WWHCD?
On the 100th anniversary of founder Harry Culver’s monumental visionary speech to the California Club, some persons at last evening’s City Council meeting may have wondered, What Would Harry Culver Do?
Few from the audience or even Council members were smiling when they left Council Chambers at 10:45 because the touted shuttle abruptly was halted just as some were hailing its long-anticipated arrival, a controversial sewer fee was approved and an untested theory about rescuing widely ignored 10-hour parking meters roared over the finish line.
To demonstrate that the Just Beginning to Shave Generation is ready to dive into community affairs, Robert Greenberg, an artistically inclined high school student, said he has ideas for sprucing up the deteriorating welcome to Culver City sign at the southerly entry to the city. Moments later, City Manager John Nachbar introduced himself to Mr. Greenberg, preparatory to hearing about his intentions for colorfully upgrading the “Culver City” sign.
Shuttle or Fast Shuffle?
Although the unprecedented concept of a shuttle linking the Expo light rail station and the Hayden Tract with eager restaurants and other Downtown businesses sparkled like a rare diamond last December when the City Council enthusiastically endorsed the novel notion, a closer look in the harsh daylight revealed creaky financial strategy, questionable passenger response, and entirely mysterious Hayden Tract business support.
Different Type of Vote
On an unusual stalemated 2-2-1 Council vote, the nine-month shuttle pilot plan effectively was derailed, if not permanently junked, for unsatisfactory financing and unknown/unpredictable passenger response.
Councilmen Mehaul O’Leary and Andy Weissman cast affirmative votes, and Jim Clarke proved decisive when he abstained. “From the beginning (of the 13-month-old light rail station), the shuttle is something I have wanted,” Mr. O’Leary said. “The train is here, the shuttle isn’t.” His minority view was that “I believe the shuttle will work.”
Oh, Downtown entrepreneurs – especially restaurateurs – were salivating for months over an expected fresh daily influx of business during the shuttle’s intended hours of business, between 11 and 3.
Someone at City Hall forgot to remember that the high-octane Downtown Business Assn. members, again especially the eateries, form only half of the equation.
The gross oversight was that no one has surveyed the target group.
Blaming time constraints, city staff admitted it does not have any idea of the degree of interest in the quirky, unorthodox Hayden Tract, dominated by art-centric and technology firms that work non-traditional hours and schedules.
Further, up to this morning, no one has bothered to idly inquire of the Hayden Tract businesses whether a meaningful number would financially help support the shuttle. Once public discussion was under way, the under-baked shuttle plan resembled an airplane without wings, engine or windows, merely ephemeral hopes.
Mr. Weissman said, perhaps tellingly, that in his informal canvass of the Hayden Tract, employers want their workers to remain nearby. The supposedly convenient dining hours of 11 and 3 only would work, cracked another, if the shuttle were collecting and depositing factory workers, but not less conventional types.
The city calculates it would need 140 passengers an hour to cover expenses during the experimental phase. Not one person inside or outside of Council Chambers believed that was realistic, especially since few to no passengers would be coming from the nearby light rail station.
When one observer said he thought numerous passengers would stream in from the light rail station because the parking lot is crammed daily, a wiser person countered that the drivers parked there because they were bound for downtown Los Angeles.
Two Bits, You Say?
In the snappiest discussion of the 3½-hour meeting, the Council embraced a recommendation to reduce the hourly fee for the city’s 500 10-hour parking meters in business districts from $1 to 25 cents.
The motivation: To fetch at least a visible stream of revenue from the meters that are said to be avoided in favor of parking in nearby residential neighborhoods, sparking unhappiness among homeowners.
The city hopes/believes massaging the hourly rate will stimulate business and bring drivers back to the meters. But officials again admitted this is speculative, that they have no supporting evidence.
Sewer or Later
Over the protests of dozens of residents, the City Council ordered imposition of a densely defined sewer user’s service charge, which feels like a tax to customers.
The annual fee increase from the present $42 could range as high as $254, depending on the quantity of water usage.
