This collection of news chum all has to do with my home town, Los Angeles:
- Los Angeles History. Like Los Angeles history? Here’s the history of Los Angeles as told by 232 (and perhaps a few more) Objects.
- The Los Angeles That Wasn’t. A number of articles this week on the new book “Never Built Los Angeles”. I particularly like this article because it includes a number of different rendings of what might have been. I like this article because it includes a lot of highway information. The Times also has a good review. Yes, the book is on my Amazon wishlist.
- Wilshire Blvd Temple — Revitalized. I spent much of my youth at Wilshire Blvd Temple. I worked in the storage areas under Piness, sang in Warner Youth Center, and attended services in the main sanctuary. They are just about to reopen after a multi-year revitalization, and it sounds beautiful.
- Unintended Results. Many people pushing for term limits have championed them as a means to get the entrenched out of office. The problem is: it doesn’t work — it becomes a game of musical chairs. Case in point: The Los Angeles City Council, which is a new home for termed-out state legislators. Not only do they get to keep working for the public, they can get more salary and bigger pensions. Was this on purpose? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
The problem with term limits is that it kicks out all the experienced politicians who have been around a long time and know how to get things done. Plus, when someone knows they are not going to be around for very long, they are only focused on the short term state of the city (county, state, etc.) while they are in term and are not interested in planning for the long term.
Went to the Never Built LA opening party last week, it was pretty disappointing in size and scope. The Overdrive exhibition at the Getty was so much better. http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/overdrive/