3 ms·

Thanks for the research and details - appreciate it. > Meanwhile, most people in the city I wager have no idea any of this has been going on, since most local

Thanks for the research and details - appreciate it. > Meanwhile, most people in the city I wager have no idea any of this has been going on, since most local papers have shut down in recent years and LA times has severely cut down on its staff as well. I think this is a bigger problem than just local news (although I do want that problem solved too). People simply don’t have time to keep up on all of this even if the news was there. We have too little time and too many source of information, entertainment, etc. to follow all of this closely. If you have a family, forget it. Personally I think the issue is more structural - like the ease with which small numbers of representatives or public employees can be influenced.

asdff 2y ago
Structural issues are certainly there. The council was supposed to reform and empower their ethics comission in light of these scandals but they've been dragging their heels lately to no surprise (1). There is still something to be said about a lack fo good sources of local news but also how we tend to fill our time focusing on irrelevant details. I'm sure many more angelenos are up to date about the latest gaffes in the national debate that hardly affects their daily lives than they are about their own blatantly corrupted leadership that has a much more direct effect on everything local, through their effect on home prices, rents, traffic, economic opportunity, and even local air pollution. Especially in a place like California that does a lot of functions such as social welfare or environmental regulation through its own state or municipal institutions vs. a large reliance on federal decisions or subsidy. 1. https://laist.com/news/politics/ethics-reform-stalled-la-city-hall-corruption-cases https://laist.com/news/politics/ethics-reform-stalled-la-cit...

asdff 2y ago

Structural issues are certainly there. The council was supposed to reform and empower their ethics comission in light of these scandals but they've been dragging their heels lately to no surprise (1). There is still something to be said about a lack fo good sources of local news but also how we tend to fill our time focusing on irrelevant details. I'm sure many more angelenos are up to date about the latest gaffes in the national debate that hardly affects their daily lives than they are about their own blatantly corrupted leadership that has a much more direct effect on everything local, through their effect on home prices, rents, traffic, economic opportunity, and even local air pollution. Especially in a place like California that does a lot of functions such as social welfare or environmental regulation through its own state or municipal institutions vs. a large reliance on federal decisions or subsidy. 1. https://laist.com/news/politics/ethics-reform-stalled-la-city-hall-corruption-cases https://laist.com/news/politics/ethics-reform-stalled-la-cit...