Letters to the Editor: Eric Garcetti's 'promise now, do nothing later' mayorship

To the editor: In 2015, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti pledged to eliminate traffic deaths in Los Angeles by 2025. After gaining allies and boosters from left-leaning health and traffic safety groups, he stood by and watched the death count increase year after year. ("Eric Garcetti led L.A. during profoundly turbulent times. How will history judge him?" Dec. 9)

He seemed to ignore pleas from families dealing with the horror of their loved ones being crushed or catapulted by irresponsible drivers — drivers encouraged by L.A. street designs that favor speed over safety and offer little to those outside vehicles.

The death count grows each year: 289 were killed in 2021, 21% more than 2020, and 19% over 2019.

Yet when answering the question, "How will he be judged?," The Times' look at Garcetti's legacy never mentioned these lives that he pledged to save. This pledge is indicative of his "promise now, do nothing later" approach to any difficult choice he had to make.

That toothless, spineless approach will forever be his legacy.

Jonathan Lang, Pasadena

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To the editor: Garcetti has been the most hands-on, accessible mayor in my 50 years of voting in Los Angeles. He showed compassion, listened to people and was responsible.

I had my picture taken with him in the Rose Garden at Exposition Park outside the nearby King Tut exhibit. He was with his family. We talked as if we were old friends.

Thank you, former Mayor Garcetti, for always "showing up."

Andrea Edwards, Van Nuys

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.