Tag: lot

Column: Voices from Nevada on a prospective Newsom presidential bid. In a word, no

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Nevada will play a key role in the 2024 presidential race, as a major battleground and one of the first states to vote when Democrats choose their presidential nominee.

Despite his repeated objections, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is often mentioned as a possible alternative to President Biden.

But a series of interviews in and around Las Vegas, where most Nevada voters live, found no support for a Newsom candidacy and not a lot of California love.

Here are some of those voters discussing the governor, why they oppose him replacing Biden as Democrats’ 2024 nominee and thoughts on the state next door.

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Mark Z. Barabak

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December 17, 2023
After a year in office, L.A. County sheriff talks deputy gangs, jail deaths, overdoses

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By the time Sheriff Robert Luna ousted his predecessor and became L.A. County’s top cop in late 2022, the nation’s largest sheriff’s department was awash in controversy.

The half-century-old problem of deputy gangs had brought the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department under increasing national scrutiny. Jail conditions were becoming increasingly dire, and the decades-old lawsuits about them seemed no closer to resolution. On top of that, the department was short on staff, mired in scandal and often at odds with county leaders.

A year later, many of those problems remain unresolved — and critics say the new sheriff has little to show for his time in office. The department has yet to ban deputy gang tattoos, and the courts have stymied efforts to identify the gangs’ alleged members. County data show roughly 20% of sworn positions are effectively vacant, jail death rates are soaring and, in June, the county only narrowly avoided a contempt hearing over conditions inside its lockups.

Still, the signs of change are unmistakable. After taking office, Luna quickly opened up more access to oversight officials. He created the Office of Constitutional Policing to help the county comply with four federal consent decrees, eradicate gangs and overhaul policies that could help reform the department.

So far this year, deputy-involved shootings are down, and the jail population is falling. Deputies are using force against inmates less frequently, and the department created a timer system to make sure jailers stopped chaining mentally ill people to benches for days. And this week, in an interview at the Hall of Justice, Luna told The Times he’s formulating a plan to close the county’s oldest lockup.

“Men’s Central Jail needs to be replaced,” he said. “We need something that resembles a care campus that can deal with what custody should look like toward the future.”

Exactly how that would work is still fuzzy, and the sheriff would only promise more details in the future, hinting at something perhaps loosely inspired by the gentler prison systems of European countries. Making that a reality will be an uphill battle — just like some of the other lofty goals Luna has in mind.

“For a sheriff’s department or a police department to be successful, we need to be properly led and properly partnered, staffed, equipped and trained,” he said. “I was handed a department that has been deficient. … And we have a lot of work to do. A lot of work.”

Over a little more than an hour, Luna explained what some pieces of that work could entail. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

*****

One of the issues that was pretty central in your campaign was eradicating deputy gangs. A year later, there’s still not a strong anti-gang policy in place. Why is that?

During the campaign I talked about deputy gangs. I raised my hand and said, “We have a problem.” So I’m admitting there’s an issue. That’s why we started the Office of Constitutional Policing. But remember this: any time we’re dealing with employees’ hours, working conditions or things that impact people’s daily lives, we have to go through a meet-and-confer process. When we started to draft the policy — although the Civilian Oversight Commission gave us their version of it — we still had to go through it and make sure that it was something that could work.

So [Office of Constitutional Policing director] Eileen Decker not only had to go through the Civilian Oversight Commission and the Office of Inspector General, but also the federal monitors. Once that was done, there were unofficial conversations going on with the different labor organizations. And then, I want to say sometime in October-ish, we gave it to them in a formal manner. That’s when it becomes official.

This problem has existed for 50 years. I’ve been in office now for a year. I want to fix this. That is my goal. Yes, it is taking a little bit longer than I would like to see, but our labor organizations have been good partners at the table. We don’t agree on everything, but I think we’re going to get to a good place.

Do you think you’ll have a new anti-gang policy in place at some point in this next year, during your second year in office?

That is my absolute expectation.

There was a widely criticized incident in Palmdale, where a deputy punched a woman with an infant in her arms. Can you tell me anything about if you’re making changes to policies about when deputies can punch civilians?

It’s still being worked out. But from my perspective, if one of my deputies is getting his butt kicked and it’s a fisticuffs, you have a right to defend yourself. And if you have to use personal weapons — punching somebody in the face — to do that, then you have to defend yourself. I would not take that very valuable tool away from our employees.

But if you have a suspect who is not fighting you but only resisting, that’s where I draw the line and say that you don’t just start punching people. I get it, sometimes it’s very difficult to handcuff people. And historically that has been allowed here and that’s what is catching a lot of employees off guard. The miscommunication is [they think], “Oh, he just wants to take it away from us.” No, there’s a time and place for it. Because when you’re using force on an individual, it’s to gain control, not to punish. There’s a difference there.

Was the incident in Palmdale what prompted you to evaluate the policies about punching people?

It was one of many things. We’ve had several incidents over the last year where personal weapons were used to overcome resistance, not in a fight.

According to a recent letter sent from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department has been finding uses of force against jail inmates to be within policy more than 98% of the time. But the federal court-appointed monitors agree only about two-thirds of the time. How do you explain that discrepancy?

