How well is the city where you live, work or study being run by local government and civic leaders?
Our Question of the Week for readers is written in anticipation of elections in many Southern California cities on March 7.
But it applies to people anyplace where City Hall is proving to be especially effective or ineffective at setting and enforcing laws, protecting public safety, and safeguarding the quality of life.
What message will you try to send — or wish you had a chance to send — to City Hall in the upcoming elections?
Are you pleased with the job local leaders are doing. Are there lessons other cities could learn from them?
Are you displeased? Do you have changes to suggest?
The vote affecting the most people is for mayor of Los Angeles, where Eric Garcetti is running for re-election. Los Angeles also has elections for City Council, school board and community college board seats, and a slate of ballot initiatives, including Measure S, which would restrict some development.
Development planning is an issue in other cities too. They include Pasadena, where perceptions of overdevelopment is an election theme; and Redondo Beach, where Measure C, which would place more restrictions on a planned waterfront improvement project, has divided the mayoral contenders.
Pollution issues are prominent in L.A., because of the Aliso Canyon natural-gas leak on the edge of the San Fernando Valley, and Paramount, where City Council candidates are criticized for their handling of air pollution from metal-producing plants.
Fiscal issues are key everywhere, of course. Are San Bernardino residents happy with the way the city is recovering from bankruptcy? Are residents of the Riverside County cities that passed tax increases in November confident that the revenue will be well used?
How well is your city dealing with these and other challenges?
Email your thoughts to opinion@langnews.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Provide a daytime phone number. Or, if you prefer, share your views in the comments section that accompanies this article online.
We’ll publish as many responses as possible.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
