KTLA News: "City Councilmembers react to report from National Urban Coalition" (1971)

uh conman wax what is your reaction to the [Music] I think it's a rehash of all of the myths that they conjured up uh in the original kerer report uh that thing was uh was a disaster for America I think people who never thought about race relations in parts of the country where there uh there aren't many white people there aren't many black people got exacerbated by that original koner report and I think they're just trying to stir up some additional trouble well I am ready completely but I did um see in one of our local newspapers uh that the comment was that things have not improved I think that in many areas that's true I think in many other areas that is not true I think in terms of the overall reaction or the overall relationship between the peoples of our community I think that that has considerably deteriorated since the kernel report I don't think it's any question after 6 years in public service there's no question in my mind that we have not solved the problems of our urban areas we are polluting our cities we are making them more congested we have given into to the automobile we have not yet found the solutions to our problems I think John Lindsay uh didn't surprise us at all every cab driver in New York will tell you he ruined that City he's as phony as a $3 bill uh he uh that was a beautiful city in New York to go visit prior to John Lindsay becoming mayor he's a classic example of a man who was elected by less than half the people uh trying to lead a city and he's totally incapable of cleaning up his own City and uh we don't appreciate him coming in here into Los Angeles and telling lies about this city report is to point these out and to not put them under the rug to point out that they do exist and that there is an urgency in Los Angeles we have the tremendous need for example for some form of Rapid Transit some additional mode of transportation other than just a total dependency on the automobile not only for environmental purposes but for Mobility purposes and in minority communities that now don't have adequate means of transportation um there is a great need for this uh a need to solve the housing some of the housing problems and again that's a Citywide problem uh various aspects of it in some cases it's lowcost housing in other cases uh it's just overcrowding um uh the whole area of City financing which is a very critical situation as Industries go from a city and leave the most costly uh services to be provide it but with no tax base in order to finance them and a commission report which points these out and says there's an urgency and brings it to the public attention does a service by giving an impetus to to some solutions councilman Mills what is your reaction to the commission report this morning regarding councilman Brony what is your reaction to the commission report this morning that life in the big cities has deteriorated the uh we have to really uh reform the entire tax system and the entire system of planning our cities so that they are not polluted and the environment is destroyed I feel very strongly about these matters Cosman Snider what is your reaction to the report that was issued by Senator Fred Harris this morning well of course the only thing that I've been able to read is the newspaper accounts which painted with a very broad brush and apparently the report does the same thing uh the specific area in which I I think I would have some real difference uh with the report is the allegation that the relationship between the police and the Mexican-American Community has deteriorated as far as the Los Angeles Police Department goes actually I think that in the last uh five to six years that you've seen a very real Improvement uh between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Mexican-American community and I think that this is attributable to the basic car plan to new new campaign in the last few years of hiring Mexican-American police officers and seeing to it that they are involved in their own Community uh and which has brought the the people of that Community a lot closer a few years ago we had the problem of of militant groups following policemen around to see that they didn't beat up people in Theo and uh and uh some very heavy criticism of the police department uh almost door too uh these days it's not the same councilman adman what is your reaction to the commission report by Senator Harris that life in the big cities have deteriorated since 1968 when the koner report was issued well I'm not s surprised uh I'm somewhat disturbed by the implications of the report especially about our police department and about the conditions in the South Central Los Angeles area and I think they bear looking into I think the city holds the responsibility to see what those there are and we cannot deny there are Urban problems of a of a great magnitude not only in this area but throughout the nation which must be solved I think that the benefit of a commission 70s report well I think it's uh typically what you'd expect from the authors uh this is a National Urban Coalition John Gardner even pulled out of it it's the old ker commission gang who try to stir up divisiveness in the country by pitting uh White against black instead of talking about solutions they talk about problems we have two presidential hopefuls here Senator Harris declared today I understand I say is getting off to a real bad start to be elected president to take on the city of Los Angeles the way that he did he obviously has been in Washington so long he he can't uh re uh that report uh we heard about uh we tried to run it down we don't know uh who issued what ticket to whom because uh uh on the freeway system here uh no one can tell you know where someone might have and and they didn't offer this in their information so I think they're grasping at that sort of thing for a man who wants to be the president of the United States or two men who want to be the president of the United States to take those uh that little pity of data there and try to blow it into a condemnation of this city uh shows that both of them are absolutely unqualified to hold their present offices let alone be president of the United States do you feel there's anything implicit in Al neer's resignation in San Francisco no I think any chief of police uh particularly one who's had his men killed right in his own stations uh uh and doesn't get all the support he needs to do a job uh uh feels like Al nelder must have felt when he retired but I'll tell you one thing I'm not going to retire from this job we got a lot of battles to win around here yet and I intend to be around here many years how about the detail I don't think there's any question about it things aren't as good as they should be uh we haven't caught up educationally uh these children in the minority school districts are still getting out at below 20th percental on reading and arithmetic that has to be corrected uh crime is still higher than we would like to have it but this very meeting I'm going into now uh Southwest boosters where businessmen in our Southwest Division are helping working in the baky radio car plan providing athletic activities for the children uh the 77 Street dames activity and in helping bring peace to that Community I think all of these things didn't exist then and of course that committee wasn't interested in finding out the truth they want to confirm their own hypothesis the report seem to indicate that Los Angeles police either react or overreact e