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MY THOUGHTS - I haven’t written for a while, but I have been following the events or lack of them in our city. The problem with writing for City Watch is that for the most part all the articles are negative about LA and its so-called leaders—and sadly too much of what is written is true. Having said that—and please don’t read this if you are easily offended—what comes next is the unvarnished truth about the current state of our city as I see it—and it clearly will not be politically correct. I have no intention of writing what’s going on with the Feds—that’s not a column, it’s a book. The only reference I will make is to our alleged US Secretary of Health—who’s goal it seems to me is MASA—Make America Sick Again.
I just watched the movie “Animal House” again—we all need humor in the world we are living in. There is a scene where “Flounder” (a character in the movie) is told by his College Dean that fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go thru life-whereupon Flounder promptly vomits on his desk. It’s fittingly appropriate to our City Government today. We are woke, broke, stupid and clueless—and that’s no way to run a great city. Look at all the empty real estate here—from office buildings, to strip malls, to restaurants that have closed.
Government has a compact with its citizens to provide safety and security to its residents. It’s fundamental to provide essential city services from Police to fire to sanitation—that’s why citizens pay their taxes. Not here—there are still four people on City Council (which I refer to as Ship of Fools) who still want to defund the police—and some voted against keeping the homeless at least 500’ away from schools. Personally, I’m for defunding the City Council (most not all) and as far as the Mayor who I have nicknamed Ms. Flounder, because the nickname is totally appropriate, the City cannot afford another 4 years of her inexperience and inability to do the job.
There is no voice for the 65%-70% of the city who I call the exhausted majority—and to be clear, they are apathetic and don’t vote—and elections have consequences. The Democratic Socialists of America have a large role in this city—but they do not represent the views of the majority of our citizens. It’s America, so they have a right to a seat at the table and their voice can be heard –but it’s not the only voice. Socialism is a proven failure of a political philosophy---sounds great until it’s put in practice. Recently even Bolivia and Peru changed their socialist governments—because of their failures. Look at its impact in Los Angeles---the DSA is more concerned about the homeless and undocumented than they are about the citizens who are the economic foundation of the city. I understand compassion but it has to be balanced with reality. The lack of common sense and practicality is astounding—so laws are being passed raising the minimum wage for jobs that either do no exist or are leaving the city. They have no idea how to bring business back here—so the tax base continues to shrink—and Lost Angeles remains woke and broke—a city with a cardboard sign on a corner. There are 70,000 people living on the streets after billions of dollars has been squandered on solving the problem—where did that money go? No leadership—no accountability.
The building industry has basically left LA—even Caruso won’t build here. This is because “Knucklehead” Ramen—a DSA member—told her base ULA was a mansionization tax and lied to her constituency. Recently I saw a video that she put out on Instagram showing her smiling idiotic face and talking about how much housing that is being built in Houston and why doesn’t that happen here--duh—you helped create the problem. Her understanding of basic economics can best be explained as follows---you can put a hose to her ear and vacuum the room. What a blithering idiot---she has cost the city and the unions significant numbers of jobs and is directly responsible for the lack of projects here.
The City needs real effective leadership, with people who understand economics, know how to bring businesses back here, know how to reduce the regulations for building, know how to make the tough decisions to get the homeless off the streets, know how to improve the quality of life and put capable people in positions of power (who empties a reservoir without a new cover ready to put on?)---emblematic of the ineptitude of our city. Who would imagine that we now have bicycle lanes everywhere when the underlying roads aren’t safe. I will not reference Metro in this article---because they are a bureaucratic sewer and manure pile on their own. Not to mention, we have people and organizations for STDs for all—oops STC for all—when they have no accurate information on time to build, cost to build and real estimate of ridership. I call that group the name they have earned— “Morons”.
Another election is coming—VOTE!!
PS---Last absurdity---city makes it impossible to get speed bumps for roads that are speed traps even if community will pay for them—but if community builds it the city will take it down. You cannot make this up---but clearly another example of the inmates running the asylum.
(Fredric D. Rosen is a retired businessman and former CEO of Ticketmaster, where he led the company for 16 years and transformed it into the world’s leading ticketing service. He has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, offering leadership across both private enterprise and charitable initiatives. With decades of experience in business and civic engagement, Rosen brings a seasoned perspective to issues at the intersection of commerce, culture, and community.)
