Horn would have no delays, knowing that residents in communities he represented such as Downey would have to pay flood insurance required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency until the flood control project on the Los Angeles River and its tributaries was completed.
Horn prepared a statement for release today (Friday, Jan. 11) to coincide with the announcement by FEMA that the flood insurance mandate on most area residents has come to an end.
"The successful early completion of the Los Angeles County flood control project is good news for 500,000 residents in our area who now have better protection from potentially catastrophic floods and for property owners who no longer face mandatory flood insurance premiums each year," Horn said.
"Completion of this project has been among my highest priorities and I am pleased that Congress has provided full federal funding-a total of $157 million-in the past seven years so that this work could be finished five years ahead of schedule. The congressional commitment to properly fund this project has been matched by extraordinary cooperation between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Los Angeles County Public Works Department in assuring that construction work proceeded on an efficient and rapid timetable.
"In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been a strong and active partner in working with the Corps, the county, and local communities to assure prompt action for lifting mandatory flood insurance requirements and opening the process for property owners to seek refunds of one year's premium. Area residents should contact their local city government or attend one of many public meetings that will be held to find out more about obtaining a refund."
Horn congratulates all who have worked so hard to bring the project to a successful finish.
And we would like to thank Steve Horn!
If approved by two thirds of each house of the Legislature, it could be placed on the November ballot.
Open government is not an issue just for newspapers and TV stations. Any activist or concerned citizen of any political viewpoint has a right of access to information regarding how its government operates. It is surprising that many persons new to the political battle don't realize how much information legally is owed them.
Ultimately, this state needs some sort of freedom-of-information commission, similar to Connecticut's, which has the authority to order local agencies to release records.
The Connecticut commission is run like a small claims court: filing fees are minimal, lawyers are not required, and any citizen may ask for action at little expense.
While the present budget-bind in California makes the formation of any such panel unlikely, the passage of an amendment would be a clear sign to government agencies that now drag their feet in response to requests for information.
There is a strong element from the '50s hot-rod days showing up in the concept cars. This has reached production in the Chrysler Viper and the P.T. Cruiser. Lexus took this image to the extreme in a special car for a new Spielberg movie. Not likely to reach production, but then, no one thought the Viper would either.
Nearly every make has a SUV in some size. I don't know how the environmentalists can complain about SUVs when the Kia is about the same as a compact. And as for the Ford Excursion, is that not just a panel truck with windows? If that is not, then the Chevy/GMC Savana is, built in various lengths for up to 15 passengers. Just the thing for soccer moms to haul the team around. (Sometimes I think the environmentalists are just against anything they can't afford to buy.)
The doe-eyed bubble designs that Ford used on the Taurus to try to change the world has died a natural death. The new designs are actually the old boxy style with rounded corners - very strong, a very masculine look.
The bumperless back of the Chevy Corvette has spread to other lines. With the plastic bumper molded into the body, it may be cheaper to manufacturer, but there is going to be a lot of touch-up painting required.
After Honda's CRX success, they want to be even more cool, so the Model X is scheduled for fall production. Displayed with two surfboards sticking out the back, it looks like a funky surfer car.
Big boys' toys are still with us. The James Bond 007 Aston Martin is back from a short hiatus to BMW and the new Lamborghini Murcielago looks more domesticated, at least in appearance, but 205 mph is not domesticated.
There is a lot of design crossover. Probably the most incongruous is the four foot long pick-up truck bed tucked onto the back of a Cadillac replacing the regular trunk. This does not make any sense. If you are driving a Cadillac, you are not hauling a refrigerator over to the new apartment nor the groceries home in the rain. They call it the Escalade. That one will go into the category of the Edsel - a collector's piece.
Ford has done a good job in England. They have saved Jaguar from extinction, but the jury is still out on the Land Rover. In America, Rover is superfluous and Toyota pushed Rover out of Africa. However, German engineering from Volkswagen is going to do wonders for Rolls Royce. English coachwork is unsurpassed, but their engineering is frozen in time.
One thing about this car show that just jumps out at you when you walk in the rooms are the paint jobs. The cars are beautiful in a full palette of colors, bright and mostly metallic, a feast for the eyes. Colors like that used to be custom, now they are just regular production.
There was one throwback to the "good old days" when they made cars for real people. Lincoln is continuing to make the Town Car in the Cartier L model. The magic here is the "L." It means longer. They have put six extra inches in the rear seat leg room including the rear door, which opens to almost 90°. This means you do not have to be a contortionist to get into the car; you can just step in and sit down. For a sedan there is no other manufacturer who even comes close.
There was something at the show for everybody.
Earlier this year, the bipartisan National Commission of Federal Election Reform, chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, looked at balloting problems in the 2000 election and developed a set of specific proposals for reform. The commission's plan was promptly endorsed by President Bush and became the core of the "Help America Vote Act," which passed the House on December 12 by a powerful bipartisan vote of 362 to 63.
