The Plans

The Short Answer:

We will end homeless in LA in under four years. It’s hard but it’s not complicated:

• Understand who is homeless and what they need in real time.
• Provide housing and resources to match everyone’s needs, with immediate help, not waiting lines.
• Prevent new people from becoming homeless.

And it can all be done with the resources we have.

There are those who will tell us, you’re too optimistic, you don’t understand, this can’t be done. That’s wrong. Fourteen cities in America have solved homelessness, and we can, too. Ending homelessness in LA won’t be easy, but we can do it. We just have to give people the support they need, whether it’s a helping hand, or 24/7 support.

We will provide 20,000 semi-private shelter-based beds (categorized by need, so that people in similar needs are with each other), 12,000 collaborative housing beds, 10,000 transitional support housing units, 3,000 mental health beds, and 500 substance use residential beds within 12 months, while regulating public spaces—all without spending a single dollar more than we’ve already allocated and building long-term solutions.

The Details:

Angelenos don’t need to be reminded that homelessness is out of control. We see it on our streets, in our parks, and on every corner. What we need is a real plan that ends homelessness once and for all. Failing city leaders have spent billions and achieved nothing. Even their best plan will house only one-third of those currently experiencing homelessness. This is unacceptable. You cannot trust the people who created a problem to solve it.

We can end homelessness in under four years – and be held accountable for it –all while not spending a single extra dollar more than what LA has already allocated. The question is not how much money we spend, it’s how we spend it.

1. Know the cause. Keep new people from becoming homeless. A real solution has to prevent the problem. Here’s our pledge to every Angeleno: if you have a home today, you will have a home tomorrow. We’ll create a 24/7 hotline, simple and easy to use, to keep everyone on the right track. A number everyone knows, and everyone can use. This isn’t about endless eviction moratoriums with complicated and impossible rental assistance applications that end up punishing renters and mom and pop property owners – this is about real, immediate, and in-person help. We’ve got the money already – it’s how we spend it that’s the problem. It’s ten times cheaper to keep someone housed than to get them off the street. If you’ve got a problem and can’t make your rent, just make a toll-free call, and a case worker will be on site in 24 hours to evaluate the situation, provide immediate assistance, and work with you for six months to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Any and every Angeleno should know: if you’re about to become homeless, it doesn’t have to be this way. And it won’t be.
2. Know the problem. The reality is we can’t solve a problem we don’t understand. The city does not know how many people are homeless, who they are, or what they need. Experts agree: a real-time mapping program is essential. It will tell us exactly how many resources we need and for whom. The reality is that not every homeless person needs Permanent Supportive Housing. Some people just need a helping hand, and others need robust mental health and addiction resources – but LA’s existing “intake program” doesn’t map real time needs and resources or operate as a workable central clearinghouse. That must change immediately.
3. Know the money. LA spends $50,000 a year per person without feeding, housing, or clothing the homeless. We have spent billions while homelessness has skyrocketed. For perspective, we could have cut a check to every single homeless person for $100,000 – but instead we fed a corrupt and inept system. Even the current City Controller, whose job it is to know where the money went, says it’s impossible to find out. There are no receipts for any money spent. Every dollar spent requires accounting, period. Money must go to the people who need it most. No more recruiting fees, or payments based on volume. Payments will be based on results.
4. Know the power. Action is power, which means that the mayor must act immediately. We will declare a state of emergency to bypass or break through bureaucracy to start solving the real problems. If needed, we will take legal action against the county and any neighboring cities that don’t cooperate. We will ally with the Alliance for Human Rights to force the county to provide better and more mental health resources while building our own. We will not be bound by previous illegal settlements and agreements, and we will open new avenues for action, pursuing every action to its legal end, and act in the interim. Our administration will use the bully pulpit of public opinion to drive results – creating allies in government, and isolating obstructionists. We will hold daily public meetings with all department heads, council members, and city agencies, and ensure clear, understandable reporting with accountability and measurement.
5. Know the solutions. The time for more studies, more planning, more committees is over. Now is the time to act. The question is not how to solve homelessness, it’s who will step up. We will engage Community Solutions, one of the most respected organizations working to eliminate homelessness in America, to help drive the city’s programs using their proven methods. We will regulate public spaces through outreach and engagement, not criminalization, and provide places for the homeless to go to while disincentivizing being on the street. On day one, we will begin immediate construction of 20,000 semi-private shelter-based beds, in non-residential areas; create 12,000 collaborative housing spaces over 12 months; generate additional construction of 10,000 transitional support housing (“TSH”) drop units (prefabricated housing meant for use from six months to two years) with hard caps on expenditures; begin immediate construction of 3,000 mental health beds and 500 substance use residential beds. Further TSH will be constructed as needed, up to 20,000 additional units. We will pause construction of new Permanent Supportive Housing (“PSH”) that has not broken ground until a comprehensive accounting of community needs is concluded to establish how much PSH is actually required. Then we will set a maximum new cap of expenditure per unit to provide PSH to those who need it.