I was told about that ACLU report probably about three or four hours ago. We’re making inquiries about if there is actually a discrepancy. But there are definitely challenges. When we’re talking about use of force, the federal monitors have said they don’t like the fact that they believe that our front-line supervisors are not holding employees accountable. So we are currently looking at that.

But as I’m talking to all of our supervisors, I’m talking about accountability. We have to be courageous and identify challenges that we’re having because that negatively impacts public trust and credibility. And honestly, it’s hanging our employees out to dry. Because if you’re not taking corrective actions or showing people that this is wrong, then other employees won’t believe it’s wrong.

A lot of the employees that I talk to when I visit stations, they’re frustrated with me because there’s been instances where people have been disciplined and they believe that you’re holding us to this standard, but yet you’re not providing the required training to get us there. So I’m doing an evaluation on our training — but I don’t need an evaluation to tell me we’re deficient.

One of the other issues with the jails has been the high death toll. As of today, the jails are a couple deaths away from having the highest death rate in at least 15 years. Why do you think that is?

Every time I see a notification that somebody dies in our custody, it’s like, “What the heck?” You don’t want to see any. I don’t want anything to go wrong while they’re in our custody.

I think there is a perception that people who are dying in our custody are dying due to force incidents or murders. Now, once in a while you will get somebody who does get murdered in our facility. This last year we attributed nine deaths to overdoses. And there are nine other autopsies that are still pending, but a lot of these cases look like they’re from natural causes.

A lot of the people that we take into custody, they’re probably getting the best healthcare they may have ever received in their entire life while they’re with us, which means that rarely does somebody go see a doctor. Then when they get to us, you get people who are ill, fall ill and then they end up dying in our custody. So if I have nine overdoses, how do I reduce those?

Some facilities have tried to minimize opioid overdoses by expanding access to medication-assisted treatment that reduces the urge to get high. Historically, this is something that your department has not broadly used. Do you have any plans to expand that?

I want to dig a little deeper. If there is resistance, is it from our department? Is it from Correctional Health Services? Is there a reason? I’d like to know. We have already gotten more canines to do drug detection. We need better body scanners. We’re working through our CFO to try and figure out how we can do that. We believe that a lot of the drugs are coming in through mail.

I envision — and I’m already working on this — all of our custody facilities getting really good internet service so that I can get tablets in and eliminate mail. Can you imagine if I can give a family the ability to FaceTime, what that would do? There’s so many opportunities.

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Keri Blakinger

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December 10, 2023
Pooch poachers take more than $100,000 worth of pets from Gardena store

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A dozen dogs worth more than $100,000 were stolen from a pet shop in Gardena on Tuesday during a heist caught on camera.

Security camera footage showed four masked men break into Top Dog Pet Store on Rosecrans Avenue at 1:13 a.m. After breaking the front door lock, the men are shown rolling out cages filled with dogs and securing them in the back of a white Chevy van. One of the men was captured on video grabbing puppies and throwing them into the van.

“It was a shock waking up to that call,” store co-owner Andres Avalos said. “We got that call from the alarm company about 1:16, 1:17 [a.m.], and we woke up to a shocking call.”

The Gardena Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Avalos said 12 purebred French bulldogs, including a 10-month-old show dog named Roll X, were stolen.

The pet store owners are licensed breeders and well known in the Gardena dog community, he said. They opened Top Dog Pet Store about six months ago, where they breed dogs and sell a range of pet items including leashes, bowls, cages, and pet supplements.

Avalos suspects the group of men had been to the store before based on the video.

“The way they were just getting around the store in general, they had to have been there to purchase something or look around because we’re new to the area,” he said. “We get a lot of new customers.”

Avalos said he and the other store owner typically bring the dogs home with them after closing shop. But on Monday evening, they left the dogs in the store.

“It was just one of them nights,” he said. “We were tired and we had a lot going on that day. We were like, ‘We’ll take them home tomorrow.’ That tomorrow never came.”

One thief also broke into the store’s cash register and stole about $2,000 in cash, Avalos said.

“It’s hard [financially] especially with the holidays being around the corner, but it’s a burden on the family and that’s how we make our living,” he said. “It’s a tough loss for us.”

Community members are flooding social media hoping to aid in the search for the dogs, reposting video of the heist and information on whom to contact with the whereabouts of the dogs.

Top Dog Pet Store is offering a reward of an undisclosed amount for anyone who can help find the dogs, Avalos said.

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Ashley Ahn

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November 22, 2023
What can you build on L.A.’s steep, narrow lots? How about this surprisingly roomy home

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When architect Simon Storey’s clients took him to a steep lot of undeveloped land for sale in Silver Lake, he advised them to pass. Storey’s firm, Anonymous Architects, is used to building on difficult sites, but he knew this particular lot would be especially challenging.

“It’s more difficult and more time-consuming,” says Storey.

The lot lingered on the market for a few years and then the asking price dropped. That’s when Storey and his wife, Jen Holmes, decided they were willing to take on the difficult ground-up construction.

Sloped lots typically require excavation and complicated and costly foundations, and have issues ranging from erosion to drainage to landscaping. It’s not for the faint of heart.

“It’s such a huge pain. But I proved myself right: It wasn’t easy,” he says.

