diff --git a/pandora/annotation/management/commands/import_srt.py b/pandora/annotation/management/commands/import_srt.py
index 7eeecc14..cb647fdc 100644
--- a/pandora/annotation/management/commands/import_srt.py
+++ b/pandora/annotation/management/commands/import_srt.py
@@ -1,22 +1,19 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import print_function
 
-from django.conf import settings
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
 from django.db import transaction
+from django.conf import settings
 
 import ox
 
 import app.monkey_patch
 
 from item.models import Item
+from user.models import User
 
 from ... import models
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
-
 class Command(BaseCommand):
     """
     import annotations
diff --git a/pandora/annotation/models.py b/pandora/annotation/models.py
index 1327f3bd..53f162a8 100644
--- a/pandora/annotation/models.py
+++ b/pandora/annotation/models.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import unicodedata
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 from django.db import models, transaction
 from django.db.models import Q
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete
 
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ from item.utils import sort_string, get_by_key
 from . import managers
 from . import utils
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 def get_super_matches(obj, model):
     super_matches = []
     name_lower = obj.name.lower()
diff --git a/pandora/annotation/tasks.py b/pandora/annotation/tasks.py
index 88087b0f..180198d3 100644
--- a/pandora/annotation/tasks.py
+++ b/pandora/annotation/tasks.py
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
-from django.conf import settings
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-from django.db import transaction
-
 import ox
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import transaction
 from celery.task import task
 
 from .models import Annotation
@@ -15,8 +14,7 @@ from .models import Annotation
 def add_annotations(data):
     from item.models import Item
     from entity.models import Entity
-    User = get_user_model()
-
+    from user.models import User
     item = Item.objects.get(public_id=data['item'])
     layer_id = data['layer']
     layer = list(filter(lambda l: l['id'] == layer_id, settings.CONFIG['layers']))
diff --git a/pandora/app/config.py b/pandora/app/config.py
index e7b39884..f559aabf 100644
--- a/pandora/app/config.py
+++ b/pandora/app/config.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ from glob import glob
 
 from six.moves import _thread as thread
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 
 import ox.jsonc
 from ox.utils import json
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ from ox.utils import json
 from archive.extract import supported_formats
 from item.utils import get_by_id
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 _win = (sys.platform == "win32")
 
diff --git a/pandora/app/monkey_patch.py b/pandora/app/monkey_patch.py
index b106e224..08065973 100644
--- a/pandora/app/monkey_patch.py
+++ b/pandora/app/monkey_patch.py
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-from django.contrib.auth.models import Group
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.core.validators import MaxLengthValidator
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 # load config from json
 from . import config
 config.init()
diff --git a/pandora/archive/models.py b/pandora/archive/models.py
index 0e0d5c84..4c756508 100644
--- a/pandora/archive/models.py
+++ b/pandora/archive/models.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import time
 
 from six import string_types, PY2
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ from .chunk import save_chunk
 from . import extract
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 if not PY2:
     unicode = str
 
diff --git a/pandora/changelog/models.py b/pandora/changelog/models.py
index bad1a858..31b955a2 100644
--- a/pandora/changelog/models.py
+++ b/pandora/changelog/models.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.db import models
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 from oxdjango.fields import JSONField
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ import websocket
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 '''
 FIXME: remove this table more migrate to new ChangeLog
 '''
diff --git a/pandora/clip/models.py b/pandora/clip/models.py
index 64639bdd..82e446d4 100644
--- a/pandora/clip/models.py
+++ b/pandora/clip/models.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class MetaClip(object):
 
             self.findvalue = '\n'.join(list(filter(None, [a.findvalue for a in anns])))
             for l in [k['id'] for k in settings.CONFIG['layers']]:
-                setattr(self, l, l in anns_by_layer and bool(len(anns_by_layer[l])))
+                setattr(self, l, l in anns_by_layer and len(anns_by_layer[l]))
         models.Model.save(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
     clip_keys = ('id', 'in', 'out', 'position', 'created', 'modified',
diff --git a/pandora/document/managers.py b/pandora/document/managers.py
index 5491aa1d..c4af8be6 100644
--- a/pandora/document/managers.py
+++ b/pandora/document/managers.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ from oxdjango.managers import get_operator
 
