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Life & Times Transcript
8/27/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- They were sexually abused by Catholic priests. Will a multimillion dollar settlement end their suffering? Erin Brady>> People can see us as adults standing on television and they often think, "Why can't they just let it go?". But then when they see the kids, they realize why they can't. Val Zavala>> And then, is this a good role model for black teens? A pop culture expert talks about the Super Fly '70s. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. With additional support for Life and Times from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. Val Zavala>> The Los Angeles Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has agreed to pay six hundred sixty million dollars to victims of sexual abuse by priests. There are more than five hundred victims and some of them will get settlements of about a million dollars or more. But can money undo the damage by pedophiles? Toni Guinyard takes a look at the plight of victims and one woman in particular who's healing in a unique way. Erin Brady>> I came forward fourteen years ago and it's been a long, long battle. Toni Guinyard>> When Erin Brady was a child, she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. Erin Brady>> The abuse started at the age of eight and went on until I was eleven. It was very, very severe. Toni Guinyard>> She is one of the five hundred eight victims that settled with the Los Angeles Archdiocese for a record six hundred sixty million dollars. Erin Brady>> Money doesn't mean justice. I'd like to see justice and I'd like to see healing for the church. I'm not Catholic anymore, but I would like to see them embrace victims and bring them back and at least listen to them. Toni Guinyard>> Brady and other victims have found another way to speak out without uttering a sound: photographs. Their very own images as children sewn stitch by stitch into quilts. Why is it important to have photographs of you as children? Erin Brady>> Because, well, people connect with an image and a picture is worth a thousand words. They can see us as adults standing on television and they often think, "Why can't they just let it go?" But then when they see the kids, I think they realize why we can't. Toni Guinyard>> The project began with one idea. Let's make a quilt to unite us. Brady volunteered and, with some help, she completed six quilts in just two months. They bear the photos of one hundred sixty-eight Los Angeles area survivors of clergy abuse. Just two days after the settlement was made public, Brady was already at work on quilt number seven. She calls the collection of quilts "Shattered Lives". Erin Brady>> You know, when I first started, I was not really prepared for the emotional connection with each of these because many of these people I know. Some of them I don't know and, as you sew, it's like you connect with each kid. Toni Guinyard>> To understand the connection, you only need ask about the story behind the centerpiece of each quilt. Erin Brady>> I designed this centerpiece specifically for this young man. His name was Eric Zapala. When I first came forward in 1993, he went with me to confront my perpetrator. He committed suicide this year. I chose to have the choir members because of my friend, Eric, and the silenced voices. The "X" symbolizes how we were silenced and could not talk about our abuse for a long, long, long time. Toni Guinyard>> What do you think when you see your own image? Erin Brady>> I feel like I'm surrounded by my people (laughter). We call each other family, the survivors. I'm connected to them forever. Even though this legal part of it is over, we're still very connected. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> In the hours after the settlement was announced, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, SNAP, met in the downtown Los Angeles hotel conference room. It was less of a celebration and more of a realization that they'd finally gotten what they'd wanted so badly for so long. Cardinal Roger Mahony>> "The one thing I wish I could give the victims, I cannot, and that is a restoration to where they were originally." Toni Guinyard>> Public acknowledgment from the church of the abuse. Cardinal Roger Mahony>> "I apologize to anyone who's been offended, who has been abused in the Catholic church by priests, by deacons, religious men and women or lay people in the church. It should not have happened and should not ever happen again." Erin Brady>> It's a little bittersweet because, fourteen years ago when I came forward, I asked Cardinal Mahony for two things. That was to pay for my therapy, which at the time was fifty-five dollars a week, and to remove the man who molested me from ministry. So today, he has agreed, I guess, in a sense to pay my therapy, but the man who molested me is still in ministry and remains there as we speak. David Clohessy>> You know, no amount of money can, of course, repair the shattered trust and restore the stolen childhoods and suddenly make people who are in tremendous suffering okay again. Toni Guinyard>> David Clohessy is National Director of The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. He was abused in Missouri in the late 1960s and 1970s. He's not part of this settlement, but was in Los Angeles to support other victims. David Clohessy>> Clearly, Cardinal Mahony needs to be taken to task for this enormous gap between what he claims he knew and did and what he actually knew and did. There are documents that will eventually be disclosed that show time and time again that, instead of calling the police, Cardinal Mahony called a PR firm. Toni Guinyard>> All of the documents that are part of