ALPERN AT LARGE - It’s often harder to be a “glass half full” kind of person, but it’s usually both smarter and more pleasant to take that approach. In other words, it’s a tough world we face but there’s a whole lot for us to be thankful for. I know I’m certainly thankful.
For example, it’s good to know that we’ve not lost our commitment to education, (link) but it’s also nice to know that we’ve not lost our commitment to accountability in education, either. (Link)
Furthermore, I’m thankful that Governor Brown is working on a sustainable tax plan to ensure the funding of our state governmental priorities, but I’m also thankful he’s got opposition (and it comes from the general voting base, not just the GOP) to any taxes that don’t benefit the taxpayers. (Link) So we should give thanks, but not give up in our attempts to defend the rights and needs of taxpayers.
I’m also thankful that there are those wealthy and powerful Californians who are interested in ensuring that the richest citizens will pay their fair share of taxes, (link) but the devil’s in the details and the question of who qualifies as being “rich” in this high cost-of-living state remains unanswered. We should give thanks, but not give up our ability to use math and reason to separate a good idea for the majority from a bad gimmick that will hurt that majority.
And I’m thankful that some of the sneaky and creepy leaders of the environmental movement, who are more into being “green” from a financial sense than from a conservationist sense, are being called out and asked to step down. (Link) We should give thanks, but not give up our desire to keep the state clean of both pollution and “environmental graft”.
Similarly, I’m thankful that the arguments and issues of water conservation and defending wildlife are still in the news despite our financial woes. We should give thanks, but not give up in our efforts to save treasures such as the Salton Sea (link) http://www.latimes.com/news/science/), even if it was created by a manmade accident (or, depending on your theology, Divine Providence).
Closer to home, I’m grateful to the Internet, which has enabled and empowered grassroots efforts from the Arab Spring abroad to our Neighborhood Council system right here in the City of the Angels. We should give thanks, but not give up what is both a privilege and a responsibility to take charge of our communities and lives from the political and economic elites.
I’m grateful to our political and editorial process that gives us the ability to hold the collective feet of both political parties to the fire, and to determine how to address the corporate/banking system we both need and despise, and to determine when the Occupy movement is representing the general population and when it is becoming its own form of tyranny. We should give thanks, but not give up our ability to recognize the virtue and vice in every major movement.
Closer to home, I’m grateful to Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, who has defended causes both liberal and conservative, and who has empowered folks like myself and others of all political bents to speak out and fight for causes that mean so much to Westside communities. We should give thanks, but not give up in our fight to enhance our local quality of life.
I’m grateful to every one of you, whether you are a grassroots leader, a public sector transportation or planning expert, or just an ordinary Joe or Jane, who have given me advice on so many issues that range from improving the Mar Vista Community Council or improving Westside mobility and transportation. We should give thanks, but not give up in our ability to work together for local and regional public works projects.
Finally, I’m grateful to my wife and children, who allow me the ability to put so much time and energy into my various and sundry endeavors. Without them, I could do nothing (and really be nothing) to help my family and my community.
I give thanks again to my wife and children, and will NEVER give up on them, either.
Hope you had a happy and restful Thanksgiving!
(Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Vice Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.) –cw
Tags: Thanksgiving, Governor Brown, Neighborhood Councils, Los Angeles, Bill Rosendahl
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 94
Pub: Nov 25, 2011