LOS ANGELES

VOICES-Time and again, the people of Los Angeles have demanded and awaited reform.

EASTSIDER-At Lincoln Heights, the Neighborhood Congress, and BONC, DONE gives advice contrary to their own unilaterally imposed Bylaws, leaves a rudderless Congress, and evidently gives ex parte advice to some Board members contrary to issues that other Board members have raised. 

THE CITY--Back in the Spring months of 2020, Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti established a MEGA Coronavirus testing site at Dodger Stadium.

POLITICS--The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services following weeks of stiff opposition from Republicans.

RANTZ & RAVEZ-Like many of you, I read the newspaper crime reports and watch TV News broadcasts and those daily police pursuits showing people resisting law enforcement personnel in the performance of their duties.

PLANNING WATCH-For the past decade I have closely followed the faltering efforts of City Hall to update the Hollywood Community Plan.

MY TURN-Since power tends to corrupt and courts concentrate enormous power in a very few people, some judicial corruption is inevitable. 

GUEST COMMENTARY-To use the words of the great Swedish bard Cornelis Vreeswijk: ”Last night, my friends, I dreamed a dream I never dreamed before.”

WHITE OUT---Ideas count -- sometimes, they are even stronger than material interests.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Over the course of the pandemic, we have dealt with the New Rules by huddling indoors and avoiding public contact (except for when we didn't).

INSIDE THE LAPD--The lawsuit caused by Robert Cain, an LAPD officer who had been grooming and abusing a teenage Cadet was settled by the city for just under $2 million of taxpayer funds to the family of Jane MBQ.   

CORPORATE GREED-Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, a fierce opponent of rent control, raked in an astounding $610.5 million from dividends and compensation last year, according to Reuters.

THE DOCTOR IS IN--For months now, I've inquired and urged my grocery store clerks and managers to push for their vaccinations.

MY TURN--Fund raisers on the Right and on the Left know that the best way to raise vast sums of money is to claim an existential threat to their base.

CLIMATE POLITICS-CNBC recently produced a 17-minute video about direct air capture (DAC) and corporations, specifically big oil, funding R&D operations.

GELFAND’S WORLD--In terms of Meghan, Harry, and Oprah, I think Patrick Freyne says it best: 

LA COUNTY POLITICS-Near the end of last year’s swirling and ongoing feud between the LA County Board of Supervisors and Alex Villanueva, the first LA County Sheriff to unseat an incumbent in over 100 years, County CEO, Sachi Hamai, left her $450,000 a year position with a $1.5 million dollar payout from the county. 

EASTSIDER-The new vote by mail election for California Delegates to the State Party worked great and resulted in a big surprise for the establishment Dems! 

The New System 

In an earlier article, I went over the new all vote by mail election system: 

“On the plus side, this year’s effort by the State Party is a lot simpler than it was two years ago, since there is no physical voting location. All voting is being done by mail ballots, inherently more egalitarian (as long as you have an email address and a mail address that they can send the physical ballot to). 

Any registered Democrat could sign up by January 11, with ballots going out early February (I got mine on the 11th). However, it was really a two-step process. When you signed up, you were then verified (name and address) as a bona fide democrat, and then the Party sent you a code. The code has to be used on the actual ballot before you send it in, as an additional safety check. 

Not only that, but the Party popped for “postage paid” on the return envelope. You can vote for up to 14 candidates, with the caveat that anyone voting for more than 14 will have their ballot voided.”  

Below I have listed the actual final election results for AD51, sorted by slate:

The Establishment Slate (Communities United For AD51)

Susana Lopez                      Theresa Montano                 Maggie Darett-Quiroz

585                                         591                                                     466

Jamie Tijerina                       Stephanie Maynetto-Jackson        Sarah Rascon

606                                         492                                                     569

Kathrina Abrot                       Michael Contreras                            Victor G Sanchez

454                                         478                                                     540

Luiz Antonio Sanchez          Francis Engler                      Vincento Gonzalez-Reyes

508                                         483                                                     442

John Gallogly                        Alexander De Ocampo

411                                          508

In the earlier post, I characterized the slate as: 

“First, there is what I call the “Establishment” Slate, in the sense that it is essentially controlled by Maria Eleana Durazo and Wendy Carrillo, our current State Senator and Assembly member. You can find a link to their website here.” 

Progressive Democrats For Justice (East Area Progressives)

Tessie Borden                       Maggie Buckles                    Eileen Hatrick

455                                         475                                         523

Angelica Lopez Moyes        Alicia Romero Perez            Casey Revkin Ryan

538                                         510                                         473

Emily Spokes                        Ben Cassorla                        Hugh Esten

486                                         480                             `           428

Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia             Matt Kaczmarek                   Azeen Khanmalek

501                                         428                                         426

Paul McDermott                   Brian Mico

420                                         402

“The second major slate, similar to the last time out, is that from the East Area Progressives folks, called “Progressive Democrats for Justice.” Again, you can find a link to their website here.” 

AD 51 Peoples Action (Bernie and Allied)

Abby Austin                           Selene Betancourt               Lauren Buisson       

869                                         915                                         849

Hayley Coupon                     Victor Frias                            Jeremy Gray

792                                         877                                         745                            

Phillip Iglauer                        Yolanda Nogueira                Carolyn Park

734                                         847                                         938

Ismael Perra                         Eric Pierce                             Ezra Pugh

560                                         800                                         789

Amanda Miguel Staples      Jose Gama Vargas

848                                         871

(Winners in bold)

“Finally, the third slate I found is “AD 51 Peoples Action,” an alternative to the two relative goliaths fighting it out and is affiliated with the DSA-LA (Democratic Socialists for America).  

Their Facebook page can be found here.  

Actually, they are an interesting group, and if their platform is any indication, looks to me like my Bernie folks! Like Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Criminal Justice Reform, Black Lives Matter, and such. Check out their link.” 

The Takeaway 

I included the slate descriptions of my first article so that those interested can click on the various slates’ links. 

That said, this was an amazing job of using magic, smarts, social media, and electronic outreach on the part of the AD 51 Peoples Action group. They won 100% of the delegates for AD 51. 

Most of the unsuccessful candidates were in the 500’s or less votes, while Carolyn Park and Selene Betancourt were over 900! 

For comparison, in the election two years ago, the counter establishment forces came close to winning despite a whole tangled web of actual election irregularities by the establishment slate. You can read about that election here.

I do think that courtesy of the COVID-19 issues, that the EAPD slate folks, who include a lot of LAUSD employees, were trying to juggle too many issues with the school district to fully focus on the AD51 election. We’ll see next time.

Any way you look at it, his election marks a huge change in how to run a successful vote by mail election. As I wrote in the earlier article, 

“This internal election, like almost all Dems elections, is gamed by the players. For example, it is quite possible that there will be less votes in this election because no one except the interested players and their friends even know there actually is an ADEM AD-51 election going on. And if you find out about it from this article, it will already be too late to register to vote. 

On the other hand, it may be easier to vote this time precisely because you don’t have to get in a car, take public transportation, or walk to a polling place. Should be interesting, and this time, no Eric Bauman.” 

Wow!

(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

HOUSING OR HOTELS?--Does Hollywood need more housing for essential workers or more luxury hotels? This is the decision facing the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.

PLANNING WATCH-In previous Planning Watch columns I debunked the claims of YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) groups.

MY TURN--RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968) and was designed to stop the Mafia, La Costa Nostra, wise-guys, etc.