Bill Pitkin
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Bill Pitkin
@billpitkin.net
260 followers 140 following 2.5K posts
Just trying to do my part. I root for underdogs.
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billpitkin.net
Woodland Hills, CA 6.14:25
June 15, 2025 at 4:18 PM
billpitkin.net
A warning from a self-described "self-respecting conservative"

www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
February 14, 2025 at 1:12 PM
billpitkin.net
I'm honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. today by reading and reflecting on his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written over 60 years ago but more relevant than ever.

Key excerpt below and full text available at:
shorturl.at/gnKLS
I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King, Jr., April 16, 1963
January 20, 2025 at 4:29 PM
billpitkin.net
My heart aches for the thousands of people who've lost homes and businesses and the millions more who will continue to be affected by these wildfires for years to come. I've lived through a number of these in my 30 years in LA but this could be the most damaging.
www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
January 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
billpitkin.net
Smoke yesterday over Topanga/Malibu from #PalisadesFire. So much destruction already here and in other areas that are burning. We are safe, but hoping the winds die down soon.
January 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
billpitkin.net
Jimmy Carter's 1979 "crisis of confidence" speech to the nation was much maligned but of course contained many prescient insights.
In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose. The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next five years will be worse than the past five years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world. As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.
December 31, 2024 at 2:50 PM
billpitkin.net
The 5 most populous US cities, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix, all struggle with providing affordable housing for low-income residents. Find more information on these data, the Upward Mobility Data Dashboard, and how to create similar charts at:
www.urban.org/urban-wire/n...
Chart showing that New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix all struggle with providing affordable housing for low-income residents. Only Houston has sufficient housing units (for renters with low incomes), but it has only 20 units for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.
November 19, 2024 at 1:51 PM
billpitkin.net
Nothing but blue sky in Topanga, CA today
November 16, 2024 at 10:16 PM
billpitkin.net
Great to speak at the #AHCJSummit with my friend @AmiyokoShabazz, thanks for including us @RASchuetz
November 16, 2024 at 10:19 PM
billpitkin.net
The amazing Margery Turner of @urbaninstitute is sharing background and details of the upward Mobility Framework. #LIveatUrban

More info at: https://upward-mobility.urban.org/
November 16, 2024 at 10:19 PM
billpitkin.net
As LA releases its 2023 homelessness count today, I reread my reflection after the 2019 count results were released, and I think it still holds up. We're trying to solve a complex problem with simple solutions. The response needed is broad and...
November 16, 2024 at 10:29 PM
billpitkin.net
Excellent guide from @FrameWorksInst on changing the narrative around youth mental health. Three strategies that are applicable to communicating about a range of social issues.

https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FWI-Adolescence-one-pager-v2.pdf
November 16, 2024 at 10:40 PM
billpitkin.net
Glad we cleared that up. Sign me up.
November 16, 2024 at 10:40 PM
billpitkin.net
"Pursuing Housing Justice: Interventions for Impact" from @urbaninstitute profiles examples from communities, cities, counties, and states across the US in housing supply, homelessness, community protections, power-building, and opportunity and wealth....
November 16, 2024 at 10:50 PM
billpitkin.net
Why, after receiving recognition or an award, do people say "I am humbled?"
November 16, 2024 at 10:50 PM
billpitkin.net
Time to take a break from this site again for at least 40 days. Will be focusing on trying to find beauty and belonging in real life.
November 16, 2024 at 11:10 PM
billpitkin.net
This is so on brand
November 16, 2024 at 11:20 PM
billpitkin.net
MLK: an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
November 16, 2024 at 11:20 PM
billpitkin.net
To achieve #HousingJustice we need to shift the narrative. The Housing Justice Narrative Toolkit from @policylink @communitychange @RaceForward provides practical, artistic tools, developed with dozens of grassroots organizers and advocates....
November 16, 2024 at 11:20 PM
billpitkin.net
This is from p. 74, mentions need for 2.5 million units over next 8 years (the RHNA Cycle) but at first glance I don't see a lot of detail on how the state funding will achieve that, and I don't see a mention of the 1 million affordable...
November 16, 2024 at 11:39 PM
billpitkin.net
Goal of 2.5 million housing units. 1 million of them affordable. Curious about the details.
November 16, 2024 at 11:30 PM
billpitkin.net
@therealgrhodes9 @tjbean15 also found this
November 16, 2024 at 11:39 PM
billpitkin.net
One of my most prized gifts. My coach when I really fell in love with futebol around age 8 was from Brasil and gave me these commemorative medals that Pele himself had given him. RIP Rei.
November 16, 2024 at 11:30 PM
billpitkin.net
Just when I think I've had enough of this site the perfect tweet just pulls me back in.
November 16, 2024 at 11:30 PM
billpitkin.net
LA City Council members yesterday
November 16, 2024 at 11:30 PM