Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered his first “State of the City” address Thursday evening, promising to bar any rate increases for water and power, and to begin phasing out the city’s business (or gross receipts) tax.
His speech, which as of Friday morning remains unavailable at his official website, was widely reported in local media, and greeted positively, if somewhat skeptically. Alice Walton of local public radio station KPCC noted that Garcetti included a subtle nod to his critics “who have commented on his low-key style of governing” since he took office last July: “We’re about getting results, not getting headlines,” Garcetti told his audience.
One of those results includes opening a new lane on the San Diego Freeway (a.k.a. Interstate 405) five months early. The highway, which connects the South Bay, West L.A., and the San Fernando Valley, is one of the busiest in the nation, with legendary traffic during rush hour–and even, on occasion, late at night on weekends.
Garcetti’s speech came one day after the L.A. 2020 Commission released its own recommendations for the city.