Save our City through a labor-neighbor alliance
The account of the Bastille Day SLAP protest event in the LA Times , was a humorous put down. Its focus was the odd-balls among the 150-200 people who Ron Kaye, former Daily News editor, mobilized for the event. Nevertheless, the article could not fully dismiss the positive impulses of most of those who attended the Save our City rally. They are definitely pushing in the right direction, although the organizers should not imply that city employees are part of the problem. Civil servants should not be confused with the city's decision makers or municipal unions. The staff and some of the officers or the latter are, for the most part, now allied with elected officials, not LA residents. This situation, however, has been different and could change. This broad brush critique of city employees is also wrong because there is a natural alliance between the providers and consumers of municipal services. This labor-neighbor alliance should be cultivated, and the Daily