 from documentcollection.models import Collection
 from item import utils
-from user.models import Group
 
 
 keymap = {
diff --git a/pandora/document/models.py b/pandora/document/models.py
index 1a824734..c5b75fad 100644
--- a/pandora/document/models.py
+++ b/pandora/document/models.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from six import PY2, string_types
 from six.moves.urllib.parse import quote, unquote
 from django.db import models, transaction
 from django.db.models import Q, Sum, Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
@@ -26,13 +26,10 @@ from item.models import Item
 from annotation.models import Annotation
 from archive.extract import resize_image
 from archive.chunk import save_chunk
-from user.models import Group
 
 from . import managers
 from . import utils
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 if not PY2:
     unicode = str
 
diff --git a/pandora/documentcollection/models.py b/pandora/documentcollection/models.py
index 014f6bec..7a41e5d3 100644
--- a/pandora/documentcollection/models.py
+++ b/pandora/documentcollection/models.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from glob import glob
 
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 from oxdjango.fields import JSONField
@@ -17,12 +17,9 @@ import ox
 
 from archive import extract
 from user.utils import update_groups
-from user.models import Group
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
 
 def get_path(f, x):
     return f.path(x)
diff --git a/pandora/edit/models.py b/pandora/edit/models.py
index 69b7bb37..75a6987a 100644
--- a/pandora/edit/models.py
+++ b/pandora/edit/models.py
@@ -13,8 +13,7 @@ import ox
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import models, transaction
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 from oxdjango.fields import JSONField
 
@@ -25,13 +24,9 @@ import clip.models
 
 from archive import extract
 from user.utils import update_groups
-from user.models import Group
 
 from . import managers
 
-
-User = get_user_model()
-
 def get_path(f, x): return f.path(x)
 def get_icon_path(f, x): return get_path(f, 'icon.jpg')
 
diff --git a/pandora/entity/models.py b/pandora/entity/models.py
index 80ab9b5e..b094e9bf 100644
--- a/pandora/entity/models.py
+++ b/pandora/entity/models.py
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ from six import string_types
 from six.moves.urllib.parse import quote, unquote
 from django.db import models, transaction
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete, post_init
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@ from document.models import Document
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class Entity(models.Model):
diff --git a/pandora/event/models.py b/pandora/event/models.py
index 1e992557..01ac66dc 100644
--- a/pandora/event/models.py
+++ b/pandora/event/models.py
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
 from django.db import models, transaction
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 
 import ox
@@ -17,7 +16,6 @@ from title.models import get_title_sort
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class Event(models.Model):
diff --git a/pandora/item/managers.py b/pandora/item/managers.py
index d1aa6d0e..a976719e 100644
--- a/pandora/item/managers.py
+++ b/pandora/item/managers.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 
 from archive.models import Volume
 from itemlist.models import List
-from user.models import Group
+from django.contrib.auth.models import Group
 from . import utils
 
 from oxdjango.query import QuerySet
diff --git a/pandora/item/models.py b/pandora/item/models.py
index fe7ad08a..7b901e5c 100644
--- a/pandora/item/models.py
+++ b/pandora/item/models.py
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ from six.moves.urllib.parse import quote
 from django.db import models, transaction, connection
 from django.db.models import Q, Sum, Max
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete
 from django.utils import datetime_safe
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
@@ -42,10 +41,8 @@ from person.models import get_name_sort
 from sequence.tasks import get_sequences
 from title.models import get_title_sort
 from user.utils import update_groups
-from user.models import Group
 import archive.models
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 if not PY2:
     unicode = str
diff --git a/pandora/itemlist/models.py b/pandora/itemlist/models.py
index e9e877bb..452aac25 100644
--- a/pandora/itemlist/models.py
+++ b/pandora/itemlist/models.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from glob import glob
 
