Op/Ed

RailPAC VP responds to L.A. Times guest commentary that reads like a laundry list of future market fantasies of Silicon Valley billionaires and the natural gas industry: "Southern California needs to build catenary electric rail now, and not wait around for questionable technologies to improve."

Please give newly seated L.A. City Coucilmember Kevin de León a chance to review and revive Union Station project

Los Angeles has nearly 100 neighborhood councils, which are elected bodies of community members who volunteer untold time and resources in order to better connect city government with city residents and vice versa. While some might debate the relative efficacy of these organizations in small “d” democracy, neighborhood councils are the closest thing that the city of Los Angeles has to a formal network of resident voices.

Recently, Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz joined Mayor Eric Garcetti and others at a preview of the Expo Line Phase II, which extends that light rail line from its current terminus in Culver City, all the way to downtown Santa Monica. Afterwards, a press conference for this long-overdue project was held at the nearly-completed Palms Station, where they gave speeches and celebrated this milestone toward providing better mobility and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Editor's note: Last week, Streetsblog Los Angeles ran an opinion piece from one of our occasional contributors, Alexander Friedman. The piece told Friedman's side of the story regarding a controversial and currently half-built Target store at the corner of Western Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. Friedman's piece generated a lot of comments, some insightful, some sympathetic, some angry. We're happy that it fostered a dialogue about what kind of development makes sense for a more walkable, more livable Hollywood. Another friend of the blog, David Bell, is a lawyer in the suit that Friedman wrote about. Bell approached SBLA requesting that we publish the following article to set the record straight on what was legally at issue with this ill-fated development. SBLA is not taking sides on this issue, but the disputes here highlight some of the difficulties in planning and developing Los Angeles' walkable future. 

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times published the editorial Sharing the Roads in L.A. Ultimately the Times favors moving patiently toward a vision that "puts pedestrians, cyclists and transit users on equal ground with drivers," but some of the Times preamble undermines its welcome conclusion.

I was excited to read yesterday's pro-bike Los Angeles Times editorial entitled Some bumps in the road on the way to a bike-friendly L.A. The piece calls out Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo for stopping the approved North Figueroa bike lanes. The Times supports the "worthwhile objective" of  implementing bicycle infrastructure to make "the city safe and hospitable for cyclists... [to] reduce carbon emissions and overall congestion."

Los Angeles is finally on its way toward realizing the dream of a regional rapid transit system. Five rail lines are simultaneously under construction, and there is renewed momentum to fund another round of transit expansion on the 2016 ballot. Move L.A. recently unveiled a Strawman Proposal for “Measure R2” to accelerate the completion of the remaining Measure R projects and offer a new vision for transit, highway, and complete streets improvements across Los Angeles County.

(The following op/ed was written by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-SFV), Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee in support of AB 650.  Blumenfield's legislation has already passed the Assembly and passed the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday.  It needs to pass the full Senate and go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote before heading to the governor's desk.  This piece first appeared in the California Progress Report and is reprinted here with the consent of Blumenfield's office. - DN)