Los Angeles Times - 02.11.2019

CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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There are days when
Rabbi Avivah Erlick sits in
her car outside Men’s Cen-
tral Jail, too afraid to go in.
She’s counseled hundreds of
inmates, but sometimes she
arrives downtown only to
drive back home, not ready
to face the sudden lock-
downs, the stale air and the
stories about violence and
loneliness.
When she does go in, Er-
lick feels overwhelmingly be-
hind. She used to be a part-
time jail chaplain supported
by a grant from the Jewish
Federation, but it wasn’t re-
newed. Now she volunteers
whenever she can. She
spends hours updating her
list of inmates to visit, which
includes dozens more than
she has time to see.
The work is too impor-
tant to stay away.
“I listen — I’m the only
person who does,” she said.
“I went into chaplaincy be-
cause I feel so drawn to help
people in crisis.”
The chaplains in the Los
Angeles County jails, some
of whom were once behind
bars themselves, are united
by a simple mission: remind
inmates of their humanity.
It’s a job they often do in one-
on-one visits. They’ll tell
jokes, share a prayer, teach a
religious text, or simply lis-
ten.
Many inmates come from
broken homes, have been
homeless, or don’t have
someone who cares about
them. The attention and
compassion of a chaplain
can go a long way.
The county provides no
funding for jail chaplains, so
their presence depends on
volunteers and religious in-
stitutions that may offer
support. Consequently,
chaplains from particular
faiths can struggle or work
long hours to meet the de-
mand of inmates who want
to see them.
Like Los Angeles, some of
the state’s most populous
counties, including San Di-

JEWISH CHAPLAINAvivah Erlick visits an inmate at Men’s Central Jail. The Jewish Federation did not

renew a grant funding chaplains, and Erlick says, “I’m so massively behind you can’t even call it behind.”

Liz MoughonLos Angeles Times

Is the jail chaplain in?

Depends on your faith

Christians have enough, but other religions aren’t well-represented

MUSLIM SENIOR chaplain Maria Khani gives prayer beads to an inmate at

Twin Towers. “I love my job,” she says. “I love it so much, but I need help.”

Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times

By Leila Miller

AN INMATE with Avivah Erlick. One inmate said their sessions help: “It

really means a lot to me that the religious leader of my belief wants to visit me.”

Liz MoughonLos Angeles Times

‘Eventually, somebody, your family or your

friend, is going to come to jail and you’re

going to want the support for them.’

[SeeChaplains,B4] —SHERIFF’SSGT. ALEXGAMBOA

SACRAMENTO — Gov.

Gavin Newsom demanded

Friday that Pacific Gas &

Electric shareholders and

executives, wildfire victims,

bondholders and other

parties involved in the com-

pany’s bankruptcy convene

in Sacramento next week to

work out a deal — and

threatened to craft a govern-

ment-led plan to restructure

the state’s largest utility if an

agreement isn’t reached

quickly.

“It is my hope that the

stakeholders in PG&E will

put parochial interests aside

and reach a negotiated reso-

lution so that we can create

this new company and forev-

er put the old PG&E behind

us,” Newsom said in a state-

ment. “If the parties fail to

reach an agreement quickly

to begin this process of

transformation, the state

will not hesitate to step in

and restructure the utility.”

Newsom hinted at a pos-

sible government takeover

of PG&E as public anger

continues to grow in North-

ern California after back-to-

back record-setting power

shut-offs that left millions of

customers in the dark for

days on end. Under mount-

ing pressure to take action,

Newsom repeated at a news

conference Friday a pledge

to increase state oversight of

the troubled company. He

said the state’s intervention

would ensure the utility that

emerges from bankruptcy

prioritizes safe, reliable and

affordable service.

PG&E filed for bank-

ruptcy in January, citing

some $30 billion in liability

costs from wildfires linked to

its equipment. In one of the

latest developments in the

case, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Dennis Montali agreed last

month to consider a compet-

ing plan from bondholders

to resolve the utility’s liabili-

ties, raising the possibility

that existing PG&E share-

holders could be wiped out

at the conclusion of the case.

The governor’s plans

build on a law the California

Legislature approved over

the summer, AB 1054, that

set certain conditions for

PG&E to exit bankruptcy in

order to access a multi-

billion-dollar fund estab-

lished to help the utilities

pay wildfire costs.

