EDITORIAL L.A.'S NEW SONG THIS IS YOUR TOWN - FIX IT!HAVING averted a·vert tr.v. a·vert·ed, a·vert·ing, a·verts 1. To turn away: avert one's eyes. 2. its swan song by crushing secession secession, in art secession, in art, any of several associations of progressive artists, especially those in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna, who withdrew from the established academic societies or exhibitions. with fear tactics, Los Angeles' downtown power structure is singing a new refrain: This is your town - you should fix it! That's right, Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public, City Hall says you should stop complaining about high taxes and poor city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. and do something about it. Fed up with dangerous broken sidewalks? Go door to door in your neighborhood, take up a collection and hire someone to fix it. Gangs terrorizing you and your family? Don't bother calling the cops. There aren't enough of them, and they only work three days a week anyway. Besides, the mayor's consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. prevents them from coming down hard on thugs. It's your problem; deal with it. Potholes destroying your car? No sweat. Just do what they do in Brentwood: Write a check and fix them yourself. That's the new L.A. song: You live here, it's your problem, fix it. You may think you're paying exorbitant taxes, but City Hall just doesn't have the money to provide basic services basic services, n.pl frequently insurance companies split dental procedures into basic and major categories. Basic services usually consist of diagnostic, preventive, and routine restorative dental services. like hiring enough police to ensure public safety. And it doesn't have the will power to even craft a policy determining who's responsible for fixing sidewalks. Of course, there's more than enough money on hand to give pay raises to city workers at twice the rate of inflation. It's no problem to give bureaucrats shortened work weeks and 90 percent pensions. Sure, there's enough money for the Department of Water and Power, the Harbor Department and Airport Department to throw millions of dollars around at City Hall's favored insiders. But those are really businesses, not public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. , so the money is theirs, not yours. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. City Hall, there isn't enough money for basic services. So either agree to higher taxes or take care of the city's problems yourself. What? You say that if you have to pay taxes and fix the city yourself, you want power to make the decisions that affect your neighborhood? You've got to be kidding. Not on your life. This is your town, but power belongs where it's always been: in the hands of the downtown power structure. So when the state of the city gets you down, just remember to sing this song and be happy: This is your town - fix it! |
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