From Alleys to Buses to Cars to Rail Lines, Let’s Keep It Real

ALPERN AT LARGE-Whether one is either unswervingly supportive of City Hall or despises it altogether, it's still our City's best bet to keep a hopeful but cynical eye on our new Mayor and our City Council.  Considering that Mayor Garcetti is focusing on a "back to basics" approach to governing, yet also presided over a City Council that let the City slide into fiscal oblivion as its former President, both optimism and cynicism are both merited. 

That said, his inclusion of a $5 million cleanup of our City's alleys is one which deservedly draws more hope than pessimism...yet doubts still remain on how to pay for it.  Not just for a short-term fix but for a long-term maintenance plan that's sustainable in both funding and operations. 

Credit goes to the Mayor for raising the issue of cleaning up our alleys--when they are filthy and trash-strewn, it's both a magnet for crime and a reason for businesses and upstanding residents to leave Los Angeles.  Ditto for unchecked graffiti, and an inability to move RV dwellers who've set up residence illegally on thoroughfares such as Sepulveda Blvd. 

And when one questions how to pay for cleanups and how to prioritize keeping a City clean and crime-free, the usual suspects pop up like jack-in-the-boxes and (boing!) tell us we hate homeless and poor people and (boing!) tell us we hate graffiti art and (boing!) tell us we hate minorities and (boing!) tell us we aren't paying our fair share of taxes. 

Yet alleys mean a lot to me.  As co-chair of my Neighborhood Council's Transportation/Infrastructure Committee, it became clear that prioritizing the fixing up of potholes in alleys was the best way to address the driving/safety needs of large numbers of constituents.  I also recognized that Mar Vista's #1 public works project priority should be the rebuilding of the heavily-used alley paralleling the south side of Venice Blvd. between Inglewood and Centinela. 

Kudos belongs to CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin's office for getting a good bid for fixing that key alley in what's been described as "Downtown Mar Vista", yet it's anyone's guess in how we can pay for it. 

And anyone who's been to Lenny's Deli on Westwood and Pico, or any of the adjacent shops or restaurants, knows that there is a frightfully-overdue need to fix the alleyway paralleling the north side of Pico Blvd. 

There is also a major shortage of parking on both the aforementioned Venice and Pico Blvds., and it should be noted that these commercial corridors are both major destinations and major sources of income for LA City Hall with respect to economic growth and income revenue.  These alleys are used by people who are desperately trying to find parking. 

So while the Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative and the Mayor's Working Group on Parking Reform are as timely as any endeavors in our City's history, part of the answer is to create MORE parking.  NOT free parking, which has been voted against on several occasions by the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, but affordable parking to serve as a helpful measure to access businesses and our transit system. 

The more affordable and accessible parking, the fewer parking tickets there needs to be. 

Which, of course, engenders the (boing!) screams of those who claim we shouldn't be using our cars and (boing!) those who claim we hate transit and (boing!) those who will barf out the usual tirades about global warming, carbon footprint, blah, blah, blah. 

Yet those of us who paid for the Expo Line and transit funding and who ARE environmentalists also know that transit is only part of the answer, and doesn't apply to all forms of commuting.  This isn't religion here...it's infrastructure and the economy that pays and creates an environment that's clean and sustainable. 

In addition to focusing on cleaning up our alleys, we should focus on how to pay for it--and the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates have mentioned that volunteer efforts are key in eliminating the eyesores and engendering neighborhood restoration.  Our next Mayor's Day of Service should focus on what we can do with volunteerism and community involvement by focusing on critical cleanups. 

But do we have the vision of a local version of a redux of the old 1930's Civilian Conservation Corps where we could pay down the debt of students, and those who need to develop job skills, by paying low-wage jobs to focus on these cleanups in a manner that might infuriate public sector unions but also get the jobs done on the cheap (which taxpayers would certainly appreciate!). 

Can we focus the City taxes of businesses on the alleys and creation of parking lots that collectively is their lifeblood, or perhaps grant them City tax credits (not deductions, but tax credits)?  

Instead of letting Casden, JMB and the Millennium developers, or big realtors or mall consortiums or hotel builders, skate away with tens to hundreds of millions of saved money from City Hall sweetheart deals, can we instead ask them to rebuild our alleys and sidewalks? 

By and large, I've discovered that developers are actually more than happy to pay for infrastructure and cleanups near their planned projects, because it will help them make more money for future buyers and tenants, and because...well...it just makes good sense. 

The same can be true for first-rate, quality bus benches with LED signs of when the next bus is arriving, and the same (of course) can be true for rail stations?  Will there be redirection of City fees and taxes for businesses to pay for Metro and other bus operations, and for maintained operations of the county's budding rail system?  Are there tax deductions and verification that a business's employees are using transit? 

While we're talking about Venice Blvd., the creation of 3-4 story projects limited to the intersections of Venice/Centinela, or other intersections, could be encouraged if they provide parking and fix the alleys for the local business district on that commercial corridor.  No need for another Manhattan-style corridor of tall buildings, but there's room for a give and take in certain key sites. 

While we're talking about Pico Blvd., will all the planned mixed-use densification in preparation for the Expo Line include cleaning and fixing up the alleys, and creating parking for far-flung commuters to access the new transit line, that links with the Pico Blvd. corridor?  

Will there be funding for the operations of buses, DASH lines and the like to make this Pico Blvd. densification more than just a free giveaway for developers used to take and no give? 

"Keeping it real" involves pragmatic efforts to establish short- and long-term solutions to mobility, environmental and economic problems that face Downtown, the Westside and all regions of the City.  It doesn't include the naïve and/or self-serving--and certainly agenda-bearing--usual suspects who (boing! boing! boing!) pop up and prevent us from addressing and solving the issues at hand. 

I have serious doubts about those at the leadership of Planning, who for too long have served commercial and political interests more than LA residents, who are at odds with what must be done...yet I've much more confidence with the lower-level Planners who are actually trying to make this work but who are probably being undermined by their politically-subservient and politically-climbing bosses. 

It's up to this Mayor to distinguish himself from his predecessor to keep it real.  Get the Neighborhood Councils and the volunteers to tell Planners and City Hall operations wonks the answers to the questions and challenges that must be confronted.  And then let those heavy-hitter lobbyists used to skating away with sweetheart deals know they've got to pay up for alleys, parking, sidewalks and rail/bus operations. 

This approach will work because, simply put, it just makes sense.  People tend to do things when it just makes sense. 

Let's not just Keep It Real.  Let's Make It Real.

 

(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 does regular commentary on the Mark Isler Radio Show on AM 870, 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 12 Issue 37

Pub: May 6, 2014