this settlement, what's the importance of those? Erin Brady>> They're more important than the money. Toni Guinyard>> As part of the settlement, the Los Angeles Archdiocese must provide a retired judge with internal church files on clergy accused of abuse. The judge will decide what information will be made public. David Clohessy>> Without those documents, citizens and Catholics will know only one part of the puzzle. They'll know the names of most of the predatory priests because they've been sued and exposed and suspended, but they don't know the names of the high-ranking church officials who enabled those crimes to happen. Toni Guinyard>> Consider it the beginning of the end of one chapter and the start of another as attorneys continue dealing with legal details and victims wait for what they believe will be further vindication. Erin Brady is still working away, still receiving photographs from victims. Erin Brady>> Nationwide, there are over ten thousand victims that have come forward. So if you would imagine a quilt with ten thousand faces and how big that would be. David Clohessy>> We know that, you know, the unspeakable crimes that we've suffered, that can't be erased. But what we can do is use our pain to educate the public and to deter future wrongdoing. Erin Brady>> What I would like to see the quilts used for now is for healing. Toni Guinyard>> And in some tiny yet very important way, she is healing with every stitch, combining her two loves, quilting and supporting fellow victims. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Here's a question for you that not many people know the answer to. What do you think is the total value of all the real estate in Los Angeles County? I'm talking about homes, apartments, businesses, universities, hospitals, everything. Well, there's a person whose job it is to know the answer to that question. He's the Assessor for the County of Los Angeles. We call him the tax man. His name is Rick Auerbach and he knows exactly how much all the real state in Los Angeles County is worth, minus government buildings. Ready? $1,037,881,721,280.00. Now the primary job of an assessor is not to collect taxes, although they do plenty of that. It's to make sure that the value of the properties are assessed accurately. In the case of Los Angeles County, that one trillion dollars is a record. Rick Auerbach, Assessor for the County of Los Angeles, we're going to talk about taxes. But first, we should mention, though, that you did not get in a fight with your wife this morning. Rick Auerbach>> No, or no taxpayers (laughter). Val Zavala>> Or no taxpayers, that's right. So people shouldn't worry about that. This is an historic time for Los Angeles County. Explain why that is. Rick Auerbach>> Well, we've just completed the assessment roll for 2007 and the assessment roll is now over a trillion dollars. Val Zavala>> Explain what an assessment roll is because that's a term not most of us know. Rick Auerbach>> Okay. That's a listing of all the property in Los Angeles County and its associated value. Val Zavala>> So the value of all the real estate in Los Angeles County, with the exception of government real estate, is worth more than a trillion dollars? Rick Auerbach>> That's correct. But actually it's worth much more than that, but because of Proposition 13, the value is actually kept artificially lower for property tax purposes and that's the benefit of Proposition 13. Val Zavala>> So in terms of real estate values, that makes Los Angeles County by far the richest, if you want to call it that, in the state? Rick Auerbach>> Oh, by far. I think Orange County would be next. They're probably right about four hundred billion or five hundred billion or something like that. So, yeah, we're more than twice as large. Val Zavala>> So the real estate boom that we've been experiencing for the last few years in single family homes, that's what has mainly driven this upwards? Rick Auerbach>> The main driver has been the sales of single family homes. When property sells now, the new value, the value for property tax purposes, is essentially the sales price. The old value was its value under Proposition 13. So if a property was purchased maybe in 1990 and then sold again in 2006, its value for property tax purposes is probably two to three times higher than it was, so that's why there's such a large increase. Val Zavala>> And more or less, what is the property tax rate these days that people are paying? Rick Auerbach>> Well, the average rate is probably about 1.2 percent. As stated in Proposition 13, the general tax rate is one percent, but then there's voted indebtedness that's also added to that. The average is somewhere around 1.2 percent. Val Zavala>> But still, you're talking about 1.2 percent of about a trillion dollars. That's a lot of money. That's good news for Los Angeles County, isn't it? Rick Auerbach>> It's very good news for Los Angeles County and for local governments within Los Angeles County, the cities. The cities get a portion of the property tax. Actually, about twenty-five percent of the property tax collected in Los Angeles County goes to cities. Val Zavala>> And then a good chunk of it also goes to schools? Rick Auerbach>> About twenty percent to schools and about thirty-four or thirty-five percent goes to the county of Los Angeles, and the balance goes to special districts. Val Zavala>> So if we hit this real estate slump or plateau or whatever, I would think that means bad news for Los Angeles County, that the tax revenues will drop and we could be in trouble. Rick Auerbach>> Well, it's not as good news as it was for this year. The assessment roll we just completed was for January 1, 2007. In other words, the value as of January 1, 2007. Now that we've hit a