Villaraigosa's Sustainable City - Los Angeles

8/2/2019 Villaraigosa's Sustainable City - Los Angeles

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Villaraigosas Sustainable City Los Angeles

56 LA County Courtrooms to Close, Including Judge Ito'sNBC Los Angeles ^| April 17, 2012 | Melissa Pamer

L.A. budget chief warns of bankruptcy without tax hikes, layoffsLos Angeles Times ^| April 7, 2012 | By Kate Linthicum

Los Angeles' top budget official raised the specter of bankruptcy Friday in asweeping report that calls for new taxes, possible layoffs and the privatization ofsome city services. Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said risingemployee costs combined with flat-lining revenues have left the city in aprecarious position. Without cutting costs and coming up with about $150 million

in new revenue,"we're facing the complete devastation of city

services, including public safety," he said.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calls for layoffs of city workersLA Daily News ^| 03/29/2012 05:15:08 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today he will call for layoffs

of city workers as part of his budget to be released next month. "We're

going to lay off a large number of employees. I'm not

going to say how many,"

But

Daily NewsMTA votes advance Subway to the Sea, regional rail connector downtown
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2/16

Christina Villacorte, 4/26/2012http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20492741/mta-votes-advance-subway-sea-regional-rail-connector

Expo Line opening this weekend

8.9 mile first phase Expo Line to be completed this summer will cost $930 millionSecond phase Expo Line from Culver City to Santa Monica will cost $1.5 billion andopen in 2016A 1.9 mile, $1,37 billion, connector under Little Tokyo will be completed in 2018 andconnect the Gold, Blue and Expo LinesThe board okayed a $5.6 billion Westside subway extension of the Purple line fromKoreatown to mid-WilshireThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority boardVillaraigosa Chairs the Metro boardOrange Line $185 million extension from Canoga Park to Chatsworth opens in JuneVillaraigosa asks to make 30 year half cent sales tax permanent

USC professor Marlon Boarnet is an expert in urban planning,transportation and climate change.County Supervisor Michael Antonovich disapproves of the projects We need aresponsible regional solution to our transportation problems, and to ensure that

resources will be put to maximum use to mitigate the congestion that covers the entire

county.Metro CEO Art Leahy Were moving one of the biggest transportation programs in the

history of the country because Los Angeles is changing, becoming more dense.

I searched USCs Professor Marlon Boarnet

http://uctc.net/access/39/access39_suburbwalking.shtml

Planners can develop pedestrian-oriented centers through densification and infilldevelopment, for example by offering density bonuses. Planners might reduce or remove

minimum parking requirements or even limit parking.

Develop walkable neighborhoodsAllow small electric vehicles with max speed of 25mphShare cars

http://www.uci.edu/uci/features/2009/07/feature_rebuildingamerica_090727.htmlThe UC Irvine professor of planning, policy and design and economics, The nation islooking to planners for serious answers, he says, Theres a sense of urgency right nowthat I havent felt in my entire career

Professor Boarnet relishes the current debate over how to use $787 BILLION ineconomic stimulus funds to improve U.S. roads and communities. In addition, to reducegreen house gas emissions raise the prospect of rethinking the transportation system.
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http://lisaschweitzer.com/2010/03/02/marlon-boarnet-on-walking-in-the-suburbs/Boarnets report Driving and the Built EnvironmentHis research has been supported by agencies that includeThe U.S. and California Departments of Transportation

The U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyThe California Policy Research CenterThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

He has consulted forThe World BankThe Bay Area Economic ForumThe Orange County Business CouncilThe Urban Land Institute

Interesting note: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was a funder of the Rand

Corporation.www.muckety.com/Robert-Wood-Johnson-Foundation/5004660.muckety

The Village at Santa Monica will be built on the old Rand Corporation site.

Santa Monica project to break groundhttp://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/16/business/la-fi-village-santa-monica-20120216

The Village at Santa Monica

You and your other kindred spirits that live and play in Los Angeles paid $53,000,000 in

2000 for a piece of land in Santa Monica. On that piece of property will be a$350,000,000 residential development with retail on the ground floor.

