Effective Spring Cleaning Using A 6.66% Solution

A recent Forum by the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council, for the 12^th District Los Angeles City Council seat, had 12 of the 15 candidates participating. The video of the entire event is posted on YouTube: Porter Ranch NeighborhoodCouncil forum : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNIPKidY6A&t=5891s

Most of the topics discussed during the forum have had a public resolution by the Los Angeles City Council BUT they never completed the task. Therefore, the selection of a new City Council Member must be someone who has no connection to the current batch not doing their job. Fifteen council members each have a 6.66% share of the vote. The first step to a solution to the problems discussed at this forum, and most likely of concern by voters, is to initiate a cleaning out of the thinking process of the current City Council.

The current City Council needs to understand how to resolve the aggressive growth of the homeless population is

· Not by adding more taxes onto the general population, thus increasing the probability another group of people slips into homelessness.

· Not by adding more obligations to business owners through forced benefits, thus increasing the probability they cannot increase wages or they leave the area entirely

· Not by ignoring the increase of abuse by physicians and pseudo physicians in prescribing highly addictive medication

· Not by lumping all homeless in one package for a solution

· Not by ignoring the value of the nonprofit/private sector, and faith-based organizations with a history of success in helping those with mental duress and drug addictions.

The current City Council needs to understand how to resolve the disrepair of the City’s infrastructure, whether it is sewage, sidewalks, roads or water mains is

· Not by adding more taxes onto the general population, thus increasing the probability of more single-dwelling residence owners leaving the area and more corporate owned housing becoming the face of the city.

· Not by putting a strain on the infrastructure with mandated landscape water timetables which were not ever a consideration in the strength or capacity when they were constructed

· Not by making homeowners responsible for the repair of sidewalks destroyed by trees planted, by the city, improperly over the years.

The candidates were given 30-60 seconds to respond to the questions. While some deliberately ignored the “stop” paddle and extended their answer as much as 15 seconds (25-50% over the time allocated), a greater number repeatedly answered the question by inverting it into an agreement of the question!

We appreciated the candor with which candidate Brandon Saario spoke, especially as he related his experiences with voters, the impact of a broken economy in 2008 upon his family and how they resolved it, the homeless, and the dangers of a community exploding with used drug paraphernalia in public areas and accessible to pets and children.