Valley Issues Hit Close to Home

If ever there was a need for the San Fernando Valley to secede from the city of Los Angeles, the lack of concern for Valley residents that I have experienced from the city clearly demonstrates it. I have lived in my home since 1972. The city had never trimmed the trees in the parkway until last year, when I filed notice with my councilwoman about the danger these tree limbs posed. The trees have gotten so large that the roots have cracked the sidewalks, uprooted the sprinkler system, started to undermine a retaining wall and tilted a mailbox in excess of 25 degrees.

At my request, my councilwoman contacted the Bureau of Street Maintenance, urging it to approve a permit to remove the trees. The bureau inspected the trees and refused to approve my request for removal of the trees because it said the trees are still alive. Inevitably, someone will get injured and lawsuits will result. Eventually, my property damage will result in a suit against the city for repair costs.

This problem is not restricted merely to my house; on a nearby street the damage is so great to the sidewalks that walking there is dangerous. The city spends money to make corner curbs wheelchair-accessible, but no person in a wheelchair can negotiate the sidewalk in front of my house safely. Why? Because some low-level bureaucrat has been given the power from downtown. My tree concerns merely exemplify why the time for the Valley to have its own representation is now.

Murray Levine

Encino

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Since I am a senior citizen who lives on a limited income--and already pay more than half of my income for my rent--I am very concerned that if secession wins it will give landlords a chance to get rid of the 3% rent control limits that exist in Los Angeles.

Considering the fact that there is a shortage of affordable apartments in the Valley, this would give landlords an excuse to drop the rent control and allow them to charge whatever they can get, and a lot of other people like myself will end up being forced from their homes.

I have called Valley VOTE to find out what its plans are regarding rent control, but the only answer I have received is that rent control will “probably” continue. I am sorry to say that “probably” does not make me feel very safe, so I am going to vote to stay in Los Angeles.

Daria Case

Sherman Oaks