Its a nice location, the old Rand Corp, overlooking the ocean.

The city is building a subway line from downtown Los Angeles to the ocean. Near theend of the line will be the $350 million Village at Santa Monica with a mix of 158 luxurycondominiums and 160 affordable apartments with shops and restaurants on the groundfloor of a 10 story high complex.

The city bought the 3 acres for $53 million in 2000.

The condos will start at $700,000 or $800,000. The apartments will be restricted totenants that make below 60% of the local median income of $50,580. The rentals will goto tenants that win a lottery and will rent for between $600 and $1300.

A nearby Dennys site has been sold and will also have a mixture of housing with retailon the ground floor.
http://lisaschweitzer.com/2010/03/02/marlon-boarnet-on-walking-in-the-suburbs/http://lisaschweitzer.com/2010/03/02/marlon-boarnet-on-walking-in-the-suburbs/http://www.muckety.com/Robert-Wood-Johnson-Foundation/5004660.mucketyhttp://www.muckety.com/Robert-Wood-Johnson-Foundation/5004660.mucketyhttp://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/16/business/la-fi-village-santa-monica-20120216http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/16/business/la-fi-village-santa-monica-20120216http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/16/business/la-fi-village-santa-monica-20120216http://www.muckety.com/Robert-Wood-Johnson-Foundation/5004660.mucketyhttp://lisaschweitzer.com/2010/03/02/marlon-boarnet-on-walking-in-the-suburbs/


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So, I went to Zillow just to see how many $600 and $1300 apartments are for rent inSanta Monica. Remember, this is a beach community. Expensive.

Ill start from the top and list what came up:3 bed, 2 bath $4,395/mo

1 bed, 1 bath $6,700/mo2 bed, 2 bath $11,700/mo2 bed, 2.5 bath $2,550/mo2 bed, 2 bath $2,600/mo2 bed, 2 bath $2,600/mo2 bed, 2 bath $5,495/mo6 bed, 5 bath $8,000/mo5 bed, 4 bath $45,000/mo (Im not kidding, check it out yourselfwww.zillow.com)5 bed, 4 bath $16,500/mo2 bed, 3 bath $11,000/mo2 bed, 2 bath $2,300/mo

But what does that tell us? It is a fricken lottery, you dont even have to be an Americanto get a $600 view of the ocean, just keep your jobs offline and push out Americanbabies. Doesnt that make you proud? And you are going to keep paying for it.

Many of you are way too young to remember, but in the 1970s and 1980s, the City of LosAngeles decided to force the integration of races, blacks and whites. They decided toforce bussing white kids into violent black neighborhoods and the blacks into whiteneighborhoods.

Im old enough to know that it is not a matter of color, it is culture. Blacks, and nowMexicans are paid by the government to have kids and not get married. If they did, theywould lose their government benefits.

The result was white flight. The whites moved into the suburbs leaving a void in the citythat the Mexicans quickly filled. The Mexicans and the black Americans fought, manydied. Most of the black Americans moved into the suburbs as well, leaving Los Angelesto the Mexicans.

The Mexicans moved to our country with no skills and no education. They took over theunskilled labor jobs, mostly working under the table not paying taxes.

They didnt and dont push their children to get good grades in school and have a dropoutrate somewhere around 66%, prompting our Los Angeles School Superintendent JohnDeasy to announce April 16, 2012 that they were going to lower the number of creditsrequired to graduate from 230 to 170. This will allow many kids to graduate in theirjunior year. In this way, the number of children dropping out of school will appearsignificantly less.
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5/16

Jordan Downswww.jordandowns.orgNow here is a glowing example of the government becoming the father figure for

children.

You go to their web site and think of what an idealistic way of living this is. Push out afew babies, go to a Yoga class, wait while they install a new computer in your home, waitwhile a teacher comes to teach you how to use that computer, free transportation, freeinternet access, rentals for 30% of your income and then they try to convince the fathersto have something to do with their children.

What about forcing the fathers to pay for their children like they do to American citizens?

