Well Done, KTLA

I couldn’t be prouder of KTLA for their reporting on two troubled properties in Studio City last week. In case you didn’t see any of the stories:

Basically, an abandoned property on Babcock Avenue caught on fire after FIVE YEARS of the city ignoring neighbors’ complaints about trash, overgrown vegetation, and an encampment on the property that has led to thefts and vehicle break-ins.

There was a house on the property, but it was torn down for a new development. The lot has remained vacant. (Sound familiar?)

The first story ended thusly:

KTLA reached out to Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman’s office, which represents the area, as well as Mayor Karen Bass’ office for more information about the property and residents’ complaints.

No response was immediately available.

Is anyone surprised?

Mere hours after the first story ran, KTLA followed up. Mayor Bass ordered the site cleared, but she and Nithya Raman, who represents the neighborhood, seem to be more interested in pointing fingers at each other than in solving the problem.

Is it any wonder the city is in the state it’s in?

A third story mentioned a second blighted property owned by the same LLC (linked to just one person), mere blocks away on Laurel Grove Avenue.

Raman raised a fair point when she told KTLA the following:

I cannot call her about the 200+ issues that we are dealing with that are all at this level of risk across the entire district. Does she want me to call her about every encampment? Does she want me to call her about every single fire risk? Or do we actually deal with a functional city where departments can actually solve issues and where I use the process that her office has sent me to identify the priority locations for nuisance abatement?

Raman also represents my family’s longtime neighborhood, and she has been a disappointment (which I will not get into). But in this specific case, she’s not wrong about city departments not functioning the way they should. (I’m looking at YOU here, LAHD.)

Bass and Raman have continued to squabble over blame, and frankly, the fact that they are running against each other for Mayor while sniping at each other like a couple of snotty middle-schoolers is making me nauseous.

The best journalists use their position to call for accountability. Without KTLA’s reporting, the Babcock lot would probably be on fire again by now.

Unspecified addresses on Babcock Avenue and Laurel Grove Avenue, Studio City.