At the end of a daylong series of inter-connected community meetings, the Saving LA Project voted unanimously to seek candidates in the seven even-numbered City Council Districts for elections next March and run a “Clean Sweep” campaign for a slate that can clean up City Hall.
More than 20 people signed up to form a steering committee to recruit credible candidates with the ability to raise enough money to qualify for city matching funds. They will also develop a citywide strategy and explore formation of a political action committee that will hold incumbents accountable for the worsening city budget crisis.
Anyone interested in consideration as a Reform LA candidate should contact me at ron@ronkayela.com.
Incumbents up for re-election next year are Paul Krekorian, Tom LaBonge, Tony Cardenas, Bernard Parks, Herb Wesson and Jose Huizar. Greig Smith’s seat will be open and his chief of staff Mitch Englander has attempted to lock up the seat early.
SLAP also endorsed recommendations of Tony Wilkinson’s DWP MOU Committee to oppose the mayor’s vague “lockbox” proposal for a portion of his rate hike proposal and to advocate for breaking up the catchall Energy Cost Adjustment Factor into separate funds for fluctuating costs of fossil fuels, green energy, energy efficiency and other programs.
Former DWP Commission President Nick Patsouras and DWP Committee for Advocacy Jack Humphreville were named to head an committee to mobilize community groups behind creation of an independent Rate Payer Advocate protected permanently through an amendment to the City Charter.
The RPA issue will come before Jan Perry’s Energy and Environment Committee this month with a variety of proposals put forward by Council members and the mayor pushing to gut the RPA’s independence of Controller Wendy Greuel who has supported repeated large pay increases for the IBEW and received more than $250,000 in contributions from the union.
The LA Neighborhood Council Coalition spent considerable time discussing the elimination of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and its consolidation into the Community Development Department.
Proposals from Shawn Simons were adopted as the strategy for how this dramatic change might work to preserve efforts to achieve community empowerment despite what the mayor is doing. Read the plan here: (DONE-CDDsummary.doc)(DONE-CDDplan.doc).
The NCs’ BudgetLA Advocates also met and presented the facts about the city’s budget crisis and discusses strategies going forward with the mayor to present his budget proposal shortly.
Excellent!
I wish I could have come.
I was buying and spreading gravel to replace grass in our yard since City Hall’s insane DWP rates have made a “green” yard take too much green.
Sounds like a lot was accomplished yesterday.
“Clean Sweep!” Those two little words say is all.
That might be the hardest part of SLAP’s goals; finding seven people from seven different districts to run against the incumbents.
I definitely support the Independent Rate Payers Advocate – separate from the Controller’s office. Wendy has too many offices to audit.
I think that we should have a ballot initiative to counter what the Mayor is doing. It should be one that says – you cannot sweep the electric funds to the City general fund. That is like a tax. We already pay a 10 % tax on our utilities.
I agree with Tony to “to advocate for breaking up the catchall Energy Cost Adjustment Factor into separate funds for fluctuating costs of fossil fuels, green energy, energy efficiency and other programs”. I think that the electric for the green energy and energy efficiency should go into a “lock box” so that they cannot be transferred so that we can be more independent from outside price fluctuations for alternatives.
We will be fined eventually under AB 32, and we must move in the direction of IMPLEMENTING the alternatives rather than planning them, and having them be contracted and then fail because of an EIR issue or because we have to route the energy out of state and back in because we do not have transmission lines.
You all need to focus on the Owens Valley project as well. What is the energy efficiency there?
Council member Alarcon mentioned “thermal storage”. That is a new energy term for me – how feasible is that? Where else is that being used?
Storing alternative energy is often difficult. For example, we can’t store the rooftop solar that we generate if we put it on our homes. Once the sun goes down, you are back on the grid, at the mercy of the LADWP determined cost.
This is an issue to lobby your City and State officials on. You need to tell them – if we put solar on our homes, or if we want to put solar on our school campuses, we deserve a fair price for energy that is sent back to the grid. The lack of that fair price is what is killing some school projects.
Who would want such a job! The damage is done. These new candidates would have to be beholden to none. They would have to know CIVIL SOCIETY’S bureaucratic in’s and out’s….or trust/rely on a team that has business and organizational skills bar none…(I thought the Mayor and incumbent councilmembers already had such teams)…without a doubt the new candidates must assess local, state, and federal revenue avenues in order to understand that new revenues must come from creating new jobs and by “humbly” asking city employees and residents to begin making incremental sacrifices. These new incumbents need not apply if they are seeking self aggrandizement, enjoy basking in folly, and seek higher office. In short, these new leaders must be trustworthy citizen advocates and communicators. No matter who wins….if we continue to be complacent and do not change our ways…we will definitely go down in history as the “City of Fallen Angels”….
