Comments@THE GUSS REPORT-In my recent return to 790-KABC, I told host Peter Tilden that LA City Council president Herb Wesson’s campaign to become an LA County Supervisor poses an existential threat to Los Angeles because Wesson – a career politician who has been in his current gig since January 12, 2012 – deserves most of the blame for the myriad crises facing the city, most of which are far worse now than then. (Photo above: LA Times.)
That’s because LA Mayors are generally the “visionaries” and our Council presidents are the policy wonks and dealmakers. And more than any of his predecessors, Wesson has full control of the 15-member LA City Council and has demonstrated a vindictiveness against anyone who expresses an unauthorized-by-Wesson dissenting voice, like former LAPD Chief and Councilmember Bernie Parks, did.
Given all of this, why would anyone afford Wesson the bigger job of County Supervisor with more money, more power and another decade-plus in office, especially given his penchant for reducing the public’s ability to criticize him, and especially during televised meetings?
The only thing we know is that, given the chance, Wesson will put more of his family members on the government payroll.
It isn’t that Wesson lacks ability; he is exceptionally talented. It’s that he uses his power to take care of his own rather than taking care of Los Angeles. And don’t lose sight of the fact that his “best friend,” the disgraced Councilmember Jose Huizar, had his home and City Council offices raided last year by the FBI; a cloud hanging over Wesson’s every consideration.
Do we need more of that at the LA County level?
As most honest observers of LA politics would tell you, nobody would be at greater risk with Wesson as an LA County Supervisor than black Angelenos. Before we dig in, let me remind you that of the 24 elite elected positions in the County and City of Los Angeles, LA County DA Jackie Lacey is the only black female officeholder.
But there is not a black woman on the LA County Board of Supervisors. Not on LA City Council. Not as LA Mayor, City Controller or City Attorney. But there are several black women running against Wesson for County Supervisor who do not have his disastrous track record as City Council president.
Disastrous, as in have you seen the LA streets littered not just with trash, needles and feces, but with living human beings and their pets? Wesson, in response, replaced his own office carpet due to rat-droppings and typhus carrying fleas, weeks before any other office.
Eventually, Wesson might get around to doing something about the streets.
So dial the clock back two weeks to when a few dozen black Angelenos primary, if not exclusively, from Council District 8, which is represented by Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, came to City Council with sincere and desperate concerns over being kicked out of an old firehouse where their beloved cultural hub, AFIBA Center, has been located for many years.
The LA Times wrote the following about their concerns:
“[there was] an outpouring of anger from supporters (of AFIBA Center) who have showed up at City Hall recently to protest the decision, arguing that the group has been providing critical services at the firehouse. Last week, the founder of the group, Jabari Jumaane, called it “ironic” that Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the area and was absent that day, was headed to a conference where he was scheduled to speak about African American displacement.”
By “absent,” the LA Times means that Harris-Dawson had plenty of time to honor Earth, Wind and Fire before departing for D.C., but none for his concerned constituents.
In those circumstances, where a large group shows up to express concerns and fears and their Councilmember is absent, it is normally Wesson who lets the people know that they are being heard. But he didn’t do that, and neither did the other African American Councilmember, Curren Price, or any of the other Councilmembers for that matter.
When the AFIBA folks returned to City Council, Harris-Dawson was present, but had nothing constructive to say. And it was particularly hurtful that Wesson had nothing to say either but rather, found the energy and motivation to speak when a Latino group was honored.
To the astonishment of the AFIBA people, Wesson even spoke a few prepared words in Spanish.
Fast-forward to last Friday when they showed up to City Council again but spoke without being heard, let alone helped.
When people, especially the under-represented and misrepresented communities of color from lower- or middle-income households are blatantly tuned-out by their own representatives at public government meetings, there are few places for them to turn for a remedy, other than the next local election.
Now, make no mistake; it’s good and important for Wesson to honor Latino groups. And he belatedly bent over backward to establish not one but two new Korean celebration days in the city, Koreatown Day and Korean American Day. And virtually every other cultural identity group from Armenians and Filipinos to transgender and gay and lesbian entities are regularly and appropriately acknowledged and celebrated.
The AFIBA Center folks were just seeking help, not adulation.
In Harris-Dawson’s defense, he was busy with his latest pay-for-play action. In the Committee he chairs, Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM), he cast his vote to approve a controversial housing development in largely white suburban Council District 12 in the northwest San Fernando Valley. Huizar used to occupy that chair before the FBI raids.
Harris-Dawson failed to recuse himself despite having recently received several thousand dollars from the project developer, Affirmed Housing Group, and its executives. His tie-breaking vote allowed the project to advance to the next level.
Harris-Dawson refused this column’s request to field live questions about the money he received from Affirmed and its executives.
The LA Times, which functions as the primary protector of City Hall politicians who feast on pay-for-play at our expense, knew about those donations but wrote not a word about it. This column will prove that if the Times denies it.
And all of that, my friends, is an existential threat to all of Los Angeles, but especially to our African American neighbors.
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatch, KFI AM-640, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
