Public Works

Our purchase of Heritage Cards from Ireland's Office of Public Works guaranteed us free admission to all fee-paying state-managed OPW heritage sites throughout the country for one year. The costs were recouped within the first week of our recent three-week trip. Adults, about $26, families, about $67 Heritage Card, Office of Public Works, Heritage Ireland division; http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/Info/HeritageCards/ . Gail Robillard Rancho Palos Verdes

The Orange County public works director who supervised embattled former executive Carlos Bustamante has been fired, the first ranking official to be terminated in the wake of the politician's arrest on suspicion of sexual assault. Public Works Director Jess Carbajal, 56, received a phone call informing him of his dismissal Tuesday morning and a letter later in the day, said his attorney, Wylie Aitken. The move comes a week after Bustamante was charged with 12 felony counts in connection with the alleged sexual battery and false imprisonment of more than seven women over eight years.

A Santa Ana city councilman abused his power as a high-ranking county official by targeting and luring at least seven female employees to his office and other locations to hug, kiss and touch them inappropriately over a period of eight years, prosecutors said Tuesday. Carlos Bustamante, a former administration manager at the Orange County public works department, has been charged with a dozen felonies, including attempted sexual battery, stalking, fraud and six counts of false imprisonment.

The frescoes encapsulate Depression-era California: Scenes depicting idyllic farm and factory life roll out beside those of grueling economic hardship. Urban shoppers browse for toys. A small boy witnesses a mugging. No one disputes their historical value. But the works — along with their iconic Art Deco home, San Francisco's fluted Coit Tower — are in trouble. Mineral blooms on the concrete pillar's interior walls, a byproduct of this city's legendary fog, have marred the earth- and jewel-toned images.

Voters in the city of Vernon approved a package of governmental reforms Tuesday that establish term limits in a community where some officials have served since the 1970s. The vote marked the first official support from Vernon's residents for an ongoing reform effort in the city's government, which was launched in response to a disincorporation bill in the state Legislature earlier this year. A total of 52 ballots were cast, according to a city spokesman. "The city is moving in the right direction and this is a part of that picture," said John K. Van de Kamp, a former California attorney general who is working as Vernon's ethics advisor.

There are three main reasons why the state has not been rapidly rebuilding California's public facilities, despite an urgent need. Two of them I've written about recently: gubernatorial ambivalence and bureaucratic inertia. But the third is a more long-term problem. The state simply does not have enough money to build all that it needs. A massive public works program is essential to stimulate the stagnant economy, create tens of thousands of jobs and — over the long haul — restore California to greatness after decades of sweeping its decaying infrastructure under the political rug. There have been fits and starts.

Don Perata remembers the mood and expectations when the Legislature passed a massive $37-billion public works program in 2006. The mood was jubilant, the former Senate leader recalls. Legislators had acted in a very rare bipartisan fashion. And the expectation was that the record-size bond package — pushed hard by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — would rapidly begin the rebuilding of California's decaying infrastructure, creating tens of thousands of jobs. "Everyone was feeling good about what happened.

Gov. Jerry Brown says President Obama should embark on an FDR-type public works program to stimulate the economy. Excellent idea. And Brown should follow his own advice in Sacramento. The Brown administration is sitting on $9.1 billion in infrastructure bonds that have been sold and are costing the state a ton in debt payments. A rough estimate is $630 million a year. But the borrowed money is stashed in various drawers throughout the bureaucracy instead of circulating around California creating jobs.

Los Angeles city officials voted Monday to deny operating permits for this weekend's Sunset Junction festival, a decision that could mean the cancellation of one of the city's best known music events for the first time in three decades. Members of the Board of Public Works voted 3-1 to deny the application from the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, citing nearly $400,000 in unpaid fees for the 2011 and 2010 festivals. But they left open the possibility that they might reconsider the decision at their next meeting Wednesday if organizers can raise the nearly $142,000 owed for this year.

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a 10-year contract for the installation of up to 6,000 bus benches, turning back a last-minute proposal to shield the existing contractor from having to pay the city any outstanding debts. On an 11-1 vote, the council replaced Norman Bench, the current vendor, with Martin Outdoor Media. Councilman Mitch Englander, who received $5,000 in campaign contributions in October from individuals affiliated with Norman Bench, cast the lone vote against the winning bidder.