ELECTION WATCH-"Citizen Engagement", "Governmental Transparency" and "Good Government" are all things for which Angelenos have striven since Neighborhood Councils and greater access to City government were promoted with great fanfare during our last great Charter Amendment effort years ago...so why are we giving all that away by burying our City issues under big money efforts with Charter Amendments 1 and 2?
Charter Amendments 1 and 2 ostensibly take advantage of greater voter turnout in even-numbered years when state and federal elections occur, and to "include" City and LAUSD elections during those years. However, erase that term "include" and replace it with "sneak in" or "slip in" or "bury"...and now you've got a clearer picture.
Take a look at who's for and against these two amendments, which would move City and LAUSD elections, respectively, to even-numbered years, and it's easy to figure out that the intent of these elections is to discourage (if not downright corrupt) individual knowledge of our City/LAUSD issues, not promote them.
For example, the political pieces we're now getting in the mail (paid for by WHOM?) with the bright and shiny faces supported and endorsed by this politician and/or that public sector union or political party (whose careers are funded by WHOM?) have NOTHING to do with the Community Colleges so vital to our economic future...and they all appear to support Charter Amendments 1 and 2.
These new political pieces include no description of their accomplishments or qualifications--just endorsements, and their bright and shiny and smiling faces--while the issues are nowhere to be found. That would be worse if Charter Amendments 1 and 2 were passed, because the distractions of the gubernatorial or presidential races would overshadow the issues that hit us closer to home.
You REALLY want the Koch Brothers, Wall Street, the AFL-CIO, Big Oil and Big Green money to pay for more political flyers, robocalls and TV advertisements rammed down our throats? Then feel free to pass Charter Amendments 1 and 2...and be prepared to enjoy LESS transparency and accountability than ever from City Hall, the LAUSD, our Community Colleges, etc.
Angelenos have the ability to show that--as with our explosive growth in all-volunteer Neighborhood Councils, we can figure out ways to enhance local voter turnout without being bought out by private interests and self-serving "Powers That Be" (i.e., secret Wall Street interests and sneaky public sector unions) who want to corrupt, not promote, our City elections.
Having been part of one of the City's most successful Neighborhood Councils--the Mar Vista Community Council--for over a decade, I am all too clear of both the positive and negative aspects of apathy. When there are big citizen issues involving traffic, overdevelopment and education, our turnout is huge...but otherwise, the citizenry stays home with their families.
Which means that the portion of the citizenry which chooses to stay at home does so with the knowledge that "we've got things covered", and when new openings for Boardmembers come up, the citizenry knows the hard work and commitment involves, and gives us our trust--until a hot button issue arises, and they're there en masse.
Which is why we do NOT have that many dogfights for Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) Boardmember elections...because the work involved is huge, and everyone knows that. Add to the fact that the MVCC insists on committee co-chairs who are NOT Boardmembers, and that ALL legitimate stakeholders can vote in our committees, and it's clear that citizen engagement is there for the taking.
In contrast, and both locally and at the state/federal level, folks who stay home and choose NOT to vote (even when they darn well know they can vote by absentee ballot) do so for a variety of reasons...but they're all voluntary.
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Slipping in City elections during state/federal elections to voters who are probably already distracted by non-City issues will likely encourage the downright corruption and unsustainable fiscal and political behavior that's allowing City Hall, the misbehaving unions of the LADWP and LAUSD, and sneaky corporate interests to jack up our taxes and fees again and again...and yet again.
So on the one hand, we've got those who oppose Charter Amendments 1 and 2: the LA Neighborhood Council Coalition, former and current City Councilmembers Rita Walters, Bernard Parks and Joan Milke Flores, and Eastside County Supervisor Gloria Molina (now running for the City Council).
Whether we agree or disagree with their political stances, they all made history and courageously crossed gender, ethnic and geographic barriers to become elected leaders, and so the LAST thing they'd want is less civic engagement.
And on the other hand, we've got those who support Charter Amendments 1 and 2, as recently exposed by David Zahniser of the LA Times outdoor advertising company Clear Channel.
Developers, business groups, paid lobbyists, and public employee unions--all known to be wildly self-serving--all support Charter Amendments 1 and 2, and have paid big bucks to promote it.
The "Citizens for Increased Voter Participation" which has collected over $150,000 for the two amendments? All self-serving business interests.
The Police Protective League, which wants more money and is sending out flyers threatening Angelenos with higher crime if they don't get raises we can't afford (and which sounds dangerously like a "protection money" tactic used by the Mafia) also supports Charter Amendments 1 and 2.
Another key supporter is City Council Herb Wesson, who has tried repeatedly to raise our taxes by creating "phantom menaces" that include worsening of police protection and rampant crime, loss of street services, and the Apocalypse if we don't pay more taxes to City Hall, backs Charter Amendments 1 and 2.
Herb Wesson is the guy who gave fellow black City Councilmembers Bernard Parks and Jan Perry a colossal smackdown during the council redistricting process, and if you think he wants the average Angeleno to question him and/or watch how City Hall spends its tax revenues then you're as gullible as he'd ever want you to be.
We need to open our minds, and sometimes our wallets...not the other way around.
The voters have repeatedly raised their own property taxes, sales taxes, trash fees, etc. and will do so again if presented in a clear, transparent manner that is devoid of sidetracking federal and state issues, and is devoid of outside interests (who would naturally team up with local interests to get City measures passed or defeated).
Extra elections do involve a bit more work--but for those who choose to be engaged in the civic process, the opportunities are abundant to learn and play a bigger role in how we run our City.
The last thing we need is for a non-transparent, backroom-dealing City Hall, LAUSD and Community College Board to dodge the spotlight of City and local elections--Vote NO on Charter Amendments 1 and 2!
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] He also does regular commentary on the MarkIsler Radio Show on AM 870,and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 15
Pub: Feb 20, 2015
