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Francis DellaVecchia on The Issues

City Government Slow to Respond

[::] City still needs rebuilding
- Schools are failing
- Mass transit slows us down
- Road "repairs" damage our vehicles
- We’re buying energy for the utility companies, and they’re selling it back to us
- Pockets of disenfranchised individuals have swelled to entire communities that are petitioning to leave Los Angeles in record numbers.
- Politicians spend millions trying to get our attention on Election Day, and spend the rest of their term in office making deals while no one is watching.
[::] Solution
­ a candidate committed to web casting his entire campaign, and to open City Hall to the people via the internet once elected.
- Technology and the internet can bring the people back into the center of city politics, giving them immediate access via e-mail, open chat forums, and web cast panel discuss.
- A Sustainable City Plan

Los Angeles, as a city, is broken. It is largely unable to perform the required tasks of a modern city. Urban blight, even in the midst of this economic boom cycle, is rampant. The schools are failing miserably. Mass transportation is poorly designed, poorly operated, and under utilized. Traffic crawls ever more slowly. The roads are in disrepair, causing hundreds of dollars per person in car repairs each year. An entire division of the Police Department is now identified as corrupt. The air and water are polluted. Secession, from many sectors, is looming. Whole sections of the city are cordoned off by gang warfare. However, the situation is far from hopeless. A few sections of the city are doing quite well. Violent crime is down, as it is nationwide. There are small success stories all over the city; in schools, the arts, health care, and in the digital realm. But something very real, though somewhat intangible, is missing.

Our Fellow Citizens Have Tuned Out

What's missing is the investment of the vast majority of the populace. Los Angeles is arguably the one city where most people work at something other than what "they're really here to do". People in and around the entertainment industry, whether or not currently employed in that industry, are constantly looking for the next source of income. They have precious little free time as it is, and even less to devote to watching how their city is run. Consequently, it is run very poorly. Our representatives in government know that nobody is watching. They do as they please, reward their friends and contributors, and waste billions of the public's money.

There Is Hope

I will use my campaign as a tool to open up our political process. I intend to excite the electorate about new possibilities, as they begin to have a say in how they are governed. All residents will be given the means, not only to watch what goes on behind closed doors, but also the chance to be a part of it. Simple email could usher in an era of nearly equal access to all elected officials, rather than the current preferred access to wealthy donors and political insiders.

Throughout the campaign, I will issue updated position papers, including new ideas stemming from postings on the website and the various webcast citizen panels. I intend for the panels to begin finding solutions to the problems, and taking appropriate action, not merely discussing possibilities.