Zev’s Blog | Zev Yaroslavsky

Weekly Web Flash

A public comment of my own

Gadfly Arnold Sachs says he likes to "annoy the board" by speaking on every agenda item. Photo/Daily News For the past several weeks, a lot has been said and written about my proposal to modify the amount of time each member of the public is allotted for comment during our weekly Board of Supervisors... [Read more]

Affordable housing still matters

Affordable housing must continue, despite state actions. Redevelopment agencies may have begun with noble ideals. But all too often in recent years they have devolved into slush funds for insiders—not to mention a bureaucratic means of denying our schools, social service agencies and fire departments... [Read more]

Flames can’t match burning spirit

Reserve Sheriff Shervin Lalezary. Every now and then, a crime spree spreads through our communities that it is particularly hard to fathom, so senseless and random that it catches us off guard, even in a region that, sadly, is no stranger to crime. During four days over the New Year’s holiday, we were... [Read more]

Not the ticket for fair play

On New Year’s Day, California will begin offering a gift of sorts to motorists across the state who’ve failed to pay a cent on traffic ticket fines and penalties that were due on or before January 1, 2009. Now, under a new law, they’ll have six months to pay just half of what they owe. In the legislature’s... [Read more]

We’ve all got a stake in the jail

Capt. Ralph Ornelas discusses conditions in the Men's Central Jail with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The Men’s Central Jail sits on the edge of downtown, a non-descript structure surrounded by a cottage industry of bail bondsmen. Built mostly during the Kennedy Administration, it’s a deeply depressing... [Read more]