In the aftermath of the triumph of common sense on a single issue amidst the destruction of hope for L.A.’s future everywhere else on Election Day, there are so many important issues to discuss, so much fuel to try to raise the consciousness of the citizenry that has lost its faith in the city’s leadership.
There was the cowardly performance in a non-leading role by the mayor in going along late in the day in support of a tax that he knew was not an answer to the years of failure on his part to confront the problem that City Hall’s payroll and benefits costs had ballooned on his watch and could no longer be afforded by taxpayers.
All along he knew the campaign was built on lies, lies about the deficit, lies about what had been achieved in the last four years to bring spending under control, lies about firing 500 cops.
There were the humiliating performances in a leading role by Charlie Beck who showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a Political Chief – not a Police Chief – and in a supporting role by Fire Chief Brian Cummings as they took center stage in publicly selling the deceitful campaign for Measure A.
How they could betray their sworn oaths to be cops and firefighters first and always – the oaths people in those perilous jobs count on when their lives are on the line — is beyond me and I’m sure many in the rank-and-file.
But they and all the other top bureaucrats have faced the same dilemma day in and day out under the leadership of the mayor and City Council: Your blind obedience or your job – it’s your choice.
I can go on and on through a long litany of crimes high and low that have been committed by the city’s political leadership but there are crimes far more severe and significant that I lay at the feet of the city’s civic and business elites.
They have gone along with a political machine that they knew was failing and incompetent for reasons of their own egos and personal advantages – they call it pragmatism — and then clothing their actions in the noble language of the high-minded who can see beyond their own interests and embrace service to the greater good for all without putting themselves at risk to achieve it.
There are hundreds of smart, successful and good-hearted people who have gone astray but the one who singled himself Sunday in the pages of the New York Times was Steve Soboroff.
In a story devoid of any knowledge of the political realities of Los Angeles or even its history, reporter Jennifer Medina began her story on L.A.’s primary by saying it was “the lowest (voter turnout) rate for a primary without an incumbent since 1978” – an embarrassing factual error in the lead of the story since Tom Bradley already was in the second year of his second of five terms by 1978.
Here are the next two paragraphs of her “Left Coast” cliché reporting:
The paltry showing has many here wringing their hands, wondering what has become of the city’s residents. Is there no such thing as civic engagement in this sprawling metropolis? Are municipal elections really that boring, even as the city faces serious financial problems? After many here thought the stereotype of a vapid city was buried long ago, there is a renewed sense of a civic inferiority complex.
“I am in mourning,” said Steve Soboroff, who ran for mayor in 2001 and received more votes than any of the candidates in Tuesday’s election did. “The idea that it is socially acceptable not to vote, but people talk about where they get their shoes from, is shameful. I love L.A., and I am very proud of our city, but people here need to get a grip.”
How dare a guy who knows better, who is capable of better, like Steve Soboroff tell the world what’s wrong with L.A. is the “people” when he and so many others in his special position have let the people down, have let the dreams of the city down, have let themselves and their ideals down.
I know Steve and respect a lot of things about him but his quote shows exactly what is wrong with what passes for an establishment in this city.
Soboroff’s own actions in this critical election are symptomatic.
In the current election cycle, Soboroff gave $1,300 each in the mayor’s race to Controller Wendy Greuel, the easiest to manipulate, Councilman Eric Garcetti, the easiest to intimidate, and Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is at least somewhat tougher to manipulate or intimidate; $1,300 to Assemblyman Mike Feuer’s City Attorney race; $250 to Councilman Dennis Zine in the Controller’s race; $700 each to state Sen. Curren Price and David Roberts running against each other in CD9; $500 to California’s “worst legislator” Felipe Fuentes in CD7, and $700 to Chief of Staff Mike Bonin bidding to succeed his boss in CD11 where Soboroff lives and made much of his fortune.
