Leap Refutes Trump’s Claim that ICE Liberated Towns from MS-13

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The tweets of Donald Trump are not known for factual accuracy, and Jorja Leap of UCLA Luskin Social Welfare told PolitiFact that his recent claims about ICE “liberating” towns from MS-13 and other gangs are an “outrageous” example of his tendency to exaggerate. “This is hyperbolic and misleading language,” said Leap, who is also director of the Health and Social Justice Partnership at UCLA Luskin. “Liberation is usually the terminology of military forces — as in, the Allies liberated France from the Nazis.”

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Pierce Joins Radio Show to Discuss Discolored Drinking Water in Compton

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Luskin Center for Innovation researcher Gregory Pierce commented in a recent KPCC “Take Two” broadcast about a lawsuit filed by Compton residents complaining about discolored drinking water supplied by Sativa, a small local water district serving the area. “Part of the issue for Sativa is actually that it hasn’t yet violated the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. It’s much easier for the state or the county to dissolve the system or try to consolidate a system when it has repeatedly violated those standards,” Pierce says in the segment that begins at the 17:19-minute mark. “But the larger issue is that once a system is set up and the state or county wants to dissolve it, the big obstacle is that, oftentimes, there is no one else to take on that system.”

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Lens Is Interviewed About Expo Line Upzoning

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In an on-air interview for the “Take Two” program on KPCC, UCLA Luskin’s Michael Lens talked about L.A.’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM), which has recommended that the City Council adopt a proposal to re-zone property along the Expo Line. “Upzoning” the transportation corridor could mean taller, more dense housing units. Although upzoning isn’t always popular, it can lower the cost of housing through supply and demand economics. To listen to Lens’ interview, scrub forward to the 12:45-minute mark of the show.

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Parking Is Sexy Now. Thank Donald Shoup

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A CITYLAB profile of Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor emeritus of urban planning, highlights his career studying parking in the U.S. and his most recent book on the subject, “Parking and the City,” published this year. “It’s been 13 years since my first book, and I think people are surprised by how many cities have been persuaded to follow the recommendations,” said Shoup, referring to his “revolutionary” 2005 book, “The High Cost of Free Parking.” “I’m very happy people are beginning to see the huge benefits of getting parking right.” Shoup also spoke about his new book in a recent KPCC “Take Two” radio segment.

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S.F. Chronicle: Trump Is Exaggerating Threat of MS-13, Leap Says

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In its coverage of the Trump administration’s claims that its policies prevent members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 from entering the United States to commit crimes, the Chronicle turned to Jorja Leap of UCLA Luskin Social Welfare, who has studied MS-13 and other gangs. In reality, MS-13’s threat in Los Angeles, where the gang was born three decades ago, “is probably the lowest it has ever been,” Leap said. Constantly citing the danger of MS-13, as Trump has done, could backfire, helping MS-13 in recruiting. Leap said, “Along with being erroneous, he is giving them oxygen. Donald Trump is acting as a one-man publicity band for MS-13.” Leap also contributed to a recent visual storytelling piece about MS-13 by the New York Times. And she previously spoke to the L.A. Daily News about the search of a new Los Angeles police chief.

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In Wake of Recent Celebrity Suicides, Kaplan Appears on Radio Panel

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Professor of Social Welfare Mark S. Kaplan joined other experts in a recent KPCC broadcast following recent high-profile suicides that included celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and designer Kate Spade. “Suicide is a remarkable public health issue because it is to some extent a hidden problem and in some cases almost a hidden epidemic. … And it is a remarkable problem because it is also associated with firearms,” said Kaplan, who studies suicide risk among vulnerable populations. Kaplan noted that of the approximately 45,000 yearly suicide deaths, half involve the use of firearms.

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Curbed L.A. Seeks Out Monkkonen for Comment on Development Near Expo Line

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A new Expo Line plan to allow higher density residential development around five Westside stations may provide an important example of how to approach the city’s housing crisis, according to Paavo Monkkonen, associate professor of urban planning. “Look at how often a single-family home sells on a block. You’ll have a gradual change, not some crazy transition overnight,” Monkkonen said about the Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan. “But we need some proof-of-concept model because it has never happened, really.”

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Shoup Writes About How to Fix New York’s Parking Problems 

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Donald Shoup has a smart fix for New York City’s traffic woes: Sell market-priced parking permits for heavily trafficked parts of the city, then plow that money back into nearby neighborhoods. In a New York Times opinion article, Shoup, UCLA Luskin professor of urban planning and author of “Parking and the City,” writes, “Diverse interests across the political spectrum can find things to like in a parking benefit district.” He argues, “Cities can fairly and efficiently manage their curb space as valuable public real estate. … They can stop subsidizing cars, congestion and carbon emissions, and instead provide better public services.”

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Consumer Choice Has Revolutionized Electricity Business in California, DeShazo Says

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JR DeShazo is quoted in a recent column in the Los Angeles Times on the rise of community choice aggregators (CCAs) and their effects on California’s major electric utilities. “The pressure they’ve placed on the [investor-owned utilities] has produced a focus on competition that did not exist before,” said DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center for Innovation and co-author of a 2016 study on CCAs. “So a competitive dynamic already has emerged that has been beneficial to customers.” Only a small number of states have legalized these government-affiliated, non-traditional utilities, which now serve almost 2 million Californians.

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