Comments
LA WATCHDOG - On Friday, Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson was sworn in as the new President of the Los Angeles City Council, arguably the most powerful position in the City’s weak mayor form of government. In his acceptance speech, he talked about his priorities: homelessness and affordable housing as well as police unarmed response, basic living wages and working conditions for Angelenos, and climate change.
Not mentioned on his list of priorities were basic everyday issues that need to be addressed by City Hall.
What are his plans to repair our streets that have a deferred maintenance budget of $5 billion according to the City’s Official Statement?
What are his plans for our parks and recreation facilities that need an investment of $2 billion according to the City’s Official Statement?
Will he address the defunding of the Department of Recreation and Parks?
How does he intend to address the issue of corruption and pay-to-play schemes? Will he work to place a measure on the ballot to eliminate Section 245(e) of the City Charter that allows the City Council to determine planning issues, the major source of corruption according to a lead article in The New York Times? Will he call for additional oversight of the land use and planning decisions as put forth for by former Councilmen David Ryu and Paul Koretz?
Will he support strengthening the Ethics Commission by allowing it to increase penalties for bad behavior, to require the City Council to reply in a timely manner to its recommendations, to appoint independent commissioners, and to place reform measures on the ballot?
How will he address the City’s Structural Deficit that will be in the range of $100-200 million in each of the next years when the General Fund Budget Outlook considers future labor agreements that call for increases in compensation and benefits?
Will he call for open and transparent labor negotiations with the City’s public sector unions as recommended by the Los Angeles Times?
What will he do to lessen the impact on Angelenos of the quadrupling of our water and power rates over the next ten years?
How does he propose to finance the City’s major capital projects, including, but not limited to, the five million square foot Civic Center, the revitalization of the Los Angeles River, and the modernization of the Convention Center?
These issues have been front and center for years. Will Harris-Dawson use his position to address these basic issues? Or will he follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and continue to kick the can down the road? Odds are that he will continue to ignore these basic infrastructure and financial issues and allow the quality of life of Angelenos to slowly deteriorate.
(Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Budget and DWP representative for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. He can be reached at: [email protected].)