Functional Zero homelessness achieved in under 4 years, and in as little as 24 months.

The Short Answer:

Only 13% of the housing in LA has been built in the last 30 years, which means we’re not building for 1991, let alone 2021. Moreover, our zoning code was written in 1946, which means it’s not just archaic, it’s irrelevant.

In order to create an affordable city, we need to build a minimum of 400,000 units of housing just to house the people who live here over the next 10 years. No one should have to pay more than 30% of their income in rent. And we can do it while preserving historic single-family neighborhoods, increasing density in select areas where it makes sense, not pricing anyone out of their community, providing real-time data on rent and costs, and building places where people want to, and can afford to, live work and play—all while bringing businesses and unions both to the table.

The Details:

This city is unaffordable for the vast majority of people who live here. The basic economics make living in LA a non-starter for too many people, which means we need to build. And because building new housing means rents come down. All while preserving historic single family home neighborhoods and communities, and ensuring people are not priced out of their homes. The solutions to create an affordable city, like those to end homelessness, exist. It’s not easy, but it is straightforward.

1. New Leadership and Empowerment. We will declare a crisis in affordability to empower the mayorship to bypass bureaucracy. We’ll merge Building, Planning, and Safety into a single, accountable, organizational infrastructure with clear public reporting on performance. Create an office of public accountability, whose job is to ensure legal and ethical compliance by all city employees, according to the law. Create a real-time database of construction, rentals, and costs for the city, landlords, and tenants in a public-private partnership so we know exactly how much inventory exists, trend lines in costs for both construction and rentals, and so we can make policy based on actual real-time data. Generate an ongoing public advisory council to make concrete recommendations, composed not of elected officials, but of developers, general contractors, housing advocates, small mom-and-pop landlords, renters, and owners. Start with the three core understandings that 1) we need to build, 2) we can build without destroying any historic neighborhood or pricing people out of their communities and 3) we can build ethically, responsibly, and quickly, with a commitment to at least 200,000 affordable new units in working class neighborhoods.
2. Public Union and Business Reset. Both business and labor unions need to come to the table with workable solutions. The cost of union labor, when combined with the costs of doing business with the city, make it impossible to build affordable housing in LA while also being a profitable business. But by working together in an honest, public conversation, instead of a back room deal, businesses and unions can find a path forward that makes projects work—and demand real changes from the city that is hurting them and everyone else. Unions and business can be part of the effort to reform the city and its policies, and we will foster this role and relationship. But if they are not, they must face public accountability for their actions. Businesses and unions have a responsibility to everyone. They must be advocates for their members, and use their power for the benefit of the public as a whole. Businesses and unions must be a part of the communities their members live in. We welcome and embrace both unions and business at the table of change – but they must be partners at every stage for the betterment of everyone.
3. Completion of RE:Code LA. The city’s zoning code was written in 1946 and has only gotten worse since then. The basic governing regulations of our city are not only outdated, but they’re also impossible nonsense, not to mention unwieldy, prejudicial, and disadvantaging to those who need the most help. The RE:Code LA re-zoning project has proceeded for a decade with no meaningful progress to rewrite the code. Meanwhile, secretive proceedings move forward with updated Community Plans that are not based in community or logical planning. Our zoning code needs to be re-written in under 18 months in a public, transparent, efficient, and results-oriented process. We must borrow the processes that work best for transparency and accountability from private enterprise, to ensure the same level of high-performance delivery.
4. New Local Policy Enhancements. We will foster increased density and capacity for parking lots, transit hubs, and industrial zoning in non-historical single family zone neighborhoods. Increased density for “touch zones” on main commercial thoroughfares, with additional incentives for live-work-play developments. Updated residential requirements that reflect a formula-based approach for modern standards of transportation, parking, and tree requirements that preserve our city’s urban forest cover and neighborhood character while enabling faster development that meets the changed needs of younger populations. Tie affordability covenants to market conditions that incentivize development of additional affordable units, instead of arbitrary timelines. Expansion of city-funded ride-share linked to transit hubs, as well as unified transportation access through a single point of contact. Require transparency of ownership, avoiding hidden LLCs and arcane structures designed to evade accountability. Build reputational protections for quality corporations and mom-and-pop owners by aggressively rooting out bad actors with zero-tolerance policies and strong enforcement mechanisms.
5. New State Policy Enhancements. We will create an historic tax-exempt bond program to fund affordable housing, offer government-provided ground leases, and enable property tax abatements for affordable housing projects. Re-evaluate CEQA, including new provisions to prevent misuse; foster creation of additional incentives, limitations and exemptions to facilitate responsible development; modify the appeals process for affordable housing; limit “serial” appeals; and create community of interest and stakeholder requirements for appeals. Remove municipal liability protections for employees who violate the law intentionally.

