Obama for Supervisor
You’d better believe that Barack would convene weekly sessions at King/Harbor and add an extra meeting until the hospital reopened
All it takes is an Obama get-out-the-vote rally to frame the issues in a race a little closer to home. Los Angeles faces its own human disaster of the magnitude of the war in Iraq, and it’s called One Million People Without a Hospital.
And, no, Obama didn’t show up on Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles on Saturday. Instead, Hollywood surrogates like Jasmine Guy, Tatyana Ali and Hill Harper roused the several hundred believers gathered on the asphalt for a parking lot rally.
The crowd also heard from the two leading candidates to replace Yvonne “I killed King/Drew Hospital” Burke in the ever-powerful Second Empire seat on the despotic county board of supervisors.
I mean no disrespect to Bernard Parks, but I don’t remember anything about his speech. It’s not that he’s unable to speak a memorable line. But his reserved, ponderous tone couldn’t command my attention on a chaotic morning with people milling around offering many distractions. I was surrounded by volunteers who promised to sign up 1,000 voters by October and I couldn’t fathom how they would ever do it. Parks’s inability to amp it up and excite a crowd may well be part of his appeal in this era of overly rehearsed, phony politicians. Here’s a guy, after all, who spent a week leading city budget meetings that went late into the evening, instead of delegating his duties and heading off to campaign for the job of his life.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, on the other hand, was impossible to ignore. He had the crowd chanting slogans by the end of his five-minute shout. He’s got the voice of a $4 million union mouthpiece, which, thanks to the generosity of the County Federation of Labor and its supporters, he owns – with or without strings attached. And, I mean no disrespect to Ridley-Thomas, but his words didn’t mean much either. With Angelenos who once were within a short drive of King/Drew now dying before they arrive at the nearest ER, it’s hard to be moved by anything he might say about the evil war in Iraq – even if this is an Obama rally.
These two guys should be talking about nothing but resurrecting King/Harbor and fully opening county government to the public. But they are the choice facing voters in the Second Empire, which stretches from Mar Vista and Culver City to the inner city and Compton and Watts. The winner June 3 likely will serve for the maximum 12 years allowed under term limits, given the power of incumbency that runs especially strong among these despots.
Given such long tenure, it should not be too much to ask the candidates to show how they would restore the pillars of democracy crumbling and corroding at the Hall of Administration.
The top priority must be pulling back the curtain to show the public the inner workings of these five empires. The supervisors now hold only one weekly meeting and rely on more than 100 commissions, composed of regular people and others, but without a supervisor as a member. There should be more meetings, say, another weekly session. And the county should organize subcommittees on the top issues facing the county – from King/Harbor to the sheriff – and include two supervisors as members.
Parks, in an interview at the Obama rally, said the rules established when Chief Administrative Officer Bill
Fujioka took over actually hinder the work of the five supervisors. “There’s one more layer between supervisors and department heads. They’re asking elected officials not to go directly to department heads. For me, that is an impediment to the way business is done.”
As for the need for subcommittees or more meetings, Parks said he needs to get inside the building first: “I have to get there. I know it from afar. But I don’t have a sense where I can say, ‘Start moving boxes on a chart.’ I have to get there and work in the system first.”
Ridley-Thomas, as he stood at the foot of the stage, said he’ll start a neighborhood council. “It would extend from Culver City to Lynwood and there are elected officials ready to engage. It will become a significant point of reference for the work that I do.”
The ex-councilman sounded like he would favor adding a regular meeting to the supervisors’ calendar. “I believe in maximizing input in the democratic process. I’ve never been in a legislative environment where I had only one meeting. This will be an instance where I represent more people and have less meetings.”
County supervisors used to have one extra meeting at the end of every month to yammer exclusively about proposed developments and planning issues. But budget cuts did away with that meeting in the early ’90s. It would be unwieldy to usher in a city-style subcommittee system, given the fact that there are only five fiefdoms compared to 15 members of the City Council. But to anyone who ever sits through the rushed supervisors meetings, where more time seems devoted to awards and plaque presentations at the start of the meeting and remembering dead constituents before adjourning than to real issues, too many decisions appear to be hammered out without the public present. Sometimes you can’t help but wonder how close key deputies to the supervisors came to taking straw votes before the meeting. More meetings would reduce any temptations to pick up the phone and do the public’s work in private.
From all that the candidates are saying – and not saying – on the campaign trail, it’s hard to know which one can best overcome the momentum of secrecy eroding county government. But look no further than King/Harbor to see the consequences of a private government run outside the glare of a demanding public.
Mayor V’s laugh lines
What will it take to get Mayor V to address the serious issues raised by his terminal case of Overdeveloped Political Ambitions? It seemed like a perfect assignment for new CityBeat intern Alex Comisar, a sophomore majoring in journalism at USC, to explore on his first day on the job this week.
Alex headed to Northridge, where the mayor would be appearing at the 40th anniversary ceremony of the Child and Family Guidance Center. He got there early and found 150 people in their nice clothes mingling in a small room, wine and cheese in hand, waiting for someone official-looking to jog to the podium at the front of the room and announce the arrival of the city’s Top Dog. Around 7:30, a full hour later than scheduled, a man called for the attention of the chatty crowd.
“The mayor is here. The mayor is in the building. He’ll be in the room in a few minutes,” he said. “I’m sorry for the long delay, but the mayor’s schedule – we can’t do anything about that.”
The news rejuvenated the crowd after the long wait. Ten minutes later, the mayor walked into the room, his suit perfectly ironed, his hair magnificently slicked. Even someone who had never seen the mayor’s face before would have recognized him as a politician – exceptions, as always, for Rush Limbaugh. As he made his way to the front of the room, admirers launched hands and names in his direction. Antonio happily stopped to exchange pleasantries with many of them, especially the ones with whom he could speak Spanish. The mayor rounded the corner of the room, where fewer people stood.
With the mayor headed his way, Alex saw a rare opportunity to jump in front of him and get his attention without the hindrance of his accompanying muscle. “Mr. Mayor, what would you say to those voters worried about re-electing you in 2009 only to see you run for governor a few short months later?” he asked. The mayor stared at Alex, not giving him the warmest look as the political downsides of an honest response sunk in. Finally, after seconds that stretched on and on, the mayor laughed off the question. He didn’t use words until he had walked away. As he neared the stage, he looked back and said: “I gotta work, man.” Three seconds later, a tall man in a grey suit approached with the obvious news that the mayor would not be answering the question.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think the mayor did answer the question.
With reporting by Alex Comisar. Send insults and ammo to BigAl@lasniper.com.
Published: 05/14/2008
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT
I liked this article.