1. The City spent $25,000 on a birthday party for Elvis.
We love the King as much as the next guy, but $25,000 seems like a lot of money for someone who is no longer around to even appreciate the party.
2. The City wasted $116,500 painting one school.
There was a bid to paint the facade of King Middle School for $13,500. Yet they went with a $130,000 bid, effectively wasting $116,500. On paint. For one school.
3. LA City Council Members have not only the highest salary of any city in America, but higher than the United States Congress.
City Council Members make $178,789/year. For some comparison, San Francisco, another major CA city, pays their council members $105,723 and San Diego pays $75,386. If an LA Council Member works on average 40 hours/week they are making $85.96/hour. That means they are making nearly 10x more than many of the people they represent who are being paid minimum wage.
4. The City has the ability to fix our roads 10x faster with 1/4 the number of people.
With the City’s current system, it takes 4 workers and 15 minutes to fill a pothole. Los Angeles can purchase of a fleet of “pothole killer” machines, which can fill holes with just 1 man in 90 seconds. We need these fixed, not just for our sanity on our drive home after work, but for our wallets as well. Pot holes cost each LA driver on average $955/year due to car damage.
5. LA is behind El Salvador, Mexico, and Colombia when it comes to animals rights legislation.
While the City Council passed protective laws, they did nowhere near what they could have and should have done. They simply banned the use of bull hooks, allowing for other cruel methods. El Salvador, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, the UK, Canada, and many others have completely banned wild animals in circuses, in private parties, and in roadside shows. If the City is going to touch on animal rights they need to completely commit to the protection of these defenseless animals.
Overall, LA City Council is doing a lot of this…
If these 5 facts upset you, check out http://tomasogrady.com/ to learn about solutions and how you can be involved in implementing positive change.