The Short Answer:

Crime is up, way up. And we haven’t done anything to alleviate the pain and suffering of social injustice. We can solve for both: addressing racism, injustice, and bias does not have to be at odds with reducing crime. We can have a safe and just city.

Simply reducing and eliminating homelessness goes a long way. Over 50% of LAFD calls are to deal with fires in homeless encampments. But it’s not enough. We must also be honest about our needs. We ask too much of the police, to show up when mental health or dispute resolution experts are called for. We must focus police on police work; we must enforce the laws we have on the books with fairness and free from bias; and we must create a corps of peace officers whose job is engaging their communities and providing resources to address the root causes of crime, including poverty and struggle.

The Details:

We can have a safe and just city, and it’s time we stopped treating these issues like they were at odds with each other. Crime must come down, and we must work to eradicate bias in policing, eliminating bad actors with a zero-tolerance policy. Everyone deserves to feel safe. Safe from crime, safe from bias, safe from bureaucratic machines that make the problem worse with radical, poorly-executed policy. The 2015 Department of Justice 21st Century Policing Recommendations and Community-Oriented Policing Services Report both outline how we can and should approach this issue.

• Ending homelessness. No single act can bring down crime as much as ending homelessness in Los Angeles. Police spend 34% of their time dealing with homelessness. By ending this crisis, it’s the equivalent of adding 3,000 more officers back on the streets without costing a single additional dollar. Officers who will get to do police work, not busy work, and engage and protect the communities they serve. As the only campaign with a comprehensive plan to END homelessness in under four years, we will do more to bring down crime immediately than any other administration.
• Enforce the laws. The fact is, when criminals think they can get away with it, they will do more of it. Policies like cash bail can and should be reformed to prevent marginalized communities from disproportionate harm, preventing those communities from being hurt more. But that is different from not enforcing the law, and both should be individual priorities. First, we must enforce the laws we have and let every criminal know: if you break the law, you will face the consequences. We don’t need new laws; we need to enforce the ones we have, while building trust with communities through real concrete steps to ensure fair and equal treatment for all under the law.
• Help people get better. While we enforce the laws, we must also help people who are placed in horrible situations. The man who steals food to feed his family should not face the same consequences as the man who steals a car for a chop shop. Folks who cannot afford cash bail for non-violent crimes should have alternatives while still facing the consequences of their actions. Our focus should be on understanding how we get people on the right track. Pre-trial diversion programs, mental health, addiction, anti-recidivism, and re-entry training should all be comprehensive, basic, and focused. “Once a criminal, always a criminal” is the siren song of a society that fails. Instead, we believe “Once a community, always a community” and work to bring people back into society as healthy, productive, and contributing members. These programs aren’t new; they’re proven to reduce crime in both the short term and long term.
• Engage the community. Communities must be active and engaged participants with law enforcement, and law enforcement must be a part of the communities they serve. The public must have a say in policies as they are created, and they must have a say in oversight and regulation. Real community members, who are focused on the common ground we share and practical policies with real positive impact for everyone, must have their voices heard. At the same time, officers must be held accountable for engaging the community. They need to know the people of the communities they serve, and their lives, outside of policing. Police must have expanded training and education that focuses on the elimination of bias, along with a zero-tolerance policy for bad actors. We must eliminate no-knock warrants in non-emergency situations; minimize the use of force except where essential; and focus on non-lethal engagement while also making sure that the safety of officers is protected.
• Community and Officer Assistance. Too often, law enforcement officers and community members both feel scared, stressed, and under massive amounts of pressure, for different reasons. We will work to change this. We need to promote and engage communities through programs that help reduce and remove tension with law enforcement to bring the overall temperature of the relationship down. Millions of people have had positive, non-threatening encounters with thousands of police officers; our focus should be on how to create more of those positive experiences, not pitting people against each other.
