Was Zuma Dogg Right About Infrastructure?
Are we seeing the tell-tale signs of this with twin water main breaks in Studio City and Valley Village this weekend?
The area around Ventura Blvd and Coldwater Canyon Ave experienced a flood of near bibilical-like propotions Saturday evening when a City water main dating back to 1914 burst. City crews are still in mop-up operations with hundreds of homes and businesses impacted. Major portions of the roadway were washed away in the flood with repairs not likely for days or weeks.
Tuesday morning another water main burst underneath a neighborhood in Valley Village, just a few miles away from the Ventura-Coldwater disaster creating a sinkhole that swallowed an LAFD firertruck. At least 40 homes are without water.
Are these isolated incidents or perhaps was Zuma right about the impact of unchecked development on roadways, water pipes, the water supply and electric grid? Are we only seeing the very beginning of all hell breaking loose with the City under the weight of too many people?
This very well could be a game changer in the coming CD2 elections and beyond. In light of these recent incidents it will be interesting to hear what the candidates have to say. Stay tuned!
Labels: infrastructure, zuma dogg
Posted by Michael Higby @ 9/08/2009 02:45:00 PM
34 Comments:
My family saw Mr. Zuma Dogg at Adat Ari El. Meshugge but a mensch! We are voting for this nudnik!
Shit I have to admit Zuma was correct.
Oh so ZD was the first one and the only one to warn about over-development and the infrastructure?
I guess he's too young to remember Councilman Marvin Braude who made this his crusade starting the mid-60s.
The difference is that Braude proposed solutions and got things done.
Well Ms Essel.What do you say now to your boss D`Arcy?
IBEW is a cancer in the City that`s destroying our well being and mortgaging the future of our children.
In theory infrastructure could be the issue. We know there are a lot of problems in the City of L.A. regarding this.
I do think however this is a bigger problem resulting from the drought we've had for so many years. Los Angeles sits on water tables and aquifers are drying out causing erosion and collapse.
As MS reported, this is why the mayor wants to pay someone millions to flood L.A.'s aquifers.
Now, this is a really tough, longshot call; the infrastructure in LA is aging. No shit.
These occurances happen everywhere, all the time. There is simply no way to deermnine quite how long a major water, sewage, power or other utility may last,m especially when they near 100 years in many places.
Do you just go replace all of them? Even Obama is not that spend foolish, and he is the King of Foolish Spending.
Please do not give the court jester a prop for calling this one; anyone could tell you that our infrastructure is old and worn.
What's his next call? You'll have to wait at he emergency room and won't be able to find a seat because they are all full of illegal aliens?
Duh.
Fine job Wendy did taking care of her district.
Good riddance, and she can take that empty suit Essel along with her.
Please, did the Dogg ever say anything about infrastructure that wasn't already known by anyone less than half-blind and with an IQ over 50 in L.A.?
Anyone who gets out of there car and walks more than a block in L.A. has known this all along.
Was ZD right? Sure, and so is a trained parrot when it mimics anyone with more than a bird's brain.
After each earthquake, each mudslide, rain storm, or good stiff wind we get the rundown on just how much deferred maintenance we're sitting on from every self-appointed civic expert for 50 miles around, plus everyone running against whatever incumbent is in office.
When the City was flush with $$ during the first few years of AV's first term, did a significant amount of the higher revenues go into infrastructure? Nah!
Why? Because every liberal politican in the city expects that even when funds get tight, they'll just float a bond or raise taxes, and never miss a beat in their spending.
It's much easier to "bond" the taxpayer to death after things start falling apart, than before? Hell, crumbling infrastructure helps liberals.
Remember Jackie G.'s on-mike gaffe in the Assembly a few years ago, when Gray Davis first starting tanking the state budget? She was overheard saying. . .
"'It seems to me if there's going to be a crisis, the crisis should be this year,' Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, said during the meeting. 'What you do is you show people that you can't get to this without a 55 percent vote.'
"The unintentional broadcast was interrupted when someone informed the group that a microphone was on. 'Oh s---,' Goldberg said as the sound was cut."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/07/22/MN309441.DTL#ixzz0QYol6ZMW
I live down the street and came out to watch the spectacle. This street was not repaved in the last wave of paving in the area so at least we will get a new street out of it. The water was amazing. Saw Tony V, and Wendy G and Sheftel was there. Oh and Koretz popped up later, was funny watching him climb over a truck to avoid the water.I saw Sheftel on the Blvd this weekend too. He's getting around. Galatzan had Ice cream yesterday at her house. Not a big crowd.But very nice time. She may be eating Ice cream for awhile.
Was there this morning as the event unfolded. I live down the street. Water water everywhere. Tony V and Wendy G stopped by. Saw Sheftel wading through the water with Wendy. Very funny watching Koretz arrive and climb over trucks to avoid the torrent of water. Well maybe we can finally get the street paved.
MOTION: Saltsburg - LaBonge
Report back in 60 days as to top infrastructure updating priorities in the City of Los Aneles.
We don't have a lot of money but we need to move ahead with the TOP infrastructure priorities. When City Council was pushing Measure B, I was saying we need to FORGET that noise, right now, because we have to upgrade outdated infrastructure, as an URGENT MATTER.
