, Commission on HIV Health Services

01/31/02 Warner Heineman+, Horizons Plan Committee

01/31/02 Harold L. Karpman, M.D.+, Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs

01/31/02 Kecia Brooke Weller, Los Angeles County Commission on Disabilities