• Outcomes-Based and Needs-Oriented Budgeting. We need to stop pitting people against each other as if this is a zero-sum equation. This isn’t about pie in the sky slogans; it’s about making sure every dollar goes to where it does the most good, and there is enough money for everyone to work together to bring crime down and communities up. First, we need to create a peace officer corps of mental health experts, mediators, dispute resolution experts, addiction and recovery specialists, and others who can address the needs of those in trouble in real time. Doing so will allow police officers to focus on doing police work: preventing and stopping real crime. We need to evaluate the number and types of calls coming into the police, and budget resources according to the needs of those on the other end of the line; then we can budget based on outcomes and our ultimate goal: a safe and just city.

The Short Answer:

All of our problems can be traced to one central principle: In LA, the people in power care more about staying in power, than they do the people of this city. With three City Council members indicted for crimes against the city, and five more under investigation, we know what’s really going on. Yet the elected officials who remain are silent, while being complicit in these crimes that play games with our lives and our money. We need to create the most transparent government but creating greater citizen oversight and participation, and by eliminating every opportunity for bad actors to enrich themselves.

We must eliminate corruption at its source, and pressure the City Attorney and DA to file charges, not simply wait for the FBI. We must remove the unchecked power of elected officials over secret budgets, and we must expand their transparency through independent oversight authority. The leaders of this city must be held accountable, as well as citizens and businesses who try to buy their way to the top. Under a new administration, we will put a spotlight on corruption, and root it out wherever it exists.

The Details:

No other factor is more responsible for our city’s problems than corruption: LA is failing because its leaders are failing. And its leaders are failing because they have prioritized their own personal ambitions and political careers over those of the people. When they bounce from one office to the next for their entire lives with no accountability; when they’ve spent decades cycling through public paychecks while the public fails, they are part of the problem. Angelenos know we cannot trust the people who created our problems, to also be the people who solve them.

As an outsider running for mayor, I am not beholden to the power structures of this city. I will always only answer to the people of this city. And I have no problem telling the truth. Too many people are under investigation. There’s too much focus on using office for personal gain. Pay-for-play that is so routine, elected officials don’t even have to ask anymore. These people view public office as a right, and have legalized and institutionalized corruption that robs the people of this city not just of billions of dollars, but of their fundamental right to have honest, ethical leadership. City Hall is plagued with corruption, as is Washington, D.C. and Sacramento. It’s time for us to take a hard line. It’s so bad the Department of Justice is only interested in “some crimes” not all of them, because there are too many going on. And the City Attorney and District Attorney have been part of the problem. We must eliminate corruption everywhere, and hold a hard line against anyone, public official or private person, who undermines our democracy with illegal favors and bribery. We can do better, by:

• Creating an Office of the Public Advocate. LA needs an elected official beholden to no one but the people, who has enforcement powers including criminal referrals and an ample budget, to be a thorn in the side of any official who violates legal or ethical rules.
• Eliminating Secret Powers. LA City council must no longer have discretionary piggy banks of millions of dollars with no oversight. No longer will they use city budgets to print tote bags and coffee mugs with their names on it. The appointments power for all commissions should live with an independent authority who engages in public vetting. We need to create a public, easy-to-access portal with every line item of spending by every individual office holder. City employees must be prohibited from “volunteering” on campaigns, where they are really using city-funded salaries to help incumbents. Elected officials should be banned from any formal leadership of any non-profit entity in any capacity. Elected officials and candidates should release detailed personal accountings that show where every dollar of their income comes from, and has come from for the four years prior.

