Election 2013

It's official. Moments ago, Council Members Mitch Englander and Joe Buscaino pulled the plug on efforts to place a $3 billion property tax bond that would fund road repair from the Spring ballot. The Council Members ammeded their motion requesting the city attorney draft a motion with language for a ballot in "the future."

Municipal bond rates are at historic lows.  A memo by two respected faculty members at the UCLA Anderson Forecast (available at Streetsblog, for some reason link to city website is broken) suggests the city take advantage of these low rates to fund a $3 billion program to resurface, rehabilitate, and reconstruct city streets. This same logic extends to any local investment activity - because rates are low, it’s a good time to build or repair anything the city will need in the future. Street repair is an especially good choice for a city experiencing an historically high unemployment rate because a higher proportion of street investment goes into labor and wages than for other investments, a subway tunnel for instance.

Working with Bikerowave, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and Los Angeles Walks, Streetsblog is hosting a candidate forum for the four candidates running to replace the retiring Bill Rosendahl in the Westside's Council District 11.

Los Angeles Streetsblog, in partnership with Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Program, and advocacy groups including the Bus Riders Union, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, and Southern California Transit Advocates has invited each of the five leading candidates for Mayor of Los Angeles to appear in their own film answering questions posed by each of our partners.

At the start of the public hearing on the resolution asking the City Attorney to draft a bond measure for the May 21 that would dedicate 29 years of taxes towards road repair bonds, Council President Herb Wesson announced that the Council would not vote or debate the measure until next Tuesday. While Wesson offered praise to both sponsors of the legislation, Council Members Mitch Englander and Joe Buscaino, he was also concerned that there wasn't enough public outreach or participation in the construction of the measure.

Last week, two of Los Angeles' newest Council Members, Mitch Englander and Joe Buscaino, made news by announcing a campaign for a $3 billion bond to fund road repair on L.A.'s worst streets.  The "Los Angeles Emergency Local Street Safety and Traffic Improvement Measure" would need a two-thirds vote of city voters in May 21 and would create a twenty year real-estate tax that would be bonded against to fix the 31% of city roads that rate either a "D" or "F" on road conditions in the next ten years.

While much of the world focuses on the national elections, East Hollywood Community Activist Elson Trinidad announced his candidacy to replace Eric Garcetti as the Council Member for District 13 earlier this week. District 13 includes Hollywood, East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Glassell Park, Filipino Town and other mid-town communities. Garcetti of course is term-limited out of his seat and is running for Mayor. The primary election will be held in March, 2013.

The election is still a year away and already the campaign promises are flying!

The fourth event in the AIA’s mayoral candidate series with Wendy Greuel began with a 25 minute delay. Greuel was ensnarled in the city’s notorious traffic on her way from a previous engagement on the westside.  It was an apt precursor to the engaging conversation that followed. The former councilwoman, Dreamworks executive and current city controller proved that she is no stranger to issues of urban planning, transportation, and architecture as she fielded questions on the future of L.A’s built environment, mobility challenges and architectural aspirations.