They have neighborhood growers show up in front of your house to sell their veggies and

fruits and collect on your EBT cards. Dont involve the tax paying markets, that is a nono.

Every year, my tangerine tree gets stripped by these neighborhood growers. They watchmy house, they know when I go to pick up my kid, and they know when I will be back.

We have a density problem, the city of Los Angeles has decided that they need walkablecommunities. This is straight out of the United Nations Agenda 21 playbook. We aresupposed to live in communist Van Joness high rise apartments next door to drug dealersand pedophiles, go downstairs and shop or get on a government bus to our shoppingdestination.

Of course we cant carry much, I mean, how much can you carry on a bus. They will letyou put a bicycle in front of the bus.

The good people of my neighborhood came up to me and asked me to help them build abicycle trail across the street. He told me he was going to do what he did for anotherneighborhood. I asked if that meant we were going to have Marijuana stores and triple xrated stores. He looked ticked off.

So, I get my 9 year old and clear a path for bicycles, what can it hurt. They start buildinga 4 story apartment complex in the neighborhood. A neighbor of mine met a Los Angeles

city inspector at the local Vietnamese restaurant and was told it was Section 8 housing. Iput two and two together and find that they are turning my little bit of heaven intoanother Eurozone.

I put my house up for sale.

Still waiting, in case you want to buy it.
http://www.jordandowns.org/http://www.jordandowns.org/http://www.jordandowns.org/


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Reseda Tenants scared to death by new residents they say are bringing crime toapartmentsDaily News 03/25/2012 Melissa Pamerhttp://www.dailynews.com/ci_20254263/reseda-tenants-scared-death-by-new-residents-they?source=most_viewed

Senior citizens get subsidized housing and complain that the homeless drug addicts aremoving in.

Keyword here is HACLA Housing Authority of the City of Los AngelesHUD/Section 8 housing

Tenants pay about 30% of their income towards their rent and HUD pays the restThe HACLA owns 825 units in 13 locations

7 locations, 35 units, house families and the remaining house senior/disabled

Further reading on the HACLA websitehttp://www.hacla.org/section8_generalinfo/says that HACLA provides long-term rental housing to low-income residents.They own 14 large public housing sites with over 6,500 units.

Apartment complex planned for Warner Centerhttp://www.dailynews.com/business/ci_20359816/apartment-complex-planned-warner-center6219 De Soto Ave707 apartments with 300 affordable units for seniors (and drug dealers)

Mayorsincluding L.A.s Villaraigosa urge U.S. House to fund transportation projectshttp://www.dailynews.com/politics/ci_20245203/mayors-including-l-s-villaraigosa-urge-u-sThe Senate SB 1813 would cost $109 billion over two years.The House bill, HR 7, would cost $260 billion over five years.10% of funds will go to bicycle trails, hiking trails, and traffic calming techniques.It sets up safety and education for pedestrians and bicyclists and programs toencourage walking and bicycling to school.

http://planning.lacity.org/cwd/gnlpln/transelt/BikePlan/B2Goals.htm

GOAL

A transportation system which is accessible, safe, and convenient forbicycle travel, with an accompanying increase in bicycle mode split both in
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daily trips overall and home-to-work trips. The target level of bicycling shallbe 5% of all daily trips and 5% of home-to-work trips by year 2015.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_18395192?source=most_viewed

Villaraigosa orders new 1,680-mile bicycle lane system 7/1/2011

Villaraigosa: The bicycle plan will help improve the quality of life for everyAngeleno, by providing another clean transportation option for their dailycommute, improving the quality of the air and make it more accessible tolead a healthy, active lifestyle,"

From the same article, city councilman Bill Rosendahl said: The city car culture has tochange.

Villaraigosa is the Chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation

Authorityhttp://www.metro.net/projects/metro-environmental/Sustainability is focused on transportation strategies to reduce single occupancy autos-trying to get them to change modes by:

Creative ways to incorporate land use & transportation, such as, bikeways next to atransit corridor, bike parking at rail stations or car sharing/electrical vehicles orpedestrian enhancementsFocus on Increasing bus ridership by improving service and amenities and offeringreliable clean service.