With the single exception of David Roberts, everyone else he gave money to is part of the problem, professional politicians and City Hall staff — and he knows the truth of that as well as I do.
Election after election, the business and civic leadership have put their money the same place as the unions, developers, billboard companies and all the other special interests put theirs.
Their goal was to be on the winning team for their own benefit just as Soboroff gave equally to the three politicians in the mayor’s race.
Only former Mayor Richard Riordan broke ranks from his brothers and sisters at the top by supporting longshot attorney/talk show host Kevin James who tied Jan Perry for third place at a respectable 17 percent. The word on the street now is he is leaning to back Greuel as the “lesser of two evils” — the kind of choice voters face in L.A. all the tiime.
You can go through the contributor lists of all the professional politicians on the March 5 ballot and you will see the who’s who of L.A. – the rich and influential right there alongside the special interest manipulators and corrupters buying their seats at the table of power without regard to the public interest.
The L.A. Chamber of Commerce boasts in its weekly email, “Five out of six Chamber PAC-supported City of Los Angeles candidates and one out of two Los Angeles Unified School District board candidates either won or will move on to the run-off elections in May. Thank you to our Chamber members who voted on Tuesday and supported the L.A. Jobs PAC’s efforts to elect candidates who support job creation, business investment and fiscal solvency in our city.”
So where did the Chamber put its PAC money – where its economic interests are: Greuel, Gil Cedillo in CD1, Fuentes, Bonin, Alex De Ocampo in CD13, Councilman Joe Buscaino in CD15, school board president Monica Garcia and Kate Anderson, the darling of the big money outsiders who like Ocampo lost.
What the Chamber didn’t mention was it also backed Measure A, a decision that was so astounding as to call into question whether there is even an atom of difference between what the Chamber perceives as the interests of business and what labor perceives as the interests of unions.
With the front-runner mayoral candidates promising to eliminate the $450 million-a-year gross receipts tax, the business community was quite happy to stick it to the poorest among us with the most regressive tax they could find.
No, the problem isn’t “the people” – though the names of every person who didn’t vote should be put online in a searchable database so their friends and neighbors can know what kind of citizens they are.
No, the problem is that throughout its history the narrow and often narrow-minded elites that ran L.A. never cared about anything except their own enrichment and self-aggrandizement.
When the new guard overthrew the old oligarchy, the Committee of 25, with Tom Bradley’s election in 1973, they counted as their achievement sharing a bit of the wealth and power with blacks and later Latinos though it took 30 more years to end the officially-sanctioned LAPD immunity with regards to brutality against the poor and minorities.
Today, the new establishment that grew out of the Bradley revolution has gotten old and has gone along with the evolution of power for so long that they have lost their moral compass and cling to the illusion of their importance by defaming “the people” whose voice is silenced, whose interests are ignored while funding and backing a new establishment of egotists and greed merchants.
Greuel and Garcetti are in line of succession to be the face of the emerging new establishment, weak figures who stand for nothing, who say nothing, who do nothing – actors on the political stage playing the role of rising stars without actually demonstrating any capacity to lead.
We the people can only hope and pray that before those with money and power and those who yearn to join them at the table of power back off for the moment.
Redemption awaits them if they join efforts to force the mayoral candidates to lay out specific plans for how they will fix the budget, define what services they will prioritize and what services they will cut and spell out loud and clearly now how they will deal with union demands for lucrative new contracts and all the demands from their contributors for a return on investment.
I know so many of the people who make up what I have satirized as the Committee of 225 but they are better than they have acted.
Steve Soboroff knows the difference between right and wrong and cares deeply about the city and its people. I could rattle of the names of dozens of people just like him who are capable of doing better and leading us all to strive for a city in which we respect the differences in our values, needs and interests and strive for a balance of those differences.
The antidote to what it wrong is the birth of an L.A. culture that is based on the shared value of striving for something greater than our own self-interest, reaching for our higher and better selves.
