Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti answered questions on a Reddit '#AMA' Monday, where he tackled issues like homelessness, traffic, and even relationship advice. Here are some highlights, including plans he repeated from his recent State of the City speech and some sports opinions he probably wishes he could have included in that same formal address:
@jetboyjetgirl: "Could you explain in layman's terms the specific tangible steps and timeline for what's being done to address the homeless problem?"
@Eric_Garcetti: Homelessness is the number one moral and humanitarian crisis we face...
What are the concrete steps:
- add $100 million in city budget for first time (two and a half years ago)
- develop the first comprehensive plans to end homelessness in LA city and LA County (2 years ago--written concurrently)
- write ballot measures to get the funding that we need to a) build more permanent housing and b) provide services--outreach teams, housing navigators, mental health professionals, etc.
- get both ballot measures--Measure H (county sales tax--$350 million a year for a decade roughly) and Measure HHH (city property tax to build 10,000 units of supportive housing--housing that is affordable that comes with critical services for formerly homeless people--$1.2 billion to produce about $5 billion of housing over the next decade)--passed. That happened in late 2016 and a year ago.
- wait for money to come in--started flowing last year in October and December.
- hire an army of people to help--over 1000 positions (check out at www.lahsa.org/jobs) to ramp up street outreach and facitilies--underway now
- start building the 10,000 units of supportive housing--already begun. This year we will have 1500+ new units being built
- fill the gap between permanent housing and services by building shelters, a plan I unveiled last week called "A Bridge Home" -- a new plan aimed at tackling the City's growing homelessness crisis.
@elevatorpersuador: Do you have a response to this LA Times article? Garcetti, council members ignored 2016 report finding waste, flaws in police and fire retirement program. It seems to be a well researched and well written article that is deserving of a response. What are you doing in response to the surge in new participants of this DROP program since the article came out? Thank you for your response.
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@Eric_Garcetti: We didn't ignore, but actually discussed report extensively and have talked to our unions about the need to ensure that this is revenue neutral. DROP helps us retain quality firefighters and police officers--they continue to pay into pensions without getting any credit for them. But we need to close loopholes that this article pointed out--specifically that you shouldn't probably be on medical leave and get DROP credit at the same time. Lastly, the surge is usual this time of year, but eyes wide open, getting rid of it without a collaborative process could lead us to be understaffed in both our Fire and Police Departments, which is why we have asked for an updated report and why we are meeting with our budget officials and our public safety unions as a part of this.
@mrwest09: We hear a lot of what LA will be like in 2024, 2028 and beyond. But what can we expect to change in the next year or two?
@Eric_Garcetti: Next year or two:
- Expo/LAX Line completed and opened by end of next year
- Shelters and greatly expanded outreach will accelerate number of people coming off of our streets--July of this year to June of next year (our fiscal year) is when you will see that ramp-up
- LAFC stadium--first opening game this weekend
- Doubling of proactive trash teams cleaning up neighborhoods
- Doubling of street reconstruction thanks to Measure M and Gas Tax dollars coming on board--a new record for streets and sidewalks
- 20,000 more people have new parks in their neighborhoods
- Double the number of kids will learn how to swim thanks to new dollars from Olympics
- Every gym and outdoor basketball court redone over the next two-three years (starting this summer)
- Big Falcon Rocket from Space X starts being built in our port with new jobs
- Dodgers should start winning again
@cornfete: How do trips to Iowa and New Hampshire help improve the City of Los Angeles?
@Eric_Garcetti: National politics matter. They matter for our people--for women, for immigrants, for workers, and for all of us. I don't like what I see nationally and so I spend a small percentage of my time (I have for 16+ years) travelling and listening to other places to learn what we can do better in LA and to find allies to help us move Washington. For instance, in NH, I learned about how the fire stations were places that people addicted to heroin could get help from firefighters to get medical treatment and this helped inspire me to stand up one of the first Sober Unit ambulances in the country which is helping pick up people overdosing and getting them into treatment. In Indiana last year, I learned about a great housing program in South Bend where the city is rehabbing old houses and selling them affordably to their people. In Iowa, I saw the state with the most wind power in the country (31.3% of their mix) and learned about that as we assess moving LADWP to 100% renewable.
