🚀 go-pugleaf

MHigby@Primenet.com (Michael Higby) wrote:

>Riordan has done a lot towards getting neighborhood activists thinking about 
>making LA more pedestrian and adopting new urbanism.  I don't think Hayden has 
>even give that a thought.  He has that Santa Monica-Westside mindset that as 
>long as Starbucks is opened and as long as the kids get to soccer all is okay.

Perhaps the most important thing Riordan will have done is
provide an opportunity for real government reform via the
elected charter reform committee that will be able to
propose changes directly to the voters.  Only time will
tell. 

And before you rush to condemn me as naive and the
initiative as just another political ploy, I'll say that I
am well aware that Riordan has his favorite candidates and
is bankrolling them.  But you must also realize that the
reforms will probably not even take place until after
Riordan's term is up.  (And I believe he has already said he
won't run again.)  Furthermore, the council's plan (an
appointed committee of elite insiders with no authority or
ability to get anything in front of the voters) is nothing
more than a complete sham.  Like him or not, the only
possibility for significant charter reform is Riordan's
ballot initiative.

And I think the best endorsement for Riordan's initiative is
the extreme measures the council took to try to keep it off
the ballot and the ongoing battle for a fair ballot
representation.  If the council's that afraid of it, it
can't be all bad.

Tom Crunk
(I don't live in LA city.  On purpose.)