---
[ ELECTION 2026 ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024)
# The Voters Want Either Change, More Goodies, or To Be Left Alone
June 01 2026
Written by Ken Alpern.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
ALPERN AT LARGE - Some of us are sick of “the machine”, want to be part of “the machine”, or want “the machine” to leave them alone.
The problem is that this “machine” won’t leave any of us alone—any new taxes don’t just nail “other people” but cause a domino effect that results in either job loss or money being funneled to the wrong causes.
“The machine” promises free goodies, but nothing is ever free—someone might say something is free, but obviously someone else is paying for it…no matter how much we rationalize or pretend it’s OK or sustainable for others to pay for what YOU want.
Unfortunately, critical thinking and economic desperation (inflation does that!) makes people behave like drowning individuals—grabbing onto this or that and not really thinking beyond the immediate “I can’t pay my damned rent and grocery bills!”
Enter this primary season ballot: confusing, lots of judges and Board of Equalization races and other races we don’t understand (and often don’t feel competent enough to really vote on).
Also we’ve got a gargantuan list of gubernatorial wannabes who make it difficult to find names like Steve Hilton, Tom Steyer, Chad Bianco, Matt Mahan, or Xavier Becerra in this “White Pages Directory” of lots of people thinking they have a shot at the gubernatorial position.
Closer to home, we have three names who are easy to remember: Bass, Raman, and Pratt, and these three have apparently earned themselves the best shot at being our next L.A. Mayor.
So while some of us want “in” to either “the machine” or the goodies “the machine” promises for “free”…but some of us want change and we want to limit-set this machine.
As for me, as if anyone should give a rip about my opinion?
1\. I figured we have two socialists running this City, one hard-left and one harder-left, so it was easy to vote for Pratt…but miss the time when I thought Rick Caruso or Austin Beutner might be our next Mayor.
Pratt seems to have a greater command of the issues than anyone could have predicted, and Bass and Raman less so after years of being allowed to prove otherwise.
2\. As for the tax initiatives, I think it’s fairly obvious that our infrastructure and health and homeless funds have misspent, and throwing good money after the bad doesn’t fix the mindset and corruption that got us into this mess to begin with…
…so I figured that spending on our civic needs the first, second, third, or tenth time was enough, and that I would vote NO on voting to spend my money for the tenth or fifteenth time on the same thing I voted for before, and just demand belt-tightening from the usual suspects who are trying to pull a fast one on the voters…AGAIN.
Good luck, and let’s see if our voters want change, or just more of the same nonsense and garbage the voters keep complaining about.
*(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)*
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Last Name
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
### [Why Would LA Voters Elect A City Attorney Who Has Never Tried A Case In Court In Front Of A Jury?](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
OP-ED - I am writing to my neighbors over my deep concern about the candidacy of Marissa Roy for Los Angeles City Attor…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
### [A Los Angeles Trilogy: The Successes and Failures That Defined Our Leadership](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33508-a-los-angeles-trilogy-the-successes-and-failures-that-defined-our-leadership)
NICK’S VIEW - Los Angeles needs purposeful, decisive leadership. Without it, the city risks sleepwalking into crisis. T…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/state-watch/33480-high-speed-rail-consultants-misuse-of-public-funds-fast-track-project-failures)
### [High-Speed Rail: Consultants’ Misuse of Public Funds Fast-Track Project Failures](https://www.citywatchla.com/state-watch/33480-high-speed-rail-consultants-misuse-of-public-funds-fast-track-project-failures)
NICK'S VIEW - California’s high-speed rail (HSR)project has become so complex, unstable, and financially off track that…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33482-landlord-ripoff-utility-scam-rubs-tenants-wrong-way)
### [Landlord Ripoff Utility Scam RUBS Tenants Wrong Way](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33482-landlord-ripoff-utility-scam-rubs-tenants-wrong-way)
LA RENTS - Landlords have found a new way to bypass rent control restrictions to ripoff their tenants. This landlord s…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
### [The Slow-Motion Erasure Of The West Bank](https://www.citywatchla.com/world-watch/33501-the-slow-motion-erasure-of-the-west-bank)
WEST BANK - There are crimes that arrive with explosions, and crimes that advance quietly—through a bulldozer at dawn…
---
## [ ELECTION 2026 ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33502-why-the-west-valley-is-done-waiting)### [Why the West Valley Is Done Waiting](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33502-why-the-west-valley-is-done-waiting)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)### [Nithya Raman’s ‘Fascist’ Stunt Wasn’t Leadership. It Was Disqualifying](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33510-nithya-ramans-fascist-stunt-wasnt-leadership-it-was-disqualifying)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33467-california-has-heard-enough-excuses-now-becerra-and-hilton-must-deliver-answers)### [California Has Heard Enough Excuses. Now Becerra and Hilton Must Deliver Answers.](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33467-california-has-heard-enough-excuses-now-becerra-and-hilton-must-deliver-answers)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33437-reinventing-city-hall-just-need-to-wait)### [Reinventing City Hall—Just Need To Wait](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33437-reinventing-city-hall-just-need-to-wait)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33405-the-gloria-romero-interview-former-legislator-eyes-second-spot-as-californias-next-lieutenant-governor)### [The Gloria Romero Interview: Former Legislator Eyes Second Spot As California's Next Lieutenant Governor.](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33405-the-gloria-romero-interview-former-legislator-eyes-second-spot-as-californias-next-lieutenant-governor)