Every elected official, and every private citizen or company, who participates in this corruption must meet the consequences of their actions. Let’s be clear: corruption robs Los Angeles and its people of their right to a beautiful, safe, and fair home, and it has no place in this city.

The Short Answer:

This city should be a home for every industry.  Not just Entertainment and Manufacturing, but Aerospace, Water, Bioscience, Climate Mitigation – these are trillion-dollar industries that bring good jobs with good wages.

Los Angeles  should be a home that businesses run to, not one they run away from.  They are the foundation of our economy, and while they should pay their fair share of taxes, they also need to be embraced for the resources they provide.

We will bring at least two prosperous industry clusters to LA permanently within four years and create 100,000 new, good paying jobs.

And we need to innovate: a first-ever City Innovation Fund that will ensure we attract the smartest minds, while developing a revenue stream for the city that will lower taxes while providing even more resources for social programs. Finally, we will eliminate the gross receipts tax.

The Details:

Los Angeles should be a greater hub of innovation and creativity.  We used to the be the city where dreams were made, in every industry not just movies.  Because of all the empty and unfulfilled promises, But now, we’ve lost our luster.  It’s time to bring it back.  Los Angeles should be the jobs and innovation capital of the United States, and that’s how we become the city we were always meant to be, the greatest city in America.

• Hero Industries.  There’s no reason for Tesla to be leaving Los Angeles.  LA should be the rightful home of trillion-dollar industries in Space, Water, Biotechnology, Logistics, and Media.

  From desalination that can turn water into a valuable export to a logistics operation that solves the hundred-year-old supply chain issues driving your cost of living up today, LA should be the hub for dozens of industries that will improve our lives while building good jobs for everyone.  These companies should not be fleeing Los Angeles, they should be flocking here.  We need to do everything we can to encourage and foster their growth because, with them, we get good jobs, the best jobs, for everyone.

  Trillion-dollar companies can be responsible members of our community  who make us all better, who provide great jobs, who invest in communities, and who ensure that we can all build a better future, together.  This includes, for example, the most aggressive incentives program to restore entertainment production locally; workforce development and incentives to ensure new companies take root in our most marginalized communities; and tax credits that make sense for the public while also ensuring companies pay their fair share.

• The City Innovation Fund.  Imagine if LA had invested in Amazon or Snapchat as startups.  The city’s financial stake would allow us to cut taxes and build social programs at the same time.   We will create the first-ever, professionally managed City Innovation Fund, a private equity fund that invests $100 million a year in start-ups, walled off from city leadership and governed by an independent commission with clear transparency and accountability.  This model is proven not just to drive returns, but to build huge portfolios – now, for the first time, of community-based wealth.  In exchange, we’ll take stakes in those startups, just like any other investor, including seats on their board.  Companies funded/created by the Innovation Fund will be required  to be based in LA for 20 years in exchange for 10 years of city tax waivers, providing a financial lift when they need it most while guaranteeing the City of Angels is forever the City of Jobs.  Innovative companies that grow and succeed provide some of the best-paying jobs to grow our economy and ensure our city’s future tax base is safe.  At the same time, as active participants in their growth, we can ensure ethical policies that foster a healthy city, including higher wages and deeper community investment.  We must send a message to every future startup: if you’re looking for the best city to start and grow your business, LA is not just your home, we’re your financial backer.  With the profits from these investments, we’ll be able to cut taxes for everyone while funding incredible new programs.
• Empower the Worker. We can pay good wages for good jobs, and foster regulations that drive wage growth.  But that also requires that government to create an environment where businesses can afford higher wages.  We stop costly city policies and regulations that make it impossible for businesses to pay a decent wage.  Every dollar a business has to pay for skyrocketing rent because the city has failed to create affordability is every dollar that does not go into the pocket of the worker or employer.  We need to stop settling for people who march with janitors but turn their backs in the negotiating room.  We need to stop settling for people who use good slogans but cater to union leaders instead of union members.  We must demand more and be honest about who’s really footing the bill.  We can create tiered wage requirements based on facts: economics, geography, and industry, that allow everyone, including businesses, to thrive. This includes eliminating the gross receipts tax and creating small business help programs that guide entreprenuers through our system while we work to change it long-term.
• Make the Data Work.  Private industries and analysts have more data than our own government about wages, workers, industries, and business, but the city has historically isolated itself.  Instead, we must create a public-private partnership for data to create transparency in jobs, wages, and business, which will help the city created targeted programs that drive job and wage growth, while also fostering healthy businesses.  Armed with knowledge of where people and businesses are struggling, we can then create laser-targeted initiatives that ensure everyone shares in prosperity.  We must also educate the public about how to share in the prosperity, and foster participation in the market economy to create more resources and assets for more people.

