Richmond and Los Angeles a Sign of Things to Come?

Almost everyone would agree that providing fresh water to its residents is one of the basic tenants of modern government, yet in the past week we have seen this basic responsibility of government completely fail in two major American cities.  

While these cities may be 3000 miles apart, early indications are the underlying causes may be very similar.  In both cases the cities have been run by predominantly democratic officials for decades.  They have both put the standards of DEI and Climate Change over the basic needs of their electorate.  Early reports from both cities are that major infrastructure maintenance was inadequate and potentially even ignored while their respective governments pushed forward with their woke agendas. 

 In the case of Richmond, Virginia, approximately 230,000 people were without water for over a day when the main water filtration plant for the city suffered a power failure due to a winter storm and backup systems failed, flooding the plant and endangering the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of people.  Newsweek Magazine reported on January 8, 2025, that the Richmond water system had been cited for noncompliance before the accident.  

Everyone has watched tens of thousands of acres of Los Angeles burn up in wildfires, many of which could have been prevented or reduced had proper fire mitigation procedures taken place, and maintenance of city water distribution and reservoirs been performed.  In Los Angeles, the mayor had reduced the Fire Department’s budget by $17.5 million dollars in 2024, and there are questions regarding how the city and state handled the water control from some of the largest rainfalls in years, possibly diverting water from reservoirs out to the ocean to protect a native fish population. 

One of the greatest concerns to come out of these disasters, is the elected officials who have completely failed at managing these basic tenants of government, which have already been entrusted to them, are the same people who are telling all of us that they need more power, more money and more control over our daily lives.  

Over the next decade America could potentially undergo an expansion greater than the industrial revolution.  The AI revolution is going to require massive increases in power generation and transmission that will impact each and every American citizen.  Yet the politicians who can’t keep the water turned on, fire hydrants operational, and maintain fire departments, are the same politicians who want to mandate what car you drive, how you cook your food and how you heat your homes. 

Gavin Newsom in California continues to blame climate change droughts for the fires in Los Angeles, but the truth is that Los Angeles received record rainfall in February of 2024.  A record that went back to before 1877 when they started keeping annual rainfall totals.  No, Governor Newsom, it is not climate change causing the devastation in Los Angeles it is inept and incompetent democrat politicians who care more about continuing to increase their power and control over the people, rather than being good civil servants working to meet the needs of their constituents.

Voters need to be bold in demanding complete investigations of these disasters and holding people accountable for these massive failures.  

The potential for America in the coming decades is beyond imagination, the growth from the AI revolution will bring about changes that could elevate the standard of living for every American; but if democrat politicians continue to maintain control of major cities and states, crushing regulations and taxes will rob America of this potential.  

Elected officials must be proactive in developing plans to handle all the changes coming in the next ten years.  They must tap into the brilliance of the American people, by selecting the best qualified to manage the changes based on their merit and ingenuity, not because they check arbitrary boxes on a DEI selection form or have (D) beside their name.

The disasters in Richmond and Los Angeles are a potential glimpse into a future where America continues to spiral downward and is relegated to the past, or they can be a lesson learned of how to elect a government that serves the needs of the people and allows private innovation and determination to build an America of freedom and opportunity for everyone.  

As voters, we must take these lessons and use them as a reminder to elect competent, capable government leaders who will guide us to a future that will maintain America as the leader in the world for the next century.