The union representing Los Angeles city firefighters launched a campaign this week against Measure HLA, representing the first serious threat to a ballot measure aimed at improving safety on city streets.
The City of Los Angeles United Firefighters Local 112 plans to spend “six figures” (at least $100,000) on a campaign against Measure HLA, which would require the installation of hundreds of miles of new bike lanes, bus lanes and other transportation improvements on designated boulevards. undergoing major repairs.
Union President Freddy Escobar said his organization, which represents about 3,400 firefighters, is concerned the move will lead to slower emergency response times and put new pressure on a city budget already under strain. financial. Fire trucks are already being hampered by “road diets” — reductions in vehicle lanes caused by the creation of bike or bus lanes, Escobar said in an interview.
“Every second counts. Road diets slow down our firefighters,” Escobar said. “And it will be much worse with HLA.”
Supporters of Measure HLA denounced the union's action and said the ballot measure is urgently needed to reduce the number of deaths on Los Angeles streets. Last year, 336 people died in traffic accidents, more than half of them pedestrians, and those deaths now exceed the number of homicides.
“If we're really talking about public safety for everyone … then we have to address this as a public health crisis,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA, a transit advocacy group that supports HLA.
HLA advocates maintain that bike lanes and other improvements will slow traffic speeds, reducing the danger experienced by pedestrians and cyclists. They have also tried to refute the union's claims, saying the city's own environmental analysis found that access for emergency vehicles would remain the same or improve if new street improvements are completed.
The union's announcement comes at a time of growing debate over Measure HLA, the only legislation that will appear on the ballot in the March 5 municipal elections. If passed, the HLA would require city agencies to complete a list of transportation projects detailed in the Mobility Plan 2035, a planning document approved by the council nine years ago.
City Chief Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, the city's top budget analyst, warned several months ago that the measure could cost more than $2.5 billion over the next 10 years, or an average of $250 million per year. In a financial impact statement provided to voters, Szabo said the projects required under Measure HLA could reduce the number of streets that are repaved each year.
Streets for All, an advocacy group, originally conceived for HLA. Michael Schneider, who founded that organization and leads the pro-HLA campaign, rejected the city's financial assessment, calling Szabo's cost estimates dramatically inflated.
Schneider said the HLA campaign reached a much different cost estimate after obtaining records from the city's Department of Transportation and Office of Engineering. After reviewing documents on sidewalk and bike lane projects, the HLA campaign concluded that the ballot measure will cost about $28.6 million per year if all projects are completed within a decade.
“We do not believe that [city’s] “The estimate is an honest representation of the cost,” he said.
Szabo said Tuesday that he stands by his numbers, calling them “conservative estimates.”
While the firefighters union has formed a committee to fight the HLA, Schneider's campaign is getting a boost from a different union: Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel and restaurant workers and has produced campaign materials in support of the measure.
Schneider said HLA's campaign has also garnered endorsements from six council members so far: Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Eunisses Hernandez, Heather Hutt, Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martínez and Katy Yaroslavsky.
Raman, in an interview, cast doubt on the firefighters union's arguments. “The data shows over and over again that if you reduce road speeds, there are fewer deaths on the streets,” he said.
Measure HLA would require the installation of 200 miles of bus lanes (some operating 24 hours a day, others only during rush hours) and more than 600 miles of bicycle lanes. If city crews perform repairs on more than one-eighth of a mile on a particular street, then any Mobility Plan projects planned for that stretch should be incorporated into the road work.
In the San Fernando Valley, HLA requires bike lanes on Ventura Boulevard from Woodland Hills east to North Hollywood. The vast majority of Ventura would also receive bus lanes as part of the ballot measure, Schneider said.
On the east side, the city would need to install protected bike lanes on Soto Street from Huntington Drive to Whittier Boulevard and on Whittier Boulevard through Boyle Heights, according to proponents of the measure. In Hollywood, unprotected bike lanes would be added to Santa Monica Boulevard, they said.
Bus lanes, either 24-hour or peak-hour only, would be installed on Broadway from downtown to Imperial Highway in South Los Angeles, the HLA campaign said.
Schneider accused city officials of assuming the city would carry out “Rolls Royce” versions of each HLA project, when less expensive alternatives are available. He pointed to HLA's plan for 238 miles of protected bike lanes, the kind that are separated from car traffic.
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While city agencies could achieve that goal by building expensive concrete medians to keep cyclists away from traffic, they could also put up bollards, a much cheaper alternative, he said.
The HLA campaign's arguments have not reassured everyone on the council.
Councilwoman Traci Park, who opposes the measure, said she is concerned that the projects required by HLA will leave the city with fewer dollars for other public services, such as programs to address homelessness.
“I'm sure there is a way to build a system [of bike lanes] that meets our mobility and sustainability objectives,” he said. “But this vote-based budget measure is something that unfortunately removes all discretion from the council office. Eliminate community participation. “It opens the floodgates for lawsuits.”
The firefighters union has also focused on other Los Angeles city elections, investing more than $300,000 in efforts to elect council candidate Ethan Weaver, who is running to unseat Raman.
The union has also been spending money to support the re-election campaigns of Harris-Dawson, Hutt and Council members John Lee and Imelda Padilla.
