LW Recommendations in LA City Wide Races
The LA City Council has become a national embarrassment of corruption, racism, and it urgently needs new blood and generational turnover. The city is plagued with homelessness, high rents, and our housing is ever more unaffordable for first time home buyers. We need to build a lot more housing all over the City of Los Angeles; that will require changes in zoning and the city and county’s approaches to building new housing and more affordable housing. We are in a historic drought, and the climate is heating up all around us. We are going to have to develop and extensively use alternatives to fossil fuels. We need to conserve and reuse our limited water supplies. Kids lost a lot of learning during the pandemic, and enrollment in K-12 has fallen precipitously. We need a concerted effort to help them catch up; we need to use tutors and after school programs and an extended school year. We need to assess programs and educators, build in accountability for improved results, and expand whatever works best in educating LA’s public school kids.
Los Angeles Mayor: Karen Bass v. Rick Caruso.
Karen Bass. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-primary-los-angeles-mayor-karen-bass-q-and-a
Rick Caruso. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-primary-los-angeles-mayor-rick-caruso-q-and-a
Recommendation: Bass. She has the demonstrated skills and solid leadership qualities and decades of experience and commitment to bring the city together to address its overlapping challenges. Caruso is a highly successful developer of glossy high-end projects, like Palisades Village; that is the exact opposite of what the City of Los Angeles needs. He does not have a track record of interest in solving the issues facing LA, and he has spent over $100 million to convince the city’s voters otherwise.
Los Angeles City Attorney: Faisal Gill v. Hydee Feldstein
Faisal Gill is a civil rights attorney with a strong commitment to social justice. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-general-los-angeles-city-attorney#gill
Hydee Feldstein Soto is an experienced attorney. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-general-los-angeles-city-attorney#feldstein-soto She appears to be substantially more conservative than Gill on police misconduct, homelessness, and criminal justice reforms.
Recommendation: Gill. I was initially attracted to Hydee Feldstein for her experience, but she appears to be resolutely NIMBY on issues of developing affordable housing for the homeless and unwilling to support criminal justice reforms.
Los Angeles City Controller: Paul Koretz v. Kenneth Mejia
Koretz is an experienced and able politician with wide experience in City Hall and Sacramento. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-general-los-angeles-city-controller#koretz
Mejia is a first-time candidate who has a lot of support from progressive organizations and the LA Times and La Opinion. https://laist.com/news/politics/2022-election-california-general-los-angeles-city-controller#mejia
Recommendation: Mejia. We need some promising new leaders from the next generation.