EDITORIAL : BURROWING PAST INFAMY; MTA KEEPS DIGGING DEEPER HOLE FOR ITSELF.MTA'S tunnel of shame just gets darker and darker. The latest outrage to bubble to the top from the political cesspool cesspool: see septic tank. is the injustice heaped upon 200 North Hollywood businesses affected by subway construction. Although construction along a two-mile stretch of Lankershim Boulevard has disrupted business - forcing some to close for good - the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. has spent only $1.2 million over four years to help businesses cope. But just over the hill in Hollywood, businesses inconvenienced by the MTA subway construction are receiving about $16 million in help from the transit agency, including $7 million in renovation grants, $700,000 in rent subsidies, $1 million a year in private security patrols and $750,000 annually for special sidewalk A Microsoft service that was launched in 1997 to provide online arts and entertainment guides on the Web for major cities worldwide. In 1999, Microsoft sold Sidewalk to Ticketmaster, which continued to provide guides, ticketing and other information to the MSN network. cleaning. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has squandered squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. hundreds of millions of dollars from the one-cent transit sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. with almost nothing to show for it. Several years ago, when the agency first started doling out dollars for Hollywood businesses, we cautioned against it. It was a costly and dangerous precedent to set. But the agency proceeded. And now that it has set that precedent, it can't pick and choose which areas to favor and which to let shrivel and die. All deserve the same deal. North Hollywood businesses are suing. In the court of public opinion, they have a strong case. MTA's defense - that Hollywood was a special case, a tourist mecca that needed protecting - is outrageous on its face. If the transit agency felt compelled in 1991 to protect the economic vitality of an area, then it should have extended that same consideration to all areas of the city similarly affected. The MTA should have set aside money ahead of time to keep businesses in North Hollywood from being knocked out by the subway project. Equally distasteful is the suggestion by Mark Pattison Mark Pattison (October 10, 1813 - July 30, 1884) was an English author and rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. He was the son of the rector of Hauxwell, Yorkshire, and was privately educated by his father, Mark James Pattison. , an MTA manager of the mitigation programs, that the businesses in Hollywood benefited by better representation by their civic leaders and elected officials. Perhaps Pattison can explain that point of view to City Council President John Ferraro John Ferraro (May 14 1924—April 17 2001) served as a Los Angeles City Councilman from 1966 until his death. Early life Ferraro was born in the working class suburb of Cudahy, California, just south of Los Angeles. , who represents North Hollywood, who also is outraged by the disparity in how the MTA has treated North Hollywood compared with Hollywood. |
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