City Council awakens to evil and defeats it

The city of Colfax, Ca reportedly defeated UN Agenda 21 by a 4-0 vote andpassed Resolution No. 12-2012http://noisyroom.net/ ^| 4.12.12 | AJ

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2012/04/12/city-council-awakens-to-evil-and-defeats-it/

Daily News 110701http://www.dailynews.com/ci_18395192?source=most_viewed

Villaraigosa orders new 1,680-mile bicycle lane system

Los Angeles' best-known bicyclist - if not its most adept - ordereddepartment heads on Friday to immediately launch an effort to build a 1,680-mile bikeway system and make the city more bike-friendly.
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the directive while participating in theClinton Global Initiative America in Chicago, saying the plan would allow

Angelenos to eventually have a bike path within a mile of their homes.

The Wall Street Journalhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303302504577323353434618474.html?KEYWORDS=WENDELL%2BCOXBy Wendell Cox, April 9, 2012

California Declares War on Suburbia

Planners want to herd millions into densely packed urban corridors. It wont save theplanet but will make traffic even worse.

This is the article that says Los Angeles is going to replace the 4 homes per acre with 30homes.

Since 2000 more than 1.6 million people have fled.

By 2035, only 3% of new homes will be allowed outside of the urban boundary.

60% of new housing by 2035 will be condos and apartments in transportation hubs withbusses, trains and bicycle paths. It would increase public transportation from the current2% to 4%.

Its a good article, worth reading.

The Great California ExodusWSJ ^| 4-21-12 | Joel Kotkin

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304444604577340531861056966.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

4 million more people have left California in last 20 years than have come from other

states.Most people leaving are familiesThings will get worse as Jerry Brown crams people into high-density housingAB32, Cap and Trade will raise cost of energy and drive out manufacturingThe $100 billion bullet trainGreen jobs are 2% of work forceCalifornias untapped 25 billion barrels of oilWithholding water from the Central Valley farmers
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9/16

48th worst business tax10.3% tax on millionaires ($250,000)9.3% tax on over $48,00040% dont pay income taxJerry Brown facilitated public employee collective bargaining in 1977

April 18, 2012, Villaraigosa gave his State of the City addresshttp://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20432596/full-text-mayor-antonio-villaraigosas-2012-state-city

Most of Villaraigoss speech dealt with busses, trains, walking and bicycling and theunion jobs they will provide. He did mention some of the new companies that moved toLos Angeles.

Lets look at BYD Co.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-23/buffett-s-chinese-car-investment-fails-to-bring-los-angeles-promised-jobs.html

Buffet-Backed Carmaker Arrives in L.A. Late With Fewer JobsBy Alan Ohnsman and Christopher PalmeriOct 24, 2011

Villaraigosa gave this Chinese car and bus manufacturing company $2 million for salesmen. Themanufacturing will all be done in China and Los Angeles will buy their cars and busses. Not onlythat, Villaraigosa guaranteed that the city of Los Angeles would cover a 10 year lease if theChinese dont hold up to their end of the bargain.

Sweet!... For China, that is.

Now get this, Warren Buffett is a major stockholder in the company.

So at the printing date, BYD hired 20 employees and expects to have 100 by the end of 2012. Itonly cost us $2 million.

Then, the city of Los Angeles will buy these foreign built busses redistributing the wealth toChina.

So, lets look at CODA, another company Villaraigosa said moved to Los Angeles.

http://www.hybridcars.com/vehicle/coda-electric-sedan.html

California buyers will have the chance to purchase a Chinese-built highway-capable all-electriccar by the end of this year.

The Bloomberg article mentions that Los Angeles chased away Northrup Grumman Corp andHilton Worldwide Corp.
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10/16

Notice that none of the jobs listed by Villaraigosa were manufacturing jobs?

