First thing first.  The loss of 14 lives in NOLA on 1/1 and the loss of an unknown number of LA lives, animals, and property damage a week later are devastating tragedies.

Second thing second.  Realistically, perhaps the only thing harder to prevent than a determined radicalized terrorist from driving a truck through a crowd is stopping a high wind raging wildfire.

But.

Third thing third.  Prevention might be out of reach at times.  But, anticipation, preparation, prevention, and planned reaction can at least minimize the carnage.

Priority one for elected city officials and their hired teams is public safety. In both cities(and states) their leadership failed them.  And, this isn’t the first time for either.

In NOLA long, long ago broken bollards were recently sent out for repair leaving the city vulnerable.  Forty million dollars worth of mobile archers that could have prevented an approach onto the sidewalks lay unused.  The NOLA police chief publically stated, ” I didn’t know these existed.”

The city has purchased some new bollards to replace those that are not repairable.  A city spokesperson said, “The new bollards are made to stop only lighter vehicles traveling at speeds under 10 miles per hour.”

The state told NO repeatedly that the French Quarter was a high-risk target.  The “City That Care Forgot” didn’t care enough to heed all the warning signs.

In Cali high winds over dry areas are very predictable.  Tens of thousands of wind turbines capture some of that wind and harness its energy.

The southern half of the state has had a water supply problem for half a century.  Millions of gallons of water from the north are diverted into the Pacific Ocean that could be used to fill reservoirs and/or saturate the land itself.

An environmental study said the life of a fish called a Smelt could be jeopardized by an overabundance of fresh water flowing south.

How about cleaning out the underbrush?

The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1) authorized $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds to fund ecosystems and watershed protection and restoration, water supply infrastructure projects, including surface and groundwater storage, and drinking water protection.  It sounded good.

The LA Fire Department is 300 firefighters short of its needed number.  Its current DEI hiring policies and termination of any firefighter who refused the COVID-19 jab didn’t help with recruiting.

All of the above screams out that our government takes our money, spends it foolishly, or reroutes it, forces dumb law to contradict original intents, and fails to come close to achieving its clear number one goal.  To label it as incompetence is being kind.

That goal is YOUR safety.

Is it too soon to point fingers, assign blame, and demand real change?  It’s never too soon.

Politicians don’t fire politicians.  Citizens do, but only at the ballot box and not nearly often enough.

In NOLA if the mayor or the police chief had any shame they’d be gone already.  In CALI when the smoke clears the governor, the LA mayor, and the police chief should step down.  They won’t.

It’s time to ask for resignations.   And, it’s time to be loud about it.

What would that do?  It would serve notice that we the people run the government.  We own it.  The government doesn’t run the people.

Big picture the swing from lunacy to objectivity feels like it has already begun.

If not now, when?