In the Los Angeles Sentinel, there is an article called ” Councilmember Wesson Introduces ” Invest in a Green LA” Initiative.” In this article it basically talks about how a greener LA can make a big difference, especially in the poverty and low-income areas of Los Angeles. It will help create many more jobs for the unemployed workers. In the article Wesson points out four good facts on how this project can help: 1) preserves our environment, 2) restores our natural landscape, 3) promotes green construction job training, 4) establishes a plan to remove blight from utility wires in the city of Los Angeles. With a  Green LA it will help our economy move forward on a positive note.

As Wesson said ” This is a precedent-setting package of legislative proposals that would make Los Angeles a national pioneer and a model in making the Green economy work for the city and its residents.”

With all this being said, Let us all go Green not just because of the jobs, but because it is the right thing to do, and it will make our world a better place.

Last Wednesday, the Transit Riders for Public Transportation campaign took action all over the United States. Big cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Atlanta participated in the rally. The motivation for the day of action was to get Congress Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 2746 which is a bill introduced by Representative Russ Carnahan that would provide funding from the federal government for public transit operations.  The day of action was to inform congress that public transportation is a huge necessity for cities all around the country and if it is not funded then mass transit will not be able to operate, affecting millions of public transit users and commuters who travel via bus or rail.

The Carnahan bill is an important issue. It can either make or break the infrastructure of public transportation, it can be a decision on whether or not transportation can can be operational or whether or not it can only be an exhibit of buses and trains that will not be able to run. This is the biggest gamble, and it would mean that if funding is not provided then public transportation could become obsolete. The hugest cities in the U.S. need this bill to survive these harsh economic times and  it is not an issue of whether or not the federal government has enough money to pass the Carnahan bill, its whether or not the government wants to, but it shouldn’t even be an issue of wanting to or not it needs to be passed. You cannot have a sustainable system of transportation without mass public transportation. If it does not pass, it will soon become an issue of whether or not the working poor will have to decide to buy a car, over buying groceries for their families. It will become an issue of whether or not a 50 mile commuter will have to make a decision to drive their high fuel emission cars to work along a high populated freeway.

H.R. 2746 needs to pass, it can only bring positive and more possible ideas for a better tomorrow, if the government can bail out corporations that have been irresponsible and contributed to the largest global economic crisis,  then they can bail out mass transit.

Last Wednesday marked the day when Antonio Villaraigosa was sworn into his second term as the Mayor of Los Angeles. That is all well and good except for the fact that as a mayor, he has not kept his end of the bargain lately. He has a lot of times taken credit for things that was truly made possible by fellow citizens of Los Angeles. We will get into that subject when the time comes.

I arrived City Hall and grouped up with the rest of the B.R.U members. We started once we had gotten our info on where were going to be marching at. We began around 10′o clock and we marched in a V shaped formation, chanting numerous original chants that informed the public about the B.R.U.’s 1000 More Buses, a 1000 Less Police campaign, a campaign to support 1000 socials services such as Buses, Jobs, Parks, Farms, Schools, Teachers, etc. We made sure that our voices were heard, and that we had the Mayor listen to what we said.

I took a look around my surroundings. I noticed how police officers were on their horses ready for us to try and do something that would end up getting us arrested. But it was unfortunate for them that they couldn’t. We were not about to give them a reason for them to incarcerate us. The mood turned more calm at the end of his inauguration. Government officials came up to us and told us how they were admiring our struggle and some of them were even fellow allies. It was a time where I felt people that were more politically empowered were in the right with us, I felt as if we have more strength to keep fighting for what we believe in even if others are against us. I know that I will have to continue to fight along with the B.R.U. and other allied groups to fight for the better for the City of Los Angeles.

During the inauguration however, I watched as the Mayor took the podium.  I listen to him talk about how education is important, yet teachers, educators and other city officials are losing their jobs from the Mayor cutting city services.  He also took credit for the upcoming Bus Only Lane corridor that will begin ground breaking in 2010. In reality it wasn’t even the mayor who came up with the Bus Only Lane plan, it was the B.R.U. Villaraigosa approved it and took credit for it because it would boost him with a lot more praise and positivity.  I find him very contradicting, I feel as if he tries to kiss up to someone just to benefit him, especially back in 2008 when Barack Obama had received the primary nominations for the United States Presidency race.  Here is a quick quote from the June 8, 2008 La Times Blog,

“I’m excited about Barack Obama,’’ Villaraigosa told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer this afternoon. “His clarion call for change touched a cord all across the nation, and I’m going to work as hard for him as I did for Hillary Clinton.”

