Free Republic

Ed Edelman, the longtime Los Angeles County supervisor whose crusading policymaking influenced many aspects of local life including child welfare, health services and environmental preservation, has died. He was 85. During his 20 years on the Board of Supervisors, Edelman championed efforts to improve the way county government treated its most vulnerable citizens while also fighting to protects parts of the Santa Monica Mountains from development.

A fundraising email sent out by a candidate running for New York City’s City Council has sparked controversy amid accusations of anti-Semitism and racial incitement. The man at the center of the controversy, Thomas Lopez-Pierre, denies claims his campaign’s rhetoric is anti-Semitic, prominently featuring a 2014 article on his website entitled “Fighting Jewish Slumlords Isn’t Anti-Semitic”. Lopez-Pierre is running for the 7th district seat in the NYC City Council, challenging incumbent and fellow Democrat Mark Levine. […] Lopez-Pierre has repeatedly cited “greedy Jews” in his campaign, including a fundraising email earlier this month calling on supporters to help “Save Harlem...

I have a legit question about someone in our local community who is running for City Council. Happens to be publisher for our local paper. Should he be required to quit if elected?

The minimum age in Chicago for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products goes up to 21 at the end of the week. […] Hawaii and California have raised the tobacco purchase age to 21 statewide. Illinois lawmakers are considering a similar measure. The Chicago City Council approved the age increase in March, along with higher taxes and other efforts to combat tobacco sales. …

Backlash against a plan to remove prominent Confederate monuments in New Orleans has been tinged by death threats, intimidation and even what may have been the intentional torching of a contractor’s Lamborghini. For now, at least, things have gotten so nasty the city hasn’t found a contractor willing to bear the risk of tearing down the monuments. The city doesn’t have its own equipment to move them and is now in talks to find a company, even discussing doing the work at night to avoid further tumult.Initially, it appeared the monuments would be removed quickly after the majority black City...

Looks like the city is spoiling for a new fight with restaurateurs: A bill being introduced today by Brooklyn city council member Inez Barron would force them to warn customers that foods with too much sugar and carbs are dangerous to people with diabetes. If it’s passed, restaurants would be required to hang a poster created by the Department of Health that spells out the “risks of excessive sugar and other carbohydrate intake for diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals.” Barron says the city has “an obligation” to provide consumers with this information just like it has with calorie counts. …

4 of 6 Hamtramck City Council members are Muslim The Polish flocked to Hamtramck in the 1900s and evidence of the city's Polish roots remain. However, over the last few decades a new wave of immigrants, primarily from the Middle East, South Asia and Southeastern Europe, has dramatically changed the face and culture of this community. Now, the Hamtramck City Council is going to reflect that diversity. "We are very proud and we are very happy for that achievement, what we have done in this city, for our city," said Jamal Alturki, a voter. Voters gave Abu Musa and Anam...

Boston City Council approved giving itself a nearly 23 percent pay raise on Wednesday, despite threats of a possible veto by Mayor Martin Walsh. The council voted 9-4 to raise its annual pay from $87,500 to $107,500, a $20,000 increase, effective January 2016. […] Boston City Council salaries already exceed those in other New England cities; only Cambridge councilors, who earn $73,362, come close, according to a 2013 Boston city survey. …

The Detroit City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a plan to return oversight of daily operations to elected officials while retaining the city’s state-appointed emergency manager to oversee bankruptcy matters until they are resolved. Kevyn Orr, who was appointed by the state in March 2013 to manage Detroit’s troubled finances and who took the city into the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, said Thursday that Detroit is “more than ready for the change.” …

The cost of getting caught with a little weed in Santa Fe will drop to just $25 max, thanks to a City Council vote Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana. When the ordinance goes into effect, those caught with an ounce or less of marijuana in arts loving Santa Fe will be hit with a civil fine. Previously, it was a criminal misdemeanor carrying a possible $100 fine and jail time. With the 5-4 vote, the liberal-leaning northern New Mexico capital known for its arts market and tourist draws joined the national movement to change marijuana laws, and became the first city...

