What Has Councilman Parks So Upset?

PARKS’ PLACE-Enjoy your empty mailboxes while you can. Yes we just had a federal election in November, but soon and very soon, many of you will get stacks upon stacks of campaign flyers for the upcoming March 3 primary in the city. It’s the most wonderful time of the year isn’t it? Time to separate truth from fiction and exercise the value of your vote while you still have it. 

I have been highly vocal, to a point of throwing a fit about being against changing city election years from March and May of odd-numbered years (which they are currently) to June and November of even-numbered years (which would align city elections to years when state and federal elections are held). I voted against Charter Amendments 1  and 2 when these issues came to city council.  

These charter amendment changes were created in the all-too-familiar vein of the City Hall motto, "gotta do something." It doesn’t matter if it’s wrong, stupid, illegal, costly, or immoral. People aren’t voting, so we "gotta do something." 

Low voter turnout is not a new phenomenon so of course a variety of reforms like enacting term limits, matching campaign funds, limiting the amount of contributions that can be made to candidates, holding instant runoff elections, etc. have been implemented but guess what? None of them has been fully studied to see if they have increased voting and voting has continued to decline. 

Before we jump the gun, and permanently alter our current voting processes, I’d like to investigate if these prior changes increased voting at all and then assess the Supreme Court's decision on Citizens United on financial contribution and free speech and the impact of independent campaigns and political action committees (PACs). 

With such a complex issue as identifying motivations and deterrents to voting, the only thing worse than "we gotta do something" is "we gotta do something NOW." 

Right now we’re just throwing bricks in the dark and hoping it hits something. Like I said before, you could have a polling place inside of a Chuck-E-Cheese, give away puppies, even add a circus with free rides and face painting…and voters still may not come out to the polls. Honestly a surefire way to get people to vote would be paying them- but we all already have a bounty tacked to our heads. No need to infuse more money into politics. 

Community members have spoken to me and this is what they believe will increase voter turnout: 

• Better quality and more candidates available to choose from 

• Issue oriented campaigns like targeting and engaging unlikely voters v. only targeting likely voters 

• Introduce methods of campaigning that do not suppress the vote 

• Revive the belief that voting is meaningful 

• Concentrate on expanding and assisting the Vote-by-Mail process (this will do more to increase voting than all of the previously approved changes) 

These suggestions and symptoms of non-voting are multifaceted and simply cannot be magically corrected by changing the year of an election. 

Furthermore, the city's ballot measure to move the election dates gives total control of local elections to the county at an unknown cost and it provides a select few elected officials (those coming in office 2015) the ability to avoid term limits by increasing their terms by 2 years (5 current incumbent council members voted to benefit themselves- no surprise there). 

I will say that research supports that more voters turnout for even-year state and federal elections, but research reflects little or no impact on local issue or candidate voting. Even supporters of changing the election years acknowledge that it does not get at the causes of declining voting, it only addresses a symptom. It’s like we’re peddling antibiotics to a drug-resistant sickness. 

You know what would be a really nice parting gift for me as I leave office? If we, yes- you, me, your cousins, spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend, next door neighbor, dog-walker, whoever is eligible to vote in the election, would come out in full force on March 3 and really bump the city’s dismal voter turnout through the roof. If we all don’t come out, we’re allowing a select few to decide the fate for all of us, and that’s dangerous. 

Already, Lamar Advertising is planning to spend (excuse me, donate) nearly $60,000 on digital billboards for candidates. Hmm...Lamar has pending litigation against the city for banning their digital billboards. Guess who’s getting thousands in billboard donations AND is on the committee drafting new sign regulations. The writing’s on the wall, actually the billboard. Big money is here and ready to stifle any opposition.

 This goes without saying, but make sure you’re registered to vote. Go ahead and do it now. 

Don’t wait until the last minute. Deadline to register to vote is the 15th day before an election. March 3, 2015 is the next city election which will decide the future of the City of Los Angeles. All even-numbered council districts and Charter Amendments 1& 2 are on the ballot.

 

(Bernard Parks is Los Angeles Councilman for the 8^th Council District. He is also  former Los Angeles Police Chief. He can be reached at [email protected]) 

-cw

 

 

 

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CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 8

Pub: Jan 27, 2015