The “people” deserve whatever is coming to them for tolerating a”vapid city” with its well-deserved “inferiority complex,” as the NYTimes puts it in its arrogance that can no longer be rationally justified by its journalistic performance.
Yes, it is only the “people” who can drive L.A. to reach for something great, deserve something great – something that can only happen if those with the power, the wealth, the status rise above their pettiness and reach for the stars to discover the true spirit of this city where dreams are made of, where myths of freedom unbounded still abound in the day-to-day experiences of ordinary people.
None of this is a mystery to the candidates or the city’s elite. It’s time they start showing the courage to stand up for what is right. Only then will L.A. be able to show it is a city with a soul beneath its glittery facade.
Ron, you’ve said it all here. All that’s left to say is “Thank you.”
Oh, and I voted. Disgustingly, my signature went on a field of white in the voting logs — the empty spaces where my neighbors’ signatures should have gone.
Yes, Ron the lesser of two evils is LA’s choice. Kevin James would be an idiot if he went with Greuel who has been bought by the unions. He would show he’s a hypocrite because he was always talking about how bad the unions were during the campaign and to support their candidate would be a stupid. Charlie Beck has tarnished the badge for the rank and file. He has ruined LAPD and every patrol cop will tell you they have lost respect for him along with Angelenos. He is a prissy lapdog to the Failure Mayor. IF all those lazy LANCC members got up off their asses and actually engaged their neighborhoods to get involved and vote for the runoff it could potentially be an exciting race
Birds of a feather,Ron. Greuel/James HYPOCRITES. James knew all along he could not win. He entered the race to hear himself pontificate , like any other attorney. We will forget him very soon, trust me.
It was sad to hear What’s His Name (that Gay GOP — I forget his name) spell out the conditions on which he would endorse Garcetti or Greuel. Gee who was that guy again? .. Oh well
“Chamber of Commerce”? Really? There has been no true “commerce” in LA for decades.
LA’s “Chamber of Commerce” is a group of supplicants seeking city business, and favorable real estate rulings.
Their civic improvement is supporting taxes to shift the burgeoning burden of union pensions to trusting, and gullible low income residents.
The GOP could have fought this campaign hard, supported James, and drawn a line on the issues. But they’re too busy fighting gay marriage, I suppose.
What a shame we don’t have another Riordan in that pantheon of free enterprise called the “Chamber of Commerce.”
Ron is wrong on this-that it’s all the elite fault and citizenry is blameless. Nope people are a problem. Nowhere else will you find these pathetically uninformed, lazy, gullible and just plain stupid voters. Voters that for the most part don’t care about their neighborhoods and if they do vote, consistently vote against their own interests. To paraphrases Brecht, you guys don’t need a new government, you need new people
You are right. we need new people.
The #1 complaint of those living in the Hollywood Hills like Beachwood Canyon and Los Feliz is traffic. The person most responsible for the deteriorating traffic is the Hollywood councilman and former City Council President, Eric Garcetti. The Hills People voted for Garcetti over 52%.
Oh, Ron, how can you write the following?
“Greuel and Garcetti are in line of succession to be the face of the emerging new establishment, weak figures who stand for nothing, who say nothing, who do nothing – actors on the political stage playing the role of rising stars without actually demonstrating any capacity to lead.”
Garcetti is not a weak figure who stands for nothing — he stands for corruption and incompetence. He is steadfast in his funneling tax payers dollars to billionaire developers while depriving Angelenos of basic services. Garcetti took a strong stand in April 2006, which was less than a year after USA Today published that Angelenos were needlessly dying due to the slow First Responder arrival times. In order to make certain more Angelenos would needlessly die, he slashed the 2 acre Fire Station 82 by 75% and relocated it to gridlock Hell at the 101 and Hollywood Boulevard. As even the LA Times had to admit this summer, the slowest response for emergency services is found in the Hills, e.g., the Hollywood Hills which FS 82 serves.