The stairs and dining area inside Simon Storey and Jen Holmes’ home in Silver Lake. The stairs were inspired by a floating staircase in Storey’s previous home dubbed Eel’s Nest.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Storey and Holmes bought the 2,900-square-foot lot in 2017 for $92,000 and started to plan their home. The land was not just steep — a grade of 33% — but also long and narrow. (For comparison, the steepest street in Los Angeles, Eldred Street in Highland Park, has the same slope.) The couple bought the land from entrepreneur Judd Schoenholtz, who bought the lot in a trust sale. Ironically, Schoenholtz was considering how to build on it and had looked at some of Storey’s other houses for inspiration. “Simon is probably the only one who could figure it out,” he says with a laugh.

Working within the constraints of a narrow lot was familiar to Storey, who had previously built his own home in Echo Park, a compact but elegant structure whose 960 square feet exceeded the 780-foot-lot it was built on.

Storey’s previous home, dubbed Eel’s Nest after the slender homes typical of dense neighborhoods in Japan, was a study in efficient urban living. He found ways to enlarge the space, just 15 feet wide, through the clever use of windows and skylights, high ceilings and a floating staircase that did double duty as a light well.

Storey and Holmes wanted to take the best parts of Eel’s Nest and the lessons learned from living in that space for more than a decade and apply them to this new project, which they called the Box. Once again the constraints of the lot dictated the design. “We had no choice but to go right up to maximum width and stick with it for the entire building,” explains Storey.

Simon Storey stands in his home office with a wall shelf of miniature models.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

An aerial view of the Box.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The result is a long building that spans just 18 feet across and 100 feet long. Yet adding just three more feet than their previous house makes a dramatic difference. “Every inch makes an outsize difference. I don’t think of it as being a narrow building,” says Storey.

Storey wanted the house to be as utilitarian as possible. He chose a corrugated cement panel typically used for farming and industrial buildings in Europe as a siding material above the two-story concrete base.

With the structure built three feet from the property line, the couple were constrained by city code in the amount of windows allowed on the side of the building. As a result, the windows are arranged in a horizontal expanse, providing panoramic views of the hills in Silver Lake and Echo Park.

The entrance to the house is set back another five feet, allowing double-height windows that span two stories, bringing in more light. The floating staircase from Eel’s Nest makes another appearance in the Box, across from the entrance. A narrow walkway on the top floor connects the front and back of the house but allows light to filter in on both sides to the floor below. The skylight in Eel’s Nest also reappears in the Box, bringing more light into the shower in the primary bathroom.

Custom panels hide parts of the interior, including the bathrooms.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

With a workshop sitting between the ground-floor garage and the two main stories of the house, Storey and Holmes were able to construct all of the cabinetry, millwork and even features like their stair treads on-site. “Anything made of wood we built ourselves,” says Storey.

Holmes, who works in development at LACMA but was an art student in college, found her sculpting skills came in handy. “I knew how to weld but didn’t do it for 20 years,” explains Holmes, who took a half-day welding class at Gearhead Workshops in Torrance to brush up on her skills.

In fact, much of the construction they did themselves, as a budgetary consideration but also to ensure the level of detail met their standards. Weekends, holidays and vacation days for nearly three years were spent working on the house.

The couple estimate they spent 5,500 hours working on the house, not including the hours spent on planning, designing and general contracting, and saved about $520,000 in construction costs based on pricing from comparable projects Storey has worked on.

Jen Holmes designed the kitchen to her specifications. She wanted to cook and entertain for parties of four or 20.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I’d take naps on a furniture blanket on the floor or in the car,” says Holmes, who became a regular at the nearby Whole Foods to pick up meals before they had a working kitchen. “Everyone [who works] there knows me and I know all of them.”

Other expenses included $300,000 for the foundation, more than three times what it would have cost for a similarly sized project on a flat lot, and about $20,500 for geology consultants to survey the slope. All together the project came in at roughly $1.3 million. However, the average homeowner shouldn’t expect such a deal. Acting as his own architect, general contractor and builder helped Storey and Holmes save considerably. Additionally, every hillside lot presents its own hidden expenses — and what a house costs to build is often very different than its market value in competitive L.A.

Before they started on the cabinets, the pair worked on sealing the envelope of the house to ensure better air quality and circulation. They meticulously identified every gap in the framing stage, foaming and caulking the gaps to improve efficiency.

Windows throughout the Box provide views of Silver Lake and Echo Park. Storey had to figure out clever ways to add windows within city codes due to the property’s layout.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Simon Storey and Jen Holmes built their window frames and cabinetry themselves, picking out the lumber to sift out unwanted marks.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Once that was complete, they set about building their own window frames and cabinetry. The two handpicked all of their own lumber from Bohnhoff Lumber Co. in Vernon, a decision Storey says is key to guaranteeing high quality. “It was a cost issue but also a quality issue. There is a shocking level of inconsistency when you don’t pick it yourself.” The natural wood provides a calming contrast to the industrial materials used on the exterior.

Most of the casework is a mix of red and white oak. With construction of the house happening during the pandemic, the cost of white oak saw a precipitous rise. Storey and Holmes began to introduce red oak as an accent material, though the effect is still monochromatic. “I don’t want to live somewhere austere, but I like things that are minimal,” says Holmes.

Simon Storey and Jen Holmes on the second floor of their home.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Meticulously placed cabinetry creates subtle storage opportunities.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

All of the cabinetry and woodwork is custom, designed to suit the couple’s needs. Separating the kitchen and living room is a multipurpose room-within-a-room that includes a custom pantry on one side and cabinetry to house their record collection and stereo on the other.