I wonder if any of the Federal Stimulus money can be used for this? (DON'T ATTACK ME FOR ASKING? That's what I would try to find out as CM. Better used to fix outdated infrastructure, before you start worrying about "solar paneling your way out of it."
The mayor just wants to create jobs and keep unions happy. Can't you make them happy toward the right goal, at least?
Right about what? For predicting what lots of us have dealt with for decades before he got here?
I like the man but let's not go overboard on getting his credits correct.
Zuma Dogg is the only CD-2candidate that has a handle on this city. All the other candidates are political hacks too busy plotting their next jobs.
Zuma Dogg...AND Michael McCue. McCue has been chanting against development unless infrastructure is addressed for a long time.
Last year when Councilman Tom LaBonge (District 4) hosted an event at the Metro Red Line station to show organized neighborhood council opposition the Universal Metro Project, Michael McCue was there. In fact—he was the only attendee who brought a sign supporting his position on that project. What did the sign read? “INFRASTRUCTURE FIRST.”
The water main break late Saturday in Studio City is a perfect example of how over-development places an undo stress on an antiquated infrastructure that is in desperate need of repair and upgrade. McCue says, “Do not let anyone tell you that our infrastructure is capable of handling the over-development that is planned for our neighborhoods.” This water main break is proof that McCue's statements about our infrastructure are correct and that his demand for charter-required infrastructure review is reasonable and reflects the key values of accountability and future-focused.
Well GEE, do you think the ENDLESS water project that has snarled Whitsett Blvd (located conveniently between Coldwater and Laurel Canyon) for the last year had anything to do with it? Do you think that water project had anything to do with the massive condos built on Whitsett and Moorpark?
3:14= The zuma Dogg.
And I guess that 2:58 isn't REALLY Jewish, since one would NOT vote for a "nudnik."
Here's the next BIG, HUGE crisis issue the city will be facing and IS facing...but will become BIG talk any day now.
There will be about 1000 new LUXURY condos going on line in Downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, there will be few buyers. I hear judges are already making settlement arrangements with creditors and will be settling for pennies on the dollar.
Sorry to pile on another BIG TICKET, "I told you so/warning" but remember ZD's old stand-by standard, "You're gonna get a lot of affordable housing downtown as all these luxury condo units sit vacant plummeting in value."
SO WHAT WOULD I DO AS COUNCILMEMBER?
The first thing would be to now issue "commercial real estate forclosure prevention measures" and have the city do whatever it will take to try and salvage this situation. And this is where the REAL city PAIN begins. EVERYTHING UP TILL NOW HAS BEEN "WARM UP" FOR THE BIG STUFF LIKE DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES REAL ESTATE.
I THINK A WHOLE BIG ENCHALADA IS ABOUT TO BE EXPOSED AND UNRAVELED WHEN THE BOOKS ARE OPEN ON THESE PROJECTS AND JUDGES START LOOKING INTO CREDITOR SETTLEMENTS (I HEARD THEY HAVE STARTED) AND PEOPLE FIND OUT THE SHENNANIGANS THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN THE DOWNTOWN REAL ESTATE MARKET.
So as Councilmember, even though it's not my district, some of this stuff will be the same problem in CD 2, so I can open up the dialogue and a motion to access and address the citywide problem, it's impact and measures to be taken to work with the commercial real estate market in the same we have for the residential homes, all of which will have a much smaller impact once this kicks in.
AND THEN, I will start seeking out the solutions and measures that can be taken by calling and meeting with community members who have the answers/ideas and the city hall insiders and real estate developers themselves (because how do you think I heard about this...NOT from the Neighborhood Council meeting), although I think many of the NC members may know how to address the problem...and again, I know who to go to for the REAL, pragmatic measures that need to be taken to prevent, "Commercial Real Estate Blight" Downtown...AND this next commercial wave of economic doom is certain to cause "trickle down" problems at the city coffer level as City Hall takes in MUCH less (MUCH, MUCH less) in property taxes and related revenues associated with 1000 NEW LUXURY CONDOS BEING SOLD...rather than foreclosed on.
WAY TO GO ANTONIO and YOUR Los Angeles City Council (without Zuma Dogg there).
Zuma Dogg is the only willing to speak up. All the other candidates are in the pockets of the developers.
Mr. Dogg is right on the money. In addition to a Water and Power system that has components that are 100 years old, we have the chronic water shortage that is not just a drought issue, but a supply issue (Read Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner). We can take the over-development being pushed by the Mayor and Council, it doesn't add up.
The aging pipe is not a new issue, check out this Daily News article from January 20, 2007: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=158123030
7:11pm...NO, 3:14pm is ABSOLUTELY NOT ZUMA DOGG! Why do you lie? You lied. It wasn't me. You said it was. I have NO idea who that was and is a complete (nice) surprise to me, as is 2:58pm and the rest. Thanks everyone!
Crybaby loser says, "What's his next call? You'll have to wait at he emergency room and won't be able to find a seat because they are all full of illegal aliens?