Garcetti showed his resolute fealty to corruption when he had the paramedics and firefighters’ budget slashed by another $200 Million based on the falsified data in the 1-12-2012 Deployment report. As a result, the emergency response times were longer leading to more needless deaths. Controller Greuel had a hand in these needless deaths as she was in a position to tell the world about LA’s slow response times. Silence = death
Here’s where I find Mr. S to be a fool when he criticizes those who do not vote. Over 52% of those who did vote and who live in the Hills, which Garcetti made the most dangerous place to live in LA if you need a paramedic, VOTED FOR Garcetti.
BTW, where was Mr. S before the election and for the past decade alerting Angelenos to the systematic looting of LA by the corrupt real estate developers. By the time the CRA’s were officially abolished, 2-1-2012, the CRA/LA had left LA with approximate;y a $11 BILLION burden. It appears that Mr. S is a significant part of the problem.
A spellbinding paean Ron, but for me, the trance was broken when your reference to “the city’s political leadership” sent a shiver down my spine. Sorry to be a semantical stickler, but calling these usurpers ‘leaders’ is like referring to an ‘evil genius’. If someone is truly smart, they’d realize that evil is dumb.
But beyond that, I think that even at 16%, we’re seeing ongoing efforts to redeem Los Angeles, with we activists who are involved, whether Southern Californian scions or transpants tried and true – who have adopted this home town with philotopolitan motives, continuing to unite to topple those 225+.
It’s a never-ending battle to exorcise the spirits of greed, lust for power, and narcissism which possess these megalomaniacal marauders. There may be no singular savior who will snap his (or her) fingers so as to bring us out of a bad dream. The reality is what we’ve been avoiding, and so we need to keep knocking on doors. We need to let our neighbors know that those television and radio rattlers of rancor; the ridiculous words written in yellowing journals and glossy gatefolds which are collateral materiel for robo-calls that reek of wrong minded rationale; the Hollywood haze that drifts in, perfumed, to confound the sense that would alert us…it’s actually smoke, and we should be paying more attention to it.
Our city is on fire! (Again…)
Evacuate if you must, but everyone else, grab a hose, and let’s siphon the swamp to douse this detritus, so we can start to cobble together the road to revive L.A.
You just need to look at the past race of Christine Essel versus Paul Krekorian with Ms. Essel getting the backing of IBEW and losing. Many thought Krekorian was the underdog and champion of the little guy.
Now he is IBEW and DWP best friend.
He is also buddy-buddy with the Billboard companies being the ghost writer for a bill in Clear Channel.
Kevin James or Ron Kaye’s endorsement of Eric Garcetti would be quite foolish and especially discredit Mr. James.
It would be like chosing between Wendy Greuel and Antonio Villaraigosa. Neither one deserves an endorsement.
And Kevin James is just another stooge if he endorses Garcetti or Greuel.
Keep you image clean and don’t tarnish with that kind of dirt.
Ah, hate to break it to you, but our choice is either Garcetti or Gruel. Whining, moaning, praying to heaven won’t change that simple fact. And, trashing Kevin James for Making a choice isn’t fair. How do we make lemonade out this? With as dispirited as Ron is, calling out the candidates is the step in the right direction.
“None of the Above” is a reasonable choice. This is afterall, a Democracy. In Nevada, the GOP is fighting to take “None of the Above” off the ballot.
And if you re-read my comments, there is nothing said that “trashes” Mr. James nor is there any whining or moaning.
Stay calm, grow up, and start thinking.
I guess this phrase that you wrote “And Kevin James is just another stooge” confused KKanter since its obvious that you wrote “nothing that “trashes” Mr. James.”
What an unctuous putz you are. Do you think we are idiots and can’t scroll up to see what you wrote?
Let me try to make this simple in an effort to help you understand:
In your creative editing, you left out one important word: “IF”
“And Kevin James is just another stooge if he endorses Garcetti or Greuel.”
