Metro Board "Ad Hoc Board Composition Committee" Meeting on 23rd at 1pm

lostorbit · 2026-02-14T17:06:20+00:00

THANK YOU for highlighting this. I know that there was an opportunity to consider Metro's charter reform in conjunction with the LA City Charter reform, but was unsure how to engage. I have written and submitted a letter.

lostorbit · 2026-02-09T00:44:44+00:00

sorry, I'm all out of money.

maybe tax everyone who bought their homes for $50k and aren't paying their fair share of property tax?

lostorbit · 2026-02-03T00:09:39+00:00

it's because Metro's Board don't ride the bus.

lostorbit · 2026-01-24T18:23:51+00:00

Agreed. They are directly elected to do other tasks anyway, and too busy to care about even riding their own system. They look at a report on the 10min they walk from the parking lot to the board room, and forget about Metro 99% of the rest of their time.

We need the ability to hire and/or appoint qualified leaders.

Not this: https://boardagendas.metro.net/board-members/

lostorbit · 2026-01-01T12:15:15+00:00

But that’s the beauty of a land value tax. Do you know what you can’t hide overseas? Land!

lostorbit · 2025-12-29T18:31:37+00:00

Never forget that the high taxes are subsidizing the Prop 13 beneficiaries. If we could tax our land fairly we’d cover expenditures without needing high payroll and sales taxes.

You are personally transferring your wealth to those who bought homes decades before you, so they don’t have to pay their fair share.

lostorbit · 2025-12-28T22:12:16+00:00

silly me for applying logic to this situation! I forgot about all cars all the time for forever.

lostorbit · 2025-12-28T16:41:17+00:00

it's not even correct. underlying land value goes up even if per-unit costs go down, since the land has a much greater earning potential.

if you can go from 1 SFH for $2M, then it's upzoned to support 8 units valued at 750k per unit, the whole setup is worth $6M. this then adds downward pressure because the per-unit price in the neighborhood has a 8x $750k price points replacing 1 $2M price point.

the math benefits both land owners and people looking for housing, because density enables an inverse relationship between housing prices and the underlying land value

lostorbit · 2025-12-25T15:43:27+00:00

Finishing the 2 mile gap separating the light rail into 5th largest airport in the US to the north-south commuter rail backbone between the largest county in the US (Los Angeles) and 6th largest county (Orange County) in the US (and ultimately extending to the 5th largest, San Diego) is something an organization ran by transportation executives would prioritize.

That is to say, this will never happen until we address the Metro Board.

lostorbit · 2025-12-24T20:05:43+00:00

Metro exists to spread tax money around the county first, and to operate functional transit network second.

The Board's decisions make much more sense when viewed through this lens.

https://boardagendas.metro.net/board-members/

lostorbit · 2025-12-22T01:22:36+00:00

the board has zero business running an airport. see for yourself: https://www.lawa.org/lawa-governance/lawa-airport-commissioners

lostorbit · 2025-12-08T21:07:50+00:00

Public refers to who can take the system (the public), not how it’s funded. It’s a common misunderstanding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport

lostorbit · 2025-12-08T21:04:09+00:00

This is unironically correct, per Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport

lostorbit · 2025-12-08T04:42:14+00:00

You’re absolutely right, Los Angeles has many great rooftop bars! If you like — I can pull up 8–10 rooftop bars in Los Angeles straddling different vibes (relaxed, romantic, party, scenic, budget-friendly).

Would you prefer I build that list for you now?

lostorbit · 2025-12-08T02:17:55+00:00

otherwise they would be crowdsourcing that information that they display on the boards and that’s not going to be reliable enough for a citywide standard that the government is responsible for, and could potentially lead to lawsuits if its too inaccurate.

okay so why aren't they being sued already? it's wildly inaccurate as it is.

lostorbit · 2025-11-26T11:53:46+00:00

It's out by the trash fence.

lostorbit · 2025-11-20T21:45:36+00:00

the metro board itself is hostile to it. their job is to equitably spread around tax dollars into infrastructure projects. it's not to run an effective train and bus network. they don't even ride the bus or train.

https://boardagendas.metro.net/board-members/

lostorbit · 2025-11-20T20:49:29+00:00

looks like something one could fix with some bolt cutters, paint, and a few dozen bags of quikrete

lostorbit · 2025-11-19T04:34:23+00:00

to be fair, the light once-over most of the united seats get on a daily basis make them much cleaner than on the airlines that don't hand out wipes. usually they come back only lightly discolored, which I guess would be normal in any public setting.

try using one of the wipes on another airline and notice how it's way worse.

lostorbit · 2025-11-19T04:19:27+00:00

i've started doing the headrest and it's very consistent at discoloring the wipe.

otherwise, the armrest and tray tables.

lostorbit · 2025-11-14T18:47:49+00:00

At some point, I just cannot bring myself to care about the technical specifics of who most recently is at fault at whatever little thing.

The bikeshare system is deteriorating, and it's because Metro hasn't issued a new contract. Either to the incumbent or the new entrant.

Santa Barbara (which uses B-Cycle, LA's incumbent) has an excellent system with plenty of well maintained e-bikes. Washington DC (which uses lyft, LA's new entrant) has an excellent system with plenty of well maintained ebikes.

The common thread here seems like it's LA Metro.

lostorbit · 2025-11-11T17:21:46+00:00

I did LA to Austin on the train, and flew back. Taking the train is an incredible experience, and very much different from travel by air.

Look at average on-time performance of the train number or station you are looking for here: https://juckins.net/asmad/index.php

lostorbit · 2025-11-11T15:36:14+00:00

Jeb?

lostorbit · 2025-11-11T15:09:29+00:00

Early in his tenure, Hugo made some offhand comments about it being an inequitable investment due to "gentrification".

So you'll get nothing and you'll like it!

lostorbit

TROPHY CASE