Add The California Post on Google The burst water main under Sunset Boulevard is a wake-up call for LA.
No more pet projects and white elephants — like a new convention center no one will use.
If the Palisades Fire wasn’t enough of a warning, the West Hollywood Flood should be enough.
We have to take care of the basics — first things first.
Not shiny objects or grand social justice schemes.
The fact is that LA is long overdue for a major infrastructure overhaul.
The city wastes billions of dollars on corrupt and failing programs — like homeless nonprofits that reward cronies instead of fixing the problem.
Underneath the mansions in our hills and the encampments on our streets, cast-iron pipes that are more than a century old are rusting, waiting to burst.
The water main that ruptured in West Hollywood this week was 110 years old. And it’s hardly the only example.
Twelve years ago, a burst pipe near UCLA caused massive damage to the campus. The pipe was a 90-year-old city water line.
At the time, it was reported that the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) was moving so slowly on maintenance that it would replace water lines only once every 300 years.
City Hall recognized that there was an “infrastructure crisis.” And then — it did nothing.
There was always a reason. Something else to spend on.
They were afraid that repairs meant raising the rates.
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They knew that the public would be furious at having to pay more for inferior service — on top of the sales tax hikes, the gas tax hikes and all the other charges that the city, the county and the state keep piling up.
Meanwhile, our leaders — at every level — found new ways to waste our money.
We don’t need a high-speed rail line from Bakersfield to Merced.
We do need a reliable water line under Sunset Boulevard.
Too often, the city ignores the most basic priorities of local government.
And maintenance is the most neglected function of all.
Time and again, the city suffers disasters that would not have been as bad, if our leaders had just paid attention to upkeep.
That’s part of the story of the Palisades Fire, when 40 fire engines were out for repair. More than half of the engines in the LAFD fleet are also operating beyond their recommended lifetime.
City leaders behave as if there is all kinds of money for social programs — or for flashy events — when the reality is that City Hall isn’t even doing the bare minimum to keep LA functioning.
It costs more to replace a burst pipe than to replace it before anything bad happens. Not to mention the huge costs that a broken water main causes to local homes and businesses.
We haven’t heard a plan from either of our mayoral candidates, Karen Bass or Nithya Raman, about how they plan to fix the city.
