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EXCLUSIVE TO CITYWATCH - Tomas Sidenfaden is not a traditional, partisan candidate for public office, but an out-of-the-box entrepreneur seeking to change the landscape of county government here in Los Angeles. Neither a Democrat nor Republican, Sidenfaden prefers solutions over party labels in this nonpartisan contest for LA Supervisor.
Los Angeles County is a big place, larger than 39 other states in terms of population as the country's most populous county. Governed by just five supervisors by district, its governance is archaic and currently lacks a directly elected county executive (charter reform will address this in 2028).
To demonstrate just how large LA County is, the state of New Jersey for example has a population of just around 9 million, but requires a bicameral legislature of 80 assembly members and 40 members of the senate to operate in contrast to this unique membership of just five supervisors of which none of them represent the county at-large.
Sidenfaden, according to his website spent the early part of his career in the music industry, advancing the evolution of music technology to support artists, audio engineers, producers, and DJs as a merchant and product manager for the LA-based specialty retail chain Guitar Center.
As a self-taught software engineer, he helped deliver a best-in-class collaboration platform to serve LA's film and television industry.
Sidenfaden has lived or worked from downtown LA to the Westside to Westlake Village for almost 30 years.
As a new dad, he is raising his son here with his wife, a first generation immigrant from Iran.
Below is our interview with this interesting first-time candidate for Los Angeles County Supervisor as he attempts to unseat incumbent Lindsey Horvath:
1. Homelessness & Spending
“Los Angeles County has spent billions addressing homelessness, yet the crisis persists. What specific program would you change or cut, and what evidence shows your approach would work better?”
We need to move the vast majority of our homelessness spending to building emergency shelters on unused and underused government land. The county–and virtually all levels of government–succumb to paralysis on this issue by piling innumerable requirements on what constitutes sufficient shelter to the point that it becomes impossible to provide.
The result is brand new, $750k/unit housing with ocean views and no sobriety requirements that take a decade to build. This approach is completely unsustainable, enormously disrespectful to LA taxpayers and residents, and doesn’t acknowledge the gravity of the problem of unsheltered homelessness for what it really is: a public health emergency.
My day one goal is to declare it just that: a public health emergency. The BoS declared a “local emergency” in 2023 and its impact has been essentially negligible. A public health emergency gives the county extraordinary leverage to bypass the impenetrable maze of bureaucracy that impedes efforts to provide the most critical service we must provide today: getting our unsheltered homeless off the streets.
Once this capacity is established, the county must use all legal measures to predicate further homelessness funding on cities enforcing public camping bans when shelter beds are available. It’s only once this population is off our streets that we can meaningfully focus on more durable long-term solutions.
A public health emergency also gives the county an opportunity to align all levels of government on a solution. Governor Newsom has indicated his willingness to prioritize homelessness funding to counties truly willing to address this issue head on. I would couple my declaration of a county public health emergency with a formal motion to the state’s Office of Emergency Services and the HHS and FEMA to follow suit.
With the proper leadership, I believe all levels of government are willing to put public health above politics and bureaucracy in service of fixing the scourge of homelessness in our cities. And if they’re not, they should be willing to put themselves on record in plain view of the people of Los Angeles.
2. Accountability & Oversight:
“The Board of Supervisors controls a budget of over $40 billion and oversees departments like the Sheriff and Department of Public Health. What mechanism would you create or strengthen to increase transparency and prevent misuse of funds?”
Every request for proposal, bid, and financial transaction, should be made public to voters, media, researchers, and contractors public and private, in a user-friendly interface in real-time. Our current county government doesn’t do this because they simply lack the skill set and experience to understand this is possible with today’s technology and actually shepherd it into existence.
I am uniquely qualified to administer this change. In fact with the advent of machine learning and Large Language Models, this could be implemented in a matter of months for a six-figure sum. Our current elected leadership will try to convince you that this requires studies and consultants and that it will take years and tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. They are wrong and I am eager to show taxpayers how we can make the government fully transparent for pennies on the dollar.
3. Law Enforcement vs. Social Services:
“There’s ongoing debate over shifting funds from law enforcement toward housing, mental health, and prevention programs. Where exactly should the balance be, and what percentage of funding would you move?”
Certainly investing in mental health service is valuable, but we’re largely doing this incorrectly as a society rather than just at the county level. The durable, long-term solution is funding comprehensive mental health facilities around the county and compelling treatment for those clinically identified as being incapable of self-sufficiency due to their conditions.
