ALPERN AT LARGE-Politics is hard, and choosing our political leaders is even harder. With the departure of Holly Mitchell to the State Senate, however, the special election December 3rd to elect her replacement to the 54th Assembly District Seat is fairly easy: Chris Armenta, former mayor and city councilmember of Culver City.
The other two running for the seat are two good men who I wish well: a dedicated community volunteer and the 25 year-old son of a county supervisor.
Yet it's only Chris Armenta who has the experience of community and commercial corridor redevelopment, transportation/infrastructure improvements and (especially!) staying within a balanced budget during an era where such endeavors do not have a good track record within the public sector.
We've had pretty good luck with representation from other municipal leaders who cut their teeth in municipal/city politics, and who learned how to make tough decisions yet show vision for growth and improvement: Ted Lieu (originally from Torrance) and the late Mike Gordon (a star from El Segundo) are two of my heroes. Chris Armenta would be the perfect addition to Sacramento while staying connected to the Westside and Mid-City.
I'm impressed with Chris's focus on transportation mitigations and adherence to a strong CEQA, whether it's for the Expo Line or for the Crenshaw/LAX Line. Or for any other public works project. Sacramento needs to be a partner for funding long-overdue transportation/infrastructure measures, as well as a place where the citizenry can count on to be protected against developers who game the system, if not break the law altogether.
And Chris has both the vision and local connections to ensure our public works projects are both funded and mitigated in the right manner. The Expo Line needs more parking, more bicycle and bus amenities and more community mitigation, while the Crenshaw/LAX Line needs to actually be connected to LAX!
Chris's passion to have the state partner with Metro to fund necessary and overdue public works projects, yet demand they be properly mitigated, is a passion I share. I also appreciate Chris's support for the long-overdue Metro Rail/LAX link, such as the LAX Connect alternative promoted by LA World Airports and major L.A. City politicians, so his election to Sacramento couldn't come at a better time.
More on the LAX Connect, which is the ultimate "betterment" for the Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail Line, can be found in my recent CityWatch summary, among other places. It has critical importance to both the Westside and Mid-City, if not the rest of the county.
The LAX Connect alternative is one of the greatest transportation/economic initiatives upon which L.A. County can embark, and we'll need supportive, passionate yet scrutinizing leaders such as Chris Armenta on board to ensure it can be completed in an aggressive yet careful manner.
And it must be repeated and underscored that Chris is a defender of CEQA, and will focus on citizen and taxpayer rights in an era where citizens and taxpayers are all too often demonized, belittled and trampled over.
Experience and making difficult-yet-necessary budgetary and procedural decisions will be as necessary in Sacramento as it is at the local municipal level. Of those running for the 54th District Assembly Seat, only Chris has the experience and track record to assure me he will do what 's really needed in Sacramento.
For those interested in learning more about Chris Armenta, his website is here. http://christopherarmenta.com/
(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 its MVCC 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
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CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 91
Pub: Nov 12, 2013