To the editor: It sounds simple: A homeowner gets a loan, hires a contractor, and fixes the sidewalk. But when you look deeper, it turns out to be pretty complicated. (“How Los Angeles Can Fix Our Terrifying Sidewalks for the Olympics,” Opinion, Sept. 10)
The photo with UCLA professor Donald Shoup's op-ed shows the need to remove a large tree; that might require closing a street. Utilities need to be protected and damage to the street repaired. Extensive excavation is needed to remove the roots. I can imagine the permitting nightmare.
There are reasons why the city of Los Angeles is so far behind on sidewalk repairs, and these and other issues are among them. Leaving this problem to the homeowner is not a good solution.
We need to figure out what tools the city needs to fix its sidewalks and why the tools it has seem to be underutilized.
Patrick Randall, Newbury Park
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To the editor: Maybe I'm too simple-minded when it comes to dealing with the problems that come my way, as a business owner for over 50 years. I've spent my life making plans to solve problems, solving them, and then moving on. Apparently, the city of Los Angeles isn't capable of thinking that way.
To give you an example: a few months ago, crews were sent to my neighborhood to repair another stolen copper cable. Part of the job was to “fortify” existing underground manholes against vandalism.
I'm not sure how many hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent not only on reinforcing the boxes (which meant marking their location on new concrete), but also on the utter stupidity of installing hundreds of feet of new sidewalk and leaving the sagging, ski-jump-like portions intact.
In his op-ed, Shoup mentions a 2016 lawsuit that resulted in a $1.4 billion judgment requiring Los Angeles to repair its sidewalks. He notes that $35 million has since been paid out for sidewalk-related injuries.
The fact that California law makes private homeowners responsible for public works maintenance issues on public sidewalks adjacent to private property is appalling.
And don't even get me started on switching to solar power wherever possible. I've been getting the runaround on that for years.
Ricc Bieber, Northridge