“Every element of the house has a function,” says Storey. The focus on utilitarian design is a carryover from Eel’s Nest. “We are squeezing as much utility into the building as possible.” Appliances, primarily Fisher & Paykel, are hidden behind custom wood panels, as are closets and bathrooms.

With four bedrooms and three bathrooms, the house was designed to be flexible enough to adapt to changing needs. Planned prior to the pandemic, Storey’s design called for his office to occupy the back of the house, with living spaces in the front. However, the office can easily be converted into a guest suite for relatives or visitors that includes a kitchenette and a private entry.

The Box at dusk.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

As a passionate cook, Holmes programmed the layout of the kitchen to her specifications. The sink is placed in a central island, facing the views. “Every party I go to, people end up in the kitchen,” says Holmes. “I wanted it to be comfortable to cook in but also a place to entertain. We can have four or eight or 20 people here and it doesn’t feel too big or too small.”

While Holmes wanted the kitchen to be as functional as possible, Storey wanted the kitchen to not look like a kitchen at all. “The fridge and freezer vanish. Nothing screams ‘kitchen.’ We had competing objectives but managed to merge into a perfect solution,” he says, adding, “It’s a good allegory for marriage.”

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Marissa Gluck

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November 20, 2023
Caltrans long aware of conditions under 10 Freeway that fueled fire

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The state was long aware of conditions under Interstate 10 where a massive fire Saturday severely damaged the freeway south of downtown Los Angeles — with Caltrans inspectors on site as recently as Oct. 6, according to state officials, tenants and a lawyer for the company leasing the land.

The fire was fueled by wood pallets stored under the freeway and is being investigated as an arson.

The plot of land was leased by Caltrans to a private company that subleased it to small blue-collar businesses at much higher rents.

For years, a pallet distributor, a recycler, a mechanic shop and a garment factory supplier operated between the freeway pillars on East 14th Street a block east of South Alameda Street. Along the perimeters, homeless people camped and lighted fires to keep warm.

The conditions did not raise any apparent alarm bells among state officials who regularly inspected the site. Google Earth photos from January 2023 and March 2022 show dozens of columns of pallets stacked two stories high, amid piles of tires, wood boxes, cardboard and old vehicles, all visible from four streets and a freeway offramp.

“Caltrans staff inspect all airspace lease sites at least annually to check for potential safety hazards and lease violations,” said Eric Menjivar, a spokesperson for Caltrans District 7, which maintains state highways in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Areas under and next to the freeway are considered airspace.

“Staff also monitor what is placed or stored on site by the tenant. If deficiencies are noted, Caltrans staff notifies the tenant for remedy. The State Fire Marshal also inspects regularly for fire and life safety.”

Menjivar said Caltrans inspected the property Oct. 6 after Caltrans had filed a lawsuit to remove its tenant, Apex Development Inc., for noncompliance with the lease. The suit, filed in September, said the company had not paid its rent in more than a year and had illegally sublet the land to a host of small businesses.

The California Department of Transportation has not provided inspection reports requested by the Times.

Jose Luis Villamil Rodriguez, who started renting a spot on the property from Apex in 2011, said he watched Caltrans inspectors regularly come to the site.

“They would even take photos,” he said. “Everyone knew what was under the freeway, they saw the pallet yard and so I’m pretty sure they were aware of it.”

Rodriguez said the pallet yard business had been under the freeway for about seven years. He said the owner was constantly storing and moving the pallets. Rodriguez said he never interacted with the inspectors. Out of caution, Rodriguez said he had fire extinguishers at his job site. “Whether others didn’t, I wouldn’t know,” he added.

Caltrans had rented the 48,000-square-foot lot to Apex and its owner, Ahmad Anthony Nowaid, starting in 2008. Under Apex’s lease agreement, the property could be used only for parking operable vehicles and “open storage”; other uses required the approval of Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration, something the company does not appear to have secured. Apex was also not allowed the storage of inoperable vehicles, flammable materials or other hazards.

The lease agreement between Caltrans and Apex was filed in court as part of the state’s lawsuit against the company for unpaid rent. As of September, Apex owed nearly $80,000 in back rent on the property that burned.

A court hearing in the suit is scheduled for early 2024.

Apex, through its attorney Mainak D’Attaray, confirmed that Caltrans had inspected the lot at East 14th Street at least once a year. The lawyer also disputed that the various small businesses renting from Apex were there illegally; Caltrans “was fully aware of the sublessees and their operations,” he said in a statement.

The attorney argued that state officials were wrongly blaming the company and knew about homeless encampments and the overall conditions at the site.

“Even the State of California’s Fire Marshall inspected the premises,” D’Attaray said in a statement. “Apex is sympathetic to the loss of property and the adverse impact the fire has caused the people of Los Angeles. But Apex was not involved in the fire. Apex is being unfairly scape-goated for something over which it had no control.”

The lot at the edge of the Fashion District is one of five that Caltrans had rented to Apex’s owner, Nowaid. Caltrans had filed eviction proceedings for all five properties, saying Nowaid’s firm owed a total of at least $620,000 in unpaid rent.

Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized Apex and its owner without specifically identifying Nowaid.

