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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Griffith Park Wayist endorses.... CDs 6-14

Make your voice heard!

PLEASE VOTE   for your choices  NEXT TUESDAY

Griffith Park Wayist endorses the following candidates for CDs 6-14...


CD 6: ABC - Anyone but Cardenas. 

Choices:
RICH GOODMAN    Small Business Entrepreneur
TONY CARDENAS    Los Angeles City Councilmember
JAMES "JAMIE" CORDARO    San Fernando Valley Businessman
DAVID BARRON
In past elections, Tony Cardenas has allegedly been closely linked to Richard Alarcon (currently under indictment by the LA County DA), James Acevedo (CRA beneficiary among other nefarious development activities around town), and more than abundant tribal gaming money.

No matter how surgical some of his City Council dissections sound, the gentleman apparently has questionable friends and huge special interests hanging on.

As an aside, Zuma Dogg tweeted this about Acevedo just the other day:
  • Ya know, a funny name ZD stumbled upon during his Del Mar trip to visit Pension Fraud insider was "James Acevedo." You know, Cardenas' pal.
Very interesting, ZD. Would love to hear more.
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CD 8:  Bernard Parks.

Choices:
FORESCEE HOGAN-ROWLES     Community Development CEO
BERNARD C. PARKS     Los Angeles City Councilmember
JABARI S. JUMAANE     Los Angeles City Firefighter
It's a hard call - Parks will become a double-pensioner to the tune of $400K annually in taxpayer funds when he retires. He's currently pulling in $250,000+ as a retired LAPD chief. The man is the poster child for what's wrong with the public employee pension system in this town. However, he's also been the most prudent in terms of City finances. But that isn't saying much given the current state of City's finances. Parks is still one of the 15 current and ex-councilmembers responsible for the city's fiscal woes.

As for the other candidates, neither has distinguished themselves enough to make a case.

Of note: Parks is LA Clean Sweep's choice.
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CD 10: ABW - Anyone but Wesson. 

Choices:
HERB J. WESSON, JR.     Los Angeles City Councilmember
ANDREW "ANDY" KIM     Attorney
ALTHEA RAE SHAW     Victim Advocate
AUSTIN DRAGON     Employment Specialist/Businessman
LUIS MONTOYA     Small Business Owner
CHRIS BROWN     Private Business Owner
Herb Wesson must go. Period. Just a freeloader riding whatever pot of money he can latch onto. Time for him to retire so he can spend more time with his new grandchild. Anyone else would do a better job.

Of note: Austin Dragon is LA Clean Sweep's choice.
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CD 12:  Brad Smith.

Choices:
DINESH "DANNY" LAKHANPAL     Businessperson
KELLY M. LORD, JR.     Small Business Owner
BRAD SMITH     Neighborhood Council Boardmember
NAVRAJ "SINGH" SINGH     Businessman/Restaurant Owner
ARMINEH CHELEBIAN     Boardmember, Neighborhood Council
MITCHELL ENGLANDER     Policeman/Councilmember Deputy
Mitch Englander is the guy with all the money and the blessing by his soon-to-be ex-boss, Councilmember Greig Smith.  The association with Greig Smith - one of the 15 current and ex-councilmembers responsible for the city's financial woes - is too much. It'll likely be business as usual with Englander who has the same connections as Smith, and Los Angeles cannot afford any more of that.

Brad Smith has had his ups and down, but seems to have a good grasp of the issues and how City Hall works.
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CD 14:  Rudy Martinez.

Choices:
JOSÉ HUIZAR     Los Angeles City Councilmember
RUDY MARTINEZ    Small Business Owner
The race between Jose Huizar and Rudy Martinez has been nuthin' 'cept u-g-l-y.

We're leaning toward Martinez simply due to the fact that Huizar is one of the 15 current and ex-councilmembers responsible for the financial mess that this City is in. Change is good. If Martinez doesn't work out, he can be voted out in four years.

Of note: Martinez is LA Clean Sweep's choice.
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Finally, we can't talk about the City's current fiscal state without noting that Wendy Greuel - who is now running for Mayor - and Jack Weiss are definitely two of the 15 responsible for LA's financial woes. Pauls Krek and Kor haven't been in office long enough to shoulder any substantial part of the blame... yet.

Word to the Pauls: that parenthetic allowance will expire pretty soon.