[Editor’s Note: Representing the Greater West L.A. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Handal, a former Culver City business owner, responds to the latest developments in Mayor Villaragosa’s revolutionary plan to loosen Westside traffic. Essentially, he proposes turning Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets at peak hours by banning curbside parking. The scheme is widely deemed damaging to business owners along both corridors.]
Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss’s office just released a new Pico/Olympic frequently-asked-questions sheet.
As has been the past practice with this project, the information coming from the Mayor and Jack Weiss is replete with half-truths, errors of omission and in some cases, outright lies.
First, just to be clear, the “plan” being proposed now is not the previous plan. The Dept. of Transportation stated in a March 28 document:
“LADOT is abandoning all the prior versions of the initiative and any additional elements of these initiatives considered in the past, and has no plans to pursue them at this time.”
The Mayor and Jack Weiss had originally claimed a seven-minute benefit for their plan They claimed this benefit when the plan ran from Crenshaw to Centinela. They claimed this benefit when they thought Beverly Hills was participating.
They claimed this before DOT “abandoned all prior versions” of the plan. Yet they still claim that this plan will have equal benefit even though the plan area is much smaller and Beverly Hills may not participate. We ask, “How is this possible?”
Our only conclusion is that the Mayor and Jack Weiss are desperately hanging on to a failed and mismanaged scheme purely for political reasons despite harm to these communities; and opposition from residents and businesses alike.
The FAQ sent out by Jack Weiss also tries to convince us that 27 meetings have been held on the plan – even though LADOT just admitted they abandoned the plan that was in place when public meetings were held. Mr. Weiss’s own FAQ states that the new plan is “materially different from the original proposal.”
The reality is: Not one meeting has been held on this new proposal. Not one. Mayor Villaraigosa and Jack Weiss changed the plan because they got caught violating state environmental law. They changed it because when the community convinced the traffic committee that more study was needed, the Mayor snatched it from the City Council and tried to do it by decree. He did so with Jack Weiss – who also happens to be a candidate for City Attorney – at his side.
Question: Is the plan a “one way street” proposal?
Mr. Weiss’s answer in the past was that it was a “virtual one-way” plan. The plan calls for making movement in one direction as intolerable as possible to force people to take the “correct” route. John Fisher, assistant general manager of DOT, stated, “What we are trying to do with this project is not react or respond to the demands that are there. We are trying to change traffic patterns.”
Well, what is the “correct” pattern? What is the DOT looking for?
For employees in Century City who want to get to the eastbound 10 freeway, that route is to travel to Fairfax.
Question: What are the boundaries?
Initially, the boundaries were Crenshaw to Centinela. Councilman Herb Wesson didn’t want his area subjected to the plan, so the new eastern boundary is Fairfax. Councilman Rosendahl has stated he doesn’t want it in his area, so the western boundary is in question.
The worst omission here:
The City of Beverly Hills still may not participate. That means the boundaries given are wrong.
Question: What will happen if the portion of Olympic that passes through Beverly Hills is n-o-t included?
Bottlenecks on Olympic at the boundary of Beverly Hills and on the north/south streets such as Beverly, Beverwil, Century Park East and Robertson.
What are the budget ramifications?
Is the plan permanent?
They say “not necessarily.”
They have said they will remove or modify it if it fails.
What they did not do was budget a-n-y money for mitigations or reversal of the plan.
Neither did they budget any money for compensation to businesses that leave, landlords that lose those businesses and the employees who will lose their jobs in a tough economy.
The Mayor is either writing a blank check or making empty promises. We believe this is wholly irresponsible, given the city’s current financial crisis.
We are led to believe that this plan is nothing more than a power grab by two politicians who desperately want to check off the “I did something about traffic” box before the next election.
Unfortunately, they are willing to do so at the expense of us all.