“This guy and this organization, whoever the members of that particular organization are, have been bad actors,” Newsom said at a news conference. “They stopped paying their rent, they’re out of compliance, and as was stated yesterday … they have been subleasing this site to at least five, maybe as many as six tenants, without authorization from Caltrans or authorization from our federal partners.”

D’Attaray said that the eviction suits were retaliation by Caltrans for a lawsuit that Apex had filed in June, accusing the agency of interfering with his business.

He said the governor and Mayor Karen Bass were trying “to excuse their own failures to adequately address the public safety issues caused by the unhoused.”

Apex had repeatedly called the Los Angeles Fire Department to report fires started by homeless people who pitched tents around the perimeter of the lot, D’Attaray said. He claimed that the city’s fire and police departments responded “dismissively.”

“The unhoused persons camping along the fence line of the premises were allowed to remain and accumulate all types of refuse and materials over which Apex had no control,” D’Attaray said in the statement.

A spokesperson for Newsom rejected the idea that the governor’s statements were off base.

“CalFire currently believes the fire was caused by arson — the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property — in a fenced-off area that Apex was responsible for maintaining while they continued to assert rights under the lease,” the spokesperson said.

A representative for Bass did not respond to requests for comment.

A Caltrans engineer, who asked to withhold his name because he was not authorized to speak, said that it was the state agency that should have seen this coming.

“Caltrans has known about this for a long time,” the engineer told the Times earlier this week. “They have permitted lessees to store flammable stuff underneath these freeways for decades. They’ve had a couple of fires in the last three years that have affected columns, but inspectors can’t completely get underneath the bridge to make a thorough inspection because of all the junk.”

In Atlanta, a similar fire in 2017 caused a portion of the 85 Freeway to collapse after a 39-year-old homeless man who police said had been smoking crack set fire to an upholstered chair on top of a shopping cart.

The fire ignited combustible materials stored under the freeway. Federal investigators found the Georgia Department of Transportation partly responsible.

In an alert sent out to transportation agencies across the country, the National Transportation Safety Board warned: “Although catastrophic fires fueled by materials stored underneath bridges are relatively rare events, the loss of this structure demonstrates what can happen if bridge owners are not vigilant about monitoring and controlling such materials.”

The I-85 closure snarled commuter traffic on the region’s busiest throroughfares for six weeks. In response, Caltrans wrote up a policy directive directly based on that incident that prohibited the storage of flammable materials under its bridges and required access for bridge inspections.

It is not clear if it was enforced.

Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said the fire on Saturday “should have never happened.

“There’s already protocols in place,” he said. He praised the governor’s response to the fire and his administration, which has pushed the effort to “Fix the 10.”

Santiago said he felt confident that the governor’s office and Caltrans would provide information about the state’s leases, including a review of litigation and enforcement mechanisms.

“Once we get the information there needs to be strong accountability mechanisms in place to prevent anything like this from ever happening again and putting the public at risk.”

Carina Quinto, who runs a mobile mechanic shop out of the freeway underpass, was bewildered by officials. She had been watching news reports about the fire and was surprised to hear officials say they had no idea what was going on under the underpass.

“Supposedly the city didn’t know the kind of businesses that were running under the freeway. They knew exactly what we were doing,” she said. Someone from sanitation came regularly to check that oil was properly disposed, she said.

When asked for proof of the visit, she said, it burned up in the fire.

Times staff writers Taryn Luna and Thomas Curwen contributed to this report.

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Rachel Uranga, Matt Hamilton, Ruben Vives

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November 16, 2023
$Column: What kind of terrible parent pays their child to get an A? (Well, me)$

Column: What kind of terrible parent pays their child to get an A? (Well, me)

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Is it OK to pay a child to do well in school?

I’m currently grappling with this question. Five years ago, my then-8-year-old niece moved in with me. Overnight, I became a single “mom” to a wonderful, if emotionally fragile, third-grader.

She had been through a lot — four schools in two years — and so I wasn’t sure what to expect from her academically. But she thrived in our local elementary school. And now she’s finding her passions as an eighth-grade middle schooler in mostly honors classes. With the exception of math. A struggle I understand.

Opinion Columnist

Robin Abcarian

In elementary and middle school, I did well enough in other classes, but I was a solid C math student. In 10th grade, however, something just clicked. At Cleveland High School, in Reseda, I had a fabulous geometry teacher. His name was Mr. Maung. I have no idea what became of him, but he was one of the best teachers I ever had. I earned an A in his class, and I never took another math course.

When my niece was in sixth grade and began struggling with numbers, we signed up for one of those costly math tutoring programs. She went for an hour after school a couple of times a week. After nearly a year with no change in her grades, I discovered that the place wasn’t really working with her on her school curriculum, which I’d assumed was the whole point. They had their own methodology for teaching the subject, and if they had time at the end of her session, they might help her with her homework. Ugh.

The next year, in seventh grade, she again struggled with low grades in math. I conferred frequently with her teacher. She did after-school “interventions” in the library. Things didn’t improve. Well, I thought, she has lots of other skills and talents.

This year, however, when she floundered on her first few math tests, I became alarmed. High school is just around the corner, and I suspected she was capable of doing well in math class but just wasn’t that interested. And maybe she was even a little invested in acting like she didn’t care.

