Rebuilding Trust in Our Government
One of Americas statesmen stated “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” His presidency ushered in an era of disdain for government and a widespread cynicism that government could be effective in addressing our challenges.
Today, as we confront a crisis that has shaken confidence in our financial system and economy, we have an opportunity to restore public trust and confidence in the legitimate role of government. Indeed, to effectively tackle our economic challenges and to implement the reforms we need in our healthcare, education, energy, and environmental policies, our government will need to garner strong public support.
However, rebuilding public trust will not happen in the face of a pervasive perception that government is not transparent and accountable, cronyism is rampant, and public officials are more interested in helping themselves than in serving the public good.
Taking strong, swift, and decisive action to address abuses and begin to rebuild public trust should be the first priority for our city, state and federal government in the new legislative session.
Create a Task Force on Public Integrity with a mission to develop a comprehensive proposal for ethics and lobbying reform in our city and state. Which addresses reforms in three areas: (1) strengthening enforcement of ethics, campaign finance, and lobbying laws; (2) strengthening civil and criminal penalties for abuses; and (3) improving awareness and education for public officials.
Reinforce honesty, integrity and transparency by government officials as the core requirement to be and stay in office, any violations of these core tenets will cause the removal of the public official and the loss of "all benefits" retroactive.
While the many of our elected officials and government employees are honest, dedicated public servants, the actions of a few create a dark cloud over all.
Taking strong, swift, and decisive action to address these abuses and begin to rebuild public trust should be the first priority for our city, state and federal government in the new legislative session.
Compiled by: YJ Draiman
http://yjdraimamformayor.com
http://ethics.lacity.org/disclosure/campaign/totals/public_contacts.cfm?election_id=53&viewtype=pf&city=LA&elecpreview=no#8235
Two Major Lawsuits Claim LA Illegally Collected More Than $2 Billion in Taxes
ReplyDeleteJune 9, 2015 By Stephen Frank 1 Comment
Good grief—it looks like the City of Los Angeles stole as much money as Bernie Madoff—and he is in jail and those responsible for the LA thefts get re-elected. Criminals in the courtroom (illegal aliens can now be attorneys in California and New York). In LA the city stole billions by illegally charging taxpayers and ratepayers.
I guess they hoped they would never be caught. Now the problem will be returning the money to those they decided to steal from.
“The first lawsuit, Ardon v. City of Los Angeles, was filed in December, 2009. It alleges that that the 10% Telephone Users Tax was an illegal tax, resulting in the collection of approximately $750 million between 2006 and 2008. With interest, the potential liability to the City is more than $1 billion.
The second class action lawsuit, Patrick Eck v. City of Los Angeles, was filed in April, 2015. It alleges that the undisclosed 8% Transfer Fee levied by the Department of Water and Power is an illegal tax. This has resulted in the collection of over $1.25 billion from Ratepayers since the passage of Proposition 26 in November, 2010.”
Obama famous said, “so sue me”. Guess that disease has spread to all of government—try to get away with criminal action; refusal to enforce the laws, then when caught say, “so sue me”. Billions stolen is not a math mistake—it is a criminal act. Maybe Eric Garcetti should need a good attorney.
Photo courtesy of channone, flickr
Two Major Lawsuits Claim LA Illegally Collected More Than $2 Billion in Taxes
ReplyDeleteJune 9, 2015 By Stephen Frank 1 Comment
Good grief—it looks like the City of Los Angeles stole as much money as Bernie Madoff—and he is in jail and those responsible for the LA thefts get re-elected. Criminals in the courtroom (illegal aliens can now be attorneys in California and New York). In LA the city stole billions by illegally charging taxpayers and ratepayers.
I guess they hoped they would never be caught. Now the problem will be returning the money to those they decided to steal from.
“The first lawsuit, Ardon v. City of Los Angeles, was filed in December, 2009. It alleges that that the 10% Telephone Users Tax was an illegal tax, resulting in the collection of approximately $750 million between 2006 and 2008. With interest, the potential liability to the City is more than $1 billion.
The second class action lawsuit, Patrick Eck v. City of Los Angeles, was filed in April, 2015. It alleges that the undisclosed 8% Transfer Fee levied by the Department of Water and Power is an illegal tax. This has resulted in the collection of over $1.25 billion from Ratepayers since the passage of Proposition 26 in November, 2010.”
Obama famous said, “so sue me”. Guess that disease has spread to all of government—try to get away with criminal action; refusal to enforce the laws, then when caught say, “so sue me”. Billions stolen is not a math mistake—it is a criminal act. Maybe Eric Garcetti should need a good attorney.
Photo courtesy of channone, flickr
Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws-but the final task is not a task for the government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted-when we tolerate what we know is wrong-when we close our eyes to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened-when we fail to speak out-we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.
ReplyDeleteAn elected official duty is to serve the people not himself.
ReplyDeleteA Mayor is elected to serve the people. If the elected official treats his/her position as a seat of power, he/she does not belong in his/her position and must be replaced.
When the voters elect a Mayor or any other elected official it is to serve the people equally without favoritism to any select group. When an elected official violates that trust of the people and considers him-self or some select group first and not the people, than that person must be replaced.
It is an awesome responsibility to serve the people, which mused be assumed with full recognition of its obligation to the people and conduct himself with honesty and integrity, without any bias.
The finances must be handled with extreme care, transparency and accountability is a must.
All laws and ethics must be observed and enforced with no exceptions.
The people’s well being and concerns comes first and foremost.
YJ Draiman for Mayor of LA
Check my website at http://draimanformayor.com