Tom LaBonge: Everyone's City Councilman (Except Beachwooders')
Tourists on Mulholland Highway in 2011/Hope Anderson ProductionsLast night's public meeting on Beachwood Canyon's tourism crisis was notable in many ways. It was packed--so much so that I couldn't find parking anywhere in the vicinity of Fountain Avenue and arrived too late to be put on the speakers' roster. It was contentious, not only between the citizenry and Councilman LaBonge, but among various neighborhood groups with divergent interests--i.e., Friends of Griffith Park, which doesn't want the closure of certain Park roads, versus the Hollywoodland Homeowners' Association, which does. And it was horrifying, because it made clear that it's only a matter of time before the unchecked flow of tourist traffic into Beachwood Canyon will have deadly consequences.
Residents who spoke recounted the ways in which life in Beachwood Canyon has gotten more difficult and dangerous since the ubiquity of GPS. With 1,000 cars per day ascending the narrow streets around the Hollywood Sign, there have been auto accidents, threats against residents by tourists and tour bus drivers, emergency services delayed because of traffic jams, and round-the-clock intoxication, lewd behavior and vandalism throughout the Canyon.
When I moved to Hollywoodland in 2005, I went to Lake Hollywood Park with my dog almost daily; we also hiked the trails once or twice a week. As time passed, our daily drive up to the Park became increasingly terrifying, as tourists refused to give right-of-way while driving downhill on Ledgewood, a street of blind curves. It's unusual to have to slam on the brakes while ascending a steep hill to avoid being hit head-on, but that's what I had to do countless times. My dog--a 95-pounder--was flung from the backseat onto the floor more times than I care to remember. Tourists cursed me when I told them, "Up has the right of way," and refused to back up as required by law. I've stopped foreign tourists--from India and Brazil--after seeing them running every stop sign on Beachwood Drive--apparently knowledge of the word stop isn't required to rent a car. Tourists smoke with impunity in a dry, fire-prone habitat, often within feet of the Smokey the Bear signs that Councilman LaBonge so proudly installed last year.
I no longer go to Lake Hollywood Park or the trails: since my dog died last year, the danger of getting up there--either by car or on foot--has outweighed the pleasures of those destinations. It's a shame, because the Park and trails were major reasons for my moving here in the first place. But times have changed: like many Beachwooders, I feel the neighborhood has been given over to tourists, and that we residents no longer matter.
Councilman Labonge said as much last night. In response to a neighbor of mine who said, "The word on the street is that you care more about the tourists than the residents," he angrily responded, "Not true. Not true--I care about everyone." Any other politician would have said, "I care deeply about my constituents," but not him. Still, I give Tom LaBonge credit for speaking the truth: when he says he cares about everyone, he means everyone in the world. Except of course those of us who live here, and whose taxes pay his salary.
Related articles: http://underthehollywoodsign.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/tom-labonges-plan-for-hollywoodland-an-update/ http://underthehollywoodsign.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/tom-labonges-tourist-trade/