NO, you won't hear me saying I said that because people know I did not say that before. Emergency hospital rooms ARE an important issue, but it's not something that people have pushed me on and hasn't come through council much as far as I've seen. But when it comes to infrastructure, YEAH, that's been a big one for me. And sorry if other people have mentioned it in the past. I am mentioning it in the present where it needs addressing.
let it be known that I didn't cuss when I had public comment on the water restriction devices that City approved downtown in ALL new developments.
that was a few months ago. they realised then that there wouldn't be enough capacity to deliver the normal amount of water, so all new installations have water restrictions on them, so they don't have to update the infrastructure. [at least for now]
just another way they skinning the cat. but yeah, Zuma's right, about downtown. why would anyone buy a luxury condo downtown when they're sittin' empty at Venice. I mean, its nice to have high rise, but nobody wants to walk around in the muck downtown. antonio has done gone and stunk up the joint with the wave of homelessness that the condo conversions created.
the real problem now is those mega developers who are filing for bankruptcy downtown, are still collecting rent on all the buildings they own, but they don;'t intend paying for the buildings......
they'll be handed back to the bank, who'll carry the loss in the end. and anyone who loaned money to these 'developers'. and I can only imagine that it all ties back to Jack Weiss, Antonio, Wetherly Capital, and they invested a bunch of money into an over inflated market.
except it wasn';t their money, It was the pension funds, and now the poor taxpaying residents of the City pay $650 million every year, before they get a single cop paid.
because, yes, your general fund guarantees the pension payments. $650m every year. so I say its no way to run a municipal corporation saddled with that kind of fiscal burden. and so filing for protection is prudent in the end.
when we mentioned it in public comment, Alarcon said, " oh, we're a long way from that..."..But he didn't actually dismiss it outright!!! so there's a clue.
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Where is Los Angeles DWP Department Manager David Nahai, not a CEO, or Mayor Villaraigosa with his 2 minutes hall of shame press conference?
A CEO of a private company would have taken IMMEDIATE steps in handling old infrastructure, proactive vs. reactive, which would avoid paying out millions of stakeholders dollars to affected families, employees overtime costs, and damage to engine truck.
4:21 pm you must be an imbecile,
moron,pot smoking piece of shit or working for Essel
4:29 PM AMEN!!
4:33PM Wendy came by...She really can`t help herself but being on camera next to her buddy, the lothario.Wendy, there are still 4 yrs to the next Mayor`s election.You make me sick.
So ZD's solutions are to open a dialogue, ask for a report, and seeking out solutions. Sounds like the same double-talk from the bunch that are there now when they don't have a clue what a real solution might be.
The thing is that ZD can do all those things now, but hasn't. Instead of wasting time posting on blogs that few people read, why isn't he calling those community meetings and seeking those solutions?
David, you fool. We don't need government intervention in the private market.
Everything sells at a price. If the condos are overpriced, the owners will reduce them until they sell, or lose them to foreclosure.
When that occurs, the lenders will own them and then sell them for what they can to recoup at least part of their investments. Or, they will rent them for what they can and operate them until they can sell them.
We call that supply and demand economics; we don't need yuor high school education or government to "fix" it.
You talk like the loser Obama who thinks government is the solution for every problem; they're not, they ARE the problem.
Loser, read the post, I said, "prevention measures" not INTERVENTION, and there IS a difference. And you can be a Mr. Perfect Idealist, but when you have a sinking ship, you better do everything to PREVENT the ship from sinking, not be some arrogant idealist and let the whole city cave into a black hole. "Prevention Measures" are not "intervention" but you NEVER seem to read things properly.
You really can't hide behind a "private" market argument in Los Angeles because there is so much meddling from the city and so many restrictions, it's not a real free market. YOU KNOW THAT! (See rent control.) So it's easy to make decisions from an idealist, perfect vaccume tube world. But when the entire community is being boarded up because the mayor and council are irresponsible idiots...I'll keep your "do nothing, sit back and relax" solution in mind.
YOU JUST HAD THE CITY GO ALL UPSCALE AND LUXURIOUS ON WAY TOO MUCH HOUSING...THIS NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED. But you want to mock me for SUGGESTING "prevention" measures should be discussed, when you DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE...and you called it intervention, which is different than PREVENTION.
You sound more arrogant and dumber than Walter Moore.
"The area around Ventura Blvd and Coldwater Canyon Ave experienced a flood of near bibilical-like propotions Saturday evening when a City water main dating back to 1914burst."
Serioulsy, "near bibilical-like propotions" seriously? Seriously? Seriously?
I'm giving you an "F" fo the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A2ZAy-fdNQ
Vote Zuma Dogg. Throw a monkeywrench into the political machine the way I did back in the old days in Cowlumbus, Ohio.
Councilman DOGG, please make sure you look up all the bullshit Ed Reyes in CD1 has created by overbuilding, and letting the Orzini guy Palmer, get off with a 5,ooo dollar fine for scorched earth act, yeah city took the money and ran a couple 2-3 years ago in regards to him tearing down a house in his development way. the house was going to be declared a momument and fixed up. Said no way, Palmer said.
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