Economist.com Cities Guide: Los Angeles Briefing - July 2005

News this month

An expensive challenge

Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles's mayor-elect, has grand plans for tackling transport problems in southern California. When he is sworn into office, on July 1st, he will also assume the role of board chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (a position that rotates among board members). As such, he says he will ensure the board investigates his campaign proposals, which include a Red Line subway system to the north-east San Fernando Valley; an extension of the Gold Line east into the San Gabriel Valley; and a connection from the Green Line light-rail to Los Angeles International Airport.

As chairman, Mr Villaraigosa will be able to steer the agenda of the agency, which has a budget of nearly $3 billion. But few believe the city will see more rail service any time soon, given the reluctance among California taxpayers to finance such projects. Even the cheapest parts of LA’s light-rail system have cost more than $35m a mile; the subway has cost a remarkable $258m a mile.

Poverty in Los Angeles

Given the number of millionaires—indeed, billionaires—who call Los Angeles home, it came as a shock for Californians to learn that in 2003 almost 1m adults in LA were sometimes too poor to buy themselves enough food. That was the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), who interviewed 12,000 low-income householders in the San Fernando Valley. Low-income adults are defined as living below twice the federal poverty level (an income of less than $37,320 per year for a family of four).

The UCLA team calculated that in 2003 nearly 34% of low-income adults in California (almost 3m in all) suffered from “food insecurity”, which means they had to make daily choices between spending money on food or on other necessities, such as rent. This marks an increase in California, where 29% suffered in 2001; in LA, the figure rose from 31% in 2001 to 34% in 2003. Across the nation the rate was stable.

A billing scandal

One of the reasons for James Hahn’s failure to win a second term as mayor of Los Angeles was the whiff of scandal that tainted his administration. In June, Steve Sugarman, a former executive of Fleishman-Hillard, a public-relations firm previously under contract with the city, admitted to overcharging the LA Department of Water & Power by $68,000. Prosecutors believe the company, which had a $3m-per-year-contract, is responsible for more than $300,000 of bogus bills. Mr Sugarman, who pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, is the third former employee to face charges. Critics of Mr Hahn's administration claim this is just the tip of an iceberg, noting investigations into “pay to play” contracts for the Los Angeles airport and port.

None of these deals has been directly linked to Mr Hahn. But his successor, Antonio Villaraigosa, has declared that he will not allow ethical breaches in his administration. That is more easily said than done, given the fuzzy line between the city's public and private sectors. A fine example of this is Mr Sugarman himself, who was the press secretary for Mr Hahn’s predecessor, Richard Riordan, before joining Fleishman-Hillard.

Don't shoot

On June 9th Lee Baca, sheriff of LA County, announced a change in the rules for when deputy sheriffs can shoot at moving vehicles. Now officers can only shoot if their own lives are in immediate danger. Officers must now take cover and wait before opening fire, and a deputy cannot fire at a car just because a fellow deputy is doing so.

The ruling follows an incident on May 9th, when a group of deputies opened fire on a car in Compton, a poor neighbourhood in southern Los Angeles. Of 120 rounds, four shots hit and wounded the driver, one struck a deputy, and several hit neighbouring houses. The car's driver turned out to be unarmed. Unfortunately for the deputies (13 of whom were given brief suspensions by Sheriff Baca), the shootings were captured on a civilian’s video and played repeatedly on local television stations.

A return to form?

The Los Angeles Lakers, a basketball team, has signed their former coach, Phil Jackson, to a three-year contract worth $30m. The deal, which will make Mr Jackson the highest paid coach in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), came as a surprise to many: Mr Jackson was dropped last year by the team's owner, Jerry Buss, despite having brought the team three NBA championships in five seasons.

Significantly, Mr Jackson’s return has been welcomed by Kobe Bryant, a star basketball player once described by Mr Jackson as “uncoachable”. Why has Mr Jackson agreed to return? Money must be a factor, but the veteran coach mentioned another: he was apparently influenced by his girlfriend, who happens to be the daughter of Mr Buss.

Catch if you can

July 2005

Japan Goes to the World’s Fairs: Japanese Art at the Great Expositions in Europe and the United States, 1867-1904

May 26th-October 10th 2005

Whatever its current managerial turmoil, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) remains a museum that can come up with the unexpected. This exhibition is a perfect example, devoted to the influence of European and American industrial fairs on Japanese art in the 19th century.

From 1867 to 1904, Japan participated in 19 international fairs and organised five fairs at home—a rate of almost one important endeavour a year for Japan’s designers and artists. The result is a fascinating collection of some 145 works showing the influence of the west during the Meiji period on Japan’s ceramics, lacquers, metalwork and textiles. Many of the works—such as a bronze incense burner with Chinese Boys Performing the Lion Dance—were deliberately aimed at pleasing western tastes. This show, which includes works on loan from the Tokyo National Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will only be exhibited in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. Tel: +1 (323) 857-6000. Open: Mon-Tues, Thur noon-8pm, Fri noon-9pm, Sat-Sun 11am-8pm; entry $9. See the museum's website.

More from the Los Angeles cultural calendar