The law includes require-

ments that PG&E settles

claims with wildfire victims,

exits bankruptcy by June 30,

2020, without raising rates

on consumers and ties exe-

cutive compensation to safe-

ty. In accordance with the

law, Newsom said that he

has instructed his staff to de-

velop “a blueprint for what a

21st century utility should

look like” to serve as a model

for the company going for-

ward.

If the parties in the bank-

ruptcy case fail to reach a

hasty agreement that ad-

dresses California’s safety

concerns and its blueprint,

an advisor to Newsom said

the state is preparing to sub-

mit a motion to the court re-

questing to introduce its

own reorganization plan.

The state’s involvement in

the bankruptcy case is large-

ly novel territory and it’s up

Newsom hints

state may take

over PG&E

Governor demands

that parties involved

in utility’s bankruptcy

quickly reach a deal.

By Taryn Luna

[SeePG&E,B6]

I spent all last

weekend at the

movies. I

couldn’t tear

myself away.

The ReelAbili-

ties Film Festi-

val Los Angeles

was screening such rare

footage, I didn’t want to

miss the chance to see any of

it.

It wasn’t that the fea-

tures, shorts and docu-

mentaries were old, un-

earthed from an archive

somewhere. Their rareness

had to do with who was in

them and who made them

— people you don’t get to

see often in Hollywood.

Some of the actors and

filmmakers used wheel-

chairs. Some had Down

syndrome. Some had pros-

thetic limbs. Some were

different from many of us in

less-visible ways: They were

on the autism spectrum.

They had bipolar disorder.

In the films shown at the

festival, actors with a wide

range of disabilities got to

play an equally wide range

of richly developed roles,

many of which emphasized

their intelligence, abilities

and strength, which is far

from the Hollywood norm.

They were bolstered in this

effort by something else

notably unusual: A lot of

those writing and directing

and working on the films’

crews also were disabled

people.

I was mesmerized by the

movies at this annual festi-

val, which is produced here

by the city’s Department on

Disability in partnership

with its Commission on

Disability and ReelAbilities

International. They were

laugh-out-loud funny and

quirky and paradigm-shift-

ing, and more than one

made me cry.

ReelAbilities offerings

told different stories. Some

— like the short films made

in a weekend for actor, co-

median (and little person)

Nic Novicki’s annual East-

erseals Disability Film

Challenge — featured casts

full of disabled people but

plots that refreshingly

mostly were not about the

CITY BEAT

They are more

than ready for

their close-ups

NITA LELYVELD

[SeeCity Beat, B2]

Young people took to the
street again Friday to pro-
test inaction on climate
change, joining Swedish
teen Greta Thunberg and
other activists in a school
strike in Los Angeles.
Thunberg gathered with
California teen and college-

age activists who called

for global climate action and

a push for state and

local leaders to phase out

fossil fuel production.

Among their demands of

Gov. Gavin Newsom and

other politicians: a halt to

new oil drilling and a 2,500-

foot buffer between drill

sites and homes.

The strikes are intended

to put pressure on politi-

cians “and to make sure they

will not get away with con-

tinuing like this,” Thunberg

said in an interview with

The Times before the rally in

downtown Los Angeles.

“Because the situation is

just getting more and more

absurd for every day that

goes by without something

real and drastic happening.

“We should listen to the

science that has been ig-

nored for too long,” she add-

ed.

Thunberg, 16, is the most

prominent face of the youth

climate movement that has

swept the globe since she be-

gan launching school strikes

in her home country last

year.

She arrived in Los Ange-

les earlier this week after

traveling across North

America in a borrowed elec-

tric car, and south across

California. During her jour-

ney, she said she was sad-

dened to see wildfires erupt-

ing and the aftermath of the

Camp fire in Northern Cali-

fornia, which burned the city

of Paradise in 2018. “It was

Swedish youth activist visits L.A. for climate rally

By Tony Barboza

[SeeClimate,B6]

A holiday rich

with activism

For many Angelenos,

Day of the Dead is a

tradition imbued with

a political element. B

Waste firm sued

over deadly fire

Load of trash dumped

on road sparked the

Sandalwood blaze. B