Villaraigosa promised to go “anywhere they ask me to go’’ to help him defeat presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain in November.

Are you serious? I mean did you actually say that you were going to back Obama, but yet you endorsed Hillary when she was running? Its all about consistency, don’t endorse someone else just to gain a spot in the White House. If Obama was the type to hold grudges do you think you have landed a spot in his economic transition team? I don’t think so.  I am going to close off my ranting about about Villaraigosa with a quick open thought. I expected more from you Mr. Villaraigosa, I mean when you first ran I was excited, I thought that we were really going to see alot more changes from you than Mr. Hahn. I guess I was wrong. I guess as the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold.

Rally at City Hall

A number of organizations rallied yesterday at Los Angeles’ inauguration ceremony where Mayor Villaraigosa was inaugurated to his second term.  The Bus Riders Union, the South Asian Network, and the Los Angeles Community Action Network were there in force to challenge the Mayor’s insistence on hiring more police at the expense of city workers, LAUSD teachers, and much needed social services.  Members of the Bus Riders Union were carrying signs advocating “1000 more buses, 1000 less police,” green jobs, youth centers, and bus only lanes.

By continuing to fortify the police/prison state, Mayor Villaraigosa is turning his back on environmental justice.  If the Mayor truly wanted a green city, he would advocate parks over police, public transportation over incarceration, and green jobs over jails.  In a city built on environmental justice and human rights, all residents should have the right to mobility, healthy public spaces, and a quality education.  Police should help support these essential components of healthy neighborhoods by protecting people, not by pre-prisoning youth and policing space on behalf of the powerful.

The LAPD was especially egregious yesterday in their illegal restriction of public space.  A legion of officers on horseback, bikes, and foot were present to surround the peaceful rally.  Officers initially would not let demonstrators access public sidewalks on the block of City Hall, where other members of the general public were allowed to enter unrestricted.  If the LAPD wanted to legally remove demonstrators from the sidewalks around city hall, they would have had to close the block to all members of the general public, not just the demonstrators.  LAPD finally realized they were in the wrong about the public space and allowed demonstrators onto the sidewalks on City Hall’s block.

Individual officers, however, were still misinformed about their legal obligation to allow access to public space.  A couple in particular were adamant that demonstrators not step up on a small curb between the sidewalk and an open grassy area.  Members of the general public were allowed to walk through the grassy area, sit in it, and use the portable toilets there, but demonstrators were told that they were not allowed to enter it, even to use the restrooms.

Overall, the rally and the LAPD’s response were an affirmation of the demonstrators’ message.  If the city has enough police officers to surround peaceful gatherings, keep demonstrators from legally and safely standing on curbs, and maintain a video unit (yes, the LAPD Video Unit was present), then clearly no additional police are needed, especially at the expense of teachers and green jobs.

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Rally in front of Los Angeles City Hall

This morning, South Central Farmers rallied in front of City Hall before urging the City Council to support food justice.  Numerous speakers addressed the Council on the third anniversary of the community garden’s bulldozing, asking the city to return the lot to the community rather than turning it into a pollution-inducing warehouse for Forever 21.

Listen to their comments:

Or watch them at the link below:

Click on the image above to watch the City Council meeting (fast forward to 1:05:00)

More pictures:

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Member organizations of the Transit Riders for Public Transportation campaign will be in Washington on Tuesday to advocate better funding of public transportation in the renewed Federal Surface Transportation Act.  Along with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, they will be hosting a Congressional briefing on the importance of transit.

Want to take action?  Learn more about the issue by watching the quick 20-minute video below.  Then call your Representative and let him/her know that you want to avoid service cuts and fare hikes by using federal money for transit operating expenses.

The federal government’s transportation funding bill is up for reauthorization this fall.  The current law, SAFETEA-LU, was in many ways a step backwards from the intermodal policies laid out in its predecessor, ISTEA.  Reauthorization this fall is an opportunity for transit advocates to come together and challenge the dominance of the auto and highway lobbies, and mainstream media is starting to give this opportunity some coverage.  CQ Politics gives an overview:

For more than half a century, highway advocates have been the loudest voices on transportation policy, but that may change this year as some lawmakers push to include more funding for public transit in the next authorization bill.

The article goes on to discuss the political battles of trying to increase funding for transit.  While many highway and trucking groups would support an increase in the gasoline tax, they would withdraw their support if some of that revenue was put towards transit.  So even though lawmakers are discussing ways to increase gasoline taxes and reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), they still may cave in to the highway lobby and underfund transit.  To learn more, check out the Transit Riders for Public Transportation campaign.