Angelenos on Garcetti
When Antonio Villaraigosa took over as mayor of Los Angeles in 2005, The Times published at least five letters to the editor — and received many more submissions than that — on the historic moment. L.A. had elected its second Latino mayor ever, and he was promising big things. Not surprisingly, readers had much to say. And for new Mayor Eric Garcetti’s first week? Regular readers have probably noticed that only one letter on Garcetti — Friday’s lead piece imploring the mayor to focus on affordable housing in Los Angeles — has been published since his inauguration Sunday. We haven’t received many more than that — no more than 10 letters. In fact, most who wrote on the transition had more to say about Villaraigosa’s departure.
Perhaps this is a reflection of Garcetti’s back-to-basics leadership style, a stark contrast to his predecessor. Here is what readers had to say on the transition at City Hall.
— Paul Thornton, letters editor Resident Mark Tabbert encourages the mayor to lead on climate change:
“Reading about the city that Garcetti now leads, I am reminded of an impression I had when I moved to California in 1989: that the L.A. basin is like a microcosm of the world, one big valley filled with hundreds of nationalities all packed together.
“Los Angeles and the world face the same challenges, including limited natural resources and racial and class tensions. I was aware of these when I moved here, but today one problem is less hidden than in 1989: climate change.
“L.A. is working as best one city can to address this challenge, and hopefully Garcetti will continue to lead. I hope Los Angeles will inspire Congress to address the issue and, by doing so, lead internationally.” Carla Kallan of Los Angeles says Villaraigosa’s tenure was bad for her bottom line:
“I voted for Villaraigosa, but I am glad to see him go.
“I can’t forgive the former mayor for tripling the fees for trash collection without giving residents any possibility of opting out. There is no way to ‘fight City Hall’ on this one. It is a huge expense, especially if you produce very little garbage.
“The money goes not toward those actually col- lecting the trash but to police. This horrendous fee really hurts the poor, who are hanging on by their fingernails already.” Responding to The Times’ editorial Sunday on the transition, Venice Beach resident Nicholas Antonicello doesn’t find any reason to be optimistic:
“With nearly 80% of registered voters not having bothered to vote, why is The Times optimistic about our new city leaders? What does this paper know that voters don’t?
“In Garcetti, we have an embedded politician. He is part of the city’s financial woes, having served on the City Council that voted in favor of ridiculous pay raises for public employees. He has cozy relationships with several unions.”