Kevin James has not endorsed anyone yet, but if he endorses either candidate he (and Ron) can accurately be called a stooge especially in light of the well deserved attacks Mr. James used in the many debates and adds.
Kevin can NAME HIS PRICE! He’s conservative, GAY, and AN AIDS/AMNESTY ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR AND DOWNTRODDEN (when I use to call in on his show and he showed guts and reason he was REALLY conservative, never said the word GAY much less discussed it, and was all for DEPORTATION of welfare mooches and criminals, in favor of high skilled SHORT DEMAND WORKERS.)
My good buddy Garcetti who I’ve done battle with over the DWP increases and other sleazy city issues NEEDS THE VALLEY to win this run-off! Kevin can DELIVER his MAYORAL DREAM. Gruel can be CRUEL to defeat in the Valley, since so many in CD2 and CD5 think she’s a Valley-Girl, rather than the wicked witch of the DWP and the crummy billboard companies.
Thus, negotiations need to commence between the Garcetti Camp and James.
Kevin should get for his endorsement:
1/ $250,000 a year, 4 year GUARANTEED “mayoral consulting-contract.”
2/ TWO TANDEM PARKING SPACES RESERVED in the Main St. City Hall Garage
3/ 10 full time paid STAFF POSITIONS (so Kevin can employ Nuch, John Thomas, Walter Moore, and RON KAYE at $70,000 a year
4/ Full DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION for Kevin and RON KAYE (screw the rest, they’re rich already)
5/ City paid Vehicle (2 of them, possibly a Ferrari 360 Spyder and a Hyndai Accent)
6/ mininum 2,000 sq.ft office space at CITY HALL EAST.
For this, Garcetti gets the endorsement and numerous campaign stops with Eric.
Oh….
Don’t forget me…I get a cashiers check from the City of Los Angeles for $1,000,000 TAX FREE and I give them the deed to my house and GET THE FUCK OUT OF L.A. BEFORE THE BANKRUPTCY HITS!
See, Ron, doesn’t this make alot more sense than all these mind games you play?
Kevin James’ proposed endorsement of either Garcetti or Greuel was a low point. Maybe he was over tired. Or maybe he got very bad advice.
I hear him say that he wanted their word about how they would act as mayor. They are both pathological liars. Almost every word in a Garcetti TV ad was a lie.
We are not dealing only with Incompetence, but Corruption. Billions of Dollars are missing and Garcetti was Council President. Is anyone so naive to think Angelenos will ever see any the the city hall crooks punished with the Ex-DA’s sonny boy is mayor?
Some say that 16% knowing that there was an election is an achievement.
Keep searching Ron, keep searching!
I think an endorsement of Garcetti would be OK for James if they reach an understanding on objectives. Greuel is out of the question because she is supported by the three largest public employee unions. There is zero chance she will push for meaningful changes to the long-term compensation problem. At least we might get some action from Garcetti, but it will take public pressure from independent-minded residents.
Overall, I am not optimistic, but I am willing to take a roll of the dice on Garcetti – if for nothing else, to stop the ditz Greuel. If we are going to get screwed, it may as well be by someone with an IQ.
It seems Garcetti can really use Greul’s union $$$ to get the Perry/James/undecided voters. If the unions really wanted Greul to win, they would also give $$$ to Garcetti as well, to water down his opposition.
Garcetti will win if he runs a moderate version of Gov. Rick Walker of Wisconsin’s strategy.
The unions are so bad, even New Deal Libs like me voted for James.
Obviously you are not familiar with Garcetti. He will flip-flop and charm you. However all if fair in love and politics and as I mentioned earlier, Garcetti will be an equal friend to labor just like Paul Krekorian who was attacked by IBEW during his opponent in the Council race, Christine Essel, overcame the odds and won. Now Krekorian is IBEW and DWP’s best friend.
Garcetti will cut the same deal.
