Happy New Year and 16 wishes for 2016

by Gary Toebben

With January in full swing, I wanted to share my “wish list” for improving the economy of the City and County of Los Angeles for the upcoming year. Here’s what my dream year would look like:

• The newly named Superintendent of LAUSD hits the ground running with the support of major stakeholders to improve our schools for all students.
• The $5 billion LAX Landside Modernization Access Program (LAMP) moves forward speedily through the environmental and procurement processes to connect the airport to Metro and transform the way passengers access the terminals.
•  L.A. County Metro constructs a successful ballot measure to augment Measure R with signature projects and geographic balance that will relieve congestion and increase our mobility options.
• A proposed initiative that would put a moratorium on many construction projects in the City and doom L.A. to a permanent housing shortage is defeated in November.
•  BNSF’s Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) gains approval and begins the process of reducing the number of trucks with cargo containers on the 710 freeway. 
•  California passes a state transportation bill to follow-up the bipartisan federal transportation reauthorization bill that Congress passed during 2015.
•  Governor Jerry Brown’s “California Water Fix” moves forward to address the San Joaquin Delta’s limitations that threaten the environment and our water supply.
•  Statewide and local reforms reduce CEQA abuses and return the law closer to its original intent.
•  The County and City of L.A. collaborate on aggressive actions to solve our homelessness crisis.
•  The County and City of L.A. both move forward on economic development proposals to grow jobs in manufacturing, trade, bioscience and technology.
•  Progress on expanding and modernizing the L.A. Convention Center gives promise to the goal of infusing more convention dollars into our economy.
•  The City of L.A.’s three-year phase in of a gross receipts tax reduction that began Jan. 1 is followed by an additional commitment to more reductions and simplifications in future years.
•  Congress passes the Higher Education Action bill to improve college access, affordability and graduation with less student debt. 
•  Congress approves the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement to open up more international markets to California exporters.
•  NFL football returns to L.A. after a two decades long absence.
•  Our hometown NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS and college teams bring home several championships for our local fans.

These improvements will require a strong sense of urgency, action and collaboration by the public and private sector. And if El Nino brings enough rain and snow pack to partially relieve the drought, we will really have a good year. Let’s get to work! 

And that’s The Business Perspective.