In this case, thankfully, there is loads of parking in the back and on the side street off Alameda.(Homeboy is on a corner) and sometimes even in the front.

Knew what you meant about Galatzan. She actually seems very good, although I have yet to meet her.

Have no insights on other candidates. Have been working too hard to have my finger too much to the wind. But I intend to acquire some insights ASAP.

I misspoke calling Galatzan a mayoral “appointee,” since of course the school Board is elected, but I meant that he supported her candidacy. (This distinction is made too clear by the poor guy (Ben Hayden, if I recall correctly) who the mayor also allegedly supported for Kanter’s westside seat, but who didn’t get the required signatures, and now there’s finger-pointing over who’s to blame and whether this is a loss to the city. Do you have any insights on him or the other candidates?)

Thanks for the report on the meeting. I’m totally with you on all you points. (Although whether the problem is worse in the west valley or the west side/Hollywood is tough to judge, but upon reflection, you’re probably right as at least the valley has a string of good magnets.)

About Homeboy, the best thing I can recommend is to have lunch at Homegirl cafe some week day, take a tour of the rest of Homeboy, and decide for yourself. You’ve got good instincts. You’ll get a feeling for it.

And the salads at Homegirl are very, very tasty, I promise.

(PS: It’s father Boyle with a “B.”)

About the charter issue: I’m glad Korenstein is leaving. Heard the latest LAUSD Board meeting with Brewer still there in a replay on Sunday (I was too sleepy to do anything more exciting is my excuse and besides, it was his last one as Super so I wanted to see what we’d be missing/ no input from him to speak of was my answer). Discussing the 4 vacant schools in the Valley, one of which at least was wanted by a charter school, Korenstein was arguing that a magnet would be better because quoting a Times article, “charters tend to segregate while magnets tend to integrate.”

The number of things wrong with that statement I couldn’t being to list. Kanter disagreed with her premise but said that more magnets were definitely overdue (agreed), while Galatzan told her bluntly that trying to put a magnet there to undercut charters was just plain wrong. Yes, Galatzan. (Despite being the Mayor’s appointee she often says the most common-sense things.)

Except she said that “especially in the west valley” where the middle class had left the school district, charters or magnets or anything that would get them back was needed. I’d say the problem on the westside-Hollywood is far more dire. There, anyone who can afford it lives in a parallel universe of private schools and doesn’t even look at public except a small handful of elementaries. Many more would go back and be glad to save the money if there were charters.