Blue Ribbon Final Report
It is LACAHSA part deux
Today is busy. The Blue Ribbon Report was issued today.
The parts that matter for the purposes of this discussion focus around Pages 78 and on. The recommendation is the State authorizes an authority to oversee the rebuild of Altadena and Palisades, appointed by electeds. You can begin to see the problem here. Those same electeds that got us into the problem will be solving the problem. Community? What do they know. They “considered” them. They “listened.” Here is their “answer.” Do what we tell you. Give us “more authority, more Power.”
All this listening to get to- create a new, county-wide authority. Give it “extraordinary” power. Allow it to do whatever it wants. Get the government to solve the problem. Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Services Agency (LACAHSA) for rebuilds. Measure A. Tax money to fund a policy solution. Make the people pay and dole out the favors. Control Power. 2028 is on the horizon. Power demands the centralization and control of the rebuild. Those who want to win the CEO need it. Here we go. This is the best they have. One wonders why LA is seen with such scorn these days.
And if the government won’t authorize a new entity a la LACAHSA, well, Climate Resiliency Districts will do (see page 82). Tax Increment Financing. That is all they want to do. “TIF” everything they can. Redevelopment Agencies (see I said it) redux.
Ah, SB 782, there you go.
The back up plan.
How about “no.”
No to 782.
No to another authority.
No to less accountability.
No to more centralized Power.
No to a Commission that does not listen to the citizens.
No to more solutions where the solutions already exist.
The functions needed? Well, we can do them with nonprofits already- no need for a fancy plan, but that would mean leadership and getting your hands dirty. Influence is tough when you do not have a hammer. Influence is what real leadership requires. Influence takes work. Power respects those who can exercise influence. Success is a result of influence.
Leaders should be able to do all the things and more, without government Power used to compel.
Nonprofits can execute with competition among each other, allowing for focused attention to specific needs. Coordination? Well, true leaders can do it without another “authority.” Who needs the “authority?” Usually it is those that want to “influence” from the shadows, out of the sunshine, out of the public eye. Authorities and political appointees are how they get it done. Monopolies on solutions? Exactly.
Funds? We know how to raise them. Increment financing? Can be done by the County, but if a district is established, it gets messier because people need to vote for it and they may not actually want it (thus undermining the entire process). Therefore, get an authority which cannot be stopped by people, and runs in the background.
Look, short of eminent domain, which we do not need, there is no need for what they are asking for. Spend time aligning interests along the lines of what we have said here instead of creating a new authority. They want it done in 6 months. Someone wants it pushed through fast. Well, 6 months is too long. We can already be doing it now. Why wait?
Just start people. We have been waiting already this long. We are already 6 months into this thing. 180 days. Wasted. Talking. Trying to justify a solution in search of a problem. Trying to give those in Power the impression they are “listening” while doing what they wanted all along.
Go. Like what I have been told, the tools already exist in regulation and statute. We do not need anything new. Why are we recreating the wheel? Justification for people’s existence or something else? Who wants something new? Someone who cannot use the resources available because of a reason. What is that reason? Lack of imagination or something else more cynical? There is no need to add complexity, unless someone wants to. Who cannot “make” on a new set up?
Stop with reports. Blue Ribbon. ULI. We get it. USC and UCLA did their part. We understand your importance to Los Angeles. No more legislation. We are there already with AB 797. We can work with that model and simplify things. Get the people in the room. Create. Influence. Lead.
Do the work. Stop talking. Stop asking. Stop “listening” and then ignoring. You do not care what we say, so what’s the point? Power spoke. Power told you what to do. Power wants to have it a certain way. Power cannot get it there though. There is something missing. Power would have already done it if they got it. No more “clever.” Let’s get smart people.
As the folks in DC tell me, we have all the pieces, so just do it.