A new video spoofing the sad state of L.A.'s sidewalks has hit YouTube, and already it has been tweeted out to the followers of Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Garcetti said, “Love this video parody.”

The clip shows a number of young people tripping and falling as a result of cracked and raised sidewalks. One woman in a wheelchair gets stranded by a steep section that apparently won't let her wheel away:
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The video appears to support a controversial proposal at City Hall to have you vote on yet another half-cent sales tax hike, this one for sidewalk and road repairs.

See also: L.A.'s Failed Streets: City Hall Wonks Seek Sales Tax Hike on Residents

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The clip encourages readers to go to the website of city Councilman Joe Buscaino and take his “Save Our Streets Survey.”

Buscaino and Councilman Mitch Englander have pushed for a $4.5 billion “Save Our Streets” campaign that could be funded under a suggestion by city administrative officer Miguel Santana to put the matter to voters in the form of a 15-year, half-cent sales tax hike.

Buscaino's spokesman said the councilman would “most likely” support the sales tax, but that Santana's 500-or-so page report on the matter was still being digested.

See also: Measure R: Mayor Villaraigosa Asks Taxpayers to Keeping Funding His Subway Dreams

We asked Buscaino's guy if the councilman was behind the video (which would then make it propaganda, sort of), and he said no:

“We don't even know who made it,” he said.

We reached out to the holder of the YouTube account, actress Honora Talbott, but had yet to hear back. 

The video is set to Pharrell Williams' “Happy,” a song he performed at the Academy Awards recently. Subjects in the clip skip and bounce along until, unhappily, tripping and falling as a result of bad sidewalks.

Enjoy:


[Added at 3:35 p.m.]: Talbott told us she shot the video on Sunday, edited it on Monday and had up on YouTube yesterday. 

The footage was shot on Canyon Drive north of Franklin Avenue, not far from her Los Feliz home, she said: “It was really easy to find those sidewalks.”

She says that the piece wasn't meant as an endorsement of the half-cent sales tax idea. And Talbott said she has no connection to its supporters in City Hall. In fact, she told us she hasn't even made up her own mind about it:

I just thought of the idea for the parody because of the plethora of cracked sidewalks. … I didn't think of all the political ramifications, but it's great if people watch it and think about it and have a better awareness.

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.

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