Ed Boks's New Job--MOVIE CRITIC

From the Desk of Ed Boks (at his condo, which if for sale...isn't it?):


Ed's hyping a good film. An important film. Ed has lots of time to go to the movies while he's raking in the last few $8000 pay checks. That's right...we're STILL paying him--even though it is common knowledge that he is not working, will not be back and is sitting at home...or at the Playboy Mansion. You wish, Ed.

We'll wait for the last word, I guess. Here's one of them.

"This past weekend I saw an important film entitled "Food, Inc."

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA."

While this film is certainly an important film, we don't need to hear about it from Ed Boks. Do we?
We don't really want to hear anything from you , Ed. We just want you to go away. Quietly

Ed Boks : "I'm sticking it out at long as I can." Is Linda Barth on deck to be the next GM?

After City Councilmember Richard Alarcon launched his explosive press release (see previous post) declaring that Council has made a motion of "NO CONFIDENCE" in General Manager Ed Boks, we are forced to wonder how many lives has Ed Boks? Is he "done" or just "medium well?"

Since January 2006, when Boks landed his carpet bag on our shores, blunder after hopeless blunder have sunk the stock value of Ed Boks in the Los Angeles animal community. But what's the bottom for Ed? Will Villaraigosa take this golden opportunity to extend a hand pointing east? We've seenBoks rise from the ashes so many times before that we're not yet convinced that, having stuck the fork in, Ed Boks will be "DONE."

Boks told reporter Rick Orlov, "I'm sticking it out as long as I can" after the fed-up council members Zine, Alarcon, Cardenas and company fired the first shot.

Linda Barth. Hmmm. Cardenas repeatedly called her "Linda" at the March 27 Council meeting. We are concerned with this apparent affection for Barth Vader. She rattles off facts quite well and has been in City government for so, so long.

[ this paragraph edited and revised 4/4/09] However, she's dirtier and smarter than Ed ; and judging by the employee complaints about Barth, much worse. A Department under Linda Barth would be a closed and secretive one and perhaps even deadlier than Boks's Department. How calculating is she? Watch the 3/27/09 Council Meeting video again and check her costume for Ed's Inquisition. She wore a blazing winter white ensemble which screamed, "I'm innocent. Pick me." Barth also has a tell. She drops her chin down and does a closed hand scratching thingy on her ear/neck wih her right hand...See video beginning at time-stamp 2:00:00. First tell is at about 2:01:20. This little tell, judging from when she does it is a sign of extreme stress for her.Sometimes she does it when she's obviously lying. Sometimes she does it when it would appear that she's fearing for her own ass, as well. Check it out.

Will she turn on Ed to save herself and position herself as ready willing and able to run the show? God help us, if he's still listening! Did she set Boks up? Time will tell. It's a real possibility that Barth will be at least the next "interim" general manager. She's got the facts and figures ready to spit out and recently she's been showing her Dr. Jekyll face. We encourage you to watch the video of the 3/27 meeting again here beginning at about 1:18:00.

So whaddya think? Are they prepping Barth to take over or do you think they will go for someone less controversial. She's no saint in this Department Chaos. More later, with a personal Barth Anecdote from Jeff de la Rosa.

CYA! Wouldn't Wanna BYA!: Oh Ed...We Hardly Knew Ye

Ed Boks calls City Council a "faction."

Alice Walton (and others) reported on the March 27, 2009 Boks Inquisition which was skillfully executed by Councilmembers Alarcon, Cardenas and Zine, who we will now dub as Council's Musketeers. As her closer, Walton used a quote from Boks, "This is a difficult position for anybody, and every (Animal Services) general manager has come under attack from various factions," Boks said. "There is no way to please everybody." So our City Council is now a "faction?" Ed, you can't please everyone, as you've said; but you're pleasing NO ONE! There's a word for someone who can only please himself. Ummm...maybe later.

Alice Walson's (FOX) complete article is below. The writing from various reporters on this spay/neuter/Boks saga has treated us to an all- out no-holds-barred splash of colorful journalism, using very colorful metaphors, adjectives and adverbs. So far our favorite is:
"[Council] descended on Boks like a pack of wild dogs."

Over the next few days, we'll cull the best of the best and post them here. Feel free to post your faves in comments.

Stay tuned.

Pet Sterilization Controversy Goes On

Last Edited: Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 3:14 PM PDT
Created On: Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 3:13 PM PDT

* Text story by Alice Walton, City News Service
Posted by Scott Coppersmith

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - Two City Council members called today for a "no confidence" vote on the general manager of Animal Services, after he was grilled for an hour over a decision to temporarily suspend vouchers for spay and neuter services.

