CommentsALPERN AT LARGE--So much of City of Los Angeles politics and commentary is focused on the negative, and rightfully so.
Our City Council and Mayor are replete with conflicts of interest, ethical violations, and a lack of transparency and responsiveness that makes the City of the Angels anything BUT angelic.
But as the son of a dedicated Los Angeles civil servant there are those who deserve credit, kudos, and thanks. Most of my civic/non-profit work, and with considerable expense of both time and resources (to say nothing of impacts to my poor, enduring family) has been in the world of transportation. Until recently, I loved the unique field of transportation/mobility because of its apolitical, left-brained, straight-by-the-numbers approach to solving problems.
Unfortunately, even transportation and mobility have been hijacked by people with ulterior motives such as money and power, disguised as "transit-oriented development" and "affordable housing" and faux environmentalism, which has produced less housing that is truly transit-oriented or affordable, and with results that have been staggeringly hurtful to our local and regional environment.
Yet there are those who are honest brokers, and who give straightforward answers and sincere efforts in response to any questions or requests from the community, and these include Jay Greenstein of the CD5 (Koretz) office and Alek Bartrosouf of the CD11 (Bonin) office:
1) Jay Greenstein and I go way back, from when he worked for then-Assemblymember Paul Koretz as a transportation deputy, and as someone who worked earnestly on Koretz's behalf to create the Expo Line we have today. Jay was always someone who could manage both complaints and suggestions, and I always learned (and still do learn) that whatever projects he does must be done right.
When the critical Overland Avenue bridge/I-10 freeway widening/upgrade was done, it was both done carefully, with community input and engineering that worked hand in hand. When pedestrian issues came up, they were taken seriously--and ditto for any safety or access for automobiles at this critical commuting link for the Westside.
Ditto for the Pico Blvd. resurfacing project, and most recently for the Sepulveda Blvd. resurfacing project in the Westside--these two thoroughfares are vital components of our transportation network, and also link to the vital light rail line that is the Expo Line. For any who do not know why they were allowed to go into such difficult conditions before they were repaved, it's because Jay demanded the following:
Do NOT resurface and fix the streets, only to have some utility, developer, or other entity must cut into newly resurfaced infrastructure and muck it up. Fix and address ALL the current and future/anticipated infrastructure issues, and then do it once...and do it right.
We all had to wait and grit our teeth, but in the long run Jay has been proven correct...and our chorus of outrage have been replaced with a group "silence" of admiration in a City project done well, and which is likely to be left alone for a very long time.
Jay doesn't get the credit he deserves...but to those who've worked with him, they know he can take the heat and still put his trademark stamp on a professional job well done on any project he puts his mind to.
2) Alek Bartrosouf and I are much newer in our professional partnership, in that he is a relatively new hire of the CD11 office and is a mobility deputy who interacts with Westside grassroots groups and neighborhood councils. In particular, this is a frightful and daunting challenge for the Mar Vista region, in that the community still remains divided and rather contentious with respect to the ongoing effects of the Venice Blvd. road diet.
Yet anyone who's worked Alek knows he stays far away from taking any role in dividing the community. When someone has a request for improved crosswalks, new sidewalks, beautification projects, or even a major Parking Demand Study, he gives an honest answer and an eyepopping list of accomplishments that shows he HEARS YOU and will get whatever he can fixed and done.
Needless to say, the COVID-19 pandemic has smashed operational and budgetary plans for all of us-including the myriad of pedestrian and bicycle and car-oriented improvements that the CD11 office has in mind. But that's hardly the fault of any of us, including either Alek Bartrosouf or the City of Los Angeles who he represents.
Alek will either get a request done at an amazingly fast pace, or explain in honest and straightforward terms when that request cannot be done. For example, the Parking Demand Study that requires funding and completion as part of any Community Plan Update absolutely MUST occur...but certainly will be put on hold for quite a bit longer because this pandemic has smashed a lot of plans, and created a very different set of priorities than those which existed at the beginning of this year.
To be honest, there are some who have very negative opinions of the CD11 office, and from the councilmember on down to any local representatives. Yet I have not heard of a single complaint from anyone who's worked with Alek, despite Alek being in the middle of all of this political and health-related chaos in which we now suffer. And anyone who still has complaints about mobility or transportation issues in the Westside has obviously never met with, or worked with, Alek.
I am sure that both Jay and Alek will be rather surprised that I wrote this piece, because it probably appears to come out of the blue. It is a rather spontaneous piece...yet as someone who whines, moans, and decries all that goes on in this City, it's my strong belief that it's incumbent on all of us to take a look at all that goes right as well as wrong in our City.
I encourage all CityWatch writers to do the same. There is plenty to critique in our challenged City, but there are a few shining stars who deserve credit for all that is good in our City, and why we still choose to live and/or work here.
And without any hesitation, I can easily conclude that Jay Greenstein and Alek Bartrosouf are two of the best reasons to stay in the City of the Angels.
(CityWatch Columnist, Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 8-9 years and is also a Westside Village Zone Director. He previously co-chaired its Outreach and Planning Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chaired the grassroots Friends of the Green Line, which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection, at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
-cw
