ALPERN AT LARGE - Let’s keep it real, shall we? Neither South Mar Vista, nor Holmby Hills, nor any part of the City of the Angels, is seceding or going anywhere towards joining another neighboring city or other civic jurisdiction. A discussion of charter reform and issues ranging from the creation of New York-style boroughs to an enhanced role of neighborhood councils in city government is certainly in order, but no one’s going anywhere. Still, the citizens have HAD it—the status quo won’t cut it anymore.
I was at the Mar Vista Community Council Planning/Land Use Committee meeting that questioned who was behind the South Mar Vista secession drive. No one supporting the effort was there, no one really knew who was behind the rumor, and no one really knew how it could theoretically be done. Neither LA nor Culver City (where South Mar Vista was going to be directed) was in favor of any rumored secession.
The straw vote went out to those attending; no one supported the secession, and everyone preferred the schools and community of Mar Vista. So despite the fury at the failure of City government to provide the basic infrastructure and services taxpayers have amply paid for—the desire to fix the problem, rather than just run away, was the action plan that Mar Vistans preferred to implement.
Unfortunately, with the decision of County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to avoid the upcoming mayoral race (and it’s presumed that mega-developer Caruso will do the same), the mayoral field is dominated by City Council veterans—most of whom were in power and ignored our budget problems for years. With the exception of outsider Kevin James, the mayoral race looks to be a frightening repeat of “same ol’, same ol’ politics”.
So while virtually no one in Mar Vista is truly interested in seceding from Los Angeles, the fury and disgust among beleaguered and dispirited taxpayers has led to a desire to SECEDE FROM DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY.
In particular, neighborhood councils should focus on the critical infrastructure needed to live our daily lives—particularly the sidewalks and roads that we use every day, and where neighborhood council efforts should now be directed on an emergency basis:
1) First and foremost, we all must recognize that the recently-proposed three-year effort to identify the sidewalks most in need of repair is just political window-dressing. One year to get bids to do a survey? Three years to figure out what to do? REEEEEEALLY?
2) If CURRENTLY-EMPLOYED City employees at the Departments of Public Works, LADOT and related departments cannot work with neighborhood councils to derive that list, THEN THEY NEED TO BE LET GO. Some neighborhood councils can come up with a list in three weeks, but otherwise 2-3 months is quite adequate.
3) There would certainly be a dogfight among homeowners and businesses as to which sidewalks need to be repaired first, but a few photos and safety expert inspections would answer that question quickly, and priority lists of primary, secondary and long-term goals could be easily produced. NO OUTSIDER BIDDING AND TIME OR MONEY-WASTING NEEDED.
The funding for these sidewalk (and road, and alley, and parkway, and other infrastructure) repairs can and should be achieved with a mature, adult and focused effort:
1) Neighborhood councils should use their remaining budgets not only to focus on outreach but to contribute to the most urgent repairs. The usual LAUSD and LAPD and LAFD requests for money should be reconsidered, reduced and possibly rejected—and with our state and City budgets in turmoil over the billions of dollars that must be paid for by the taxpayers, the usual fiscal-gun-to-the-head approach of trotting out the children, personnel in guns and uniforms, etc. should be ignored.
2) Non-profit funding mechanisms (such as 501c entities) should be created so that booster clubs and events can enhance repair of critical sidewalks, alleys, etc. Local communities will help come up with money if they know how and where it will be spent, and if it’s for a worthy cause.
3) Neighborhood councils and communities should redirect, if not reject, civic events such as the Mayor’s Day of Service, which has potentially degenerated into a political effort rather than a focus on what is truly needed by local communities. At least part of what is needed to fix our infrastructure can be performed with adult volunteers, with legal clearance and supervision by City workers to reduce the costs of repairs by good old “sweat equity”.
4) Although all City, county and state tax measures this November should be critically reviewed by beleaguered taxpayers, the option of Measure J (no immediate tax hikes but extending the county sales tax hike from Measure R for another 30 years so that we can borrow from future revenues) should be backed by Angelenos to expedite these infrastructure fixes while we fight for more federal, state and local funding in future years to pay any loans back.
After years of focusing more on early retirements and perks for City workers, and after years of focusing their time and efforts on social issues (for which the City has very little control or jurisdiction), the “usual suspects” on the City Council dominate the mayoral field of choices–with the aforementioned exception of Kevin James—and the willingness of all mayoral candidates to think outside the box and get things done must be pointedly and seriously questioned.
Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry and Kevin James all have ideas, and all have strengths and weaknesses, to be scrutinized by voters immediately after the November electoral brouhaha dies down. The specter of Chapter 9 bankruptcy for the City of Los Angeles is much more real than many would like to admit.
To date, neighborhood councils have been given short shrift, if not a thorough disrespect, from City Hall (with a few notable exceptions). At this time, with very little effort—but with a strong dose of will and maturity—neighborhood councils and affiliated community organizations can secede from the way that LA City Hall does business, and teach City Hall that the grassroots, the taxpayers, and the citizens of Los Angeles ultimately run this city…and not the other way around.
(Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and is co-chair of the non-profit Friends of the Green Line (www.fogl.us). He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 70
Pub: Aug 31, 2012