@ikeapizza: Hey mayor man, do you have any advice for people who want to get into politics in LA? More specifically ways for low income people who would normally struggle getting access to white collar events to get involved.
@Eric_Garcetti: There are a few ways. Join your local Neighborhood Council. It's a great way to get involved in making hyperlocal decisions that impact your community. Check out http://empowerla.org/ to find your local one. You can also join a campaign, they're always looking for people who are willing and capable to help out. And you can intern in a government or political office. We're always looking for smart people to join the team and help out. We also have a Volunteer Corps: https://www.lamayor.org/volunteer_corps But my advice is work locally--don't worry about Washington. Serve locally and build power locally and start with your neighbors and meet with your councilmember to work together to bring what you'd like to see where you live. And Ikea pizza still amazing?
@intern7: On the heels of the scary LA Times and NY Times articles this week about San Francisco, many of us are wondering about the "Big One." Are there any plans in the pipeline to strengthen Los Angeles' earthquake safety/retrofit laws beyond what City Council has already approved? Also, are there any plans to speed up the transition of LADWP's power source from coal/natural gas to renewables, beyond what has already been approved?
@Eric_Garcetti: Hey Intern, a few years ago I signed the Seismic Retrofit Ordinance to help reinforce buildings that might be vulnerable when an earthquake strikes and have begun to move our power generation closer to home with more local solar (we're the #1 solar city in America) and more local water so we can turn the lights on and get water flowing in the wake of a major quake. We also just released the first Resilience plan for our city in March and we're working on an Earthquake Early Warning System to give people extra seconds to prep before a quake strikes. We were one of the first 100 cities in the world to do this and the folks at 100 Resilient Cities said it was the best they had seen in the world so far! You can check out our whole resilience plan here https://www.lamayor.org/Resilience
@Penguinhunter3: Can you stop just supporting LAFC? Honestly, there's been a history with another team in LA and have done great things for the community. You sound like a hipster from Silverlake.
@Eric_Garcetti: I hear you and love the Galaxy. But there's one team in the city boundaries now...so...and I haven't seen many hipsters, just a lot of old Chivas USA fans and some folks around the stadium who are pumped for LAFC. They do kind of only have the city's name and nothing else as their brand.
@welmoe: Mayor Garcetti, is LA traffic ever going to improve? There's always talks of renovating freeways and building this and that but it seems to be getting worse.
@Eric_Garcetti: I think that it will. It won't happen right away, and maybe not even while I'm still your mayor, but I do believe it will start to improve dramatically this decade. Three factors--finally building out a public transportation network--thank you voters for Measure M; building more housing and density around transit; and the biggest factor in my opinion, technology--connected cars and vehicles, the decline of the single-passenger car privately-owned, new modes of transportation from vertical take-off and landing vehicles to monorail, new tunneling, etc.
@joshb33071: Hello Mr Mayor. How does the sister city program benefit Los Angeles?
@Eric_Garcetti: Sister cities are pretty amazing vehicles for greater understanding, increased economic investments, and tourism. We don't spend much from the city (I think nothing from our general fund), but academic partners, economic development organizations, and our tourism board often are able to use these relationships to get business for LA companies abroad, convince more people to come visit and spend their money here, and combat problems from global warming to gender equity together.
@cody_p24: Who's your favourite player on the LA Rams? And how far will the (sic) go next year?
@Eric_Garcetti: Gurley. Playoffs for sure.
@soonerguy11: Is Torrence (sic) too long distance for dating if I live north of Olympic?
@Eric_Garcetti: Nope. Go for it. Love knows no boundaries. You'll always regret it if you don't try.
@esotouric_tours: Mayor Garcetti, what do you think about the possibility of the Los Angeles Times moving to El Segundo? Would your office be open to working with the newspaper and its landlord to help keep the reporters Downtown, in the building that's been their home since 1935?
@Eric_Garcetti: I'd hate to see them go. They keep City Hall accountable across the street, but I know they don't own the building any more. I hope that they can get reasonable rent from the building owners and stay.
