My frustration with the Bass administration and the fight to protect neighborhoods

ABOUT LA – I don’t trust the government. Every government. Not city, county, state or federal. There is evidence that their main purpose is to enrich themselves and their “friends” rather than to serve the people who elected them. The people who voted for them (sometimes only a minority of the population votes) hope against hope that this time will be different. That those they elected will do the right thing this time and fulfill all the promises they made, no matter how unlikely they sounded at the time. In Los Angeles, we have lived on hope for so long that I think we could be classified as having long-term Stockholm Syndrome. OK, maybe I got by, but maybe not. Only time will tell. But that's exactly the point because I'm almost 81 years old and according to the CDC I'm three years old. So I'm definitely in the last chapter of my life and maybe my last election too, so no more assholes and no more excuses! I have put in the time and work and I apologize to no one. I write as an individual and am not affiliated with any group. I have no idea if this will be a one-off story or the start of something new. It doesn't matter. Only the moment is important, because the moment is literally everything.

I want to start with the Bass administration in addressing the madness we live in. Those who truly believe that we operate under a weak mayor and strong city council system because that is what the charter says are delusional. Karen Bass is no slouch. She has conquered Sacramento and Washington DC. So do you really think Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson or Katy Yaroslavsky or any of the other council members are going to get in her way? Don't underestimate her, she is a force to be reckoned with and pleading and begging never works with someone of her abilities. I say this because my day began with several requests from individuals and groups asking me to send a letter to the mayor saying:

Mayor Bass,

We urge you to publicly express your support for CHIP Program Bill #3 as recommended by the Los Angeles Planning Department on September 16, 2024. It adds significant housing to our commercial corridors and meets the requirement to promote fair housing for all communities. We believe that Draft #3 can “help” every community meet the city’s housing needs. We need the Planning Commission to hear your public support for Draft #3 without the “options” that were added without any of us being informed.

You want to send a letter like this, but what do you do if your request is rejected? Do you think for a moment that she doesn't fully understand what's going on? Do you think she wasn't made very aware of the twists and turns you've experienced so far? You were patient; You have found excellent alternatives and deserve praise. But if that doesn't happen, you'll have to vow never to believe or work with City Hall again. Instead, part of this group must revive the successor movement and divide this city into manageable units. This is the only charter reform that will work. Maybe more on that later.

For those who haven't been following this issue, it's about the residential element and the fact that developers want to build multi-family housing in single-family neighborhoods, particularly in Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs). Neighborhoods and their leaders have been working to protect their neighborhoods for several years. There have been so many assurances from the planning department, council offices, mayor's representatives, etc. that there will be enough land available to build all the necessary housing without destroying single family neighborhoods, and yet here we are writing last minute “requests” to the mayor. I'm calling BS!

Let's be clear, Mayor Bass has a phone and a pen. With this phone, she can have any member of the City Planning Commission (CPC) in her office in an instant and tell them to vote for Bill #3. If they refuse, she can give each of them the pen and ask them to sign a letter of resignation, effective immediately. Anything less than that or a quick approval of draft #3 will show us that we are back in trouble. Don't think for a moment that she can't do this. She can and will do it if it is in her interest. That means even if we win this one, the class of investors who are really behind it will be back next year or the year after. They need the land on which our single-family homes stand to further increase their profits.

Then there is Katy Yaroslavsky on this issue and TVC 2050. She is a disgrace and must be defeated in the next election. The TVC 2050 Project guts the Wilshire Community Plan and ridicules the framework element. A lawsuit must be filed, and you must hope for a judge who is smart and follows the law. Lately it's become increasingly difficult to find them.

But kudos to my friend Shelley Wagers and her article in CityWatch about TVC 2050. I was sick and had to miss the trip to the CPC hearing, so I missed some old friends who had made the trip. This was a who's who of neighborhood activists fighting to keep their neighborhoods viable over the last 30 years or so. The same neighborhoods these vultures now want to clean up.

I can't close without praising a few regular CityWatch contributors who are still in the fight and have inspired me to do a little writing over the years. I have great respect for them, namely Tim Campbell, Jack Humphreville, Ken Alpern and Eliot Cohen. I also enjoy some of the Westside Currents and am always looking for relevant information about our city and surrounding areas. Do you know any? Send me a link.

(James O'Sullivan is the retired former president (25 years) and current incumbent of the Miracle Mile Residential Association.)