EDITORIAL DEMOCRACY IN L.A. CITY'S ELITE SHOULD WORK TO EMPOWER THE NEIGHBORHOODS -- NOT DICTATE POLICIES.WARREN Christopher Warren Minor Christopher (born October 27, 1925) is an American diplomat and lawyer. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. , the renowned lawyer and former U.S. secretary of state, says the new Civic Alliance -- of which he is a member -- is a far cry from the Committee of 25 that once ruled Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. in the days of grand secrets and designs. Unlike that old collection of narrow-minded business leaders, today's elite committee of 23 members includes government, nonprofit, media and academic types. Its membership is wider, reflecting today's more diverse L.A. ruling class. And its ambitions aren't so self-serving. So you can put down your tinfoil tinfoil, n See foil, tin. tinfoil substitute, n See substitute, tinfoil. hats. This is no great conspiracy The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio to be feared. But you can also cast aside any hopes that this elite group's meetings at the downtown City Club will make life better for the ordinary people of L.A. After all, the problem with L.A. is hardly that the insiders don't spend enough time with each other downtown. It's that they don't spend enough time with anybody else, anywhere else. That much is clear from the first issue that seems to have bubbled up among the new Committee of 23's members: extending term limits for members of the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. .
Making sure that the city's do-nothing politicians hang on to their privileged positions might be the kind of idea that gets their friends excited, but it's hardly among the top concerns for the rest of us (abuse) for The Rest Of Us - (From the Macintosh slogan "The computer for the rest of us") 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often) used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced products. 2. . What L.A. really needs is not well-connected leaders looking out for each other, but a city power structure that includes the neighborhoods and communities. That's to say, what L.A. needs isn't a Committee of 23, but a Committee of 4 million empowered residents taking the initiative in making their government work for them. It would be nice to think that, from their skyscraper, the Civic Alliance's insiders might recognize this and turn their power in the people's direction. But elites don't drive reform; people do, when they start paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard , get organized and get involved. The new Committee of 23 should be a reminder to all the people of L.A: No one downtown is going to look out for your interests. That's something we all need to do for ourselves. |
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