Lacter/edit/dec28/dt1st/mike2nd
Hd — Holiday
Wishes
1999 will be will be more than just a prequel for the 21st century. It will be an opportunity for real, positive change in Los Angeles. Here are some of our wishes for the new year:
? Charter Reform: Hardly the sexiest topic under the sun, but for anyone who has been frustrated with the city’s slow-moving, politically inspired bureaucracy, charter reform provides a chance to see real change. Two separate commissions are in the process of making their recommendations, and the hope is that they can reach enough compromises so that only one proposal is presented to voters next June. (Two competing and quite complex plans might cause both to be shot down.) As could be expected with the overhaul of a government charter, there’s disagreement on this point or that, but however the detail work is sorted out, a revised charter is certain to be a step in the right direction.
? Business Taxes: Not nearly as critical as charter reform, but nonetheless an opportunity to show that the city of L.A. isn’t blind to the inequities of the business-tax system. As proposed by Mayor Richard Riordan, the long-awaited overhaul would cut the number of tax categories from 64 to eight and put some logic into what has become a crazy-quilt system. Most L.A. businesses would see a tax reduction under the plan, but because there would be some scattered increases, voters need to approve it, probably in June.
? School Board: Riordan’s unorthodox effort to bring in his own slate of candidates to run for board seats this spring could provide a necessary kick in the pants for the Los Angeles Unified School District. There are many problems with public education at both the local and state levels, of course, but the LAUSD board is where significant change can take place especially as it relates to the district’s out-of-control bureaucracy.
? Transportation: Now that further subway construction has been put aside (despite the efforts of a couple of lawmakers to challenge an initiative that voters overwhelmingly passed last November), it’s time to consider the alternative: Namely, a coherent, wide-ranging transportation system that involves not only the purchase of new buses, but light rail, right-of-way busways, and other alternatives to the automobile. A guy like Julian Burke, who heads the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, can make it happen, although we’re less sure about the willingness of the still-balkanized MTA board.
? Labor: What will the local unions do with their newfound clout? This is a pivotal question in 1999 one that could help shape the area’s economic health. Clearly, there’s a fine line between advocating higher wages (generating a bigger membership base in the process) and jamming it down the throats of businesses through disruptive actions. And the unions might find the going a lot tougher if the economy starts slowing down in 1999.
? Image: The bleeding has stopped from those terrible days of the early ’90s when natural and man-made disasters beat us down at every turn but L.A. remains a mystery to the rest of the country (aside from the clich & #233;-ridden essays that pop up in national magazines). That’s why getting the Democratic National Convention and an NFL franchise (with occasional Super Bowls being played in a brand-new stadium) is especially important. Winning such bids would provide a positive imprint that might make people view Los Angeles as more than just that crazy place where they make movies.
