Are firefighter mailers showing the Metrolink crash education or exploitation?
ANGELENOS are caught in the crossfire of city budget negotiations, yet again. This time, we’re either being manipulated or informed – depending on which side is doing the spinning – by photographs of the Sept. 12, 2008, Metrolink crash in Chatsworth that killed 25 and injured 135 commuters. At issue is city leaders’ decision to cut the Fire Department budget, forcing service reductions. No stations are being closed, but a rotating selection of 15 firetrucks and six ambulances are being taken out of service each day. So far, the LAFD has seen no significant change in response times. Last week, the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, the union that represents LAFD rank-and-file firefighters, began a campaign urging Angelenos to call on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council to restore Fire Department funding and end the service cuts. That’s where the Metrolink crash photographs come in. The union mailed out campaign-style fliers showing the wreckage of the train crash, noti
