Caltrans got their work done on the Mulholland Drive Bridge and this overpass is now halfway gone. Those idiots who were dying to see the last Harry Potter adventure all got to the theater of their choice. Life pressed on. Widening of the 405 Freeway can continue as if extra lanes are really going to solve traffic problems on weekdays when cars are lined up from Santa Clarita to the Mexican border.
Ultimately, Carmageddon was a whole lot of nothing. Traffic was light and it was as if Christmas morning had been moved to July 16. The result was so refreshing that other cities should consider demolishing their bridges as well. My first suggestion? The Whitestone Bridge in New York. But, I digress...
As well as it came off, no one knew it would be that easy. Lots of media hype and hysteria. Except we had no benchmark to know whether the frenzy was real or Memorex.
And, the whole construction process itself, as we learned last week, was probably unnecessary. Except for, in large part, the garden gnome in the photo below.
Who is she? What is that? Is it for real? You might be asking all those questions. Well, I'll splain.
First off, somebody with a hyphenated first name is immediately suspect in my book. Is it because the parents couldn't decide a name if they were having a girl...or having a girl? Looking at her in the picture, she's hardly conjuring up images of the Petticoat Junction girls or one of the denizens from Hazzard County.
But, her dopey first name is hardly Wendy-Sue's biggest offense. Yep, she's one of those community organizers and you know how welcome they can be. One of those flapping mouth do-gooders who hasn't encountered a civic group or organization that they can't join. And endeavor to engineer some power grasp in an undying quest to be self-important.
So, as this recent 53-hour road closure was in the planning stages, Caltrans worked closely with community groups to ensure the least amount of inconvenience. In fact, it's recently revealed that they present an alternate plan that will be less taxing on the citizens' nerves and wallets. Apparently, the easier way is the cheaper route as well. A rare moment when a government department is being mindful of their constituents.
Except when they presented said revised plan to some Brentwood Homeowners Association. Headed by the munchkin shown above. And, of course, said revised plan didn't fly as far as they were concerned and they effectively stopped it dead in its tracks.
The argument wielded by Wendy-Sue and her bunch of moronic minions was that they didn't like the alternate plan's treatment of the Mulholland Drive Bridge's demolition. They, of course, cited the always annoying "environmental impact." And then dropped in all those other words that showed they had more love for a bridge than their own neighbors. "Esthetics." "Rustic character." "Wildlife." The legal jargon in their complaint was mind-numbing.
Meanwhile, it's a fucking bridge. And, frankly, I've never seen deer scampering across it during rush hour.
When you Google Wendy-Sue Rosen, you discover that she can't keep her mouth shut...ever. She joins every community group possible and quickly ascends to the top leadership post because you just know that she's a pushy pest. One of those human mosquitos that foists her lifestyle views on everybody else because she couldn't possibly be anything but wrong. I'm sure she's all for energy-saving lightbulbs, better snack machines in schools, and rights for goldfish to swim outside a bowl on your kid's dresser.
I looked at her Facebook page. More of the same.
The Federation of Hillside and Canyons Aassociation.
California State Parks Foundation.
Los Angeles Mountain.
Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy.
Save Malibu Lagoon.
Save Franklin Canyon.
And, oh, yeah, she likes Barack Obama. Big surprise.
Shaddap!
Meanwhile, the Internet search for Wendy-Sue doesn't show any real employment. Except, of course, for some Universal Studios job in the 90s which she must have left after filing and winning a huge sexual harassment lawsuit against her supervisor.
Sexual harassment? Really? What was wrong with him?
So, obviously Wendy-Sue Rosen is not only a buddinsky, but also a litigious one.
We all know the type. You probably have one on your homeowner's association. Or your kid's PTA. Or your church council. That drone who was aptly described by my father as the one "with all the answers to none of the questions." They live their lives around these committees because that addresses deep-seeded needs for gratification and power. Perhaps they got beat up in the school yard. Or didn't get asked to the junior prom.
Unfortunately, their neuroses become our problems. Under the guise of helping their neighbors. Phooey!
So, thanks to Wendy-Sue Rosen, Los Angeles had the prospects of a difficult weekend. Folks had to cancel plans. Others might have missed their flights out of LAX. Hospital workers had to spend the days in a hotel so they wouldn't miss their shifts. The latter are our real community heroes. Not bozos like Wendy-Sue Rosen.
Indeed, maybe there was some subtext involved in her captivation of that Mulholland Drive overpass. After all, don't trolls usually live under a bridge?
Dinner last night: Proscuitto, provolone, and tomato panini.
4 comments:
Few are more worthy of disdain than the self-appointed "activist."
This creature has time on his/her hands and puts it to use annoying and obstructing.
I knew one in New York who never missed a meeting or a letter to the editor. He had no job thanks to an inheritance, but did he have opinions.
Bob, meet Wendy-Sue. You two have a lot to talk about.
Politicians are activists run further amok.
Great word amok.
The author likely has never met or worked with Ms. Rosen who has contributed a great deal to her community and the city as a whole. As to the Mulholland Bridge, it is too bad that the alternative that surfaced late in the game had not been offered up and evaluated in the project EIR. But, it had not and Ms. Rosen was not the only one raising questions and concerns. According to the law, if the alternative plan to build a new second bridge had been pursued, the project would have needed to complete a supplemental EIR for it. That could have been done but the project leadership decided that the required process would take more time than they could allow for it and decided to go back to "plan a." No one had looked in depth at the impacts that changes in the local intersections would have on traffic and the Mulholland Design Review Board also had questions and concerns. So, it is hardly reasonable to peg the demise of the alternate plan on Ms. Rosen's plate alone.
Community activists in Los Angeles work against great odds. We have a city that often forgets to live by its own rules leaving the citizens with huge responsibility to monitor compliance all to often. (How many illegal billboards are there, anyway? How did we come to have more marijuana dispensaries than public schools?) Property values are not determined by how the land is zoned. More often than not, the value is based upon what kinds of changes a property owner can wrangle (a practice that could be called spot zoning or a number of other less flattering things). No one pays the community activists to attend meetings, go to City Council hearings, read long staff reports, etc. We owe people like Wendy Sue Rosen a great deal of thanks. While you may not agree with each position she and those who do similar volunteer work in the city, they perform a much-needed function bringing in the checks and balances that government requires to stay healthy. Your article is nasty and you know little about the many good things that Ms. Rosen has done for the city, the Clean Hands Ordinance being the most recent. You ought to apologize to her.
Post a Comment