Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Sunday
Council Members Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry want DASH bus services to run late downtown. With the growing population downtown and the attendant eateries, shopping and entertainment venues that are opening more short haul public transportation in the city center is a good idea. However the City doesn't have the money to provide the service. So rather than creating "public-private partnerships" which are breeding grounds for fraud, waste and abuse, why not change the law to allow private operators to operate jitney service Downtown. Market demand will create the service that is needed. And ultimately it could become a model for the rest of the City.
The transit tax may be in trouble. The Mayor and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky want the funds to be spent on Westside transit projects. The problem is that the tax has to be approved by 2/3 of voters countywide. Leaders from other parts of the County, led by County Supervisor Mike Antonovich want a piece of the pie. Folks in Lancaster aren't really interested in paying for the "Subway to the Sea" and residents in the San Gabriel Valley have transportation needs of their own. Might need to cross this one off the list.
Speaking of taxes, last week we gave you the list of taxes, fees and bonds politicians want you to vote for on the November ballot. Get ready to add another one. The County of Los Angeles has their own version of the City's Proposition S, taxing your cell phone calls and text messages.
Labels: jan perry, lausd, mayor antonio villaraigosa, mike antonovich, mta, proposition s, transit tax, wendy greuel, zev yaroslavsky
Posted by Michael Higby @ 7/20/2008 06:00:00 AM
13 Comments:
Mike Antonovich, Gloria Molina and Gloria Romero (she the big proponent of East L A secession) are acting like provincial jerks here, an odd triumverate of ethnocentric Latinas working with a Republican white guy who's generally opposed to Latino immigration and its financial costs.
Fighting the westside subway and rail lines, is just the kind of parochialism which has kept this city "second rate" at best, certainly third-rate in terms of anything to do with mass transit.
It's people from their areas, East LA, the East Valley and San Gabriel who are among the biggest offenders when it comes to who is driving into West LA on a daily basis: the westside is the biggest job magnet in the county other than downtown or Santa Monica, catching up fast, AND carries the bulk of through- traffic going from anywhere east to Santa Monica also. Over 85% of traffic has been proven to be drive-through, people who should ideally be lured onto raillines, as well as locals who'd happily jump on too.
The Gold Line is local traffic, and while it should be expanded too, the only way to really create viable mass transit for THE CITY not just a commuter line in some bedroom community outposts, will be to make the westside lines the spine of the skeletal system.
Everything else must connect up to it, since that's the biggest commuter influx and the heart of what people think of as "Los Angeles" itself, from the ocean to the toniest shopping and restaurant draws of Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood, West Hollywood and Melrose, Robertson and Beverly Drives, connecting to Hollywood/ Highland, downtown and the Valley at Universal/ Studio City. There are plans for a western line to the Valley along the 405.
That also hits on all the major tourist areas -- they wouldn't even need a car and gigantic maps, which confuse out of towners enormously, with this system.
Finally this is something Zev and the Mayor can agree on, which goes beyond politics to common sense.
It's the Latina Glorias, Molina, Romero and crabby old Antonovich who look like the provincial spoil- sports thinking like LA is a bunch of dull bedroom communities or ethnic enclaves endlessly "fighting for their share from the mean old selfish westside," which feeds the whole region and pays the bulk of taxes.
What a piece of shi*t! Villar also said the drop-out rate is 75% in some places!!!
He must think he's talking to a bunch of LAUSD drop-outs!!! You don't have to be a mental giant to figure him out...
If he can make us believe that his group of little scholars have a 75%drop-out rate, then he will be Super Hero after he reduces that "75% drop-out rate" down to 33%!
My God... that should even qualify him to be President in 2015!!!!
What a stupid little shit!
I would like to believe that there is a way to create a jitney system. The problem is that a free market system would have those drivers hanging out at the hotels hoping for trips to the airport and the bigger tips that tourists give.
You would also have to find members of the City Council willing to fight the opposition of the taxi cab companies. Even when the San Diego started its pedicab system, the taxi companies complained, as if they were going to make those short hauls.
Does anyone know the address for "Meetings Anonymous?" I haven't missed an LA City Council meeting quorum in over three months, but I want to miss one. I thought I was gonna miss one on Friday, but somehow I ended up at Van Nuys. Plus the committee meetings and planning meetings in the evening, in between and all I wanna do is drive to Santa Barbara and stay there for a week.
All I can say to people who do not believe in "non-material energy"/karma/quantum physics and all of that...it does seem that ZD has stepped into some weird "energy pattern" and it's kinda dragging me all over the place.
Every day is gonna be the day I do some other things...but I don't know how I keep ending up in Council chambers one more time.
