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Skid Row Power Play?

Over the last month, stories and allegations of homeless individuals being "dumped" in downtown Los Angeles' eastern reaches continue to trickle out. First County Sherrifs were said to have dropped off transients swept off streets elsewhere. Then local hospitals admitted to the practice because of the availability of treatment centers for patients who were without shelter.

But as the story continues to grow legs, there is a degree of mystery just how a few muttering bums happened to convince the Los Angeles Times to print their complaints.

Something tells me they didn't have to. While it's potentially the case that the Times pounded the pavement and figured out this story all by itself...it reeks of a big leak into the newsroom.

That's significant because there are two likely sources of who would provide such a lead. The first is someone in City Hall, eager to stop the practice. The second would be a developer or other real estate player confounded by the inability to move east because of "all these bums around". It's not real clear who at this point, but Mayor Villaraigoisa's response on CNN that he blamed the federal government hints he did not have a planned, locally-significant answer lined up.

That leaves John Q. Developer. More specifically however, Dodger owner Frank McCourt. It has been known for some time that McCourt was unable to buy the team in full, and that the organization owns Dodger stadium outright. Selling it would help balance the books, and the local government would be just so eager to help him publicly finance a new edifice. Suspend your disbelief for a moment that California politicans are usually tight with public money.

McCourt knows that in San Diego, the local police were all too eager to push out the transient population that used to live on the site of Petco Park to help make it a success. This relevation might be the way he gets a crack-down on the practice and frees up enough downtown real estate to build his stadium.

Nevermind the fact that no one is actually advocating from the transients' position. The homeless are not usually a major economic or political force. Still, "trash" often precipates some of the headiest public policy clashes...so don't be be surprised if the real impact is a much bigger struggle by the City of Los Angeles to exert itself on the County and the other 88 incorporated cities within it.
posted by Thomas at 3:46 PM 0 comments

 
Nissan's Tennessee Titans

The Los Angeles Times reported recently that Nissan USA is thinking of jettisoning its California headquarters for one closer to its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. This development is curious for a number of reasons. There's the obvious culture shock for visiting Japanese executives (after their connecting flight through Chicago or Dallas) of a place as unlike California as one can imagine: conservative, inland, and devoid of racial diversity.

But just like Los Angeles, Nashville's economy increasingly relies on a burgeoning tourist industry that began with country music and has blossomed into other media. Even Miami does not match the glamour of Tennesee's capital in the South. Now, the tourist and entertainment indstury is inherently service oriented. So why are big manufacturers eager to move there?

Don't count out potentially a pension or accounting scandal here. Cost savings would be significant if it completely relocated to Tennessee. But why else would there be such pressure to do so? And does this mean Honda and Toyota, also based in Los Angeles County, are soon to follow to the South?

One factor to consider: imported brands are decidedly less popular in Middle American than in California. The efficiency of smaller, Japanese cars is a lost cause throughout much of the nation. So Nissan may feel it is going to change that trend by learning about these "red state values".

Yet curiously enough, Nissan's premium truck model, the Titan isn't produced at the Smryna plant. The more demure Frontier is, as well as the Xterra, and Altima. If the company wants to make their move stick, they might take a hint from the NFL and move the Titans to Tennessee.
posted by Thomas at 12:53 AM 0 comments