Latest proposal to handle L.A.'s crumbling sidewalks*

The idea is to document what needs to be fixed - a project that would take three years and cost $10 million - and then ask voters to pass a bond measure to pay for the repairs. The plan is being pushed by Miguel Santana, the city's top budget official, who has been on a crusade to create new sources of revenue for the cash-strapped city. Santana is also recommending tax hikes. Since the inspection would take so long, it might be 2017 before a bond measure makes it to the ballot. From the LAT:

L.A.'s patchwork of decaying walkways look more like skateboard ramps than sidewalks in some places. With some lifted as high as 10 inches from the curb, the city has become a target for some 2,500 "trip and fall" claims per year. Larger legal challenges have come from wheelchair users, who say a gauntlet of broken sidewalks violates the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. The last year that money was devoted to removing and replacing damaged sidewalks was 2007-2008, when the city spent $6 million to fix 26 miles, public works officials said.

*LAT correction: Budget director Miguel Santana has not taken a position.