Two weeks ago, I had a brainstorm: money. Couldn’t hurt, right? So I texted her: “I will give you 20 bucks if you get a B. [Smiley face emoji]”

“OMG,” she replied. “40 for an A!”

“Done!”

I admit: As a parent, this was not my finest hour.

Also, I was pretty sure she’d never get an A.

Amy McCready, a parenting coach who founded the online education site Positive Parenting Solutions, did not judge me when I told her about my deal with my niece. She disapproved but in the nicest possible way.

“Parents will say, ‘I get paid to work,’ and my kid’s job is school, so why not pay them?’ But there are some unintended consequences to that,” said the Raleigh, N.C.-based McCready, who wrote the 2015 book “The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World.”

The first problem, supported by lots of research, is that external rewards tend to decrease intrinsic motivation — you know, the feeling that good grades and mastery of a subject are their own reward.

Something more concrete, said McCready, “can provide a quick hit, but we need to think about the long-term goal — the love of learning, intellectual curiosity, an interest in math.”

She pointed me to the book “Punished by Rewards: The Trouble With Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes” by the prolific education writer Alfie Kohn, first published in 1993, now revised for its 25th anniversary. Kohn addresses the failures of “behaviorism” — as propounded by the psychologist B.F. Skinner — to manipulate people into changing their behavior by rewarding them, which he calls “do this and you’ll get that.”

“To take what people want or need and offer it on a contingent basis in order to control how they act,” he writes, “this is where the trouble lies.”

As McCready told me, paying for grades is ultimately not sustainable. “The reward loses its luster,” she said. “The problem is you have to keep upping the ante.”

The practice can also discourage children who really are struggling. “What if they are working their hardest and are not getting the A or B,” she said. “They should be rewarded for working their tail off.” (And by “rewarded,” she means they should be celebrated. “I distinguish between rewards and celebrations. A reward is contingent, versus, ‘Wow, you have been putting so much time into your math, let’s go celebrate that.’”)

But that’s my issue with my niece. I don’t think she has been working her hardest, and I believe she is capable of doing better.

I just needed to figure out how to motivate her. Hence, the bribe, which coincided with her recent acquisition of an iPhone. (We’d had a pact: She would wait until eighth grade for a phone with apps and internet access.) Once she discovered Apple Pay, the app that lets anyone transfer money to your account, she became transfixed by the balance in her account.

“Wow,” she said when she had accumulated $52. “I’m getting rich!”

At this point, you are probably wondering how she did on that math test. I am thrilled — more or less — to report that she got her first A. I dutifully added $40 to her Apple Pay coffers.

And now I am in the difficult position of having to decide whether to continue to this race to the behaviorism bottom or to raise my standards in the service of making her a better student and all-around human being.

I’m thinking, I’m thinking.

@robinkabcarian

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Robin Abcarian

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November 15, 2023
Column: Newsom gets no California love for his political ambitions. Maybe he should try elsewhere

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Bill Clinton was a man of large appetite and no small ambition when he served as Arkansas governor, a job he assumed at the age of 32.

So it was hardly a surprise when, 14 years later, Clinton launched a bid for president.

There was skepticism at the time and some carping of the too-big-for-his-britches variety. But that soon faded with the growing excitement of the 1992 election and the opening of Clinton’s Little Rock campaign headquarters, as Skip Rutherford, an old confidant, recalled.

Gavin Newsom can only sigh with envy.

California’s governor is not running for president. Take him at his word.

Filing deadlines have passed in the key early-voting states of Nevada and New Hampshire, and Newsom must know that a run against President Biden — his fellow Democrat — would almost surely fail, destroying Newsom’s political future in the process.

Still, the gallivanting governor has acted very much like a presidential candidate, striding the global stage and trolling the GOP’s White House contestants whenever he has the chance. Maybe he’s positioning himself for a run after his term ends in January 2027.

Either way, California voters are not pleased.

A Los Angeles Times/UC Berkeley poll released this week found Newsom’s approval rating sinking to the lowest point of his nearly five years in office, with 44% of respondents having a favorable view of his job performance and 49% disapproving.

There may be several explanations; like barnacles on a ship, negatives tend to accumulate the longer a politician stays in office.

Some on the left are disappointed with Newsom’s approach to the state’s homelessness and mental health crises. Some environmentalists are unhappy with the governor’s water policy. (Republicans never could stand Newsom.)

But probably the biggest reason for voter discontent is the governor’s political wandering eye.

“A lot of people don’t think California is doing well,” said Mark DiCamillo, who oversaw the poll for The Times and Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

“There’s homelessness and now the budget deficit,” DiCamillo went on. “There’s a lot of issues that need attention and they seem to be getting worse — or at least not better — and he’s off doing his own thing.”

The ill will is nothing new. Govs. Jerry Brown and Pete Wilson both sagged in the polls when they stinted on their day job to run off and seek the presidency.

Maybe it’s a California thing.

Nationwide, two sitting governors have been elected president in the last 90-plus years: Clinton and Texas’ George W. Bush. Both ran with the blessing of the folks back home.

Rutherford, who oversaw the planning of Clinton’s presidential library, said Arkansas voters were captivated as they watched “all the people who came in to work” for the campaign, “all the national press coming in and out,” and “it became a source of, ‘Wow, we got a guy who now has a shot to win this thing.’”

