22nd Street Park - Great Idea

As I drive through San Pedro there are a number of properties with nothing more than a chain link fence surrounding them. When I was growing up these vacant lots were play yards. Places to ride your bike, play catch and dig in the dirt. Now, property owners surround these lots with fences. Times have changed. But maybe we should reverse this trend. Take a look at the HUGE vacant lot next to "The Spot" on 22nd and Pacific. This lot use to be a hotel years ago before it burned down. Now it sits there with a fence around it. Maybe the Neighborhood council and Joe Busciano and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce look to make this a park. It seems like the city should be able to post some signs up indicating that the owner is not liable for injuries on the property and help avoid the legal issues that caused the fence to go up. Maybe the city could give the property owner a break for lending its property to the neighborhood for a park. Maybe the Neighborhood Council could adopt this property and find neighbors in the area that will work to keep the property clean. Maybe the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce could work with the neighborhood to put up some walls or huge rocks to reduce the chance for dumping on the property and to reduce the chance that the lot will be used for parking. Maybe if the whole community works together San Pedro can have a 22nd Street Park on Pacific. This would give all the apartments dwellers in the area a close place to have their children play, provide a nice place to hang out while doing laundry across the street, and make San Pedro better looking. Now, if we could get everyone to work together we could have a 22nd Street Park on Pacific near the homes and apartments that surround it.

110 Toll Lane Divides Rich and Poor

The toll lanes planned for the 110 Freeway is not good for the poor and families. Nothing can be more divisive then a special road where people with money can drive and others can watch. Additionally divisive is saying that the funds from the toll road will be used for the separate but not equal public transit which is primarily used by the poor. Toll lanes may bring in revenue to our government, but at what costs? Families that want to drive into Los Angeles for the day can't use the car pool lane on impromptu trips making things tougher on them. If you have been in a car with a small child you know the value of a quick trip and what is lost by creating toll roads. Toll roads also create a spectacle where the poor get to watch the rich have special access, further fermenting discontent in america. Toll roads are divisive, the car pool lanes were able to be accessed by everyone. Now it takes $3/month and maybe $1.40/mile.