OOPS! Update:

Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker hit by slowdown and solar woesReuters ^| April 25, 2012 | by Alison Leung and Kelvin Soh

(Reuters) - BYD Co Ltd , a Chinese carmaker backed by U.S. billionaire WarrenBuffett, posted a 90 percent slide in quarterly profit as it was hit by a slowdown inthe world's largest car market and losses in its solar business. China's once-sizzling auto industry has succumbed to softening economic growth, furtherexasperated by new vehicle offerings in the fiercely competitive market. BYD,which attracted investment from Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway because of itsbattery technology, has started selling pure electric cars and buses in China.

Here you go, The State of the City Speech

April 18, 2012, Villaraigosa gave his State of the City addresshttp://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20432596/full-text-mayor-antonio-villaraigosas-2012-state-city

Office of the Mayor City of Los AngelesANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA

Building Our Future Today

The 2012 State of the City Address: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery April 18, 2012

Good Afternoon. I would like to thank Paramount Pictures for hosting us in this lovely venuetoday. President Wesson; Members of the City Council; City Controller Greuel; City AttorneyTrutanich; School Board President Garcia; Superintendent Deasy; members of the School Board;commissioners; community leaders; distinguished guests; fellow Angelenos.

This is my second to last report to you on the state of Los Angeles. My final term as Mayor willcome to a close in 14 short months. Or as some would say, in 14 long months.Now, dont gogetting wistful on me. Heres what I say: I say we dont have a moment to lose. I say, in the

coming 14 months, were going to wake up each and every morning reminding ourselves of theneed for speed. And not only that. Every single day, we are going to go to work with adetermination to lookforward, not back. Satchel Paige said it best: Never look back. They may

be gaining on you!

Angelenos, were not looking backthats not what we doand we dont have a moment to lose. In the coming months, were not just going to finish how we started. Were going to finishwhat we started. I promised you the day I took office that my administration would becharacterized by our willingness to think big and take on our biggest challenges. You have my
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word. As long as Im yourMayor, were going to dig deep, double down and bring home bigresults. Because we must.

Over the last two years, our economy has been growingthats the good news. But that growthhas been tenuous and uneven. How do you describe the human dimensions of a 13%unemployment rate? A rate which dramatically undercounts the problem, especially in our most

vulnerable neighborhoods.

And this is where it all starts.

We have to do everything we can to accelerate the recoveryhouse by house, block by block,neighborhood by neighborhoodto put people back to work.

Thats why, as President of the US Conference of Mayors, I have travelled to Washington DCfrequently in the last year. Its simple. If we are going to move the needle on jobs, LA needs aproductive partner inside the Beltway. And I have a message to Congress: LA matters. New Yorkmatters. Chicago matters. Cities matter.

Cities represent the hopes and dreams of America, the ideas and ideals of the people. Cities andmetro regions are driving the US economy and powering our nations recovery. Thats right.From downtown to the suburbs, over 90% of the nations economic output and 85% ofourcountrys jobs are being generated in cities. Yet, over the last three years, cities have done morewith considerably less. Weve balanced painful budgets.

Cities have withstood and absorbed a Great Retreat from Washington and Sacramento. Lessmoney for cops. The elimination of community redevelopment. A realignment of our criminaljustice system that places even greater pressures on local government.

So weve gone to Washington with a message: Cities are doing our part, now we need Congressto do theirs. We need Congress to act on jobs. We need Congress to pass a Transportation Bill

to make the smart investments we need in transportation, infrastructure and workforcedevelopment. And we need Congress to support innovative policies like America Fast Forward.Its a straightforward idea.

Help local governments speed up the construction of locally-funded road and rail projects withlow-interest financing.

Over the last year, weve built an impressive coalition for this powerful idea. 188 Mayors fromacross the countryDemocrat and Republicanhave pledged their support for America FastForward.

The AFL/CIO and the US Chamber of Commerce have both signed onand folks, it doesnt get

more bipartisan than that. Labor supports the idea because they understand that we need aprogram that will generate a million jobs. The Chamber supports it because they understand wecant get our economy really moving again without 21st Century infrastructure.

We need to build our future today. Thanks to the leadership of Senator Barbara Boxer,Representative John Mica and our coalition partners from across the country, the America FastForward plan is a centerpiece of the Transportation bill.


