We’re now squarely in the holiday season. In November, we teach our children to give thanks for their blessings. But barely four weeks later, we ask them to put together their holiday wish list so we can give them the things that they want. So in that contradictory but all-American spirit, here are the blessings that I’m grateful for, and my wish list for the things I want to improve for our San Fernando Valley. I am thankful to live and work in the San Fernando Valley. We have a real sense of community, which is driven by leaders such as those that VICA honored this year. Ross Pendergraft from the Leavitt Group received our 25th Annual Harmon R. Ballin Community Service Award and Matthew Swearman from the nonprofit Child 360 received our 12th Annual President’s Award. Bobrick Washroom Equipment, located in North Hollywood, was awarded the 39th Annual Robert E. Gibson Corporate Award of Excellence. These honorees exemplify the community spirit and leadership which makes the Valley wonderful. The Valley also has a rich history of innovation and creativity that has driven ground-breaking advancements in aerospace and pharmaceuticals. Our movies and TV shows continue to shape culture and the perception of America all over the world. And, of course, our weather is pretty much perfect. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else? No community can rest on its laurels, and the world is changing. Some of our largest employers and most exciting innovators are leaving the Valley and Los Angeles behind. So here is my wish list for 2018. I wish for a Los Angeles City Council that understands that every regulation, every increased fee or every labor expense makes it harder for companies to continue in business. The people who provide jobs for this community chose to be here, but can also choose to leave, or worse, can be forced to close their business. There is a reason that Amazon isn’t going to put their headquarters in Los Angeles, and quite honestly, it’s the policies the City Council enacts. Many elected officials think of business owners as millionaire ATMs who can easily afford to pay extra for parks, public art and other social projects. But as you know, most business owners aren’t sitting counting their millions; they’re working back-breaking hours and re-investing every cent they can to grow their business and hire more people. I wish for Neighborhood Councils that have a brighter vision for the future of Los Angeles, instead of clinging on to an idealized version of the 1970s with its single-family housing and strip malls. Neighborhood Councils should be a positive for their communities, not NIMBYs who oppose every project. They oppose transportation projects because it will bring too many people to their neighborhood, they oppose senior housing because there may be too many ambulances, they oppose affordable housing because that should be in someone else’s neighborhood and they oppose change just because. I wish for a State Legislature that realizes every extra form, every extra poster and every extra wage and hour requirement is an extra trap for employers to fall into. Most employers aren’t in the HR business, and they naively assume that treating their employees respectfully and paying them an honest wage is enough. It isn’t, and anyone who fails to include each specific item of information on a paystub, or who fails to track employees’ meal and rest breaks, or provide information on pieces of California law which may have no relevance to their employees’ individual circumstances – those employers will be hit with a lawsuit sooner or later. I wish for voters who pay attention and think critically about who’s really going to benefit and who’s going to end up paying for the promises made to win a few votes. This year, the Legislature will be considering measures such as restrictive scheduling, where employers get penalized if they need to change their employees’ shifts. Voters already see that many service jobs can be replaced by automated machines, and there are even proposals to tax businesses for automating. Happy Holidays and my best wishes for a bright 2018. I hope your business makes it to 2019. Good luck! Stuart Waldman is president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, a business advocacy organization based in Van Nuys that represents
