To some, my recent post entitled, Hey Hollywood, Who Needs a Car in LA? may have seemed like a jab at the creative community. Rather than jab, I'd say, gentle prod. To make the 30/10 Transportation and Jobs Initiative happen, we need the country's major entertainment companies that make their home here, and elsewhere, to get on board. We need them to back 30/10 but we also need them to repackage this divinely inspired idea so that that it sells in Washington, as well as on Fox News and NPR.
30/10 is LA's ambitious but possible plan to build thirty years of transportation projects within a decade rather than three. And it's a bargain for Washington as most of the cost of the twelve overdue to-be-built transportation projects are to be paid for with funds that county voters have already approved.
It's such a good deal for LA and for the nation that I even want Andrew Breitbart and his mentor Matt Drudge "investigating" 30/10 and its potential for building public transportation and other stuff the country has needed for decades. That's a scoop worth owning.
You see, as much as I like shilling for it, 30/10 is also ready for prime time at the newspaper of record, the New York Times and in Tom Friedman's column.
I was thinking of going to Wikileaks with this breaking news but they're busy explaining to the world why we shouldn't be wasting precious billions that might be spent rebuilding America, lining the pockets of corrupt officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
To put it bluntly, in asking a divided Congress and Washington to help LA help itself through 30/10, we need all the public and editorial support we can get. And that means community and business leaders as well as plain folk from all sectors of the LA economy getting on board the train to a better transportation future for Los Angeles.
So where are we? We're actually doing pretty well and support is growing all over.
Still, borrowing liberally from George Orwell, while we are all equal in our support of 30/10, some of us are more critical than others when it comes to public endorsements of this transportation building initiative of New Deal proportions.
Which is why this week I want to celebrate the prominent community leaders who have stepped up and publicly expressed their support for the 30/10 Initiative. I'm delighted to publicly "out" community leaders including Eli Broad, Norman Lear and Act III Communications, Roll International Corporation, the David Bohnett Foundation and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for signing on to the 30/10 petition.
And thanks as well to the LA Coalition, a group of esteemed LA business leaders, the labor community, and the many lesser known companies (like Thomas Safran & Associates which has been with us from the start), organizations, and individuals who have signed Move LA's petition in support of 30/10.
With LA the driver behind the health of the California economy and California critical to the nation's economic picture, 30/10 should happen whether you voted for Obama or McCain and live in subway and light rail-poor Montana or just plain poor Bell, California.
So what are you waiting for? It's not too late to show your support for 30/10 by signing on. And with the Congress recess upon us and most of both sides of the aisle heading to Los Angeles to fundraise for November, if you plan to attend any of those pricey receptions in Brentwood, Bel Air or Santa Monica be sure to ask the Senator or candidate where he or she stands on 30/10. The what? If they miss a beat, please think twice before adding a zero to your check.
Maybe it's the marine layer and the unseasonably cool summer we've been having in LA. Whatever the reason, Angelenos seem more focused on public transportation than they've ever been before. Now let's close the 30/10 deal by being so united in our support that it is on the front page and everyone in Washington knows what we're talking about and asking for. Sign on today. You'll be in good company.