Interestingly enough, you have proved that Garcetti is the everything politician:
To young hipsters and Hollywood elites he is a young progressive, Obama Democrat.
To you he will be a moderate version of Wisconsin’s Gov. Rick Walker – Run that one by Ron Kaye or Jack Humphreville if you want to get a laugh.
But to those who have been watching the deals, he is the leader of the crooked politicians in Los Angeles:
His deal on 1601 N Vine Street – Wayne Katersky will tell you about that.
His $30 million dollar HUD Section 108 Loan to CIM Group.
His Supergraphics deal on the Sunset-VIne tower also owned by CIM Group.
Garcetti (and maybe even Greuel) should be investigated by the FBI.
But instead, we have people wanting to vote for this “moderate RepubliCrat”
Paul , you are so insightful. “If we are …screwed , it may….with an IQ.” You are right . We don`t need another phony.
The lesser evil is still evil. As long as people are more interested in protecting their own personal interest and not care about how their actions impact others, they will continue to support a system that was set up to be corrupted. Nothing is going to change in City Hall it needs to collapse, let it fall apart and may
be then people will finally wake up and realize that it is up to them and not the politicians to construct something new and great that can benefit everyone, not just some.
Greuel is not only a LIAR, but also stupid. She thought that her pandering to the thugs would stay behind closed doors. When confronted by the press ” she did not really mean what she said inside “!!How low can she get? I m sure more to come . I guess she had a good training at DREAMWORKS . Play the smoke and mirrors game, thinking Angelenos are too stupid to figure it out. I got a surprise for her and her thugs.
I Got stuck with the Soviet Kommissar Koretz who will most UNFORTUNATELY illegally occupy Encino for another 4 years in office. David Vahedi is STILL the real duly elected man of the People in Encino!
I agree with PAUL CAT-IN-THE-HAT-FIELD! It is possible to reach Garcetti’s conscious (believe it or not, he has one after 12 years of City Hall “education.”) but you have to get the public to bitch enough to get the ball rolling. Wendy Cruela-Gruela has NO CONSCIOUS, NO BRAINS, AND IS A SLIGHTLY HUMAN VERSION OF CHICKEN BRAIN JANIS HAHN. The choice is obvious: Garcetti (that’s why kevin MUST MAKE HIS DEAL NOW, OR BLOW IT!)
As for Dumbtanich—I’m having too hard a time casting a ballot for Feuer—he’s such a SCUMBAG that he redefines what a scumbag must be and is. Dumbtanich is just plain DUMB. I really really really hate to do this: I’M VOTING FOR NUCH! (I have to go on Ron’s logic. I tried to Get Smith into the run-off with my vote and hopefully thousands more. But I have to accept the choice that remains. I’ve tried to find a way to vote for Feuer—but my hand won’t punch the circle on the ballot for this Sacramento Male-Whore. So here it goes: TRUNANICH FOR 2nd term!
As for Controller–NOW THAT’S SIMPLE AS HELL—GALPERIN! He’s a new guy in elected offices, has a legal and ACCOUNTING background and has run into City Hall from a commissioner standpoint. Zine, on the other hand, is a mix between a Cro-Magnum non-homo-erectus partial human and a rotten piece of meat! A disgusting, fat, useless, 2 time pension/woman grabbing political WHORE! LET’S ENDORSE THE ONLY HUMAN RUNNING FOR CONTROLLER LEFT–MR. GALPERIN.
Oh, great news from Rome===DOUG MCINTYRE HAS BEEN ELECTED POPE!
I have heard some people in the NC system say they are voting for Greuel because she is a woman, or because they think she will be more supportive of the NC system. I cannot believe how shortsighted these NC members are. If the city fails, so does the NC system.
However, I also know members who are adamantly against Greuel.
In the wake of Greuel’s latest statement, Kevin James has to step up and give Garcetti his endorsement. He can temper it so it is not a full-fledged endorsement, but one of necessity given the choice.