Ed Boks appeared before the council to rehash the budgetary problems that led his department to stop issuing $70 coupons to Angelenos with an annual household income of less than $30,300, and $30 coupons for other city residents.

Though the $70 vouchers were reinstated earlier this week, council members wanted answers on why they and Animal Services commissioners were not told of the decision before it was announced to the public.

Councilman Tony Cardenas co-sponsored a city ordinance last year that requires sterilization of most cats and dogs by the time they are four months of age. He said that without the financial assistance, pet owners were less likely to have their pets fixed, which could ultimately lead to overpopulation of city animal shelters and a higher euthanasia rate.

"They're getting at each other right now more than any other time of the year," Cardenas said of cats and dogs. "This is the time of the year that we need these animals to be spayed and neutered, and we need human beings to carry them over to get them spayed or neutered. I've never seen a dog or a cat walk into a facility and say `Hey, cut me up, take care of me.' It's human beings who have to take care of that."

The city's mandatory pet sterilization ordinance took effect Oct. 1, and since then, Animal Services has not been able to keep up with the demand for low-cost vouchers.

The continuing deficit was the reason behind temporarily suspending the issuance of coupons, Boks said.

Council members voted today to reinstate both coupon programs by next Friday. Paying for that service means Animal Services will have to layoff employees, Boks said.

"I have no options left," he said.

The frustration of a handful of council members was similar to the tongue-lashing that Boks got Monday at the Public Safety Committee meeting. To illustrate his displeasure with the situation, Councilman Dennis Zine held up a cardboard box that he said was filled with complaints from Animal Services employees.

"Mr. Boks, I'm going to be very candid. I have absolutely no confidence in your honesty, your ability to run a department," Zine said.

Councilman Richard Alarcon said Boks' failure to consult with commissioners or council members prior to making his decision on the voucher program was another failure of the department. He made a motion to send a "no confidence" letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

"I believe it is time for us to move on, and that is the real discussion we are having today," Alarcon said.

For his part, Boks said he is committed to staying in Los Angeles.

"This is a difficult position for anybody, and every (Animal Services) general manager has come under attack from various factions," Boks said. "There is no way to please everybody."

City Council to Force Ed Boks to Do His Job

On March 20, 2009 the Los Angeles City Clerk entered the following Council Agenda item for the Council Meeting to take place on Friday, March 27, 2009 (downloadable PDF here):

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO ATTEND THIS MEETING.
AN APPROXIMATE TIME FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM
WILL BE POSTED HERE LATER TODAY.

AGENDA

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009 10:00 A.M.
JOHN FERRARO COUNCIL CHAMBER
ROOM 340, CITY HALL
200 NORTH SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
INTERNET: www.lacity.org; click on Council file number for background documents

ITEM NO. (19)
Council File number 09-0601
MOTION (CARDENAS - ALARCON - ZINE - ET AL.) relative to the Spay and Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program. Recommendations for Council action:
1. INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services (DAS) to immediately reinstate the Spay/Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program funded through the Animal Spay and Neuter Trust Fund.
2. INSTRUCT the DAS, with the assistance of any other pertinent city department to report to the Public Safety Committee on Monday, March 23, 2009 on the status of the Spay/Neuter Voucher Program including the status of the high volume spay and neuter clinics.
3. REQUEST the Controller to perform a follow up audit of the 2008 Spay/Neuter Voucher and Coupon Program with the emphasis on the outreach and effectiveness of the program to reach out to low-income residents.
4. INSTRUCT the General Manager, DAS, to take into consideration the preliminary recommendations of the Spay and Neuter Advisory Committee’s Preliminary report to the Council due on March 30, 2009 and consult with the advisory committee members in moving forward with assuring the spay and neuter voucher program is made available to the city’s low-income residents and effective strategies are in place for outreach.
5. INSTRUCT the DAS to report back to Council on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 on the requested

We at BW are grateful to Councilmembers Cardenas, Zine, Alarcon and Garcetti for sponsoring this motion and for their continuing dedication to the animals and the People of Los Angeles (notwithstanding the horrendous vote to keep Billy the Elephant imprisoned at the Zoo. We expect them to reverse this decision and will lobby them accordingly.).

If you are also appreciative of the actions of Councilmembers, we urge you to call or write to them and thank them. You are of coure encouraged to say whatever else you think about the mismanagement of Animal Services under the current management by Boks and Barth. Leaving comments here is an easy way to do that. They do read this blog.

If you are needing the email addresses of any Councilmember, please email us at laboardwatch@gmail.com and we will gladly provide them. We have found that publishing email addresses on this site leads to spam being sent to those addresses and will no longer publish email addresses here. Probably.

BW.