Economist.com Cities Guide: Los Angeles Briefing - March 2006

News this month

A once and future target?

Should tenants of the US Bank Tower, the tallest building west of Chicago, be worried? President George Bush revealed on February 9th that authorities had foiled a terrorist plot in 2002 to fly an aircraft into what was then known as the Library Tower, in downtown LA. The announcement left Antonio Villaraigosa, the city’s mayor, scrambling to reassure Angelenos and grumbling that the White House had not informed him before going public.

To assuage fears, Mr Villaraigosa pointed to the Los Angeles Fire Department's special “high-rise rooftop rescue” programme: officers can transport 350 people an hour by helicopter from a high-rise block such as the US Bank Tower, the Twin Towers in Century City or the MGM building in Beverly Hills. While insisting that the city was prepared for an attack, Mr Villaraigosa took the opportunity to say that LA’s anti-terrorism efforts deserved more federal money. Earlier that month, the mayor had proposed to expand the city’s counter-terrorism teams in the police and fire departments, as well as create a new intelligence analysis unit.

Drop-out

The long-troubled Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) may face yet another hurdle. On February 10th officials announced that Roy Romer, the city’s school superintendent, wants to step down next autumn, some nine months before his contract expires. Mr Romer stressed that he will not leave his post until the school board finds a suitable successor.

Just why Mr Romer, who was appointed in 2000 and had his contract extended in 2004, wants to leave is unclear. One reason may be the sheer strain, at the age of 77, of running a system with some 727,000 students. But rumour has it that Mr Romer may not be getting along with his new boss, Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor has criticised school performance to justify his push to seize control of the system from the elected school board. Such censure nettled Mr Romer, who said that schools were improving on his watch. Last November, he managed to persuade voters to approve a fourth school construction bond, to help complete a $19 billion construction programme that will see 160 new campuses by 2012—a development critical to relieving the system's severe overcrowding.

Boiling over

Racial tensions in LA are a fact of life, and nowhere more so than in local prisons. In February several days of fighting between Latino and black inmates in the 21,000-inmate LA County jail system, principally at the Castaic facility about 40 miles north-west of the city, left two prisoners dead and around 100 injured. Authorities used tear gas to suppress the violence, then segregated prisoners according to race. The Supreme Court ruled last February that prisons cannot use race to segregate inmates except under extraordinary circumstances. These riots qualify as extraordinary, but authorities cannot keep blacks and Latinos separate forever. To comply with last year’s ruling, incoming prisoners must be assigned to shared cells regardless of race.

Real solutions to racial violence have eluded prison officials. One problem is that they need more guards: new county funds have been earmarked for more staff, but authorities have had trouble recruiting and training them quickly enough. Another factor is horrendous overcrowding in the county’s jails. But the biggest problem may be the influence of local gangs on prisoners. Prison officials suspect that the violence in the Castaic jail was directed by gang leaders in South Central LA.

Follow that car

A new police tactic may make one of LA’s most beloved events—a police-car chase—much less frequent. The car chase is a favourite feature of the city’s nightly news programmes: footage shot from a helicopter invariably shows police officers following some miscreant as he zig-zags through the traffic, before they finally nudge his vehicle into a tailspin or stop him with a strip of tyre-puncturing nails. The problem with this ritual is the risk of injury—not least to other drivers or to innocent bystanders. Last year there were 602 police-car chases in Los Angeles, resulting in 254 collisions, with 175 people injured and three dead.

Now the Los Angeles Police Department has what it thinks could be a better method. Police are experimenting with a “pursuit management system”—a fancy name for what amounts to a sticky dart, which can be fired at a suspect’s vehicle from a compressed air gun fitted on a police car’s radiator. Because the dart is equipped with a global positioning system, the suspect can be tracked—and trapped—without a close pursuit. News teams may soon have to resort to real news to fill up their evening programmes.

Eye of the beholder

The Getty Trust is in the news yet again, this time thanks to the sudden resignation of its president since 1997, 64-year-old Barry Munitz. His departure follows months of criticism for his penchant for high-living, not to mention his $1m salary. The Los Angeles Times reported that Mr Munitz’s expensive whims include flying first-class to Europe with his wife at the Getty’s expense, and having his staff then send a forgotten umbrella via express-mail. Under the terms of his departure, Mr Munitz will not benefit from a severance package; rather, he will pay the Getty some $250,000 “in order to resolve any continuing disputes”.

The Getty’s troubles are far from over, though. Not only are the trustees staging an internal inquiry into the affair, but the California attorney general is investigating whether Mr Munitz’s extravagant ways threaten the Getty’s non-profit status. Furthermore, the Getty has yet to resolve the disputed provenance of many of its antiquities. Central to the problem is the trial in Rome of Marion True, the Getty’s former antiquities curator, on charges of trafficking looted art. Although she is no longer a Getty employee, the Trust is paying her legal fees.

Catch if you can

March 2006

“Ashes and Snow” at the Nomadic Museum

Until May 14th 2006

Man’s interactions with animals have been a theme of art throughout history, but for a modern take, go to this exhibition next to the Santa Monica Pier. “Ashes and Snow” is extraordinary. Expect a mix of huge, sepia photographs and three films from the Canadian artist, Gregory Colbert. They are the product of his 30-odd expeditions photographing and filming humans in proximity with animals, such as elephants and eagles. The images are beautiful and, Mr Colbert says, involved no artifice or manipulation. The exhibition space itself is a giant, temporary construction of shipping containers devised by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect, and first installed in March 2005 on New York’s Hudson River. The ticket price is steep, at $15, but the experience is worth it.

The Nomadic Museum, Santa Monica Pier. Tel: +1 (866) 308-4203. Open: Tues-Thurs 11am-7pm; Fri, Sat 11am-8pm; Sun noon-7pm. Entry: $15. See the exhibition's website.

More from the Los Angeles cultural calendar