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Last month, the bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 74-22. Its hit a snag in the House.The House just delayed action for the ninth time, making the Transportation Bill three years pastdue. I will take the fight for LA straight to DC. We dont need more partisan gridlock. Its timefor some common sense for the common good. We need America Fast Forward But thats just thefirst part of my message today. The second part? Regardless of what Washington does, we are notgoing to wait another day.

The state of our city is resilient and resourceful. Angelenos remain creative and confident. Wewill make the decisions and promote the policies that will generate jobs and grow our economy.We will think big and we will be bold.

In 2008, over two-thirds of LA County voters approved Measure R, a $40 billion dollarsinvestment in more transit lines, safer roads and highways, and better, more efficient bus and railservice.

With Measure R, Los Angeles moved forward while Washington and Sacramento took a stepback. Voters initiated one of the largest community improvement projects in the country. It fundsmajor freeway projects and gives the 88 cities across the County money to make local

transportation improvements.

More importantly, it funds 12 rail and bus lines across Los Angeles. It links up light rail lines indowntown Los Angeles that connect West LA, Long Beach, East LA, and the San Gabriel Valley.It connects LAX to the regional transit network, it funds the first rail line to West LA in modernhistory, and it pays for three lines in the San Fernando Valley.

What does this all mean?

It means Angelenos will have more transit options. It means that Angelenos will spend less timein their cars and more time doing the things that matter: Playing with their kids. Talking withtheir neighbors. Enjoying a day at the beach.

It means making Los Angeles the capital of sustainability, not smog. It means remaking the faceof LA and finally taking us beyond sprawl. In the last seven years, we opened up the Orange Lineand the Eastside extension, secured billions in new funding, started planning and designing adozen new projects, and have four major lines under construction:

the Exposition Line, the Orange Line extension, the Foothill extension of the Gold Line to Azusa,and Expo Phase 2 to Santa Monica.

In the next few months both the Expo Line Phase 1 to Culver City and the Orange Line extensionto Chatsworth will open for service. And by next year we expect to start construction on threemore projects: the Crenshaw Line, the Regional Connector, and the Wilshire subway.

This investment in mass transit is unprecedented. And if that wasnt enough return on our local investment, over the lifetime of Measure R, we will put over 410,000 people to work and make iteasier for Angelenos to get to work. The successful passage of Measure R taught us somethingabout Los Angeles. This is a city willing to invest in itself. This is a city willing to lead and tochart a new path. And that is why today I am announcing that we will be asking voters tocontinue Measure R until the voters themselves decide to end it.


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By extending Measure R, we will be creating jobs, relieving traffic congestion, and completingall of the light rail and subway projects in a single decade, instead of three. With these newresources in place, we can build faster, more effectively, more efficiently and at a lower cost. Wewill measure traffic relief in years, not generations. Projects that were scheduled to be completedclose to the middle of the centurygame-changing projects like the Sepulveda Pass rail line andthe Wilshire Subwaycan now be completed in a little over a decade.

We are currently investing over four billion dollars to modernize LAX. When we are donein2017, we will have an airport equal to our style and our spirit, but according to the current longrange transportation plan, we will have to wait until 2029 to have a direct transit connection toLAX. This just isnt good enough. By extending Measure R, we could be done in six years.

Extending Measure R will not only benefit our rail system. It will facilitate the acceleration ofkey highway projects. It will create jobs and boost our economy. In the end, it will bring us closerto the vision of Los Angeles that Mayor Tom Bradley spent his whole life fighting for. A visionof the most diverse city in the world drawn closer together by a world class transit system.

Our efforts to create jobs wont stop there. Weve seen great success in our jobs team. Just this

past year, the electric car manufacturers BYD and CODA opened up their North Americanheadquarters here in Los Angeles. Lucky Jeans recently opened its new headquarters with 250employees in Downtowns Arts District. Google with over 600 employees now resides at SiliconBeach in Venice. Last year, Farmers Insurance opened a new operations center with 1,200employees in Woodland Hills. Gensler, the worlds largest architecture firm, has brought itsheadquarters and its 350 employees, to our Downtown. These firms could have gone anywhere.They had many suitors. But they chose Los Angeles because we are creating the economicecosystem where businesses like these will thrive.