The Carter-Ford Commission's most important recommendations are fully adopted in this bill, which authorizes $2.65 billion in federal funds to help states overhaul their election systems. That total includes $400 million to help speed replacement of technologically-ancient punch card voting machines like the ones that caused such trouble in Florida. Punch card systems have the highest rate of error among all voting methods - one recent study by MIT and Caltech estimated that the nationwide error rate for punch cards is 2.5 percent. In a national election, that would mean that nearly one million votes are thrown out and never counted due to mistakes caused by punch card systems. Clearly, we need to make replacement of these antiquated systems a high priority.
To address questions about who is eligible to vote on election day, the legislation requires states to set minimum standards to ensure that statewide voter registration systems are networked to local jurisdictions. And it provides for provisional balloting when a voter is challenged. States also must set clear, uniform standards for what constitutes a vote - addressing the "chad" problem in Florida - and ensure that absent military and overseas voters have their votes counted.
New voting equipment purchased with federal grants would be required to provide effective ways to help voters with disabilities, including the blind, to cast secret ballots. And, all voters would be given an opportunity to correct any errors before their ballot is made final.
In short, this bill provides practical solutions for solving some of our most troublesome problems with registration records and voting equipment. It does so by creating a necessary partnership with state and local governments, which have the direct responsibility for conducting elections. That produced strong endorsements of the bill by the National Association of Secretaries of State, the National Conference of State Legislatures and many local governments such as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which noted: "With respect to the minimum federal elections standards established in the bill, California already complies. In fact, the state's electoral laws and procedures were used as a model when crafting the bill."
In addition to addressing immediate, existing problems, the "Help America Vote Act" would create a new bipartisan Election Assistance Commission to undertake an ongoing effort to improve voting practices, standards and equipment and to help assure that new voting systems are developed and deployed so that voters have up-to-date systems in the future. The permanent bipartisan commission would act as a nationwide resource for information gathering and studying the "best practices" for ballot design and other basic election needs.
Although this legislation is not perfect - some argue that it needs even stronger protections for the disabled and minorities - it clearly is a good-faith effort to deal with a wide range of complicated and difficult problems that cut across federal, state, and local duties and needs. The powerful vote in the House and the strong joint endorsement of Presidents Carter and Ford indicate that this is a sound and sensible basis for election reform. The House was right to pass it and the Senate should now move forward on similar legislation so that we can protect the integrity and credibility of our election process.
But as Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones recently said during a front-line visit to his troops in Afghanistan, "The Marines surprised the Taliban, and the Marines surprised the U.S. Army." He later declared, "The Marine Corps feels it is very well positioned to be a major player in the war on terrorism."
This former Marine veteran who served overseas in WWII and then in the Korean War first addressed the issue of scuttling the Corps when I was a neophyte reporter about halfway between those two wars at the San Francisco News.
Here's a little of what I wrote then; much still applies:
'A great deal is being said to the effect that the Marine Corps will be no more once the unification program for the armed forces is in full swing. What do the Marines think about this, the "little" guys who take orders and do the work?
'Well, for the most part there is widespread fear that if the Marine Corps is turned over to the Army way of life the men will meet with a cold-front attitude from the Army lads. It is a matter of pride that makes a Marine a Marine. He is taught from the very beginning that he is among the best of fighting men and that he has an honorable tradition to live up to....
'There is a story about Army Gen. MacArthur inspecting troops in the Philippines. When he came upon a Marine artillery battery, there was a sign alongside one of the guns that read, "With the help of God and a few Marines, MacArthur retakes the Philippines."...
'Whatever happens to the Marine Corps will be watched closely by a public that cannot, will not, forget that America's No. 1 combat outfit deserves all the consideration a grateful nation can give it.'
ADDENDA: It'd be best if the Corps was left as-is: Navy-affiliated but with independent land and air operations.
Also irritating has been the effort by some to blame American John Walker Lindh becoming a Taliban warrior on his being from Marin County, Calif. For example, self-appointed conservative GOP conscience William Bennett appeared on TV to claim Marin's "liberalism" caused Lindh to reject Christianity and convert to the Islam religion, adding that 20-year-old Lindh's parents "lost their brains" in allowing him to make that choice. (FYI; Lots of men and women from Marin County have served during war times in the U.S. armed forces. Many of them Liberals, too.)
All things considered, this jaded journalist thinks that most of the war correspondents in Afghanistan have been doing a good job under very adverse conditions. For one thing, it's not easy using the modern techniques they are used to as reporters in a decidedly archaic atmosphere. The language barrier must make the job even more difficult.
QUICK QUOTE: 'Diplomats are as essential in starting a war as soldiers are in finishing it.'-Will Rogers