The Short Answer:

We spend years training veterans to be human weapons to serve our country.  And when they are done, we have zero re-entry training or programs to help them readjust to life.  We also do nothing to help them find their way, or re-engage the country and communities they so valiantly served.  We don’t need to wait on the federal or state government; LA can become a haven to every veteran with guaranteed housing and employment that also benefits our city’s growth and communities with the first ever veterans program “Victory Corps.”

The Details:

We know the problem.  Hundreds of thousands of our nation’s veterans call Los Angeles home—but the city does little to support them.  While the federal and state governments often fail our returning servicemembers, the city doesn’t have to do the same.  But leadership simply isn’t paying attention. At Rise Together, I helped author a program designed to change all that, “Victory Company.”  As mayor, I’ll implement it immediately, funding $200 million annually towards our veterans as an investment in our city’s future.

We can become a safe haven, a sanctuary city for all veterans to know LA is a place where they can get the help they want and need.  We call it “Victory Company.” The men and women who served us deserve warm places to live, good places to work, and support to help them get through the day.  They deserve real programs that make a difference in their everyday lives.  They don’t want a handout, they want a helping hand.  They don’t want giveaways, they want to contribute to the world.  We can do that.

Our Victory Company is a program that provides comprehensive training and support to vets, from other vets—a system of collaboration, support, and teamwork with real, practical resources and even employment, education, and training. And the work doesn’t just benefit vets – it helps everyone in our community.  Top-down dictates are over, ground-up support and needs-based resourcing is in.

• Launch
  • Victory Company starts with a pilot group of trainees: veterans who will lead the program, from the ground up.  Our first corps joins the program as full-time, paid members, and there, they serve as role models for everyone who follows.
  • For six months, they receive full-time training in mental health & medicine, finance & economics, government & policy, and more.  Skills that are useful not just for life, but for helping others.
  • After the first six months, members move into a program where half their time is spent mentoring or working with others, in community outreach, or in public service; the other half is spent in skills training or education of their choice.  The goal is to focus a benefit from a collaborative team-based program of accountability and support from fellow veterans. Everyone wins.  And everyone participates in our city as mentors for at-risk youth, community engagement leaders, and public advocates.
    • Where possible, programming is provided by veterans for veterans.
  • At the end of their two-year engagement, every participant is guaranteed full time job placement in public or private sector.
• Ongoing Structure
  • A two-year paid commitment, during which each veteran:
    • Receives six months of training in key tactics and subjects from mental health to economics to policymaking and beyond
    • Mentors their own team of new members in training every six months for the remainder of their two-year commitment
    • Splits time half and half between community engagement & public service for one half, and personal training and education for the other half.
    • Receives full-time payment for the entirety of their two-year deployment.
    • Upon conclusion of the initial two-year commitment, receives a guarantee of a full-time job in the subject matter of their choice, or two years free at a city college, followed by the guarantee of employment upon graduation.
  • With this format, Victory Company becomes a rapidly expanding corps of incredible veterans supporting other veterans and neighborhoods across the city.  We will partner with and use existing state and federal programs and resources where they exist, but we will not wait on anyone else.  We will act.
• The Victory Company Guarantee
  • Eventually, the program will provide a guided “re-entry” to every veteran in Los Angeles, supported not by bureaucracy or handouts, but by other veterans who understand what they’ve been through.  They will be empowered by communities who welcome them and provided a runway to the future of their choosing.

