Los Angeles is the second largest city in the nation with a population of almost 13 million people in the metropolitan area. We have some very rich people here and we have some very poor. What we do not have is a governing body to manage the issues that implicate this significant population.
Everyone thought that Antonio Villaragosa, as mayor of Los Angeles, would bring a new vitality and direction to the city. This has not happened. Instead we have experienced a non stop series of photo ops featuring the mayor. When it comes to substance there has been a dearth of successes.
Here is my list of the mayor’s lack of performance.
- He has supported a subway to the sea but there is no money to build it.
- Light rail projects have been delayed for an indefinite period of time. The Expo line was not given a color code because of some perceived significance in a minority area. The San Fernando Valley east west line became a busway that barely operates faster than traffic on nearby streets.
- He wanted to take control of the school system but lacked the legal authority to complete that task.
- There was the increase in fees to city property owners to pay for new police officers but the enlistments have not filled the police department objectives.
- The airport has not been updated in at least 20 years but bickering among members of the airport commission and the arguments with adjoining cities has resulted in no significant new construction.
- The harbor area has the reputation for significant pollution but no action has been taken to curtail polluting activities.
- Automobile travel times have stretched by 50% and as a result many one hour commutes have become 1 ½ hour commutes. The idea to turn Pico Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard into one way streets has not materialized. To make matters worse the street maintenance has been poor at best. Many streets, including Wilshire Boulevard have not seen resurfacing in many decades.
- Housing costs are now so high in Los Angeles that there has been a major migration to suburbs. Gang activity has contributed to that migration.
Gang activity has brought to attention but no tangible results in reducing the impact.
- The city is a sanctuary for illegal aliens. The impact is streets and fronts of hardware stores have lines of people loitering while waiting for work. Many hospital emergency rooms have been closed due to the number of illegal aliens using those rooms as their only source of medical care. Illegal aliens are a member resource for street gangs.
Being mayor of Los Angeles is a tough job. We need a tough mayor and city council to bring order out of this chaos. I do not believe we have the right people in office now.
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