CommentsALPERN AT LARGE--Well, THIS dumpster fire of a primary is over! Jungle, indeed! As in a dangerous, wild, and uncivilized/uncouth experience that probably made everyone feel a little less happy about themselves and their state.
But it's over now.
Are YOU going to prevent us from going through this terrible mind-game where the Democrats were indirectly funding Republican opponents, and Republicans funding Democrats? As in, Newsom supported Cox and Republicans and charter school companies funded Villaraigosa.
Are YOU going to insist on balancing the budget ... and that means the pension issues?
Are YOU going to make sure that our rail AND road projects are done in a cost-effective manner?
How DO we approach transportation?
Are YOU going to insist on water storage to not let fresh rainstorm water get dumped into the ocean?
Are YOU OK with not allowing a person to shower and wash their clothing on the same day, while YIMBY's funded by creepy developers say we need to build, build, BUILD?
Are YOU going to demand we have more flexibility and accountability with how much of our budget goes to K-12, and how much of that goes to the classroom?
Are YOU OK with the high cost of higher education?
Are YOU going to demand that foreign investors be taxed and pay fees (which is what Vancouver did) to prevent them from gobbling up homes and leaving empty tracts while the middle class has to move out of state to buy a home?
Are YOU going to demand that the rights of the taxpaying citizenry be respected, and prevent California from being a homeless mecca, with needles and feces being the new state and city symbols to the rest of the world?
We've got a real election now, and the opportunity to create better and more accountable legislation.
So now that the hell-on-earth primary is over ... what are YOU gonna DO to prevent this state from being a private playground that benefits only a FEW?
(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 is also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member 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 was co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
-cw