The Short Answer:

Climate change is real.  And we must do our part to move to a brighter future that reduces or eliminates emissions, while driving economic growth.  It’s possible to do both.  But we must also accept that one city alone cannot change the world, and broad mandates and policies without thoughtful execution achieve nothing.  Smart regulations can put money back in consumers’ pockets, foster business innovation, and drive economic growth with high-wage jobs, all while mitigating climate change and reducing emissions.

The Details:

Climate change is the existential crisis of our time, but how can we focus on where we will be in 2030 when our city is crumbling around us today?  And the poorly-written regulations that our leaders are putting in place now for the future will cripple our businesses and the economy while doing nothing to really address climate change.

Here’s the truth: the very decisions we make to reduce emissions and curb climate change can drive huge economic growth, if we make the smart decisions, not the easiest ones.

For example, mandating LED bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs saves consumers millions of dollars while also curbing emissions simply.  Why don’t we do it?  Building charging stations throughout the city can drive revenue for LA while bringing costs down for consumers.  Why don’t we?  Simply mandating a “carbonless city” or putting blunt policies in place by demanding that companies have “zero emissions” is not just bad policy, it’s more harmful than helpful, as those costs get passed on to everyday Angelenos.  We need smart decisions, not blunt force, overly simplistic promises that go nowhere.   We don’t have to wait on a national or state program.  We can act today.

The Short Answer:

We should be so lucky that we are talking about how to get the basics of our city right.  With major crises in homelessness, affordability, and crime, we’ve forgotten that our roads should not be filled with potholes, that our schools should put every dollar towards our kids, and that our neighborhoods should be clean.  Getting the basics right isn’t something we can delay; we need to be able to do it today, and every day.

The Details:

We should be so lucky that our biggest problems are broken sidewalks and streets that rival the poor quality of a developing nation or country back road.  Sadly, because of the massive threats of homelessness, affordability, and crime, our leaders have forgotten about the everyday needs of their citizens.  Sidewalks to walk on, pipes that aren’t breaking, streets that don’t break your car, traffic that isn’t endless, schools that work.  We can do better.  We can demand better

• Streets
  • Official city policy is to repair good streets and let bad streets get worse—and that costs the average Angeleno an extra $800 a year.  That needs to change.  We need to repair our major thoroughfares and lead coordination between streets and power to ensure that we’re not ripping up new streets right after they’ve been paved, and that every pothole is fixed in under a week.  Smooth streets are not just an ideal, they’re a basic requirement.
• Sidewalks, Crosswalks, Speed Humps
  • We cannot be a city of rich vs. poor, nice vs. not nice.  Our programs need to incentivize private actors to construct their own crosswalks, repair their own sidewalks, and build safe speed humps in neighborhoods that need them.  Every approved installation project will receive a 100% tax credit but also be required to fund an equal, identical project in a marginalized neighborhood—ensuring the communities who need help the most receive it fastest.
• Schools
  • We all know that LAUSD is a civil war in progress, and the casualties are our students.  LAUSD must come in under city control, to ensure accountability free of special interests and millions of dollars in outside funding that breaks the system.  Dollars spent on schools and students must actually go to schools and students, not special interests and bloated budgets that help no one.
• Traffic
  • We know traffic is a nightmare.  But the reality is when people have to travel less between their home and their job, traffic comes down naturally.  Creating a more affordable city where people can afford to live, work, and play in the same communities will cut commute times and traffic dramatically–without adding a single new lane to any road.
• Pipes
  • Over 90% of the pipes in this city are in danger of failing, and over 80 years old.  In case of an earthquake, LA will be a disaster zone of unprecedented proportion—not just from falling debris but from broken pipes that will fail to deliver life-saving water, the most precious resource we have.  Right now, our pipe repair budget is under $50 million per year, while LA needs more than $28 billion to repair every pipe in danger.  We must lobby the federal government for funding to save our city’s future.
• Public Transportation
  • The city has made incredible progress in building public transportation infrastructure.  But we have stopped halfway.  Our subway stops are miles apart and don’t go all the way to the ocean.  You need different access cards for different types of transit programs.  We need one single unified access point for all Angelenos.  And we need to expand the city’s pilot ride-share program to provide free or discounted transport from any station to a local destination within 1.5 miles.
• Parks & Recreation
  • Every citizen deserves a clean park in their neighborhood, free of encampments, trash, and hazards for their children.  We’ll ensure that every single Angeleno has a clean, safe park within walking distance of their home.
• Sanitation
  • We have not added a single new street to street sweeping since 1987.  Only 13% of our city streets are correctly signed.  We need a comprehensive rebuild of our street sweeping program, paired with an aggressive effort to combat illegal dumping to ensure our communities are safe and clean.
• Electricity
  • LADWP has for far too long operated as its own master.  The department needs to be re-installed under direct and permanent control of the city, not as an independent body with its own budget and priorities.

