ALPERN AT LARGE-As the year of 2013 starts grinding to an end, it's not too soon to start thinking both about our state and federal fiscal situation. Political spinners are either talking up or down the economy, and we've got a $5-6 billion state surplus. It's time for us to ask how much of that surplus should go to overdue transportation projects like LAX Connect.
Certainly, Californians and Americans are on the move--yet whether it's because the economy is truly moving or because the mindset of "the 99ers" has been replaced with a sense of urgency, government benefits aren't likely to be too available in the near future.
That's true for government jobs as well as unemployment and other benefits as the federal and state governments address everything from pension reform to operational efficiency. And transportation dollars will have to be analyzed, not bandied about for political show.
Some report the aforementioned Sacramento surplus as proof positive that we're in recovery mode, others report it as a one-time blip from higher taxes on the rich who have made a lot of money on Wall Street lately--and who cashed in prior to the end of the Bush tax cuts.
Some point to Wall Street's rise as proof positive we're in a national and global recovery, and others point to an ongoing printing of money from the Fed that is unsustainable and will inevitably be slowing down...which calls into question again as to whether we're doing better, doing worse, or a bit of both.
It also calls into question whether we're back to "trickle-down economics" from Washington and Sacramento, with the general population, and the federal/state/local public sector relying too much on too few wealthy individuals to the point where we are set up for another Great Recession if either the rises in either housing or Wall Street end or get reversed.
But what is true is that certain infrastructural improvements--either in water, energy or transportation--have both short- and long-term economic benefit, as well as the ability of a major city to define itself going into the 21st Century.
And the LAX Connect is one such project that merits financial and political support to spruce up the economy of both the City and County of Los Angeles, to say nothing of the greater Southern California region.
A timely and factual op-ed from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin, both LA County Metro Board members, promoted and updated us on LAX Connect .
It's not hard to conclude that LAX Connect, which involves a westward swerve (some have called it a "loop" or "bump") is the best compromise to balance the east/west needs of riders going on a north-south light rail line--the central terminals of LAX are too far to the west of that line, but the planned Century/Aviation station is quite far to the east of those central terminals.
And that Century/Aviation station does have a lot of key critical advantages for car, rail and related transportation issues...but it's still too far to the east for Westside and other rail passengers from the north to have to access in order to double back west to the central LAX terminals.
Hence the growing evolution of Century/Aviation advocates (like myself) who recognize the vital need of a Consolidated Rental Car Facility, with access to the adjacent 405 freeway, as well as the potential of a future and direct rail link to Union Station, to be addressed as part of a greater plan that would establish the Century/Aviation hub as only part of a greater transportation/economic district.
That major business district should extend from the west (the LAX central terminals) to the north (Lincoln/Sepulveda and Westchester) to the east (Inglewood, now undergoing its own economic reconstruction) to the south (Imperial Highway and El Segundo).
LAX Connect would be a perfect vehicle to extend a major transportation hub at Century/Aviation to a larger hub and district that would benefit the greater City and County of Los Angeles.
The Sacramento surplus is therefore something which MIGHT bode well for the far future, but which MIGHT only be a one-time blip that should be spent more on projects (and other one-time investments) than on pay raises that are not sustainable (or deserved) in the long run by elected and a public sector that we still cannot pay for in the long term with respect to pensions and benefits.
And one of those projects should be the LAX Connect project which, in addition to the approximately-$1.1 billion contribution from LA World Airports, will be the roughly $3-5 hundred million that Metro, the state and the federal governments will legally have to provide.
Beyond the fact that the so-called "Metro Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail Line" only reaches Crenshaw Blvd. but does not reach LAX, thereby necessitating LAX Connect, the ability to create a vibrant new LAX-adjacent business district promises economic enhancement to benefit the entire region and state (with potential national economic considerations, to boot).
It's therefore not hard to come up with other reasons, but clearly the LAX Connect Plan is the "betterment" needed not only for the Crenshaw/LAX and Green Lines, but for the growing countywide Metro Rail system we are counting on to help bring Los Angeles into the 21st Century.
To allow this one-time budget surplus in Sacramento to overlook this vital betterment would be one of the greatest lost opportunities in our history, and it should be addressed and resolved with all the political and economic cooperation and alliances that LA County and the state of California can muster.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and 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 and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 100
Pub: Dec 13, 2013