Neighborhood Activists Threaten Freeway Progress.

Gary Toebben, President of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce, in a recent letter titled "Hijacking the Public Good" about the added cost of the demolition and reconstruction of the Mulholland Bridge due to neighbor tinkering, wrote what a lot of people have been saying: Government should stop appeasing small groups of activists-homeowners at the expense of the general public.

As a former public relations representative of Bob Hope Airport I know how the appeasement game is played. The airport wanted to move its 80 year old terminal a safe distance from the runways. Local activists complained that the new terminal would cause more noise. The battle cost tens of millions of tax payer dollars in court costs and FAA studies. The City of Burbank and the airport called a truce but the risk to the traveling public remains all because Burbank politicians sought to appease local activists instead of protecting the public at large.

The claim that Bel Air and Brentwood residents sought to be protecting the character of Mulholland Drive is a farce. In hindsight they got what they wanted by threatening to hold up the project, not because it was the right thing to do but because they could. Their actions have unnecessarily inconvenienced tens of thousands of people and cost the tax payers additional millions of dollars in construction costs. They are now the focus of the entire region’s ire and rightfully so.   

The lesson for public officials and transportation bureaucrats is simple. You have an obligation to all Angelenos, not just homeowner organizations. You must stop balancing your need to keep your cushy job and the perks that go with them against the public’s need for safe and cost effective roads.

Thank you Gary Toebben for saying what a lot of people have been saying under their breath for years. Los Angeles has overwhelming transportation challenges that can only be addressed by men and women who are willing take the heat to build the right solutions for the region. And activist homeowner groups need to understand that we are all in this together, like it or not.