plateau and in some areas maybe some properties are going down in value, the increase for 2008 will not be as high as the 9.3 percent we experienced this year. I would guess now that it would be somewhere between five to seven percent. That's the assessment roll increase and not the value of property overall, but just the assessment roll increase. Val Zavala>> So the bottom line is, it won't go up as much as it has gone up in these boom years? Rick Auerbach>> That's correct, but we still expect again a healthy increase. Val Zavala>> Now with the real estate market kind of slipping here, some areas have been hit pretty hard with depreciation or the home values dropping. Is there a way to get your home value re-assessed? Rick Auerbach>> Basically, if you believe the assessed value of your property is greater than its actual value, we want you to file one of those claims for re-assessment. The job of the assessor, again, is not to raise revenue for the county or for the city. It's to put the proper value on property. If we're in error or the value of property in your particular area has dropped, we need to know about it. So you need to compare your actual value of your property over what it says on your tax bill. Your tax bill is going to be coming in probably mid-October or early October. You can take a look at what the assessed value is and actually you can also find that assessed value online on our website. Take a look at that and, if you think it's in error, let us know. First step, either look online or call one of my offices. Val Zavala>> And if you do think that your house is less than the assessed value, who's to determine its true value? Do you have to hire a professional appraiser? Rick Auerbach>> No, you do not. We will take a look at it and we are very good. Again, we have no incentive to over-value property. However, if you still believe that we're wrong, you can file an appeal with the Assessment Appeals Board and you have until November 30 to file that appeal. Val Zavala>> People often forget that the assessor is an elected post. Rick Auerbach has been re-elected twice to the job. Still, as jobs go, tax collecting is not the most popular. Now at cocktail parties, when they say, "Oh, what do you do?" Rick Auerbach>> Well, most of the time, unless they know me, I would probably say, "I work for the County of Los Angeles". Then if somebody asked me to be more specific, then I would tell them what I do. I'd rather not be recognized when I go to the grocery story or -- Val Zavala>> -- oh, really? Because there's too many complaints? People are -- Rick Auerbach>> -- actually, because of Proposition 13, I think people are fairly happy. Again, they know what their property taxes are going to be. Even when they buy a new property, they know what they're going to be because it's essentially one percent of the sales price or purchase price. I think that's been good. Actually, another thing, my office participated in a survey of the county of Los Angeles, a customer satisfaction survey. This was just completed a few months ago. We were one of two departments in the county that got a ninety-nine percent customer satisfaction approval rating. In other words, ninety-nine percent of the people that came to our public counters, if they agreed to sign something whether they were satisfied or not satisfied, ninety-nine percent said they were satisfied. Val Zavala>> Rick Auerbach, thank you very much. Great information and I'm glad that wasn't from a taxpayer (laughter). Rick Auerbach>> (Laughter) Thank you. Thank you very much. Val Zavala>> And now for this Life and Times story update. We told you back in May that Orange County Supervisors were looking into issuing identification cards for people who use marijuana for medical purposes. The cards would tell law enforcement that the cardholder has a doctor's permission to smoke marijuana. Well, now the Supervisors have made a decision. They voted in favor of the proposal. So now Orange County will create a system to identify eligible patients, issue identification cards, validate prescriptions and monitor marijuana dispensaries. Even though California voters approved medical marijuana back in 1996, it's still in conflict with federal law and has created an ongoing controversy. Orange County District Attorney, Anthony Rackauckas, warns that identification cards will not shield patients from federal prosecution. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> The 1970s were a great time to grow up black. That, according to Todd Boyd, a professor at USC's School of Cinema and Television. He says that the 1970s were the richest, most fertile period of black culture ever. Well, that's quite a statement. Saul Gonzalez talked with Todd Boyd about his new book, "The Notorious PhD's Guide to the Super Fly '70s". Saul Gonzalez>> Professor Todd Boyd, thanks for joining us on Life and Times. Todd Boyd>> Thank you. Saul Gonzalez>> You know, the 1970s are a time that a lot of people would rather forget, Watergate, the Vietnam War, oil embargo. But to you, they're a kind of a golden age of black American popular culture. Why? Todd Boyd>> Well, it's a golden age of black American popular culture because, one, there were so many different images available to choose from. You know, in film you had the Blaxploitation era. In music, you had this, you know, great moment in terms of soul music, people like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and others. On television, you had programs like "Soul Train" and "Roots" and "Good Times" and "Sanford and Son". In athletics, people like Dr. J and Muhammad Ali making his historic comeback, Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's homerun record. I mean, it was such a plentiful time for images