Mayor Seeks Transit Plan Review
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday he hopes to persuade county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to reconsider the county’s long-standing prohibition on building subways with local transit funds, the Daily Breeze reported. Villaraigosa said he views light rail as less expensive and preferable in most locations to high-cost underground rail. Villaraigosa said he hopes to convince Yaroslavsky, who authored the 1998 subway funding ban known as Proposition A, that the county needs to have the option of spending its own transportation revenue on subways for congested corridors such as Wilshire Boulevard. Yaroslavsky said he would oppose any repeal efforts. He said an end to the subway funding ban would require a public vote.
KB Home Settles U.S. Allegations
KB Home agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle federal allegations that its mortgage unit engaged in poor lending practices, the government said Wednesday. The Department of Housing and Urban Development said the settlement was the largest ever collected by its mortgage review board, which takes administrative actions against Federal Housing Administration-approved lenders, the Los Angeles Times reported The 13 alleged violations by KB Home Mortgage Co., involved underwriting practices such as approving loans to ineligible borrowers, approving loans based on overstated or incorrect income, failing to include all of borrowers’ debts and failing to properly verify sources of funds. KB Home didn’t admit wrongdoing.
Acting Chairman at Lions Gate Quits
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the distributor of independent films such as “Monster’s Ball” and “Fahrenheit 9/11,” said Harry Sloan resigned as acting chairman and a member of the board, effective June 30. Andre Link resigned as chairman emeritus and a director but will continue as president, the Canada-based company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hardwick Simmons has been appointed as a director, Bloomberg News reported.
Reward for Helping Jobless
A city panel approved a measure Wednesday aimed at easing the jobless rate by giving municipal contract preference to firms that hire unemployed workers, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported. A draft of the Transitional Job Opportunities Program, which was approved by the City Council’s Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee, would apply to contracts of $100,000 or less. Under the measure, the city would favor firms that provide transitional employment services even if their bids are up to 10 percent higher than those of a competitor. Officials estimate the program would cost up to $25,000 a year, funded from the public works budget. The proposal now must garner the endorsement of the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee before heading to the full City Council.
Beach Berm Lawsuit Is Filed
Malibu’s Broad Beach homeowners face fines of up to $15,000 a day for hiring bulldozers last month to scoop sand off the public beach and pile it onto private property in front of their oceanfront homes, under a lawsuit filed Wednesday by state officials. The suit, filed on behalf of two state agencies by California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, alleges that a homeowners group illegally took sand from the state-owned beach and converted it to private use. The piles of sand, the suit says, also impeded public access to the 1.1-mile stretch of beach. The lawsuit seeks fines of $30,000 for each violation and additional penalties of up to $15,000 a day for any activities that violate the Coastal Act, the Los Angeles Times reported.
