A gazillion people are stuck with cars the size of oil tankers as gas prices close in on $5 a gallon, but the guy I really feel sorry for is Jaime de la Vega.
Not only is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's transportation deputy shelling out a small fortune to fuel his Hummer, but he's got the added pressure of setting an embarrassingly bad example.
Even as people switch to smaller cars and public transportation in droves, he's sticking with a monster.
I know, because just before noon Tuesday, I happened to be wandering around the City Hall basement and came upon De la Vega's copper-colored H3 in Space 26, under a sign that says "Mayor/Council Staff."
Out of the goodness of my heart, I've decided to help him out. I've called and e-mailed him, offering to take the insatiable hog off his hands. Even though the H3 is the smallest Hummer model, it still gets only 14 mpg in city driving.
"My offer is $75 cash," I said in an e-mail. "If it's in really good condition, I might go as high as $100, but only if you fill the tank first. My plan is to donate it to the National Guard."
Good deal, right? Everybody wins, including the Armed Forces.
But so far, De la Vega has not answered.
If he worries about how he'd get to work, he should do what I did and talk to some people who have recently switched to public transit. Tuesday morning at Union Station, Tustin resident Karen Park, who commutes to an advertising-marketing job in downtown L.A., told me how the switch to Metrolink was saving her money. Leaving her crossover SUV home seems like the right thing to do, she said, given the traffic and the environment.
Maybe she'd like to be deputy mayor for transportation.
This would be a great time for some leadership in that position, if you ask me. Traffic is lighter because of gas prices, and there's an excellent opportunity to capitalize on that momentum and heavily market flex time, working from home, carpooling, riding a bike and taking the train.
I checked Craigslist to see what De la Vega might get for his car if he sold it there. But it seems to be a buyer's market. As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, 18 Hummers had been posted for sale since Sunday.
"Take over our lease," pleaded one ad.
In another attempt to help the deputy mayor, I drove out to Pasadena to see what he might be able to get on a trade-in.
