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ALPERN AT LARGE - After one of the most blatantly incompetent first-term mayoral mismanagement in L.A.’s history, it appears that after Rick Caruso’s bait and switch (years in the making!) of not challenging Mayor Karen Bass, and Austin Beutner’s terrible personal tragedy of suddenly losing his daughter…we’re on our way to four more years of Karen Bass.
(At this moment and portion of my column/piece, I want to prioritize my admiration of Austin Beutner as a leader, and a father, and as a very good and caring man. Mr. Beutner, your loss horrifies me, and I am praying for the memory and respect for your daughter Emily, and for your family’s ability to carry on after your loss.)
With respect to Mayor Bass, she really should have resigned after the Palisades and Altadena fires, and she has utter gall and gumption to run again as the mayor of a city she clearly is not worthy of running. The luck of Karen Bass to have Rick Caruso dodge out at the last minute is our horrible misfortune.
We’re also unlucky to have chosen one Gavin Newsom, He of the Wonderful Hair and Good Looks, to have turned our state from a moderate/liberal state into a liberal hellhole with budget deficits and fiscal nightmares as far as the eye can see.
In all frankness, Newsom was and is smart enough to know better than to cave to the Far Left in Sacramento (the Legislature is dominated not by liberals, but insane non-leaders who live in an alternative universe), but he did it.
If anyone reading this wants a Democrat in the White House, consider Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (if we’re willing to elect a Jew as President), or Andy Beshear of Kentucky—many in this nation have problems with Republicans, but I doubt many states (other than CA, IL, NY, and NJ) will want to have the nation “California-ized”.
Enter Donald Trump—he’s brash, pushy, loves to take on challenges and get his way, looks at crises as attractive challenges to solve, and sees the Golden State as a mess that he’d love to clean up.
And if the billionaires we’ve over-relied on to bankroll the state’s budget flee this state, inflation-ridden and overtaxed as it is, then the need for outside supervision and operational support will bring the Orange Man to the Golden State more than most of us would ever want.
Sacramento and Downtown L.A. don’t know how to limit set with the public sector unions, special lobbyists/interests, and the Far Left that’s killing our city and state like it’s killed cities, states, and nations throughout history.
So enter Trump—and I would prefer NOT to have the White House manage our upcoming 2028 Olympics, city/state policing, water infrastructure, and energy infrastructure.
But Trump won’t let this state slide into economic oblivion as those whistling past the graveyard keep singing the old “we’re the fifth largest economy in the world” tune as our tech and billionaire Golden Gooses keep dying out and running away.
We’ve got an Olympics, and he’s almost certainly going to weigh in on the economic crises surrounding our water/energy infrastructure, the Bullet Train to Hades, and an overpriced inflationary economy that’s going to stand out as the other states starts paying half of what Californians are forced to barf out to fuel our vehicles.
But Trump’s a-coming, and Bass is returning, and Sacramento is a-flailing.
Some of us know what’s coming if/when we chase the billionaires out of our state, and some of us are continuing the see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-speak-no-evil that’s been our tune for eight years of Newsom and twelve years of Garcetti/Bass.
(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. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of CityWatch.
