When someone calls to alert me to a "news conference," the term implies that news will be part of the deal. But these days in City Hall, news is kind of an extra -- like a side salad instead of the main course.
Take the events of Wednesday morning, when Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel called a "news conference" to deliver this: She had a plan to develop a plan to strategically manage transportation in the city.
Greuel and three of her council colleagues talked for 18 minutes and, quite remarkably, said nothing about what might actually be done to improve traffic. Would roads be widened? Narrowed? Paved with gold?
Wish we could tell you, but news wasn't on the menu.
So what did they say?
Greuel: "I would rather be spending time with my family or here with my council family than be in traffic. . . . The status quo in the city changes today."
Councilman Tom LaBonge: "Wendy, thank you for your leadership. . . . You got to have a plan, just like right now both coaches from USC and UCLA are devising a plan to win on Saturday. We want both teams to be successful. I'm pulling for USC."
Councilman Bill Rosendahl: "First, I want to thank Councilwoman Wendy Greuel for her leadership. . . . The leadership she is providing with the mayor is gratifying to me. All 20 million of us have had it with the gridlock. The people have reached a tipping point."
Councilman Richard Alarcon: "Without a vision, we can't be ready when the funds do make themselves available to California. . . . I commend Councilwoman Greuel; I commend the mayor's office for their leadership in understanding the legislative process, and the council for stepping forward now and fighting to move this visionary statement forward."
And what does this visionary statement say?
The No. 1 goal is "to increase Mobility and Accessibility in Los Angeles." Another goal is to "ensure that the City's transportation system is safe and reliable."
Hard-hitting stuff, eh?
Who knows, maybe the plan will be good. Maybe it won't replicate work being done by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. To know that, we'll have to wait until May 2009, when Greuel's plan is supposed to be completed.
Who's the greenest guy in California?
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has worked hard this year to sell his vision for making L.A. the "greenest big city in America." So it must have been annoying to receive a letter recently from state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown recommending that more be done to address pollution at a terminal project at the Port of Los Angeles.