Residents in Auckland, New Zealand are questioning their council’s decision to subsidize a one-day conference exploring “queer polyamory” relationships. The Auckland Council, which serves New Zealand’s largest population, recently gave grants to various homosexual organizations, but it is the conference on polyamory that is causing a stir. Entitled “Poly Panel, Discussions around Queer Polyamory” is described on GayNZ as “a one day event exploring a framework of ethical, healthy polyamory relationships.” An advertisement for the event states: “Along with questioning heteronormativity, many LGBTI people question monogamous marriages and relationships.” According to the advertisement, the event aims to “break down some...

Several Silicon Valley cannabis clubs to offer free weed to those who can prove they votedFree marijuana is the reward in store for certain voters on Tuesday in San Jose's municipal election. San Jose is in the process of choosing a new mayor -- and also passing new, more-restrictive rules on medical marijuana. A proposal the City Council is still considering would zone dispensaries out of business, weed supporters say -- so Tuesday's election is important. Half of the City Council's 10 seats are at stake. Select Silicon Valley medical marijuana dispensaries will give free discounted and in some cases...

A small, coastal town in central California has settled a lawsuit regarding prayer at City Council meetings, ultimately agreeing to no longer hold any form of prayer, whether sectarian or non-sectarian, ahead of the local government meetings. City officials say they decided to settle the lawsuit to avoid further legal costs paid by taxpayer money. Pismo Beach city officials announced their settlement earlier this week, nearly six months after the Freedom From Religion Foundation [FFRF] and the local chapter of Atheists United San Luis Obispo filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that it had violated the U.S. Constitution's separation...

An atheist organization has sent a letter of complaint to a city council in Michigan over the local government's usage of prayer at council meetings. The Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has threatened legal action against the Saginaw City Council. In a letter sent to Saginaw City Manager Tim Morales, FFRF staff attorney Rebecca S. Markert wrote that Saginaw "should drop these prayers altogether." "Government prayers exclude a significant portion of Americans from the democratic process, are of dubious legality, and are a repudiation of our secular history," wrote Markert. "City Council members are free to pray privately or...

DEER TRAIL, Colo. -- Wearing a black duster and a black cowboy hat, Phil Steel walked to the front of the meeting room armed with a Nerf gun and a smile. The U.S. Army veteran was there to pitch his big idea: an ordinance that would legalize and regulate drone hunting inside Deer Trail city limits. If approved, residents could pay $25 to get a drone-hunting license; the town would pay a bounty for every drone bagged. "Really?" someone asked sarcastically as the theme music to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" blared during Steel's entrance. Laughter rippled through...

Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron was a firebrand to the end, delivering a farewell speech that echoed many of the greatest hits of his controversial tenure barron.jpg “I just wanted to come before you to say that I will always be black, radical, revolutionary. I will always be a socialist, anti-capitalist/imperialist” said Barron, who represents East New York, at the Council’s last meeting Thursday, where many members took the chance to make farewell remarks. “I went to Cuba. I went to Venezuela. I went to Zimbabwe. I brought you the president and you didn’t appreciate it!” he said, a reference to...

he New York City Council approved legislation Thursday to ban the use of electronic cigarettes from indoor public spaces where smoking is already prohibited. Because many of the e-cigarettes are designed to look like cigarettes and be used just like them, they can lead to confusion or confrontation,” Quinn said

Mayor-elect Mike Pantelides’ honeymoon as the new chief executive of Annapolis might end before it begins, as City Council members say that next term they plan to revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Alderman Ross Arnett, D-Ward 8, said he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a full council-manager form of government. This would create a position similar to the current city manager, except that the official would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor. He or she would also manage all department heads. The mayor’s post would...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Days after a Republican was elected mayor of Annapolis, City Council members say they will revisit legislation that would strip the mayor’s office of much of its power. Democratic Alderman Ross Arnett of Ward 8 tells The Capital he will introduce a charter amendment to move Annapolis to a council-manager style of government. The city manager would report directly to the City Council, not the mayor.

Annapolis Alderman Ross Arnett insists the City Council's decision to take another look at making the mayor's job a more ceremonial role has nothing to do with party politics. But if the Democrat-majority council acts to remove the mayor's power, the timing will coincide with the election of Annapolis' first Republican mayor in nearly two decades, Mike Pantelides, who defeated the incumbent Democrat, Mayor Josh Cohen, last week.