The Short Answer:

For far too long, every family with working parents has confronted impossible choices: how to be a good parent while working full time; how to make every dollar feel like two when there’s not enough money to go around; and most importantly, how to make sure that our children’s futures are brighter than our own.  Los Angeles doesn’t have to be a bystander in this situation; it can be a direct line of assistance that ensures those who need it most receive the help and care that our next generation needs.

The Details:

For far too long, advocates for working families have paraded initiatives forward that do too little, too late.  They have convinced working families to “settle” for half-measures and shoddy solutions.  Since when do we accept childcare programs that help some people and not all?  A mom cannot accept half a solution when her child is sick or her job asks for overtime.  A dad should not have to accept he gets no time with his newborn.  Simple, cost-effective programs provide the financial and emotional resources our working families need while also investing in our future in a way that will more than cover the budgetary allocations necessary to fund these programs.

• Wage
  • All city employees, contractors, and vendors must certify and comply with equal pay for equal work.  Everyone in the supply chain must follow suit.
• Childcare
  • It is not enough for us to have universal preschool and kindergarten.  Parents must have a supportive resource from day one – a voucher for childcare for every household making under $75,000 per year.  Having healthy parents in the workforce benefits everyone in the city; the cost is more than offset by economic growth and participation.
• Child Savings Accounts
  • Every child should be able to attend and graduate from school, all the way through high school. However, they should also have the opportunity to pursue further training – whether in college, vocational school, or a trade program.  Under my administration, we’ll create a groundbreaking program that not only makes post-secondary education more affordable, it incentivizes high school graduation rates: the LA Future Fund. Starting at their first school enrollment, every child will have a city-funded savings account restricted for post-secondary education and training use.  Starting with just $100 in their first year of school, each year that a child stays in school, they will receive increasing funding – $200 the second year; $300 the third year, etc.  By the time they graduate from high school, every graduate will receive $10,000 towards training of their choice – a fund that builds a brighter future for LA.
• Support
  • Every parent is under stress.  The city cannot afford to wait on state or federal resources.  Creating support programs to help parents cope with the unprecedented emotional challenges of parenthood is critical. From peer groups to mental health services, we can do more.  We will create a city-wide network of on-demand services, in partnership with private enterprise, to provide 24/7 mental health resources to every parent in the city, free of charge.
• Parental and Medical Leave
  • It’s not enough for the city to provide parental leave.  Instead, every supplier, contractor, and vendor must also join the movement to provide guaranteed parental leave for every parent.  Similarly, we must provide paid leave for every family member who has to stay home to care for a loved one, or get healthy themselves, including part-time workers.  And for small businesses who would find these requirements challenging, the city will provide credits to offset the cost of such programs.
• Human Trafficking
  • Southern California is one of the top human trafficking depots in the world, and that must end.  We must aggressively root out human trafficking for any purpose, including children, labor, and sex, as an evil that is unjustifiable.  And we must be honest with each other about the role our city plays in this horrendous practice in order to bring it to a swifter end.