It's a Hard Week to Compete With Events Outside our Little Burgh

But there are good things happening...

It is hard to compete with some of the bigger headlines/news stories the last few days. Locally we have the ongoing drama between the Senator and the Administration, with the Vice President coming to town and reigniting the conversation around immigration and specifically the profiling being used.

Then last night, there was a major military operation in Iran. Expect the next few news cycles to focus on these conversations, the effects, and the constitutionality. And there is the binding theme- is our country being transformed away from the democracy the United States is (I know, we are republic, not a democracy, but give me the talking point)? Both sides will have their stories justifying their sides.

Here is the thing though, while these macro-level events are going on, while people are focusing on the events in our community, the rebuild is moving along. The Blue Ribbon Commission released its report, which we discussed Friday. Another marker in the sand to show where the established interests are.

More interesting however is the media is starting to understand the story line we are working on here. As I said last week, it feels like a chapter has completed. The conclusion allows for something tangible to discuss and work with from a story telling arc. We are not concluded for sure, but there is a conclusion of an act for sure out there. There are a lot of themes coming. The tapestry is starting to take shape.

For those here wondering, are there media groups following what we write? The answer is yes. Major media. Something here is attracting attention. Some of you have been able to get the attention through your contacts. Thank you for the referrals. Others have taken emails and had conversations with me. I appreciate your willingness to read and understand. Have we gotten the bigger “story” in the media yet? Nope, not entirely. I grasp for it and I live it, so it is hard for the media coming in to find that thread immediately (though the conversations I am having seem to be evidencing that thread more and more). The ongoing story we are describing here is big, complex, and hard to shape. Politics is hard compared with human interest. Politics is opaque by nature. It is also a story being written in real time. It is easier to take something done and look back, it is much harder to take something shaping and describe it, especially when it is obscured by a lot of moving pieces and nobody willing to put a stake down.

Rest assured however, while the competition at the national level keeps going, the pieces we are discussing here gain attention from those who track these issues. Background conversations are happening. Explanations and education is happening. The story is going to get written, and when it does, it will continue to be written. Our thread is real. Our thread will break out. The things we are saying are resonating. It may seem like the “established interests” are getting all the oxygen, and that much is to be expected. They have media support. They will get the cycles. They have attention. They have big names. Us? We are just the community here. We have to have a chip on our shoulder to make that splash. It takes time to get the story.

The themes are there. Threads exist in a major way. We are playing locally and nationally at the same time. We are affecting policy at all three levels of government. We are writing a new way of responding to a disaster in real time, with inputs never imagined. We followed the money (which is where the story really is). We are doing it on the biggest stage for disasters, likely the costliest one in the history of our State if not beyond, and certainly for fires. We trying to influence a City which represents 1% of our national population, 10% of our state, and a county which is larger than all but 7 states. We are fighting through established interests attempting to impose their solutions on our community. We are doing it to show our ability to think differently and take control ourselves. We are trying to affect tax policy in the Super Bowl of Tax to get the tools we need to “create” instead of “taking.” All the while, we have a hostile Administration, fighting with our State and City, so getting support will be difficult. Oh, and the fact our entire local major political establishment is going to turn over in the next 6-8 years, including a new CEO (2028) and mayoral election (2026), creates tremendous upheaval. Considering all the pieces to manage and solve these solutions are intertwined (politics, nonprofits, philanthropy, think tanks), I mean, could you design a tougher problem set for policy making? Our situation is the very definition of threading a needle in a hurricane. It is what we policy wonks live for.

Many say to me in the political realm, “your goals are very ‘ambitious,’” which in politics is the same as a southerner saying “bless your heart.” I have heard it all my life, so bring it on. Shoot for the stars and maybe you get the moon? Perhaps there is the reason the media is keeping track, reading these blogs, and seeing where we go. At worst, we are real time intel of the “other side,” the side not being told publicly through the established mouthpieces. Then, when they say our words, well, that is the greatest compliment of all (though the media knows not where the words come from unless they read these Stacks).

We are the ones who provide the critique necessary to show there is another way- not the fait accompli so often projected by politicals. Keep circulating the Substack. Let’s keep educating. Let’s help others understand why we need a voice.

For those in the media reading, thank you considering us amidst all the other events going on. Please, send the Substack on. Keep the questions coming. Keep the interest. We are doing something worth telling. We are doing something different. We are doing something which will redefine a lot more than just politics in Los Angeles. It is really a good story.