LA’s $1.3 Billion Sidewalk Scam

STRAIGHT TALK-Straight talk is in short supply.  Two local organizations, however, are telling how it is in their open letter to Judge Consuelo Marshall.  The lauded $1.3 Billion Sidewalk settlement is another scam.  It did not have to be and there is still time to stop it, but first the public needs to know what’s happening. 

Despite the claim about spending $1.3 Billion, the only real requirement is that The City pay the attorneys $13.3 Million in attorney fees and $1.7 Million in costs.  The rest of illusory. 

Hollywoodians Encouraging Logical Planning [HELP] and Citizens Coalition Los Angeles [CCLA] have written an open letter to the federal court judge presiding over Willits v The City of Los Angeles. 

Their letter has two basic parts.

1)    The City’s history disqualifies it from protecting the interests of the general public.  The letter points out that since 2002, The mayors and the city council have known that they could be sued under the American for Disabilities Act due to its disrepair of its sidewalks.  Rather than repair them, the City intentionally allowed them to deteriorate while diverting tax dollars to the mega-developers, especially hin Hollywood and DTLA.  

After thirteen (13) years of intentional malfeasance, it would be foolhardy to allow The City to protect the general public. 

2)    The terms of the settlement show that the general public is getting  a bad deal. 

According to HELP and CCLA, the $1.3 Billion is all smoke and mirrors requiring the city to do almost nothing except to pay the plaintiff’s attorneys $15 Million.  There are small payments to the named plaintiffs and that is the only part of the lawsuit which seems fair and just.  They merit their modest compensation for their efforts to sue the intransigent city.  They should be paid without further delay. 

$1.3 Billion is really $930 Million, but that is misleading. 

While the city will commit $31 Million per year on paper, the City does not have to spend any more than $25 Million per year and that too is an illusion. 

The following is a verbatim quote from The City’s explanation of the settlement. 

“That amounts set forth are the targeted commitments of funds.  If the total commitment is not me react year, the uncommitted portion of the year’s budget will be utilized in subsequent years as soon as practical, but within no longer than the next three fiscal years.  Excess commitments in any given year will be credited toward the target commitment on future years. In no fiscal year (other than the first year) shall the City spend less than $25 as its Annual Commitment.” [City March 30, 2015 Memo] 

The above quote from The City is not legalese; it is gibberish.  That shows how little thought The City has given to this settlement. The general public cannot allow The Mayor of The City Council who would approve such nonsense language to protect the general public.  They cannot even write a coherent memo! 

But, wait it gets worse. 

The allotment for the first year starts at only $20 Million and then has deductions. 

2015-2016        $20 Million Maximum To be Spend on Sidewalks

Less                   $15 Million for Attorneys fees and costs

Less                  $6.2 Million for Access Request Program

Less                  $5 Million for curb cuts only

Subtotal          <6.2 Million> Yes, year one, The City is $6.2 M in the hole. 

Thus, the funds available to repair broken, cracked, up-rooted and missing sidewalks in the first year will be a MINUS $6.2 Million. 

But wait, it gets worse. 

The City has a priority of who gets their sidewalks repaired first, and the homeowners come dead last; they are grouped with vacant desert land.  Who is at the top of the priority list?  The mega-real estate developers and the owners of commercial properties, i.e. the super-wealthy who funds City Hall campaigns. 

For some reason, Mayor Garcetti forgot to mention in his April 1, 2015 press release that homeowners won’t get any repairs until after all his developers buddies have the City pay to repair their sidewalks. 

If a homeowner wants his/her sidewalk repaired, the City can claim, “Oh, no, the court won’t let us repair your sidewalk.” 

The City is also free to charge homeowners to repair their sidewalks because “the City has the discretion to determine the revenue sources it will use to meet the terms of this agreement.” 

That’s right, The City has the absolute right to use property tax dollars and sale tax dollars to pay for the sidewalk repairs for billionaire developments, but it can charge homeowners whatever it wants. 

And yes, it gets still worse. 

How can the general public compel the City to repair the sidewalks?  They cannot.  There is no provision for enforcement by Angelenos. 

SUMMARY- The City has to pay the attorneys $15 Million and after that there is no way to compel the city to do anything, but the city may repair the sidewalks for its best friends, leaving everyone else on their own. 

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS-The open letter also requests that the Court require The City to give copies of the entire proposed settlement to all the Neighborhood Councils and also to give them the several months they need to study the subject and to obtain expert advice and then for the Neighborhood Councils to make their wishes known to The City and to The Court.  The opportunity is for the Neighborhood Councils to lose.

 

(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney. He can be reached at: [email protected]. This email address is being protected from spambots. Abrams views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch. )

-cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 34

Pub: Apr 24, 2015