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 from oxdjango.fields import JSONField
@@ -17,11 +17,9 @@ import ox
 
 from archive import extract
 from user.utils import update_groups
-from user.models import Group
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 def get_path(f, x): return f.path(x)
 def get_icon_path(f, x): return get_path(f, 'icon.jpg')
diff --git a/pandora/log/models.py b/pandora/log/models.py
index a4cde6c0..e730947d 100644
--- a/pandora/log/models.py
+++ b/pandora/log/models.py
@@ -2,16 +2,12 @@
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
 from django.db import models
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
-
 import ox
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
-
-
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class Log(models.Model):
     created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, db_index=True)
diff --git a/pandora/place/models.py b/pandora/place/models.py
index 318a3d15..f8cf3840 100644
--- a/pandora/place/models.py
+++ b/pandora/place/models.py
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 
 from django.db import models, transaction
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
-
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
 import ox
 from oxdjango import fields
@@ -13,7 +12,6 @@ from item.models import Item
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class Place(models.Model):
diff --git a/pandora/taskqueue/models.py b/pandora/taskqueue/models.py
index 839aff39..ea85fcc2 100644
--- a/pandora/taskqueue/models.py
+++ b/pandora/taskqueue/models.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from time import time
 
 from celery.backends import default_backend
 from celery.utils import get_full_cls_name
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Q
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import celery.task.control
 import kombu.five
 import ox
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 def get_tasks(username):
     from item.models import Item
diff --git a/pandora/text/models.py b/pandora/text/models.py
index fc9e7291..d2451a19 100644
--- a/pandora/text/models.py
+++ b/pandora/text/models.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from glob import glob
 from six.moves.urllib.parse import quote
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.models.signals import pre_delete
 from django.utils.encoding import python_2_unicode_compatible
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ from archive.chunk import save_chunk
 
 from . import managers
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 def get_path(i, x): return i.path(x)
 def get_icon_path(i, x): return get_path(i, 'icon.jpg')
diff --git a/pandora/user/models.py b/pandora/user/models.py
index 0c94beb7..44cd0fde 100644
--- a/pandora/user/models.py
+++ b/pandora/user/models.py
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@ from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import
 import copy
 from datetime import datetime
 
-from django.contrib.auth.models import Group
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.db import models
 from django.db.models import Max
 from django.conf import settings
@@ -15,11 +14,15 @@ from oxdjango.fields import JSONField
 import ox
 from ox.utils import json
 
+from itemlist.models import List, Position
+import text
+import edit
+import documentcollection.models
+
 from . import managers
 from . import tasks
 from .utils import get_ip, get_location
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 @python_2_unicode_compatible
 class SessionData(models.Model):
@@ -228,11 +231,6 @@ def profile_post_save(sender, instance, **kwargs):
 models.signals.post_save.connect(profile_post_save, sender=UserProfile)
 
 def get_ui(user_ui, user=None):
-    from itemlist.models import List, Position
-    import documentcollection.models
-    import edit.models
-    import text.models
-
     ui = {}
     config = copy.deepcopy(settings.CONFIG)
     ui.update(config['user']['ui'])
diff --git a/pandora/user/utils.py b/pandora/user/utils.py
index 2cc82f1c..5e07ebb4 100644
--- a/pandora/user/utils.py
+++ b/pandora/user/utils.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from django.contrib.gis.geoip2 import GeoIP2
+from django.contrib.auth.models import Group
 
 import ox
 
@@ -72,7 +73,6 @@ def rename_user(u, new):
     u.save()
 
 def update_groups(model, groups):
-    from .models import Group
     if isinstance(groups, list):
         groups = list(filter(lambda g: g.strip(), groups))
         groups = [ox.escape_html(g) for g in groups]
diff --git a/pandora/user/views.py b/pandora/user/views.py
index d14b361d..89edcdcf 100644
--- a/pandora/user/views.py
+++ b/pandora/user/views.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from django.core.mail import send_mail, BadHeaderError, EmailMessage
 from django.shortcuts import redirect
 from django.db import transaction
 from django.db.models import Max
-from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User, Group
 from django.contrib.sessions.models import Session
 
 from oxdjango.shortcuts import render_to_json_response, json_response, get_object_or_404_json
@@ -25,13 +25,11 @@ from oxdjango.api import actions
 from item.models import Access, Item
 from item import utils 
 from changelog.models import add_changelog
-from user.models import Group
 
 from . import models
 from .decorators import capability_required_json
 from .utils import rename_user
 
-User = get_user_model()
 
 def get_user_or_404(data):
     if 'id' in data: