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THAT’S ALL FOLKS! - The DNC convention just took place-- I was struck by two words that had remarkable resonance--DO SOMETHING!!!
This article is going to cover a number of topics--- Last week another woman was seriously injured at a Metro Station-- the same events keep repeating themselves--one can only wonder when the next one occurs?--it’s not a question of if--it’s a question of when. One can only wonder when the Board is going to take the appropriate action and empty Metro's executive suite and fill it with capable individuals. If I was the attorney for that woman, I would sue every Board member and their political appointees--it won't go anywhere, but it might wake everyone up---no one likes being sued--and how much more of the ineptitude of the knuckleheads at Metro is our city's residents supposed to put up with. I know I'm not being nice--but I write for many people who are infuriated by the lack of public safety and fiscal irresponsibility that permeates the culture of that public agency. The line from the movie Network is totally appropriate "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore".
Metro's attorneys learned in our last motion that the Agency's excuse for not providing information is that I have been mean and writing nasty emails. That's not the law and I'm confused--is this Ms. Smith's second grade class--where I can be made to sit in the corner because I was mean to one of my schoolmates--or a public agency with access to billions of dollars of public funds who have been left alone for far too long and have no sense of their responsibility and accountability to the public. The only group being abused here is the public. One more point--what exactly is Metro afraid of the public finding out?---what's exactly in those emails?--contempt for the public? laughing at how they can get away with not being truthful? actual knowledge of how expensive the tunnel options are? proud of the fact they are stonewalling us? emails that show their bias for wanting tunnels and everything else is a charade? nasty comments about the public they are meant to serve or about individuals? We intend to find out.....and we will share it with all of you. This is an agency that you need to put all their senior executives in a meeting room--and do the following---look to your left and your right. In 60 days, two of the three of you will not be here. That's how you fix broken companies and rotten cultures--and nothing exemplifies those qualities more than Metro.
I've written this before and will repeat it again--Metro's credibility can fit in a thimble and have room for two couches, a chair and an automobile. Let me share with you one of Metro's greatest hits--and there is no shortage of them. In February, 2019, a memorandum from Metro talked about the time timetable for 28 new projects to be completed by 2028 (as we know, a failure already). The Sepulveda Transit Corridor was listed. The document originally said it would be completed by 2028--and then, amended that it would be completed by 2033. Why would we rely on facts, when our delusions are so much better--the environmental report for this project was to be completed by 2021--now its early 2025. Even without resulting litigation, this project would not be completed before 2040. Now for another of their great lies and misstatements---those are the right words---they are fully aware this could not be completed for less than $2B a mile (their former project manager admitted that to me in a phone conversation we had) --which is a minimum of $28B--without delays, cost overruns--and the agency motto "There is no reason to tell the public the truth because there's no consequence for not telling the truth." ---which is why they say they don't know the costs---but they do.
In the Journal of the American Planning Association entitled "Underestimating Costs in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?" (written in 2002 and revised in 2014) there is a sentence that glaringly stands out "Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying." (read the page--its eye opening). Metro hasn't been right about anything --time to build--cost--ridership in last 25 years; not to mention public transit has become increasingly unsafe under her watch. Stephanie has been CEO since April 2021---how much more time is she entitled to?---it’s a word you can find in a monastery--NONE!!! She hired a trust coach to help her manage her staff--ughhhh!!! The only action of Her’s that I would trust is when she leaves her office for the last time and leaves the keys on her desk and takes the rest of her senior staff with her. This isn't meant to be funny--its serious and the lives and safety of the public are what's at stake. Remember the Olympics are coming--maybe we can have a few new events---like the hurdles being held over the train tracks, garbage hurling, the marksmen events can be held in the tunnels to see how many rats can be shot in a minute and my favorite--a team sport--how quickly can a Metro station be cleaned. Let me remind everyone--this is Los Angeles---not some third world city.
In an article about an "Altman-backed startup to test AV mass transit system in Atlanta". FYI--it's a fraction of the cost of tunneling--and to be clear the Morons of Metro have been working on this project since 2014. At a time when companies are working on Hypersonic Air Travel and other highly innovative transportation solutions, they are still lost in 19th century obsolete technology. Metro is an agency that in the time of AI they continue to use AOI--for those who forget that’s Absence of Intelligence.
Finally, there’s a tiny home that can be found on Amazon that starts at $16,500. The county could take parcels of undeveloped land (and there is plenty) and make communities of 5,000 to 10,000 of these homes and change the narrative--instead of homeless, we could call each community Homeful----but it takes determination and will. At the moment, we have people like the Queen of the Homeless--Lindsey Horvath--who is asking for more money for the homeless by raising the sales tax 1/4 of a cent. Just say NO--no more new taxes---because our politicians have no idea how to bring new businesses here, they keep going back to the same well. That's the problem with socialists--they don't know how to create anything so their solution to everything is to take from those who have. The exhausted majority needs to take the city back from this narrative.
One last point----"Gas"needs to be"Gone" in the November election. Time to rebuild safety and security for our residents and rid ourselves of this Menace to our Community.
DO SOMETHING!!!
(Fredric D. Rosen is a retired Businessman who has served on multiple corporate (both public and private) and charitable boards. He was Ticketmaster's CEO for 16 years and was responsible for making it the leading ticket company in the world.)