Bush, whose father had been president, was coy even as he used his 1998 gubernatorial reelection campaign to position himself for a White House bid. He won his second term in a landslide and soon enough was traveling the country in pursuit of the presidency.

Texans didn’t seem to mind.

A November 1999 poll, conducted by the Scripps Howard news service, found 72% of those surveyed approved of Bush’s performance as governor. The state’s most powerful Democrat, Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, even endorsed Bush for president in 2000, burnishing the Republican’s bipartisan credentials in a way that’s unimaginable in today’s age of impermeable partisanship.

“He was just a chatty, friendly character,” said Bruce Buchanan, a longtime Bush watcher and presidential scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. “Everybody who got close to him came away feeling that way, whether they happened to agree with his politics or not.”

Maybe Californians aren’t all that excited about installing one of their own in the Oval Office.

After yielding two presidents in the last half-century, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and two House speakers of recent vintage, Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy, perhaps national political celebrity isn’t what it used to be.

Things may be different in Florida, which has never produced a president.

Even though Ron DeSantis is struggling there — a recent poll put him a whopping 39 percentage points behind former President Trump in Florida’s Republican primary — voters haven’t necessarily soured on their governor, now in his second and final term.

In a recent trial heat for the 2026 gubernatorial race, DeSantis’ wife, Casey, had more than twice the support of any other potential candidate tested, said Mike Binder, a political science professor and pollster at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

“Clearly, the DeSantis name brand still has a lot of value to it,” Binder said.

Maybe Newsom can ask Florida’s governor for pointers on running for president without alienating his home state when the two archrivals — one seeking the presidency, the other kinda-sorta but not really — debate at the end of the month.

Either that or Newsom could start over someplace else like, say, Democratic-leaning Rhode Island. There has never been a president elected from the Ocean State.

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Mark Z. Barabak

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November 10, 2023
‘A lot of butts’: Matthew Stafford’s wife rips rapper Blueface for turning SoFi suite into strip club

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Kelly Stafford doesn’t want her young daughters to see “a lot of butts” while watching their father play football for the Rams at SoFi Stadium.

But that’s what the wife of quarterback Matthew Stafford said happened Sunday during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, because of the antics of L.A. rapper Blueface and several female companions.

On Tuesday’s edition of her weekly podcast, “The Morning After,” Kelly Stafford talks about a very adult scene that played out in one of the suites at the game, which she attended with her daughters and nephews. In what has been described as a strip-club atmosphere, Blueface could be seen throwing dollar bills at several women in thongs who were dancing while bent over with their exposed rear ends in the air.

“This is our game-day experience.” Stafford said.

“What I am so mad about is this is supposed to be a family experience, coming to a football game. There were children in the suites next to them. … If you have that kind of stuff happening at games, adults are not gonna want to bring their kids.”

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates with wife Kelly and their four daughters after winning the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in February 2022.

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)

A SoFi Stadium spokesperson told The Times on Thursday that the stadium and the Rams do not condone the lewd behavior that took place inside Blueface’s suite and did not give permission for such activity to take place. When stadium officials were made aware of the situation, security was sent to the rapper’s suite, according to the spokesperson. Blueface and his companions were allowed to remain at the game and no further inappropriate activity occurred, the spokesperson said.

Blueface posted a video of the NSFW scene that took place in his suite on his Instagram Stories during the game, and Stafford said on Tuesday’s podcast that footage made it back to her and her young companions.

“My nephews, who are older, have Instagram. They were at the game, and they were like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Look what’s going on here.’ They found it,” Stafford said. “And my daughters are sitting right next to them. They were like, ‘Mommy, there’s a lot of butts here.’ I go, ‘Butts? What are you talking about?’ And then I got sent it and I was like, ‘Oh!’

“So my daughters saw that. Not OK! And not OK that my nephews saw it either.”

She added: “It’s just a little disappointing. It makes me not want to take my kids to the game, ‘cause I’m like, ‘What’s gonna happen next?’”

The Times reached out to Republic Records for a comment from Blueface and did not receive an immediate response. But the rapper does not seem to be bothered by any backlash for his antics.

He reposted two X (formerly Twitter) users who made negative comments about the footage of him and the dancers — one read, “First and Last Rams game attended for Blueface today,” and the other said, “Rapper BlueFace brought a bunch of females to the #Rams game today and then started throwing a lot of money all over them. With kids sitting right there [flushed-face emoji].”

Blueface had a lot going on at the game, as he also proposed to rapper Jaidyn Alexis, who was not one of the dancers and is the mother of two of his children. She said yes, and he posted a video from the happy occasion on Instagram.

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Chuck Schilken

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October 26, 2023
BEST OF 2022: Supermom In Training: Why you NEED to talk to your kids about sex

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Want to know why you need to talk to your kids about sex?!

Just Google “what is sex?”. If you don’t tell them what sex is, this is what they will think it is.

Scary, no?

About a year ago, I had the full “sex talk” with my 8-year-old. He’s always been a pretty mature kid so I knew he was ready to hear it. Now, in third grade, he and his friends are doing a lot of joking around that centres around sexuality. The difference is, I know my son understands these jokes… but I also know the kids who are throwing around these terms and sound effects, and they most definitely don’t know or understand the depth of what they are saying.

