A new rule proposed for Los Angeles would require that all toy replica weapons be made in certain colors so as to distinguish them from real weapons, according to the L.A. Times. The proposal was made by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and is being considered today by the Los Angeles Police Commission. more ›

How can the Los Angeles Fire Department spend less without compromising the invaluable services they provide to residents? Budget cuts to the department as proposed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa call for the permanent closure of 30 fire trucks and paramedic units and the elimination of 300 firefighters, according to KPCC. However, the plan is being met with resistance, including from the firefighters' union, whose president says the cuts will lead to "unnecessary deaths." more ›

Yesterday the Los Angeles City Council voted to "transfer $930 million in building projects overseen by the Community Redevelopment Agency to the city’s coffers," reports KPCC. The "nick of time" vote came after three postponements, as the issue garnered debate and the clock nearly ran out on the coveted monies. more ›

Smokers, and smoking supporters, put a big red circle on your calendar on March 8th, because that's the first day of enforcement for a ban on smoking on outdoor eating areas in the City of Los Angeles. The motion, first introduced in 2008 by Councilman Greig Smith, and seconded by Tom LaBonge, will see to it there will be no second hand smoke with your meal on outdoor patios of establishments where food is served. more ›

After his friend Yao Lu was struck by a car while crossing Reseda Boulevard at Vincennes Streat near CSUN, Andreas Lazaris was angry enough to make sure the same fate didn't meet future students trying to cross the street. Lazaris contacted Councilman Greig Smith's office last February about adding a traffic light and as of yesterday, the new signal is in place, according to the Chatsworth Patch. more ›

One way to get to know the ins and outs of City Hall politics is to become a City Councilman. And one way to share the insights gained in the process is to write a book. Such is the career path of West Valley-area Councilman Greig Smith (CD 12), who is closing out his term with an "anecdotal" tome published last month called If City Hall's Walls Could Talk, as written up today by Encino Patch. more ›

Does the zip code influence how a crime is classified? City Councilman Tony Cardenas says yes, per the Daily News. He said recently: "If there is a dispute in Pacoima or Sylmar, they might call it gang-related. If the same things happens elsewhere in the city, it's just a dispute." This means gang crimes are inflated in certain areas, raising--or maintaining--the public's alarm about a given geographic region. Fellow Councilmember Greig Smith disagrees: "I can assure you, no [LAPD] watch commander wants to see an elevation in gang crimes if they can avoid it." more ›

11 candidates are gearing up to duke it out to win the election to be the Council person in District 12, to succeed retiring Councilman Greig Smith, according to Chatsworth Patch. Saturday was the filing deadline for the 2011 Primary Election, which will take place on March 8. Next year, the seven "even-numbered City Council district seats are up for election." Among those on the primary are two businesswomen, three Neighborhood Council members, a policeman, and a restaurant owner, as well as other hopefuls. CD 12 covers the northwestern portion of the City. more ›

This is what happens when you lack transparency. Spurred from a bicycle lane that suddenly appeared on a Northridge street that exasperated the neighbors and commuters, Councilmember Greig Smith earlier this month called for all bicycle projects to be reviewed by Neighborhood Councils. But that wasn't enough for the community. more ›

Following confusion about bicycle lanes that suddenly appeared along Wilbur Avenue in Northridge, Councilmember Greig Smith is taking action so people aren't taken off guard again. more ›

John North at ABC7 this afternoon took a great look at the salaries of Los Angeles City Councilmembers. The question is, with a $179,000 salary and other compensation -- you'll often hear people say this makes them the highest paid councilmembers in the nation -- how can they justify furloughing city employees during this massive budget deficit? more ›

Up in the Northwest Valley, 1.2 miles of a city street are slated to get a bicycle lane in each direction. For cyclists and some residents, it's welcome news, for others it's not. But for either side of the issue, the problem was that no one knew, even cyclists who closely monitor the progress of bicycle infrastructure, about it until pre-striping markings were painted on the street earlier this month. And that brand of sudden change can freak people out, setting them on an opposition war path. more ›

Los Angeles will not turn off red light enforcement cameras at 32 intersections this summer. The City Council this morning unanimously voted to extend a contract with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions for 10 months. When the issue comes up again next year, the Council will have to decide to either keep ATS, find a new vendor -- either based in Arizona or not -- or scrap the program altogether. more ›

When the L.A. City Council boycotted Arizona a month ago -- a move to protest the state's immigration law -- a provision in it banned official travel to there unless not going would do more harm than going. Tomorrow, the Council will consider what appears to be the first request to gain authorization for travel to Arizona. more ›

Having enough with the so-called games--both new and old--between the largest municipally-owned utility and customers, Councilmember Greig Smith yesterday introduced eight sweeping motions addressing transparency and oversight. The comes as Los Angeles' faces a close-call with bankruptcy (May 5th?!?!), stemming from the carbon surcharge standoff between the City Council and LADWP Commissioners. more ›

At yesterday's L.A City Council meeting, Northwest Valley Councilman Greig Smith stood up, raised his voice and let it be known why he would never vote to raise electricity rates via Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's carbon surcharge plan. "The proposal has been hyped as a way to wean the City off of the use of coal-powered electricity, but it does nothing to reduce coal for the first five years," he wrote today in an open letter to the community. more ›

A small pilot project in Palm Springs and Cathedral City last year gave 35 homeowners free water controllers, which resulted in 2.5 million gallons in water savings, decreasing their bills by more than a quarter. Now more are being given away, the Desert Sun reported earlier this month. more ›

One of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley, Northridge, is getting its due respect beginning tonight. Once the "horse capitol of the West," the neighborhood later transformed, becoming the quintessential example of America's suburb with its California ranch style homes and as home to one of the state's premiere Cal State colleges. more ›

The City Attorney's office was instructed to recommend options for the creation of a bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance after discussion at the City Council's Public Safety Committee this morning. "Most of what you asked for is already within the law or the state jurisdiction," said committee chair Greig Smith, explaining that the city has limited authority over vehicle codes. more ›

More examples of delayed fire department responses linked to budget cuts are coming to light. One of the most recent incidents involved a 22-year-old South L.A. woman suffering from a cardiac arrest. "Normally, the closest paramedic-staffed engine would have been a half-mile away," explained the LA Times. "However, that engine had been shut down and a unit 1.7 miles away responded instead, arriving four minutes after the alarm was sounded, according to fire officials. An ambulance with two paramedics took eight minutes to get to the scene." She later died at the hospital. more ›

A Los Angeles city council committee will look into the long-delayed outdoor smoking ban draft ordinance this morning. If approved, it will then move on to the full city council where if passed, the ban will go into affect after a six-month education campaign. Basically, the ban says no smoking--unless you're just walking by--within 10 feet of an established outdoor dining area (think restaurants and cafes with sidewalk dining or outdoor food courts). more ›

Have a frank talk with an LADWP official this month and they'll tell you it's been a tough few weeks. The perception of the city-owned utility has gone downhill amid a series of water main breaks, the sudden resignation of David Nahai (however, with a comfy consulting gig) and one moderate rainstorm knocking out electricity service to nearly 50,000 customers. more ›

Los Angeles City Councilman Greig smith has brought up some legitimate points in the recent drought-related debates, but his most recent announcement about his scofflaw watering may be pushing it. Yesterday at a committee meeting, the Northwest Valley representative said he was challenging the current water laws by watering his lawn three times a week for 8 minutes. "And my grass is greener than it's ever been, and I bet I'm using less water," he said. more ›

This rumor has been floating around for years. If you're getting robbed and forced to take out money at an ATM, you can alert police by entering your PIN in reverse, but still get the money out so the bad guy is none the wiser. The locally based Snopes.com calls the rumor false and gives a history of the technology, which was first patented in 1994 by a Chicago businessman, but hasn't found an real-world use. Even a bill related to the idea went through the Kansas legislature but never became law. However, the LA Times reports today that Councilman Greig Smith, in his new role as chairman of the Public Safety Committee, wants to explore the technology in light of teenager Lily Burk's murder. She was killed after attempting to withdraw money from ATMs with a credit card (it never worked). Smith says the technology would cost $25 per ATM to install. If this technology were to become citywide, ATM robberies would likely become seldom, or at least and unfortunately, more efficient. more ›

In a direct and to-the-point opinion in the Daily News yesterday, Councilman Greig Smith further shamed the firefighters' union for a mailer sent out last week depicting the Chatsworth metrolink crash, which left 25 dead and 135 injured, juxtaposed with information about budget cuts to the LAFD. Smith, who represents Chatsworth and is the incoming chairman for the city's Public Safety Committee, lambasted union president Pat McOsker in his writing: more ›

As LAist noted earlier today, tonight is National Night Out, uh, night. If you live in Northridge, you can catch a free outdoor screening of Kung Fu Panda at Northridge Park this evening. As noted in the press release from the office of Councilman Greig Smith (Greig? Really?): more ›

Last Friday, a federal judge lifted a federal consent decree that oversaw the Los Angeles Police Department for eight years in order to reform patterns and practice of excessive force, false arrests and unreasonable searches and seizures. It was placed over the agency after the infamous Rampart Scandal in which anti-gang officers working in the named division were implicated in a plethora of crimes over several years. more ›

At yesterday's city council meeting, a nearly unanimous vote prompted a half million dollar study on whether the city should sell its parking meters and six city parking garages to help fill massive budget gaps. The one councilman who stood up for common sense was the Northwest Valley's Greig Smith. "We're selling property at the bottom of the market. What a stupid idea," he said. "If we were stockbrokers, we'd be in jail with Bernie Madoff for this kind of scheme. This is foolhardy economics." Will JP Morgan Chase own Los Angeles' meters someday soon? The parking lots in question include Hollywood & Highland complex, Pershing Square and the Cinerama Dome. more ›

The Daily News has published their analysis of LAFD salaries and overtime pay, and the results might have some folks feeling burned. The report shows that overtime pay has risen 60% in the past ten years with a personnel increase of only 17% (to 3, 586 firefighters), and "there is no real effort to rein in the expense despite the city's budget crisis." more ›

Yesterday, hundreds of Valley residents headed towards their front and backyard lawns, picking orange and grapefruit trees, lemon bushes and other juicy fruits in name of one of the largest single-day community food donation drives in the city. Around 20,000 pounds of citrus was gathered at Citrus Sunday, a project run by Councilman Greig Smith who represents the 12th district. Residents drop off the fruit to various Valley fire stations and it all ends up with the Valley Interfaith Council (VIC), who serve 80,000 people (not just meals, but individuals) a month. The amazing thing is, without Citrus Sunday, all the fruit may have just gone to waste. If you have fruit ready to be picked off your tree, VIC has food pantries around the Valley where you can drop it off (we recommend you call first). As for the fruit, all of it is being distributed to low-income families this week starting today. more ›