ALPERN AT LARGE-It's hard to really know whether it's political naivete or justifiable outrage on my part to observe how so very soon history is repeating itself in that--like with the fight against the politically-connected Alan Casden--ordinary citizens are forced into defending themselves against a political elite who purports to represents them, but chooses to "rule" instead. Case in point: the 54th State Assemblymember race.
I still believe that former Culver City Mayor Chris Armenta is so very well-qualified to be 54th Assemblymember, from both his political experience and his knowledge as a CPA, that it entirely baffles and frustrates me that this contest isn't more of a "no-brainer" in his favor. Of course, his not taking money from developers and his stalwart defense of CEQA probably explains quite a bit.
My neighbors and friends from the liberal to the conservative ends of the political spectrum have similarly and overwhelmingly favored Chris over his two opponents...but they're also having to do it in opposition to a political wall that has proclaimed a powerful message that--as with the Casden Sepulveda development--we've no political defenders to represent us.
The endorsements in favor of Chris Armenta read like a "who's who" of the Westside and Mid-City grassroots while the endorsement of his primary opponent, the assuredly-well-meant-but-thoroughly-untried-and-untested 26 year-old son of a county supervisor, reads like a "who's who" of a political elite who are either:
1) So removed from the issues and political needs of the Westside and Mid-City that their endorsement is almost comical, if not downright offensive.
2) Obviously operating in fear of, or wishing to curry favor with, the candidate's county supervisor father.
3) Willing to, just as they did with a range of issues from the Casden Sepulveda and other oversized developments, billboard blight, and shredding CEQA, treat the usual monied interests as higher life forms.
4) Content to stiff-arm those pesky grassroots voters (the lower lifeforms) fighting for the Expo Line (and/or mitigation for that line), fighting the worsening plethora of jets at Santa Monica Airport, fighting for more appropriate budgeting and accountability in our schools, and fighting for a balanced budget in Sacramento.
5) A combination of the above.
After all...HOW ELSE WOULD A POPULAR AND RESPECTED 49 YEAR-OLD CPA AND FORMER MAYOR OF CULVER CITY WITH 20 YEARS OF CIVIC AND POLITICAL EXPERIENCE LOSE THE ENDORSEMENT OF L.A. COUNTY'S POLITICAL ELITE IN FAVOR OF A 26 YEAR-OLD WHO'S ONLY WORKED A FEW MONTHS IN A CITY COUNCILMEMBER'S OFFICE?
But while the majority of the community leaders throughout the district favor Chris Armenta, the majority of mailers from all the unions (like the IBEW), the developers and the billboard companies (like Clear Channel) and the oil companies (like Chevron) favor the young son of the county supervisor...who somehow got half a million dollars for his election effort.
Any of y'all had half a million to spend on any election campaign when you were in your mid-20's?
So while the county supervisor's son was the only one of the three candidates to NOT visit my neighborhood council, the Mar Vista Community Council, it's clear that the flood of mailers would hopefully replace the importance of a candidate to represent the Westside and Mid-City within a district with which he was supposed to be intimately familiar.
Ditto for all the other neighborhood councils, homeowner groups and grassroots organizations for which the county supervisor's son probably has little to no knowledge of, or even interest in--after all, they aren't the fiscally-connected primary constituents to which he would have to represent, if elected.
Yet former Mayor Chris Armenta has a history of, and would continue to if elected, fighting developers who break local and state law, and would be both a source of funding for both transportation/infrastructure projects, as well as a source of representation for residents who want CEQA defended.
Ditto for oil companies, billboard companies, or any other political or economic powers who are all comfortable destroying whatever protections against threats to our environment or urban blight that still haven't been destroyed by either Sacramento or by our local city governments.
Meanwhile, the county supervisor's son is loaded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the same developers, utilities, oil companies, billboard companies and health industry companies who will certainly want a piece of him should this 26 year-old young man win the race to represent the Westside and Mid-City in Sacramento.
And for those of us who shed blood, sweat and tears (to say nothing of money and time spent away from our families and our jobs) fighting the Casden project?
Well, if the county supervisor's son wins, it'll be more of the same of that. If Armenta wins, we get an actual political champion who will not treat us like lower lifeforms when we fight for the economy, environment and quality of life in our neighborhoods and region.
Please plan to vote on Dec. 3rd (for those of us who aren't voting by absentee ballot) and share this information with others in the district. For those living within the 54th Assembly District, but don't know your polling place, click here.
It's a sad, sad thing when we have to fight City Hall yet again, and we may certainly lose this one because of the financial and political juggernaut that has been thrown by the political elite against the citizenry.
But what else are we to do...be yet again crushed under the thumb of an uncaring and distant political elite that treats the voters and taxpayers like second-class citizens?
Let's support one of our own...a fiscally responsible, environmentally responsible, and politically responsible family man with 20 years of experience, vision, balancing budgets, and representing the rest of us: former Culver City Mayor Chris Armenta.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of itsMVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. He also 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 11 Issue 97
Pub: Dec 3, 2013