It’s astonishing that city workers are failing to show up in person — though perhaps not, giving the decay in public services in Los Angeles.
The California Post simply walked around city buildings last Friday and found them abandoned — a virtual “zombie apocalypse.”
Many staff members were working remotely, as if the coronavirus pandemic had never ended.
It wasn’t a long holiday weekend. Just a regular Friday.
And city staff told The California Post that it is a regular occurrence.
Members of the public who needed help from the city found no one was there to assist them.
They took off work, braved traffic, navigated the downtown maze, paid for parking — and came away empty.
Is this how Mayor Karen Bass hopes to prepare for the Olympics?
Mayor Bass evidently ordered her own staff to show up at least four days a week — but evidently has not demanded the same basic level of commitment from those working in other departments.
For a city that wants voters to approve tax increases on the June 2 ballot, this is hardly a convincing display.
Residents have a right to know whether the money they already pay to the city is being spent — and by the looks of things, it’s simply being wasted by truant employees.
There’s a place for remote and flexible work. Studies suggest that more flexible work schedules allow parents to care for children, and encourage women in particular to stay in the workforce.
But if you are in a public-facing job, and paid by the taxpayer, it’s no great sacrifice to ask that you show up for your 9-to-5.
Beyond the immediate problem of having a city that does do the work it is supposed to perform, there is a deeper problem of contempt for the public. And not just at the local level.
It comes from many years of political stagnation and one-party rule.
Politicians know that as long as they satisfy the party’s donors, or its loudest activists, they can be reelected — as long as they are not indicted (which too many are).
Enough already. Mayor Bass needs to demand that city workers show up.
After all — she’s asking for her own job to be renewed.