This is a great idea not matter what the outcome. It is very important to have challengers for incumbents no matter the office. Without challengers, there really is no Democracy.
Those politicians with swelled heads and over-sized egos believe that they have no challengers because their constituents are happy with them. In reality, incumbency has its advantages in terms of money, especially when politicians remember the special interests that donated to them.
It is about time that we not only give our time and money, but ramp up the news coverage, in creative ways to make sure that the UNPAID coverage is fair.
This can be done with modern technology such as YouTube with clever adds that on the one hand make people laugh and take notice and the other hand get picked up by the LA Weekly, LA Times, and Daily News. Heck, if you have a great YouTube video, you may get picked up in the National press. Then leverage this on the candidates web site.
There is an opportunity for an upset. We were shown this by the “Solar 8″ and others in a David and Goliath battle involving Measure B.
Check out new Political Blog
http://politicalla.wordpress.com/
DAVID VS GOLIATH will launch his website in a week or two.
I don’t consider the challenge much of battle since I come with a track record of good ethics, common sense, and not having the NEED to sell my SOUL just to win this election.
I’ll re-set the standard of the duties of a councilmember. I always remember, as a civil servant, the public and the Neighborhood Council’s are the employer. I answer to them.
I’m currently with the City of LA. I can always look for another job if I’m forced to. I have enough certified skills.
Ready to join the CHARGE in CD6.
Respectfully,
I’m David Barron
It was a very positive meeting on Saturday. Seems people are ready to volunteer to change the way city hall does business with new candidates. Guilt by association Mitch Englander is the nephew of Harvey Englander the biggest jerk in city. The fact that Mitch has the majority already of city council endorsing him is a big RED FLAG. We need to find a candidate to beat his ass just like the grass root effort that kept Essel out of council. Dave is right, FIGHT ON!!!!
We need honest government with integrity.
“Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion”
Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
As citizens of this democracy, you are the rulers and the ruled, the law-givers and the law-abiding, the beginning and the end.
Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.
Action speaks louder than words.
We need honest government with integrity.
“Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion”
Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
As citizens of this democracy, you are the rulers and the ruled, the law-givers and the law-abiding, the beginning and the end.
Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.
Action speaks louder than words.
Pension crisis
I do not think that any elected officials have a viable solution to the pension deficit issue which will continue to grow.
As I said before there is no simple solution. This is an issue that affects every level of government (City, County, State, Federal, Etc.). No one solution or one individual can solve this problem. It would take a committee with multitude of financial planners and an open mind to modify the plan as it progresses, when some facets of the plan do not work as anticipated.
But as the crisis grows, we as people of this great country must put our differences aside and work for the common goals and restore our City, State and the Nation to the spirit of our founding fathers.
I think that every politician or candidate should state what they propose to do to correct the situation and not attack their opponent or the opposition.
Tell me and or show me what you can do, not what the other did not do or did wrong.
Action speaks louder than words.
We need to remain vigilant, especially as the City of Los Angeles is facing a monumental fiscal crisis.
Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.
Thank you
YJ Draiman for Mayor of LA
Politicians should be paid commissions only – performance based compensation R1
I say that politicians should be paid – compensated on a performance based via commissions only, for example on every tax dollar that they save. Example, if a politician cuts government spending 1 Million dollars, the tax payers would pay him X% of 1 Million.
If it hits them in the pocket, they are going to be much more cautious how they spend our money.
A politician running for office should reimburse any matching funds after the election.
A politician should run the country like any non-profit corporation, with checks and balances, fiscal responsibility and not committing funds that our great grandchildren would have to pay.
Any politician who violates the oath of office will lose his job and forfeit his benefits and pension.
It is time we should hold our politicians accountable for their deeds and behavior, any deviation from honesty and ethics will be punished severely.
Honesty, integrity and accountability is the motto.
YJ Draiman, Energy/Utility Auditor
Draiman is a candidate for the Mayor of Los Angeles
PS
We should not rush to give our money to foreign countries, if we do give, it is a loan and must be repaid; the loans should also be collateralized with real estate and assets of the receiving country.
Value-based Management of the Government
Value-based management makes an explicit link between a government’s strategic and operating decisions and their impact on the country and its citizen’s benefits. It does so in part by aligning politicians incentives with citizens’ interests.
Politicians should earn the public trust, which, in turn, is based on openness and accountability. Excessive compensation, self-dealing and hidden agenda’s are detrimental to earning public trust.