This naturally raises concerns about civil liberties and this instinct amongst the American public is laudable–we rightly guard our constitutional freedoms with rigor. But it’s important that we also recognize that some citizens are simply incapable of caring for themselves and that leaving them to fend for themselves in our public spaces is cruel and undignified.
To this effect, the best thing the county can do is rapidly deploy emergency shelters and then enforce order in our public spaces. The disorder, drug use, crime and homelessness in our public spaces is a key driver of crime and spending on county and city-administered social services.
4. Housing & Development:
“California faces a housing shortage. Would you support faster approvals for housing developments—even if local neighborhoods oppose them?”
A key detail about how this question is framed is “if local neighborhoods oppose them.” This makes an intrinsic assumption that such opposition reflects the will of a majority of local residents. The city and developers never know if this is actually the case because new housing can often be tabled by the opposition of just a few residents.
This phenomenon is ultimately anti-democratic. New housing may be supported by a solid majority of residents and business owners who simply lack the time, awareness, or resources to attend public hearings or lobby local government in their favor.
I support the right of residents to block the development of new housing, but I think residents should provide evidence of local majority opposition rather than developers needing to overcome a small, but vocal minority to build housing in the midst of a housing crisis.
5. Relationship with Cities:
“Many county issues—homelessness, public safety, health services—overlap with city governments. How would you coordinate differently with cities like Los Angeles to avoid duplication and wasted funding?”
LA County’s biggest advantage is the power of the purse. The County controls billions of dollars in health, housing, and homelessness funding, and it should use that leverage to demand coordination and results from cities.
Much of the county’s efforts involve operating as a pass-through entity for federal and state funds, and the outsourcing of research, analysis, and program development and administration to consultants and non-profits.
The Board of Supervisors’ goal should be to either own the design, development and implementation of our own processes and programs, or discontinue them. Employing consultants to explain to ourselves how our systems don’t work is a textbook management failure. Outsourcing work to non-profits means we’re operating beyond the scope of our mandate or we need to invest in spinning up our own competencies.
Much of the board of supervisors is composed of career politicians or political dynasties without experience operating large systems under real-world constraints. My experience as a product manager architecting global supply chains and a software engineer building systems that serve millions of users makes me better equipped to identify and resolve our broken government.
6. Ethics & Power:
“Each county supervisor represents about two million residents, giving them enormous influence. Do you support expanding the board or limiting its powers further?”
I think the best approach the BOS can take is to consolidate its power and authority where it logically belongs and divest it in areas where it doesn’t. Much of the county’s broader dysfunction is a result of overlapping jurisdictional boundaries and conflicting interests that disincentivize collaboration. We’d be better served lobbying for complete control in certain domains and relinquishing it entirely in others so authority and responsibility aren’t fragmented amongst layers of government.
More immediately, the BOS can lead by embracing transparency as a first class value. As I mentioned earlier, every request for proposal, bid, and financial transaction, could be made public to voters, media, researchers, and contractors public and private, in a user-friendly interface in real-time. This would be far more impactful than paying consultants millions of dollars to tell us how we’re failing to deliver to citizens–many would take up the charge to tell us on their own for free.
7. What is your campaign budget, how much have you raised, and what significant endorsements have you secured?
We just formally announced our campaign and the response has been very encouraging. I’m excited to meet with organizations and community leaders who’ve reached out to better understand their ideas and concerns as we kick off our bid.
8. Do you support county charter reform, the expansion of the BOS and the creation of the County Executive?
I’m open to considering all of these initiatives. Each supervisor represents two million residents which is more than all congressional districts (750,000). But it's important this effort doesn’t simply increase new layers of government that exacerbate additional jurisdictional ambiguity.
9. Where do you reside, are you married? Children? Educational background and resume?
I live in Century City with my wife and 3 month old son. I have a BA in English and a minor in music industry from USC. I spent the early part of my career in the music industry, advancing the evolution of music technology to support artists, audio engineers, producers, and DJs as a merchant and product manager for an LA-based specialty retailer. As a self-taught software engineer, I helped deliver a best-in-class collaboration platform to serve LA's film and television industry. I founded a social news startup that is the first to use artificial intelligence to reveal bias in news media at the article level in real-time.
(Nick Antonicello is a thirty-three-year resident of the neighborhood of Venice, and a regular contributor to CityWatchLA who covers the political issues and races that effect the Westside. Have a take or a tip? Contact him at [email protected] )
