Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)White
On January 13, 2021, 7 days before his term ends, Donald J. Trump the 45th President of the United States was impeached again by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Donald Trump was charge with incitement of insurrection by a group of Trump supporters mob who took over the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Donald J. Trump claimed fraud that the elections were stolen from him but with no proof.
The U.S. House Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach Trump.
Donald J. Trump was impeached the first time on December 18, 2019 by the U.S. House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. The U.S. Senate controlled by Republicans declare him not guilty on February 5, 2020.
On Tuesday, June 25, 2019, The City of Los Angeles announced the addition of LGBTQ certification to the Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network(BAVN). BAVN is a free online portal provided by the City of Los Angeles and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development that connects businesses with City contracting opportunities. The new qualifications will allow for statistical tracking of certifications to ensure that contracts reflect the diversity of the City.
“I applaud the City’s efforts to expand opportunities in public procurement for our local business community. LGBTQ certification is another step towards further leveling the playing field for small and diverse businesses,” said Los Angeles Board of Public Works President Kevin James. “BAVN is a free and accessible resource that allows us to provide these businesses with the proper tools to succeed and thrive in Los Angeles.”
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is the exclusive, third-party certification body that will work to verify that eligible businesses are majority-owned by LGBTQ individuals. Once this process is complete, businesses can sign up through BAVN to be notified when contracts are available for bidding and receive guidance through the bidding process. The Bureau of Contract Administration, led by Inspector of Public Works John L. Reamer, Jr., verifies documentation and oversees contracts for the City of Los Angeles.
BAVN currently offers certification for disadvantaged business owners; disabled veterans; minority-owned businesses; women-owned businesses; small, emerging, and local businesses; and more. This allows small and diverse businesses the opportunity to compete with large corporations for contracts. The new LGBTQ certification program will go into effect in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2019-20 beginning on July 1st.
This announcement comes during the annual celebration of LGBTQ Heritage Month. Additionally, the Los Angeles Board of Public Works recognized a few of the outstanding men and women from the Department of Public Works as part of the month’s festivities.
“Los Angeles has been at the forefront of championing equality since 1967 when Silver Lake’s Black Cat became the site of one of the first LGBTQ demonstrations,” said Los Angeles Board of Public Works Vice President Cecilia Cabello. “While tremendous strides have been made since then, the fight for equal opportunity continues. I’m honored to recognize a few of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters who dedicate their lives to enhancing the quality of life for Angelenos and advocating for inclusiveness in the workplace and beyond.”
The LGBTQ Heritage Month honorees were recognized for their professional accomplishments and contributions to raising awareness of human and civil rights in and out of the workplace. From maintaining our streets and sewers to fixing potholes and collecting trash, these honorees are making a significant impact in their respective fields:
Gaye Chapman, Senior Electrical Inspector, Bureau of Contract Administration: serves as lead project inspector for the L.A. Wastewater Integrated Network Systems (LAWINS) project involving multiple wastewater facilities. She also provides training and guidance to other Bureau of Contract Administration inspectors.
Doug Walters, Chief Sustainability Officer & Chief Resiliency Officer, LA Sanitation and Environment: a proven leader in sustainability and environmental issues who formerly served as Co-Chair of the City’s Gay & Lesbian United Employees organization where he spent 4 years advocating for inclusionary policies for LGBTQ employees within City Departments.
Les Amer, Accounting Clerk, StreetsLA: supports the street pavement preservation program and sidewalk construction program. His work ensures the delivery of materials essential to paving more than 2,200 lane miles and constructing 500,000 square feet of sidewalks annually.
Congratulations Eric Garcetti Is Elected Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
Congratulations Eric Garcetti Is Elected Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Photo credit to: Wikipedia
On May 21, 2013 Eric Garcetti was elected Mayor of Los Angeles with 53.9% of votes. His term will begin in July 2013. Eric Michael Garcetti (born February 4, 1971) is the mayor-elect of Los Angeles and an outgoing member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 13th District.[1] He served as Council President from 2006 to 2012.[2]
“Thank you Los Angeles–the hard work begins but I am honored to lead this city for the next four years. Let’s make this a great city again.” twitted Mayor elect Eric Garcetti.
“You can’t look to the stars until you’ve fixed the cracks in the sidewalk,” Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti often says. As the third-term councilmember serving the 13th Council District, Garcetti has shown that a commitment to the street-level health of the community is a necessary first step in creating positive change. His unique combination of pothole politics and vision has won measurable results in the 13th District, showing how local solutions can show the way to make our city safer, create transportation solutions, and ease the city’s housing crisis.
A fourth-generation Angeleno, Eric Garcetti was born at Good Samaritan Hospital and grew up in Los Angeles. He won a hotly-contested election to the Los Angeles City Council in 2001, becoming one of the youngest city councilmembers in the city’s history. Over 100 languages are spoken on the streets of his district, from Hollywood to Downtown and across the Los Angeles River. The neighborhoods he represents constitute the beating heart of Los Angeles.
Garcetti was unanimously elected as Council President in December 2005 and unanimously re-elected in July 2007 and July 2009. During his tenure as president, he modernized the council’s legislative assignments, making the council’s committees more reflective of the issues that face Los Angeles.
During his first term in office, Garcetti emerged as an effective local problem-solver and as a strong advocate on citywide and national issues. He led the effort to fund the nation’s largest Affordable Housing Trust Fund, oversaw the economic and cultural revitalization of Hollywood, wrote and championed Proposition O to clean up our local water, won passage of a plan that eliminated the city’s business tax for 60% of all businesses, and helped bring thousands of new high wage jobs to Los Angeles and his district. In his district, he tackled neighborhoods’ most intractable problems, nearly tripled the number of parks, ensuring the availability of an after-school program in every school in the district, and reducing graffiti by more than 60 percent.
Councilmember Garcetti’s work has been recognized in dozens of awards, including the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for Americans under 40 who are changing their communities with a commitment to public service; the Green Cross Millennium Award from former President Mikhail Gorbachev, for environmental leadership; a “Tiger Award” from the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, for his work on business tax reform; the New Democrat of the Week recognition from the Democratic Leadership Council, for his work on safety in commercial office buildings and security officers’ working conditions; and the first Olson Award from Human Rights Watch for his human rights activism.
The Los Angeles Times writes that Garcetti is “smart” and “imaginative” and offers the city “refreshing idealism.” He was featured in LA Weekly’s Best of Los Angeles issue and the Los Angeles Alternative Press readers named him “L.A.’s Favorite Elected Official” of 2003. In 2004, The Los Angeles Business Journal named him one of the 25 Angelenos who stand out for their potential to shape lives in Los Angeles. A profile in Los Angeles magazine in 2006 called him “a rising star”.
Congratulations Eric Garcetti Is Elected Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Photo credit to: ericgarcetti.com
Prior to his election, Garcetti taught public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California. In 1998, the Rockefeller Foundation selected him as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow.
Eric Garcetti was raised in the San Fernando Valley. He studied urban planning and political science at Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. He is an avid photographer, jazz pianist and composer. He lives in Silver Lake with his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland.
