ALPERN AT LARGE-For the record, I entirely agree with LA City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana and Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller that a half-cent sales tax is the BEST way to immediately fix our most broken streets and sidewalks. Also for the record, I will gladly work with fellow CityWatch contributor Jack Humphreville to KILL this sales tax if it is on the November ballot without the accompanying budgetary changes needed at City Hall.
I've not been shy about my political or economic beliefs, either on CityWatch or any other venue, and until I stop hearing support from both Democrats and Republicans, from both conservatives and liberals, and from both progressives and libertarians, I will continue with this urgent focus:
The taxpayers of this City are OK with being loyal Angelenos, and loyal Americans, but we will NOT be "Useful Idiots".
According to Wikipedia, a "useful idiot" is a term used in political jargon for people perceived as propagandists for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of, and who are used cynically by the leaders of that cause.
For example, the pro-transit/transportation, pro-bicyclist/pedestrian and pro-environmental advocates in our City NEVER were in favor of overdevelopment, and NEVER in favor of policies that would result in worsened mobility and environmental impacts, by fighting for the Expo Line or for the last half-cent sales tax, County Measure R...
...and the insulting outcome of what we've seen from the City of Los Angeles does suggest that, yes, the past Mayor and City Council DID think we were "useful idiots" for their political donors/allies--the megadevelopers, the chambers of commerce and the construction unions--to prosper at our expense.
We need to know that our current Mayor and City Council--who still pass inappropriate projects and policies, and who still (when push comes to shove) keep Neighborhood Councils out of the budgetary process--does not similarly think of us as "useful idiots".
In the issue of roads and sidewalk repairs, the predicted $4.5 billion raised by a half-cent sales tax in the City of LA would generate $3.86 billion for roads and potentially $640 million for broken sidewalks over 15 years. I doubt I'm the only City resident who desires this road/sidewalk repair, but would my advocacy for such a sales tax make me a "useful idiot" by:
1) Absolving the City from explaining WHEN and WHY they STOPPED recording and prioritizing infrastructure maintenance needs (or "underfunding roads and infrastructure", which is the buzzwords I hear)?
2) Encouraging further UNSUSTAINABLE City contracts with workers and vendors and developers, as has been going on for the past 15-20 years behind closed doors and beyond the access of City residents, including Neighborhood Council representatives?
3) Enabling City worker hirings, raises and pension/retirement sweetheart deals (also unchecked over the past 15-20 years, and out of control during the Hahn and Villaraigosa eras) to occur AFTER November, should this sales tax hike pass?
4) Failing to prioritize already-existing budgetary priorities of the City towards its roads, alleys and sidewalks by diverting money from these priorities to OTHER projects and priorities that have NOTHING to do with enhancing the Economy, Environment and Quality of Life for those who live, work and own property in Los Angeles?
5) Let developers off the hook from their legally- and morally-necessary transportation/infrastructure requirements for the IMPACTS their projects CREATE on our roads and sidewalks?
6) Promoting environmentally-improper and HARMFUL overdevelopment that by far exceeds any "fluff environmental mitigations" of LEED-compliant and "transit-friendly" claims, while mobility and human impacts of this overdevelopment are obviously and exponentially greater to the City?
7) Treating MEDIUM-SIZED rail projects like the Expo Line (which shares a common track Downtown with the Blue Line, and therefore has a limited capacity of 80-90,000 riders a day) as if it were a MAJOR subway (like the future Wilshire/Purple Line Subway) with a capacity of hundreds of thousands of riders, and allow not for "elegant density" but for INAPPROPRIATE Planning?
8) Allow parking meter revenues to continue to be DIVERTED into the black hole that is the City's "general fund" INSTEAD of a dedicated source of ongoing revenue for our streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure?
9) Ignore and subvert what might be the most critical developer and City mitigation of all--PARKING--that needs to be built in order to allow greater long-distance access to train/bus stops, and to allow enhanced access to commercial venues while allowing for an END to streetside parking?
10) Continue our City's ongoing tradition and travesty of Third World (or even non-existent) bus stops and bicycle amenities (bus shelters, bicycle corrals, maps/schedules, electronic signage of incoming trains/buses, etc.) for transit riders, tourists, pedestrians and bicyclists?
It bears repeating: this half-cent sales tax, with a "pay as you go" approach and with a shared sacrifice that involves ALL individuals who live and work in Los Angeles, is a step in the right direction.
Yet this ALSO bears repeating: We, the voters and taxpayers, have been bilked for so many federal, state and local tax and bond initiatives that haven't borne fruit (the aforementioned County Measure R might be a good exception), that we REFUSE to be "Useful Idiots" any longer.
Without a seat at the Planning and Budget tables in the City of Los Angeles, this otherwise-necessary road/sidewalk tax cannot and should not pass at this time.
Which is a crying shame, because our ongoing failure to fix our streets, alleys and sidewalks is downright...idiotic.
(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]. 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 24
Pub: Mar 21, 2014
