LB Citizens About Responsible Planning (CARP) Leadership Unanimously Votes To Urge Mayor/Council's Planning Comm'r LaFarga To Decline Appointment, Urges Someone With Long-Term LB Residence And History Of Supporting LB Residents And Neighborhoods; Meanwhile, Ass'y Speaker Rendon Appoints Him To State's "Little Hoover Comm'n"

' LB Citizens About Responsible Planning (CARP) Leadership Unanimously Votes To Urge Mayor/Council's Planning Comm'r LaFarga To Decline Appointment, Urges Someone With Long-Term LB Residence And History Of Supporting LB Residents And Neighborhoods; Meanwhile, Ass'y Speaker Rendon Appoints Him To State's "Little Hoover Comm'n"

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(Aug. 8, 2017, 10:45 a.m.) -- LBREPORT.com has learned that on July 30, the governing board of Citizens About Responsible Planning (CARP) unanimously voted to adopt a resolution urging "all Long Beach City Council members to strongly encourage" Mayor Garcia's chosen Planning Commission appointee, Josh LaFarga, to decline the appointment and urges the Mayor and Council to approve someone "with a demonstrated history of long term residence in Long Beach and of supporting residents and Long Beach neighborhoods."

CARP, led by President Joe Weinstein, Ph.D and including a number of veteran civic activists, has focused its attention on City Hall actions that it says raise development and planning policy issues. The group recently won concessions in a CEQA/EIR litigation settlement in which a developer agreed to reduce some density aspects of the "Riverwalk" housing project that LB's City Council had voted to allow on the former open-space Will J. Reid scout park site (bordering east bank of L.A. river, 8th Council district.)

CARP's resolution re the Planning Commission appointment follows a vote by the recently-revived grassroots Council of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO), which voted on July 27 to call on the Mayor and Council to rescind their recent approval of Mr. LaFarga for appointment to LB's Planning Commission. (The July 27 CONO vote was nearly unanimous, with only the Wrigley Association abstaining (on grounds it needed the Association's approval.)

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On July 14 Mayor Garcia announced the surprise resignation (effective in October) of an incumbent Planning Commissioner and simultaneously announced the appointment of Mr. LaFarga, who until only weeks earlier was an L.A. resident and former member of an L.A. City Hall Commission. Real estate records show Mr. LaFarga bought a house in North Long Beach in late May, just weeks before Mayor Garcia chose him for the position on a City Hall body with voting/recommendation powers on land use, zoning, development and neighborhood impacting projects citywide. On July 18, the Council voted to approve Mayor Garcia's desired appointment of Mr. LaFarga (among several other Mayoral choices) 8-0. (Councilwoman Gonzalez recused herself as the Mayor appointed her significant other to the LB Transit governing board.)

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Mr. LaFarga holds a leadership position in the Laborers Plaster and Tenders" Union ("LiUNA!") Local 1309, whose PAC has made campaign and officeholder contributions to the Mayor and a number of LB Councilmembers. The union's PAC gave Mayor Garcia's "officeholder account" $1,000 in May 2016 and $1,000 in May 2017. It also gave $750 in Sept. 2016 to the "officeholder account" of Councilman Roberto Uranga.

The union PAC also gave $400 to the re-election campaign (2016 write-in) of Councilmember Dee Andrews (2016 write-in), $800 ($400 primary + $400 runoff) to the 2016 election campaign of Council candidate Jeannine Pearce, and $40,000 (May 2016) to the "Mayor Garcia, Foster & O'Neill Committee to Support Measures A & B" sales tax increase on the June 2016 ballot)

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Meanwhile, in June 2017 Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D, Lakewood-Paramount) appointed Mr. LaFarga to the state's Little Hoover Commission, whose website describes Mr. LaFarga as follows;

[Little Hoover Comm'n website text]
NPP [no party preference stated] - Wilmington
Joshua LaFarga serves as the director of public and government affairs and as recording secretary and executive board member at LiUNA! Local 1309, which is one of the largest and most active trade unions in Southern California.
In 2017, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed Mr. LaFarga to serve on their Building Rehabilitation Appeals Board. In 2016, he was appointed to serve as a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. Additionally, in 2015, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Mr. LaFarga to serve on the Board of Neighborhood Commissioners.
He serves on the South Bay Workforce Investment Board’s Board of Directors and as co-chair of the Legislative Committee for FuturePorts. He also serves on the Red Shoe Society Board of Directors for the Long Beach Ronald McDonald House and on the California Coalition for Clean Air’s non-profit board.
He was honored with the Senate District 35's Extraordinary Citizen Award and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s 2015 Southern Pacific Regional Latino Leaders Award. Mr. LaFarga was appointed to the Little Hoover Commission by Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon in June 2017.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The Little Hoover Commission (the "Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy") is [website text] "an independent state oversight agency created in 1962. The Commission's mission is to investigate state government operations and -- through reports, recommendations and legislative proposals -- promote efficiency, economy and improved service...By statute, the Commission is a balanced bipartisan board composed of five citizen members appointed by the Governor, four citizen members appointed by the Legislature, two Senators and two Assembly members. The full Commission selects study topics that come to its attention from citizens, legislators and other sources. In addition, it has a statutory obligation to review and make recommendations on proposed government reorganization plans."

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