L.A. Sidewalks A Costly For The City Place To Walk

The two most common political sins that will incur the voting wrath of city voters are a failure to fix pot holes and a failure to pick up the trash and in the case of L.A. with its municipal DWP a failure to keep the power on and the water flowing especially to the toilets to flush during Super Bowl halftime. Kudos the L.A. Times for pointing out another sin which should also be a source of wrath. http://discussions.latimes.com/20/lanews/la-me-0202-lopez-cracks-20140202/10  Cracking and upheaving sidewalks that cause thousands up thousands of dollars of damage claims and payouts for pedestrians who trip and fall as a result. In auto rich L.A. concern over pedestrian safety while on the sidewalks probably ranks on a par with or below L.A. having enough snow plows ready in July to react to a blizzard. This poet's creation of awareness and a solution follow:
Arrgh Make Them Walk The Beam!

Woodman, woodman spare that tree, and do not its roots hinder or curb

News of millions paid by L.A. for trip and falls is callous and absurd
Rather than fix the problem of trees causing heaving concrete
It’s only a cost of being a city with no plans to try to defeat
So the claims and dollars paid out continue to soar
Lawyers in a steady stream pounding on the courthouse door
The real pain of broken wrists, legs, arms, and knees, L.A. continues to ignore
Too busy worrying about how L.A. on other issues can spend more
If in the balance between the tree and the pedestrian scale
In an auto rich environment, the pedestrian needs will always fail
So here are two ideas for this problem to solve
Just need a little caring and common sense resolve
Treat the cracked and upheaving sidewalks as small streams
Build over them on raised  blocks with rails a wide and sturdy beam
If that fails, here is Plan B that without fail for these bureaucrats will work
No longer will they be bystanders, callous in their duties to us completely shirk
Replicate a hundred feet of the worst sidewalks cracked and heaved
Force the bureaucrats to stumble over when they enter work and when they leave
With no rights for sick pay on injury or against L.A. to file a claim or otherwise sue
After the first bureaucrat cracks his knee, watch how quickly fixing they will with fervor pursue  

© February 1, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet