On his visit to Southern California this weekend, President Joe Biden may prefer mixing with the Hollywood glitterati in an appeal for campaign cash, with access to ordinary people cut out of the picture.
That’s why we decided to ask local officials, activists and regular folks — if you had 5 minutes stuck in L.A. traffic with the president, what would you say to him?
Some of the members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors kept with the transportation theme, fresh off the eight-day closure of a mile stretch of the 10 Freeway near downtown L.A. that made getting around worse.
“Mr. President, I think any American or Angeleno seated in this car with you today would agree that the traffic and congestion around us stinks. It’s detrimental to our daily quality of life. Our mutual constituents have entrusted us to make continued highway, road, and transit improvements to bring congestion relief. Please tell me I can continue counting on your ongoing transportation funding and support so that we can make that happen,” wrote Supervisor Kathryn Barger, a Republican, in an emailed response.
Fellow board member Hilda Solis harkened back to when Biden gave a speech at the D (Purple) Line subway extension site near Westwood 14 months ago, emphasizing the $1-trillion infrastructure law’s benefits to the region.
Solis wrote, “If I was stuck in traffic with President Biden in Los Angeles County, I would first ask if he would be interested in hopping out of the car and into a Metro rail or bus line to experience firsthand how we have been investing federal dollars to expand and reimagine our region’s bus, rail, shared mobility, and active transportation options.”
And Supervisor Janice Hahn wrote that she would say, “You can see how bad our traffic is, Mr. President, but if we had more federal funding we could build better public transportation options faster – like a rail line from Southeast L.A. to Downtown — so people could get out of their cars.” All five L.A. County supervisors are also members of the LA Metro Board of Directors.
“I would also take him on a tour of the I-10 freeway bridge where hard-working construction crews continue to repair the damage caused by the fire and the city and county continue to support small businesses through recovery. Thanks to his steadfast leadership, Caltrans had the commitments needed to re-open the freeway 3-5 weeks ahead of schedule,” wrote Solis, who worked for President Obama as secretary of labor.
Tim Clark, who headed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the West in 2016 and later served in the Trump administration in various capacities, said Biden is laying low because of his poor approval ratings due to the economy. Trump is running for the Republican nomination for president.
“I would say (to Biden) quit spending all that money and driving inflation through the roof. Get inflation under control. Small business owners are just getting crushed by inflation,” said Clark on Thursday, Dec. 7. “And people still feel it every day,”
Biden’s approval rating was near its lowest level of his presidency as of Dec. 5. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found 53% surveyed disapproved, while 40% approved.
But Jeff Bornstein, a Woodland Hills resident, activist and president of West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living, disagreed when asked what he would say to Biden if they were in a car together. “Everybody is criticizing him for his age but he is getting the job done. He can’t do anything about the inflation. You can’t blame inflation on Joe Biden,” Bornstein said.
On the issue of attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, Kevin Perez, executive director of the group Somos Familia Valle in the San Fernando Valley, was concerned about far-right extremist and religious groups spreading hate speech.
“I would ask what is his plan to center and uplift the transgender and queer community with the rise of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric,” Perez said. Perez grew up in the San Fernando Valley and has spent the last decade offering support programs for LGBTQ+ youth and participating in Pride activism.
Perez was part of a counter-protest in June when Armenian and conservative parents and other community members demonstrated at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood in opposition to teachers reading children a library book explaining that love and marriage is valid in multi-cultural families and in those with two dads or two moms.
In L.A. and Orange County, especially along the coastline, environmental groups and their members have usually supported Democrats. Yet many — especially young people — have concerns that not enough is being done to combat climate change and preserve natural areas within the urban interface.
“Mr. President, the Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. We’re losing critical species and their habitats. Please prioritize open space protection, clean water, and human health over corporate greed,” said Alison Simard, co-founder of Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) and communications director at Heal the Bay.
In the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, many from environmental, hiker and fishing groups came to a meeting in Azusa with a Biden cabinet undersecretary to consider further protections to L.A.’s playground — the San Gabriels.
“Mr. President, if you look out your window to the north you can see the rugged peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains — the gateway to nature for more than 18 million local residents. We’ve joined a chorus of local leaders, community members and advocates asking you to use your authority to expand the San Gabriel National Monument by 109,000 acres,” wrote Daniel Rossman, California deputy director of The Wilderness Society, who asked Biden to make this happen.
Torrance Mayor George Chen would ask Biden to do more to help Southern California solve its homelessness problem. “Treat the existing homelessness as a state of national emergency crisis, and address it as if we are at war when there are people displaced in the streets,” Chen wrote.
Sara Deen, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school board member and Muslim interfaith leader, wanted the president to meet with more regular folks and better relate to their needs.
“Today, I worry — too many of us feel isolated, dismissed and irrelevant in your plans for our nation … Our disappointment, if not mitigated meaningfully, may feed further hopelessness and our absence at the polls,” she wrote.
Finally, there was this blunt appeal: “With all respect, I would like you to announce that you are not running for another term, and let another Democrat come forward. It’s time to step aside,” said Alice Callaghan, director of the community center Las Familias del Pueblo, which serves DTLA garment workers, their children and the unhoused on L.A.’s skid row.
Biden will land at LAX on Friday, Dec. 8 and head to fundraisers with film director Steven Spielberg and “Scandal” showrunner Shonda Rhimes, among other celebrities. He’s scheduled to fly back to Washington D.C. on Sunday, Dec. 10, according to the White House.
SCNG staff writers Olga Grigoryants and Lisa Jacobs contributed to this article.
Source: Orange County Register
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