I Was Wrong About Those Sidewalks

You may recall my post from a couple of days ago, when I wrote about the fabulous luncheon at Campanile, where I and a dozen other bloggers had the privilege of meeting L.A. mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti.

I concluded that post with a complaint about a new city ordinance I'd heard of that requires homeowners to take responsibility for sidewalk repairs around their property. Apparently, this is one of those instances where I got something wrong (not the first time! And I'm sure, not the last):

FROM: EM Garcetti
TO: Me

Thanks, Donna, for your great post.  Quick note--we didn't approve that sidewalks are the responsibility of the homeowners, and I oppose doing that, though some of my colleagues did propose doing that earlier this year.  As mayor, I have a plan to pave 1,600 miles of streets and repair our sidewalks and curbs, putting people back to work now and using our lower costs right now to take advantage of this moment.

Let me know about those other questions!

All the best,

Eric

Sure enough: a quick search turned up news of that proposal -- and the fact that it was NOT approved.

This is what happens when I try to push out a blog post really fast and don't take the time to do the research. 

In the meantime: Apparently, I'm now on a first-name basis with Eric Garcetti. I forwarded his email to my husband and sister, referring to him as my new best friend.

Gareth thought it was pretty cool. But my sister is unimpressed.

She lives in a small city in Northern California, and personally knows many of her elected officials -- even socializing with them. I even met the chief of police at her house ... as one of her Thanksgiving guests. (His kids and her kids went to school together.) So to her, lunch with a city Council member is not a very big deal. 

It would be nice if more people in Los Angeles felt a personal connection to the officials we vote for.

I have no idea of the plans of the other mayoral candidates, but Eric Garcetti is planning a family event in the fall. I'll pass the word on as soon as I get the details.

Comments

[Liz]

The mayor reads your blog. LOVE!!!

[Donna]

He's not the mayor yet, Liz - the election is next year. But he's one of the front runners.

[Cary]

Donna, hi.

We've been working hard to keep the City from dumping the sidewalks problem (which they've neglected for 25 years) onto property owners. You can read all about the issue at http://www.laneighbors.org/city_of_broken_sidewalks.html.

Thanks for shining the light on this issue. It's incredibly important ... and one of the reasons why I decided to run for City Controller.

Take care,
Cary Brazeman
www.CaryBrazeman.com

[Jane Gassner]

Ah, the advantages of living in Sactotomato: you know all your elected officials. Sometimes you even are one of your elected officials.

[Linda]

Being on a first name basis with the superintendent, mayor and chief of police is something to yawn about here in Rocklin. But there's not doubt it is a different political world down in L.A. So it is kind of fun. We were also just talking about how everybody know who the mayor of New York always is, but do people all over the country always know who the mayor of L.A. is?

[Donna]

I think that depends on who is Mayor. Tom Bradley ran for President. I think people have.a hard time pronouncing Villaraigosa.