Point of Order

I hate it when people try to sound educated by using words and phrases they don't understand. In last night's city council meeting, Steven Ly used the term, "point of order" a number of times. But he never used it correctly. So, as a public service to our city council:

According to Wikipedia, a point of order is a matter raised during consideration of a motion concerning rules of parliamentary procedure. This means when you want to interject a piece of information into a debate, that is NOT a point of order.

Yeah, he's a putz

Last night's meeting just confirms what I feared most about Ly. He thinks he knows a more than he does, and he acts without thinking things through.

Last night he decided wanted to take several rooms in the Rosemead Community Center that the senior citizens are using and convert them into computer terminals for students. This *might* be a good idea. It might not be. We don't know, and we can't know.

I'd have no problem with directing staff to look into this possibility. But I did (and Gary Taylor did) have no problem with directing that this happen without first figuring out some not so trivial details. For example, where are these computers going to come from? How much are they going to cost? How much will it cost to wire the rooms? WHICH rooms does he want to rewire? How much will THAT cost? Would this computer room duplicate things being done by the library or the school districts?

Similarly, he directed the staff create a committee to improve communication between the residents and the Sheriff's Department. Again, not a bad idea. But it's something that's already being done, through Neighborhood Watch and through the monthly meetings at the public safety center.

Thing is, since Steven Ly knows a lot less about what's going on around town than he thinks he does, he was unable to answer a very reasonable question: What will this proposal do that isn't already being done by the city, by the public safety department, and by the Sheriff's Department.

Those are just two examples of him trying to act without thinking. A third example was the firing of city manager Oliver Chi. That impulsive tantrum cost the $350,000 and created fear and disarray in the city staff right when it was trying to put together the city's budget. It also meant the interim city manager they got was out the door before he even got his seat warm. This meant more disarray, more confusion, a weaker budget--all of which would have been completely avoidable if he had stopped and thought his little tirade through before acting.

Internet Hungry

Is there any research about how many kids need access to computers who live near the center?

In my experience, lower-middle-class households have computers, and many have DSL. Poor households - those who qualify for aid - seem to lack internet access.

I notice that the low-cost cyber cafes in East LA aren't that busy, but the ones closer to downtown, especially Pico Union, are busy, and not only with people playing video games. They seem to be doing email and seeking work. This suggests that there's a need for adult internet access.

Also, at libraries, at least last year, demand for internet was high.

It's food for thought, because the usual way people think is, "we need to get computers for these kids." In fact, it may be adults that need more access.