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Prosser Avenue in Rancho Park. Photo by Judy Graeme.
The City Council has moved to get some of the pending liabilities off its docket, agreeing to lay out $1.3 billion over three decades to fix the awful sidewalks and $2.45 million to settle with the Occupy protesters the LAPD and Mayor Villaraigosa cleared out of City Hall park back in 2011.
The commitment to spend on sidewalk repairs comes in response to a lawsuit by disabled residents that poor condition of walkways is dangerous and impedes access under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The agreement does not resolve the underlying political fight in City Hall: whether to live up to the city's promise to pay for repairs in front of houses, where the city plants trees that damage the sidewalks, or require homeowners to pay for the city's mess. Here's the Times' story today.
The second deal approved today by the City Council would pay $2.45 million to settle all claims by Occupy LA protesters who were arrested when city officials swooped in to close down the encampment outside City Hall. This was the month following a vote by the City Council to support Occupy LA., which staged the camp on the south lawn for 59 days. Protesters had alleged that the military-style tactics used by the LAPD and supporting police agencies, who staged at Dodger Stadium before circling the camp and moving in, violated their rights. They claimed handcuffs were too tight and that those detained were access to water or bathroom facilities.
Officials calculated in 2012 that the Occupy episode had cost the city $4.2 million in expenses.
Previously on LA Observed:
City removes Occupy LA, makes about 200 arrests
Villaraigosa and city officials pat themselves on backs for successful Occupy L.A. raid
Photos of morning aftermath at former Occupy LA
Video: CNS reporter's arrest differs from LAPD account
On the Occupy LA box mural