It doesn't help either, when I drive to Agoura Hills on a Friday night for karaoke to escape the LA City TV 35 "fame zone" -- and as soon as I step out of my car and walk to the restaurant, two guys from Agoura Hills (not in LA City TV 35 viewing area) immediately flag me over to tell me a bunch of shady stuff about the City of LA (because they both do work for the City.)
ALL NEW MATERIAL...stuff about the airport and construction (how airport construction contracts not only went to cronies...but inexperienced cronies who were WAAAAAAAAAAAY out of their league on an airport project. (It was about a half hour conversation in the parking lot.) AND NO...I WAS NOT EVEN WEARING MY ZD knit cap and sunglasses. So it wasn't like I was walking around in a ZD shirt with the full garb. (I KNOW THAT'S WHAT CM ZINE WOULD SAY! HE REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE THAT I AM FAMOUS AS HELL IN LA COUNTY!)
Anyway, I don't know what happens to burnt toast when you still keep it in the toaster, but I'm afraid I am about to find out.
AND I SURE WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SHOWING UP TO THE COUNCIL MEETINGS WHEN ZD WAS OUT OF TOWN START SHOWING UP AGAIN.
THERE IS ONE REASON CITY COUNCIL AND VIAGRAOSA KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS STUFF -- AND WHY Y-O-U (NOT ZD) KEEPS GETTING HIT WITH ALL OF THESE NEW FEE UP-DATES AND NEW TAXES:
The Mayor and City Council goes un-opposed.
I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE ZD FOR SHOWING UP ON A REGULAR BASIS BECAUSE THEY CANNOT...
BUT IT WOULD BE NICE IF SOME OF THESE PEOPLE SHOWED UP ONCE IN A WHILE. If EVERYONE showed up, once in a while, it would make an impact.
A lot of new ZD updates Including problems at DWP as more people are not paying their utility bill; Echo Park school construction shut down (due to shady EIR); half cent MTA sales tax close to making it on ballot; another school bond; and more and more we are finding -- THE MONEY APPROVED FOR ONE THING IS ENDING UP GOING FOR SOMETHING ELSE!
NO ON ALL NEW $$$ ON THE BALLOT.
Higby, I suspect that Villaraigosa is lying about the drop-out rate so that he can set the bar very low for any improvement he can show come election time.
Can you please spark a conversation about this? I'd like to know if others agree or disagree.
I agree that the reason Villar is quick to claim the drop-out rate is as high as 65%-70% in some areas, because -- yes -- he wants to show improvement.
The other reason is because ASSemblymember Antonio Villaragiosa was chosen by Riorden and his Charter reformer crew to shoot LAUSD in the foot and funnel as much money into Charters as possible.
But yeah, Antonio wants to make sure the bar is as low as possible so he can show improvement in his LAUSD cluster that he has taken control of in violation of the City Charter.
First thing he wants to do is put the City of Los Angeles logo on school uniforms. (And then you will probably see the battle of the "non-logo" uniform wearers versus the "City of Los Angeles" school uniforms. IF YOU ARE WEARING A CITY LOGO IN A HOOD THAT DOES NOT HAVE THEM...WATCH OUT. And if you DO NOT have a logo on your uniform in a neighborhood that HAS them...WATCH YOUR BACK, Holmes!
More backfiring divisiveness by Mayor Antonio Doucharaigosa.
I hate the LAUSD. and I'm really ashamed of living in such a low class city that can only churn out stupid people.
I guess there aren't any truancy laws in LA. We love everybody, even the bad boys.
Donna Barstow
PS,Good on you, Zuma, for going to all those meetings so we don't have to.
Zuma Dogg supports DASH!
DASH is the best! MORE DASH. Figure out how!
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen {tips hat)
Sots, what would you say if I told you that Don Jose married the Two Carls a few weekends ago for they, if you will have been together for quite some time, savvy? (toasts grooms) I suppose this is the start of a whole new career. Or is he just being a copy cat since His Nibbs has already preformed that chore.
Does the fact that Villaraigosa got into college on affirmative action, then went to an unaccredited law school, then failed the bar four out of four attempts make him an expert on education?
It's about time that idiot shut his gd piehole.
First post on this thread is pure gold.
Too bad Higby has to go all Howard Jarvis (b/c the right wing hate radio guys are the only people who take him seriously ever since this blog's credibility went down the toilet)
Where is Higby being right wing and hateful?
Don't know but even if everyone was nice to each other building the trains you want it won't fix the problem.
You can't build enough transit to move what you have. God forbid you could even think to keep up with the demand in 20 or 30 years.
It would be better to do better zoning, encourage telecommuting, etc.
Most people still want to drive their own car.
I'm right there with you first responder..
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