Businesses that will generate good-paying jobs in the high growth industries of the future. We arechanging the way Los Angeles does business by making it easier to do business in Los Angeles.If you want to build something in LA, you no longer have to go to more than a dozen different

departments for project guidance. And if you are a new business, you don't have to pay ourbusiness tax for the first three years that you are here.

According the Office of Finance, the number of new firms grossing $500,000 and above hasdoubled since we implemented the business tax holiday. We have created the Mayors Office ofSmall Business to develop sound and strategic policies for the nations epicenter for smallbusiness.

Each year, our City signs over 2,000 contracts for goods and services worth nearly $2 billion. Ourrecently enacted Local Preference Ordinance gives local businesses an eight percent competitiveadvantage when they bid on these contracts. We passed the local preference ordinance becausewe want local dollars to go to local businesses.

The Los Angeles region exports $80 billion in goods and the export sector supports over 530,000jobs. These are big numbers, and we want to make them even bigger. We have created the LosAngeles Regional Export Council to encourage local businesses to become successful exporters.

We have leveraged our unique municipal assetsour port, our airport, our utilityto driveinvestment. While the Ports Clean Trucks program has dramatically reduced pollutionthroughout our region, it has also pumped a billion dollars into the economy as truckingcompanies have invested in state-of-the-art trucks.


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The DWP is one of the key partners of our Clean tech Incubator. The incubators new La KretzInnovation Campus will break ground later this year. When it is done, it will provide office andwork space for 20-30 start-ups. And Los Angeles will continue to grow as a magnet for greencompanies and as a greener, healthier place to work and live!

All of these initiatives have added significantly to our economic development toolkit. But onecritical tool is still missing. Unlike other major cities, we do not have a dedicated economicdevelopment non-profit to craft a citywide business growth and job creation strategy. Without astrategic vision, without collaboration and coordination, and on the heels of losing ourCommunity Redevelopment Agency, we are missing critical opportunities to tap the full potentialof our economic assets.

As we emerge from the recession and our economy picks up steam, the time is right to correctthis flaw. We need an engine of economic development that can target City Halls woeful lackofcustomer focus. Our rules and processes are still too complex. We need an organization that cantackle the stubborn problem of economic opportunity.

We have 720,000 Angelenos living on the wrong side of the poverty linea city the size of SanFrancisco. We must take up the vital mission of bringing the benefits of economic growth toevery part of Los Angeles. If our economy is to work, it has to work for everyone. Create privatesector jobs; generate revenue; encourage economic opportunity. Those are the goals.

In my budget, I will propose $2.5 million dollars in initial funding to create the economicdevelopment organization to reach these milestones. Were going to work with City Council andlet everyone know that LA is open for business. But we will not capitalize on the investments thatwe have made in our infrastructure and we will not realize the full potential of the forwardthinking economic policies we have put in place if our fiscal house is not in order.

In the last three years, we have faced some of the most challenging city budgets in generations.

We've made the tough decisions. We have had to cut services and programs. We have eliminatedentire departments. We have increased employee contributions towards post-employment benefitsand we have established a new pension tier for future sworn employees. These measures havesaved hundreds of millions of dollars and have substantially reduced our structural deficit, but wemust continue to fight for reform.

The budget I will release on Friday will be balanced. I promise you this: This budget is prudent,this budget is responsible, it will protect vital services that Angelenos rely on, and it will ensurethat the City stays on a trajectory of long-term fiscal stability. It will continue our steady andsignificant progress toward eliminating our structural deficit.

This budget will include reforms to our civilian pension plan. I will propose that City employees

share in the increased costs of their health benefits. By working in partnership with the CityCouncil, I am confident that we will let common sense serve the common good, and we will builda stronger Los Angeles for the families we serve and for the generations to come. Bringing ourfar-flung metropolis together with new rails and roads, leveraging our infrastructure investmentsto put Angelenos back to work, supporting the businesses of the future that will offer the jobs ofthe futurethese are all smart public policies today.


