ALPERN AT LARGE - In my most recent piece, I gave a two-pronged approach to a second Karen Bass mayoral term:
- Four more years of Karen Bass at least gives us (the voters) four more years of giving her grief which she so richly deserves, and after letting US burn she will be a sort of punching bag who will probably (unless she changes her ways) be greeted with howls and boos even in the 2028 Olympics.
- That said, I really don’t want Karen Bass or the City of Los Angeles to fail because I’d rather she succeed and learn from her mistakes…and for the City to succeed despites its repeated decisions to vote in policies and candidates that have brough us to this sad state of affairs..
Because I believe that City Hall is “owned” by big-money interests, public sector unions, and other activists who don’t give a damn about the voters and view us only as ATM machines and fools who will be as repeatedly fooled as was Charlie Brown by Lucy who kept promising she’d hold her football in place and let him kick it.
(For those of you too young to ever have read the cartoon “Peanuts”, Lucy never failed to pull the football away at the last second and let him fly up in the air and fall down in pain and frustration.)
So after 20 years of being at the forefront of grassroots activism, only to watch City Hall gaslighting and agendas, COVID used blatantly against its citizens, and the DSA showing up out of left field, I am anything BUT naïve:
Bass and Raman both have proven to be so inept and fixed on ideas that will not and cannot work that they’ve forgotten how to be tough and learn from their mistakes, but here are three points that cannot be denied:
- If Bass wins, we’ll know who’s the Mayor, but if Raman wins then neither you nor I (nor perhaps Raman) will have any idea of who is actually running this City.
- As learned from that creepy, creepy company Median Strategies) the polls are full of cow manure, and in reality Bass and Raman are running neck and neck (the voters know that L.A. is “cooked” right now).
- The winner of this election will be those who best court…Pratt voters!
As I stated in my last CityWatch piece:
“It’s easy to throw up one’s hands and scream “let the damned City burn!” but those living here will face the explosion in crime, homelessness, cost of living, and antisemitism/anti-Western sentiments that will thrive in a potential Raman mayoral term of office.
So unless we want YOU or US to burn, then a vote for Karen Bass becomes the obvious “Lesser of Two Evils”.
Yes, Bass has a way forward by the last-second betrayal of Rick Caruso, the personal family tragedy of Austin Beutner, and the amateurish campaign of Spencer Pratt, but sooner or later the bitter pill must get swallowed.”
Do I believe that Bass is a woman of sincere conviction, humility, and self-reflection?
Not really—Mayor Bass is probably just a politician who’s too oily and power-driven to be her own person, and who runs a City that’s caught up with absolutely unsustainable causes that bark and bray at us from the Left.
Bass also has to deal with both left-wing zealots and ugly budgetary realities that make it difficult to please all parties. However, there is hope that for political reasons Bass does an Eric Garcetti swing back to the center after Garcetti led us into oblivion):
- The first term of Eric Garcetti (and as well the once-popular and very capable CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin) was centrist and driven by the will and inclusion of the voters/taxpayers of L.A. The second term was wildly dismissive and contemptuous of the grassroots, and we’ve suffered ever since.
- A plan to restore and invigorate the Neighborhood Councils (for reals, with budgets and bylaws to prove it) would be a good start.
- A new series of policies to expedite the rebuilding of the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods to benefit Angelenos (within a week) has to be “for reals”, and with the approval and oversight of the grassroots (maybe even openly ask Rick Caruso to lead that effort…even if he would does say no).
- A statement that any homeless who refuse help will be either imprisoned for violation of trespassing and public safety laws, or at the very least denied taxpayer-funded benefits.
- A promise for a safe and secure 2028 Olympics.
Again, I’m not that naïve. I wish Mayor Bass was a person of character to have done this on her own already, but I do think she’s both smarter and more politically-savvy than Councilmember Raman.
But Mayor Bass needs Pratt voters, and needs to be a part of an effort pull the Democratic Party away from the radical, irrational and unsustainable Left and allow the Democratic Party to remain liberal but not childish.
(Kind of like Governor Wes Moore of Maryland—pragmatic, pro-law-and-order, but not “crazy-Left”).
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti started more moderate and then swung wildly to the Left—and he faces a very, very uncertain political future (if any future at all).
Bass can follow Garcetti into oblivion, or she can go back to the manner he ran his first-term with respect to voter/taxpayer feedback…
…or she can watch from the sidelines to witness a Mayor Nithya Raman oversee the 2028 Olympics.
(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 [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
