The Los Angeles Times weighed in on the fire fight over the Wolfpack Hustle Marathon Crash Race cancellation. While the Times pretty much treats the city's version of events as fact, it still finds the city at fault for forcing the cancellation of a fun, low-cost event that attracted thousands of Angelenos to a safe and healthy event. For a brief history of the Hustle, visit this story on Santa Monica Next.
From the editorial:
But why was Ward notified less than a week before that he would be violating city codes? A spokesman for the Department of Public Works — which includes the Bureau of Street Services — said his agency was only informed Monday about the safety issues. The agencies raising them, he said, included the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of Transportation. And it takes about 45 days to get a permit for a special event like this.
It's a shame that city officials didn't sit down and talk with Ward about this, oh, at least 45 days ago. Everyone has known for months that the race was coming up, and no doubt an arrangement could have been reached that would have allowed it to go forward under safe conditions and under reasonable city supervision.
I have a few quibbles with the editorial: Why focus on the race's popularity with people out-of-town instead of the thousands of Angelenos that take part? Why not point out that neither Wolfpack Hustle or Ward barely break even on the race considering the amount of time and resources they put into it? Overall, though, the focus is correct.
There was little reason for the city to do this other than it can.
