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LA GOVERNMENT - In the well-maintained corridors of power in Los Angeles, the vapors of futility finally struck the noses of the City Council (CC) and Board of Supervisors (BOS) nearly simultaneously. This thought came up like thunder that the City and County are ungovernable. If our “betters,” the Supervisors and the Councilpersons, think that and have voted as such, then San Fernando Valley should be granted the opportunity to become its own City. This thought is so widespread that the City Council voted unanimously to establish a charter reform commission on June 18th.
“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.” - Plato.
In a motion, a week after, the BOS voted to put a ballot initiative to modify the three main pieces of the Supervisors Charter: representation, accountability, and transparency starting in 2030. Authored by Horvath and Hahn, they said, “Los Angeles County residents suffer deficits of representation and accountability.” Why wait six long years to institute reforms if they are doing so poorly? Maybe they enjoy reveling in the results of their lousy policy choices. Since elected, legislative bodies believe this; therefore, other areas of the City, like West Los Angeles and East LA, should also petition the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) of the County of Los Angeles to form their own City. After all, there are 88 other incorporated cities in Los Angeles County. Most of them are doing better than L.A. and at least have superior control over what happens in their borders.
This is a frank admission that they are doing a poor job and think restructuring is the way out. Merely adding a few Councilmembers, Supervisors and districts coupled with implementing some ethics reforms will not reverse the City’s slide into third-world livability. It will take a total rethink of how L.A. is governed, repudiating most of the significant policies of at least the last 10 to 20 years. We must strap a backward machine onto the current policies and do the exact opposite of what we have been doing.
Housing First is the number one policy initiative that should go. Can you think of a lousier return on investment (ROI) than housing mentally ill people, junkies, and crackheads in apartments that cost between $600,000 and $1,000,000 without requiring anything from them? No rehab, no counseling, no alcoholics or narcotics anonymous, no sobriety, no job, no meds. Why should they deserve free housing for life? What have they contributed to society? As activists claim, if housing is a right, why should you struggle to pay the rent? Why should you struggle for a down payment to buy a small, overtaxed house with some of the highest utility bills in the USA?
Who wants to defund the police? The BOS and CC do so in the name of criminal justice reform. It’s easy to reform the criminal justice system if you decriminalize everything. It’s even easier to claim crime is down when you don’t report it. The police are the thin blue line between anarchy and civilization. The Los Angeles Police Department, which was considered seven years ago understaffed with 9300 officers, is now down to 8300. Recruiting is so bad that the Police Commission thinks it’s OK to hire illegal aliens to become police officers. I guess the new career path for law enforcement is to break the law so you can enforce the law. Just what we need: outlaws with guns and badges that have no cultural understanding of L.A. or America. What could go wrong?
The crisis in lawlessness has three significant elements supported by the BOS and the CC. First, there’s the rogue prosecutors who catch and release criminals every day for “allegedly” unpardonable crimes without bail. Second are reckless laws such as propositions 47 and 57. The third element is defunding and then attacking the police for doing their jobs. These policies do not work for the San Fernando Valley, its residents, or anywhere else in California. When you are afraid to leave your house for fear you might be the victim of a home invasion robbery, it is self-evident that the policies of the CC and BOS are not working—another reason to create a police force to patrol our own City.
Leaving is a matter of Democracy, Equity, Independence, Emancipation, and controlling our destiny. The Valley wants to take back its essential institutions. Residents of the San Fernando Valley want better than inadequate police protection. We want safe schools emphasizing reading, writing, math, and science for our children. Schools should not be for indoctrinating children into a woke culture that sexualizes them at an early age. We want schools that give all students the tools to be the best students they can be. Our kids should not be brainwashed with Critical Race Theory and DEI.
We want good roads and traffic enforcement that reins in dangerous driving. We want the creation of a helpful planning department that streamlines housing and helps businesses expand. We want planners who understand the role of cars and will insist on adequate parking, not bike racks. We want respect for the character and ambience of our neighborhoods and there is no place for six-story apartments sprouting up among single family homes.
We can’t ignore the inevitable. Waiting until 2030 for reforms at the BOS and 2026 when the CC will put Charter Reform on the ballot is not an option. The problems are multiplying every year, and the longer we wait, the more difficult they will be to fix. The time for change is now!
The Charter Reform Committee will be corrupt before it starts due to the same old hackneyed, failing politicians who have voted for policy failure after policy failure will, of course, choose who is on the Charter Reform Commission. Supposing that the recommendations of the Charter Commission are on the ballot, in that case, we should ensure that a new Proposition F proposal is on the ballot. In 2002, it was time for the Valley to become its own City. Given the failures of CC and the BOS, it is a natural conclusion that the San Fernando Valley needs to become its own City, starting with a ballot measure in 2026. Our officials have admitted they are doing a lousy job, and they are not going to change. Starting our own City will be the best way to divorce these losers.
It is time to create the County’s 89th City—the City of San Fernando. We no longer want to be part of a failing and dangerous social experiment(s). We must not be like a battered spouse who is afraid to leave. We must seek our own shelter from the storm. What is the cost of not leaving?
(Eliot Cohen has been on the Neighborhood Council, serves on the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, and is on the Board of Homeowners of Encino and was the president of HOME for over seven years. Eliot retired after a 35-year career on Wall Street. Eliot is a critic of the stinking thinking of the bureaucrats and politicians that run the County, the State, and the City. Eliot and his wife divide their time between L.A. and Baja Norte, Mexico. [email protected].)