Yes, sound effects. Moaning, to be precise.

There are lots of jokes about penises. Doodles of dinkies. Mentions of “humping” and more. So much more.

Perhaps it’s better that your kids hear about sex and sexuality not from their friends, who are tossing around words without really knowing what they’re talking about. Sure, it might seem uncomfortable to say certain things about sex to your kids. After all, they’re so innocent, right?

Trust me: Coming from a mom whose son trusts her enough to divulge all the on-goings of 8-, 9-, and 10-year-old kids, you want to help them out on this one. Because if you don’t fill in the blanks, Google or Siri or the kid in the schoolyard will.

A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.

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January 3, 2023
BEST OF 2022: Supermom In Training: Put down your phone and watch your kids’ sports!

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I ranted about this during a recent episode of Suburban Parents Talk. My bean has done a lot of different sports and extracurriculars, and I’m proud to say that I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve missed being there. I’ve gone to swimming lessons, hockey practices and games (even the super early ones that are crazily far away), tee ball, soccer, cooking classes, and more. And then, when everything suddenly stopped, I found that my son not only missed his sports but I did too.

When we came back I was invested more than ever. And I have been since. My phone usually only comes out to take photos or videos. I really make a point of not scrolling around on Facebook or getting into texting convos because all of that can wait one measly hour.

But I see the parents who just can’t seem to put their phones down. I’ve seen parents regrettably miss goals. I’ve seen kids look expectantly out into the sea of parents to get a small wave or wink from a parent only to find them absorbed in something on their screens.

If Covid has taught us anything, it’s that life is completely and totally unpredictable. So many lost so much in those two years, and parents did too – we lost time to watch our kids grow and have fun and enjoy sports and extra-curriculars. And that’s why now, more than ever, we need to put down our phones.

It’s for one hour.

Put it down.

And who knows: Maybe you could put it down during meal time too. But that’s a whole other rant *wink*.

A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.

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December 30, 2022
Melany Of MList: Start your holiday shopping now – you won’t regret it

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The holidays are undoubtedly going to be different this year, and that means holiday shopping will change too. One thing I’m trying to take from this pandemic is figuring out what’s truly important. As we slowly move into the holiday season, let’s remember that these times are not only about materialism and things but also about being grateful for what you have and spending time with those we love, whether it be within our household bubble or virtually.

So, leave the retail stress behind this year and get a headstart on your holiday shopping now! Without the usual holiday rush, you’ll be able to slow down and really enjoy the laid-back attitude of this year’s celebrations. Start your holiday shopping now – you won’t regret it. If you do, you can:

– Save money. There may be a lot of advertised sales in the weeks leading up to the holidays, but you can still find deals right now. Be sure to keep an eye out for sales and specials around American Thanksgiving too.

– Find more selection. Stock is going to run low pretty quickly this year, and by buying sooner than later, you’ll be able to get your hands on all those most-requested must-have gifts.

– Find something from the heart. It’s hard to find a useful, thoughtful present when you leave your shopping till the last-minute. If you begin your hunt for the perfect gifts now, you’ll allow yourself some extra time to really put consideration into your choices.

– It can lead to getting other to-do’s out of the way. Once you have your shopping done, you can get a headstart on other projects, like wrapping, writing out cards, baking, and more.

– You’ll have your sanity. Do you find you’re always frazzled in the month of December (like I am)? With present-buying out of the way, you can focus on more important things: you.

Married with three kids, MList’s Melany is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only is she a hardworking mom but she’s a serial saver (she loves her MList Card!), she loves to cook, she is very spiritual, and she is very organized. She is also chronically busy. Get her take on what to see, do and buy in Montreal and beyond.

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November 22, 2022
Supermom In Training: I’ve reached a new level of exhaustion

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I’m tired. But not yawn-and-stretch tired. Like numb.

I dunno why. Maybe it’s the change of seasons. Although we’ve had incredibly warm fall weather, I’m feeling blah.

We’ve had a lot of visitors lately, and hockey season keeps us going 3-4 times a week at arenas all around our area. It was Halloween and I (as always) overdo it with the themed food, decorations, etc. I really want to get ahead on my Christmas shopping because I like December to be a month where I can instead focus on all the fun get-togethers and activities rather than frantically shopping. I’m working out my son starting sacrament classes with church. I’m helping take care of my 91-year-old grandfather. I volunteer at my son’s school one morning a week and have been helping with book repairs at home. I’ve got an energetic pup who needs his exercise and attention. My husband works different shifts at all hours of the day and night, so I’m the one keeping everything organized and going at home. There’s a lot of meal prep and lunch-making. Oh, and I have this thing where I work full-time too.

And I feel burnt. I’m sick of grocery shopping and making the same boring meals for lunch and dinner, but I don’t have the “oomph” to come up with anything “different” at the moment. I have passion projects like book writing and podcasting on the back burner because I don’t have the creative juice for them by the end of the day. I’ll realize I haven’t chatted with a close friend in weeks because the days are rushing by in monotony.

I know I’m not the only one. In fact, I’d venture a guess that almost every parent reading this could also write a paragraph-long rant about all the balls they’re juggling simultaneously like me. But it feels good to let it out. Cathartic.

How are you doing? Need to rant for a minute? Rant away in the comments… I’m listening.

A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.

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November 8, 2022