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LA TRANSPO - In the 1950's there was a quiz show on television hosted by Groucho Marx called ‘You Bet Your Life’--in which a duck came down when you got the right answer, and the contestant was awarded a small money prize. Today, one can hope when the duck comes down it isn't armed because ‘You Bet Your Life’ is now a daily occurrence when you ride Metro's public transportation in Los Angeles. Last week a man was fatally shot and killed at a Metro train station. There was an article in the Daily News entitled "Panic Buttons to Nowhere on LA Buses--Drivers Concerned For their Safety--not enough protection from Violent Passengers". Another article talked about violence on public transportation increasing in April. The plain, straight fact is that public transportation today is not safe and hasn't been for too long.
In the latest response from Metro's attorneys to our request for more information, they state that I have been personally attacking their officials and staff--and clearly, I have been critical of their behavior and their results or lack of them. Adam Corolla yesterday called our Governor an idiot and a buffoon--as well as narcissistic and a sociopath. Whether I agree or not is not the issue--it’s his right--and speech is protected under the first amendment--something Metro's executives and their attorneys seem to have forgotten. Not only are they impervious to the community's concerns but they believe that Metro’s executives have no right to be criticized or held accountable. They don't dispute any of the facts I elucidate---only my well-deserved criticisms. There were three of their lawyers on the phone with our attorney in our initial document request. Nothing like feeding off a bloated whale who has zero concern for the money they squander. They make reference to the fact that they have responded timely to our requests for information--notwithstanding after 18 months of a trickle of documents, we went back to court again--and now 2 1/2 years later we will be back in court again in August--because the relevant information we asked for has been almost fully redacted. They state that I have called their employees cowards, buffoons, brain dead, incompetent and hopeless-- all of which is true----but they left out inept. Truth matters--facts matter--and performance counts. They also repeat that I have written about Metro’s rotten leadership--rotten culture--rotten results and that Los Angeles deserves better. To their credit, they did get that right even to the point of my comparing their employees to the Politburo--because the Politburo had/has no interest in being fully transparent with the public--and neither does Metro's leadership. At least I did not compare them with the KGB who do kill people--they don't -not intentionally anyway--murders and injuries that happen on their watch happen because of their undeniable lack of competence and leadership. Please do not tell me how unfair I'm being--because I have been writing about Metro's unsafe conditions and lack of leadership policies for the last four years which has been ignored--and it’s all coming home to roost.
One more point--the attorneys took issue with the fact that I called Metro's executives cowards---what would you call them when they lie and refuse to tell the public the truth? They know that any tunnel built today will cost $2B or more a mile--their project manager admitted that to me in a conversation--yet they continue to tell the public they don't know the cost. Of course, they do----they know it cannot cost less than $24B before the delays, inflation etc.---and the total cost if it's actually built will be north of $40B--and will not be completed before the end of the 2040's----but by not being candid they keep misinforming the public that this is a real option. The city and state both have significant deficits--and it’s not getting better anytime soon. California lost 222 big employers in the last four years--to states that are open for business--not like ours where very day it seems like companies are forced into hurdle racing to be here.
As to their attorneys point of view that I have berated their officials and employees with the adjectives mentioned above (which I have every right to do)---lets go to the videotape--but since we can't do that--lets look at their track record---which is akin to a train wreck....
No project has been built on time in 25 years
No project has been built on budget----all major projects are 50% to 100% over the initial number presented to the public
No financial projection about ridership is correct on all projects---"Latest on Metro Micro --Still Few Riders--High Cost" (this project has less than half the ridership of Metro's projections)
Metro's ability to protect the riding public and its employees is abysmal---I have been writing about this for more than 4 years--and its executives have not listened--create a vacuum---and its always filled....
Metro does not meet the timetables it sets for its projects--the Environment Impact Report for the STC (Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project) was supposed to be completed in 2022---now its 2025?
Metro's community outreach program is both Laughable and Delusional---by way of example---no one from the agency communicated with the residents of Chinatown before announcing the Gondola Project--which is now in litigation; Metro's solution for Lawndale is expressly against the wishes of the the residents of Lawndale--and Metro is impervious to their criticisms--that project is now on hold; Metro proudly publishes the results of a survey it did on the STC--but if you read it carefully no one from the zip codes directly impacted were included in it (Bel Air & Sherman Oaks)--and there was zero community outreach with the residents of our community before the proposed routes were published---putting us on defensive from day one. I could go on--but there is a limitation on space.
Personally, I think the adjectives I have used are not strong enough---Americans have the absolute right to protest and hold their officials accountable---candidly I'm sick of Politically Correct--it’s the substance of what you say--not how you say it----how about direct and candid---Metro exists on public funds and therefore has public responsibility of candidness and transparency--in the late 1700's, we threw the tea in the harbor--we don't do that today--but there's no reason we can't throw out/ replace Metro's current hopeless, inept Leadership--this is serious for all of our citizens--as one character said in the movie "The Verdict"--which starred Paul Newman--"who are these people?"--they clearly cannot do the job and need to be replaced. To understand how bloated and incompetent they are--as I wrote in my last email--I asked Metro's CEO why wasn't Bel Air a stakeholder in the project--after all, three of the proposed routes would go under our community. This is a simple question--either you are, or you aren't. Stephanie of course delegated that question----it took three days--52 emails and 8 people--including a PR firm in Chino to answer that question----do you all realize the absurdity of this--and this is a daily occurrence. WASTE-SQUANDER-WASTE!!! and it’s the public's money.... time for a wakeup call.
It’s time to put real executives in charge of Metro---hire a headhunter--find a tough, smart executive in private industry and put he/she in charge--bring in a firm like McKinsey & Company to do a full top to bottom review of Metro's policies and procedures--and totally revamp and reinvent the agency--otherwise we are putting a band aid on a broken leg. None of Metro's leadership are capable of doing what's required--and candidly we have all had enough.
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Random Musings---at the end of some of my writings, I might add some personal observations I have of current events----today I will add a few...
The irony of this Presidential race--the only person Biden could beat is Trump and the only person Trump could beat is Biden----whoever wins will have their finger on the "trigger"---I'm 80 also--and there are nights my wife will not let me have the remote control
From the River to the Sea is Genocide!
There was a TV Show called Baretta in the 70's--the slogan was "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."---Under "Revolving Door" Gascon that slogan has morphed into "You can do the crime because there is no time"---he needs to lose the election in November...
In the world of I want to join--because I don't want to be left out--but I really don't understand what I'm joining--in the recent campus protests I saw sweatshirts saying Gays for Hamas--which is equivalent to "chickens for KFC"--and thinking Col. Sanders is their hero--they have every right to do that--but what exactly are they thinking--and what exactly are they learning???
My favorite TV show at the moment is Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount Plus---I strongly recommend it.
That's all folks
(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.)
Fredric D. Rosen
