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THE VIEW FROM HERE - No matter how many decks chairs were re-arranged on the Titanic, the ship was going to sink. That outcome was inevitable when the ship’s bulkheads did not go to the top of the compartments, thereby allowing water to flow from one compartment to the next rather than limiting the water only to the bulkheads which had been breached. In addition, the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for everyone; many which existed were non-functional. There was nothing the Captain could do once the Titanic had hit the iceberg. So too, Los Angeles’ mayor cannot stop the city’s sliding into oblivion.
Los Angeles was doomed long ago, as explained on November 1, 2021 in CityWatch “We’re Doomed” “When candidates to be Los Angeles' next Mayor are unwilling to say whether the state’s criminal laws apply to the city council, we are doomed to continued rapacious lawlessness.” Well, we are five years later. The only things on which people agree are: (1) Los Angeles is in a horrible mess, and (2) no one shall mention the cause. During last week’s debate, no esteemed interlocutor asked: “If elected Mayor, what steps would you take to stop the One and Done Rule based on the criminal vote trading system at city council?”
Way back in June 2007 almost two decades ago, writing in LA Weekly, Judith Lewis Mernit explained how the "The 15-to-0 [LA City] Council" voted unanimously on nearly 99% of its items. Over time, this vote trading practice became known as the One and Done Rule, meaning that in order to be guaranteed unanimous city council approval, a developer need only be nice to the councilmember where he wants to construct some illegal project. Penal Code § 86 criminalizes this type of vote trading. This process gave Wall Street total control over what is built and where it is built in Los Angeles and was the foundation of Garcetti’s Manhattanization (densification) of Los Angeles. See How One and Done Corrupts
One purpose city council’s criminal vote trading was to enhance Wall Street profits by tearing down Rent Controlled Units (RSO), which had low or no mortgages due to their age and provided little or no income to Wall Street. In the place of the destroyed ROS projects, developers constructed new high-density projects requiring not only construction loans but also huge mortgages, thereby funneling billions of dollars to Wall Street.
The unavoidable by-product of mass destruction of RSO units was the Homeless Crisis. The rapid acceleration of destroying poor peoples’ homes evicted thousands of poor onto the streets faster than society could absorb them. Before the prior patch could find alternative housing with friends, relatives, or new places, a horde of new displaced persons were on the streets. Because many poor people in RSO units had limited social and economic skills due to mental problems, alcoholism or drug addiction, the homeless population was increasingly filled with the mentally ill, who decompensated under the stress of homelessness. They consumed a disproportionate amount of LAPD and LAFD resources since they were vulnerable to predatory criminals and illnesses. Also, the homeless cause fires – what is the alternative to a cold night in a tent? Wall Street did not pay one cent of these costs; it just stuffed more and more mortgage dollars into its pockets as it moved on to destroy more RSO properties.
If LA were not a criminal enterprise operating on the One and Done Rule, when a developer proposed to demolish a RSO complex, his paying off one councilmember would guarantee him nothing. Other councilmembers, who had read the 1915 Study explaining the three factors which made densification of Los Angeles a horrible idea to enrich a few, would vote “No” on bad projects in other districts. Either a developer would have to bribe a majority of the city councilmembers or propose a decent project to gain voluntary consent.
After decades of Wall Street sponsored corruption, which Angelenos know as Garcettism, we’ve passed the point the no return. DTLA has financially crashed. The following high rises are in default: Gas Company Tower owned by Brookfield Properties ($465 Million), Owned by Brookfield Properties (default $290M to $319M), 444 S Flower Parking (default amount not stated), and the famous Graffiti Towers (min $470M) Vacancy rates predict the future. Overall DTLA Vacancy: Approximately 32.4%. Class A & Trophy Availability: Roughly 31.5%, Financial District: nearly 40% The ideal vacancy rate for DTLA is 5% to 8%.
Let’s See How the Middle-Class Family Millennials Are Doing
As predicted, the One and Done Rule drove prices so high that Family Millennials, LA’s middle class home buyers, left LA because they could not afford to pay Wall Street’s prices. See The Wall Street Tax Wall Street specialized in Spot Zoning where one parcel would be allowed an exemption for extra density which meant the developer could make more profit, and thus, he would pay a high price for the lot. That lot’s high sales price went into the comparable prices so that the next seller listed his lot at the new high. Even a family will pay a somewhat higher price, at first, but as time passes, the drip, drip, drip of continued spot zoning pushed the cost of homes beyond what a willing buyer could afford. Family Millennials had no choice but to move away. Homes in the Hollywood Grove HPOZ are probably overpriced by a $1 Million. That means mortgages are $1 million too high. All those extra payments go to Wall Street and leave the local economy. As Family Millennials leave, businesses follow. Employers know they have to pay higher wages in LA to cover housing costs.
These are only some of factors which have driven Los Angeles into decline. No candidate has a solution. There is no place to build a new Craftsman bungalow in Hollywood, which what a families want. More cramped apartments with no parking in CD 13 as Councilmember Soto-Martinez promotes are worthless to a family when outside Tucson, it can get a 5-bedroom home with a large yard, good schools, and an easy commute. How does Spencer Pratt plan to reduce the vacancy rate in DTLA? Where will Raman get the funds to increase the fire department? How will Bass hire and train the needed police for the Olympics? Angelenos are so myopic that they think if we have a few less homeless, LA will be fine.
According to ai, during morning rush hour one can drive from Los Feliz (Western and Franklin) to Beverly Hills (Robertson and Beverly) in 15 to 22 minutes. The same route using the new D Line would take between 51 and 67 minutes. In 2026 dollars, the Hollywood Subway cost $2.9 Billion and the new D line cost $9.7 Billion. So far, LA’s subways have cost $18 billion. Guess who benefitted from the $18 Billion costs. Guess who paid.
Which mayor can de-densify Los Angeles and refund the $18 Billion? Which mayor can reconstruct DTLA high rises to remove the vacant units? Which may can restore all the single-family homes which have been destroyed and reduce their cost by $1 M so that Family Millennials will return?
The least the candidates could do is admit that they will be helplessly incompetent.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