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But they are more than that. They are the means of building a better, a more hopeful Los Angelesfor the next generation, because through bitter experience and shared history we have learnedwhat can happen when too many Angelenos live without hope.

How can we measure the state of our city without remembering how 20 years ago this month, LosAngeles erupted into violence. Neighborhoods burned, 53 people died, thousands more were

bruised and battered. Smoke hung over the city, burning eyes and searing our soul. The death anddamage of those six days finally forced us to come to grips with the hard truth. LA was a citydivided.

The Los Angeles of 2012 is a different city. The Los Angeles of 2012 is a better city. Somewherein the heavens, Tom Bradley is smiling today. In the two decades since those six days in April,we forged a new partnership between the LAPD and the communitybased on respect. Wechanged the culture of policing in LA and enshrined constitutional policing as the bedrockprinciple of the LAPD. We recruited a new generation of officers.

We now have a force that reflects the many different communities it serves. On a per capita basis,crime is as low today as it was when Eisenhower was in the White House and Warren was in the

State House.

But we are a better city not just because we are a safer city. We are a better city because we havealso learned to celebrate our diversity. We are proud of it. We are a better city today because wehave reached beyond the lines of class and color and have come together in common purpose.One-half of the funding for our Summer Night Lights program comes from corporations andphilanthropy from all across the city, because they understand what happens in a park in Pacoimatouches us all.

Throughout Los Angeles, parents, teachers, students, civic and community groups have cometogether to support school reform across the city, not just in their neighborhoods. Theyunderstand that the educational futures of our children must not be determined by lottery or zip

code. So together weve fought, and together weve begun to change the daily lives for ourchildren.

In the last seven years, despite devastating budget cuts, the number of LAUSD schools meetingthe state goal of 800 API has more than doubled while low scoring schoolsthose with an APIbelow 650have been reduced from one in three to one in 10.

Since 2005, we have doubled the number of charter schools, but more importantly, we have seena nearly five-fold increase in the number of charters scoring 800 or above on the API.

Since 1996, voter-approved bond initiatives have brought in nearly $20 billion, allowing us tobuild 111 new schools. We had 227 overcrowded schools on multi-track calendars. Now, only20

of those schools remain and by fall, there will only be three.

With strategies such as our Public School Choice initiative centered on teacher-led reform and ano-excuses mindset, we have seen nearly 140 schools undergo aggressive turnaround efforts. Andour Partnership for Los Angeles Schools has seen results. API scores are up 50 points over thelast three years, which means we are outpacing both the district and the state.


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Our students are moving forward; theyre going places. Lets help them to pick up the pace evenmore. Lets work together to offer Los Angeles families more educational options and bettereducational options.

Lets work together to turn our schools into academies of achievement, rather than factories offailure. Lets work together and make our schools crucibles of success. Together, lets open the

door of opportunity for our children.

The writer Anne Lamont reminds us about the power of hope. She said, "Hope, begins in thedark, the stubborn hope that if you show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.

Angelenos, we cant be discouraged by the critics or distracted by the cynics. Remember what the cynics said about Mayor Bradley when he offered an idea as audacious as building masstransit in the car capital of the world. They called it a subway to nowhere.

Remember what Mayor Bradley always said. We have the power. From tangible improvements intransportation that have connected people to jobs and jobs to people, to economic developmentthat has breathed new life into our city, we are headed in the right direction.

But this is only the beginning, and it is not enough. I dont want you to think just of what we haveaccomplished. I want you to imagine how much more we can dotogether. Los Angeles is a citywhere people make miracles happen everyday, and this is why Los Angeles has always been thedestination of so many dreamers around the world. We can do anything we put our minds to, andwe know what we need to do.

Angelenos, we can build our future today. We can put our people back to work. We can make thepromise of a free quality public education real in the second largest city in the United States. Wecan overcome our Citys tragic legacy of discrimination. We can be safer than ever. We can be acloser city. We can be a more connected city. We can do it. Angelenos, lets remember howfutures are built. Join me. We dont have a moment to lose.

Villaraigosa's Sustainable City - Los Angeles

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