I wanted to post this from Los Angeles County Mayoral candidate Kevin James. Great read. LA needs an outsider as the next mayor. This isn't about "political parties," or "political philosophy," this is about fixing Los Angeles from the top down to the bowels of the bottom of the basement at City Hall. This was in Huffington Post today. Randy Economy
10-Year-Old Fire Audit Ignored by Controller and City Council -- Public Safety Crisis in L.A. Continues
How many opportunities to lead will Controller Greuel allow to pass by?
Ten years ago, back in January 2002, then-Controller Laura Chick audited the Los Angeles Fire Department and sounded the alarm around LAFD response times.
Unfortunately, our elected officials who are responsible for providing a safe community were not listening in 2002, and for the next 10 years ignored continuing signs of a crisis until the close proximity of the 2013 mayor's election forced them to respond.
Council members Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry were recently criticized for voting for budget cuts to the LAFD which caused LAFD response times to grow making Los Angeles a more dangerous city.
Common sense says that if you close fire stations and move engines away from neighborhoods the chances of harm to residents increases.
While the irresponsible actions of Garcetti and Perry warranted their criticism, it is the more recent inaction by Controller Wendy Greuel that should leave Angelenos outraged and concerned for their safety.
It is well-known that an article written by Austin Beutner, a former mayoral candidate, and a "citizen's audit" conducted by Cary Brazeman, who is running for Controller, exposed the fact that the LAFD responds to emergencies in under five minutes less than 60 percent of the time. National standards call for response times of under five minutes 90 percent of the time. Making the response time scandal worse was the fact that LAFD data was discovered to be faulty and misleading.
No comments:
Post a Comment