of black culture having come about in the decade immediately following the civil rights movement. [Film Clip] Saul Gonzalez>> One cinematic icon is the 1971 film, "Shaft", starring Richard Roundtree. Todd Boyd>> Many of these examples in the 1970s grew out of Black Power, black nationalism, grew out of the political struggles taking place in the streets. It was more urban, more edgy, more confrontational. [Film Clip] Todd Boyd>> You saw a very sort of empowered black male figure. In the 1960s, you know, you had someone like Sidney Poitier who was very dignified and erudite and articulate and very sort of distinct, you know, in his persona. Saul Gonzalez>> The white community's favorite black guy. Todd Boyd>> Yeah, but he was a very interesting figure for that time. But the late 1960s and early 1970s, audiences wanted something different. They wanted something more empowered, more hip, someone more cool. So you get a "Shaft", you get a priest in "Super Fly", you get Goldie in "The Mack". You get these figures who come out of, you know, urban culture. It's very urban as opposed to suburban and southern and these are the things that, you know, really influenced the civil rights movement. The Black Power movement, black nationalism, black culture in the 1970s was urban and, you know, it's in your face. It's very flamboyant. It's very cool. It's very hip and that's why it's still so influential now. Saul Gonzalez>> Let's move to the music side of the scene and if you could talk about the importance of Marvin Gaye in particular. [Film Clip] Todd Boyd>> Marvin Gaye, I think, is one of the most significant figures in the 1970s. When he started at Motown in the 1960s, he was a drummer and, sort of over time, he started doing tunes like "Grapevine" and "Hitchhike", duets with Tammy Turrell and Diana Ross and people like this. This is 1960s Motown that people really know him for. In the 1970s, though, Marvin wanted to go in a different direction. Of course, there's the classic album, "What's Going On", which was very political, very much a concept album. He's talking about Vietnam. He's talking about drug addiction. He's talking about the environment. You know, this is in the early 1970s. That culture in the 1970s continues to influence, you know, a great deal of culture today, commercials, hip hop culture and other aspects. The 1970s is like a warehouse of references and information for contemporary society. Saul Gonzalez>> Let's talk about another figure and that's Richard Pryor. Later in life, we remember him, unfortunately, as this sick man or this man who was wrestling with a lot of his own demons. What was he like before then? What was he like at his height in the 1970s? Todd Boyd>> Well, with Richard Pryor, you get really all that energy from the Black Power movement articulated through comedy. Richard Pryor spent a significant amount of time with Huey Newton and the Black Panther party. This is really when he came to consciousness in the 1960s. His material before that time had been very much like Bill Cosby's. But after, you know, spending time with the Black Panthers, he began to read and become conscious and his comedy started to reflect some of the issues that were being dealt with in conversations around the Black Power movement. He took really troubling, controversial subjects and he made them funny, but he didn't in any way compromise what it was that he had to say. [Film Clip] Todd Boyd>> His material in the 1970s really is what I think makes him the greatest comedian ever and a social critic as well because what he had to say was intelligent and sociological as much as it was humorous. [Film Clip] Saul Gonzalez>> What would you say to both black and white people who would say that there's a lot not to like about that era, a celebration of violence, a celebration of drug dealing, the beginning of the "gangsta" lifestyle? Response to that? Todd Boyd>> Well, I've never been one who's been in favor of the so-called positive image school of black thought. What you saw in the 1970s were images from the streets. At the time, there was this concern not only about African Americans, but about poverty and the impact that poverty had had on the African American condition. So there were these Robin Hood-like figures who came from the streets, you know, who happened to be in many cases people on the other side of the law. But you have to remember that the 1970s was also the time of something like "The Godfather". Nobody dismissed "The Godfather". Clearly, "The Godfather", "The Godfather Part II", were two of the greatest films ever made. Nobody dismissed them because, you know, these figures were criminals. Somehow when you apply that same treatment to the black culture, people have a problem with it. But I think we have to look at those images as offering the same sort of possibilities for understanding broad issues in our society. I think the 1970s was a period of time that keeps on giving and we can see the influences around us, you know, practically everywhere we look. Saul Gonzalez>> Professor Todd Boyd, author of "The Notorious PhD's Guide to the Super Fly '70s", thanks for joining us on Life and Times. Todd Boyd>> Thank you. Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. With additional support for Life and Times from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. Val Zavala>> Next time on Life and Times -- Will an expanding theme park crowd out a piece of California history? >> It really has hit home as just how large and how much mass there is in this development. That's our biggest concern. We're not against development, but it has to fit into the community. Val Zavala>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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