Guess What? Another California Election
This time, the election is all about money (refrain from your cynical thoughts). Even non-state budget-related items on the ballot are there to consolidate elections and save money.
Here are the basics. California is a budgetary mess. Years of ill-considered (from a budgetary perspective) ballot measures have severely constrained the legislature’s ability to work out a solution. Couple that with the intransigence of the “no taxes” extremist Republicans and the leverage they have because of the two-thirds majority requirement (also enacted by ballot measure) to pass a state budget or raise taxes. Mind you, the context of all this is that it only takes a simple majority to pass these measures, including those that amend the California constitution. So something as transient as a one-year budget is deemed more important than the state’s founding document, go figure.
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I agree with you on the propositions. No on everything until we can trust the people who write these things from playing ‘bait and switch’ with us. I don’t trust them anymore – a proposition to lower taxes turns out to raise them etc.
But as for City Attorney, the choice between Carmen Trutanich and Jack Weiss is a lot clearer than you say. Most of the criticism of Trutanich is based on false statements and deceptive advertising put out by Weiss. We don’t want a deceptive person as our City Attorney. Weiss comes from a wealthy privileged background, and has no connection with regular people – all he knows are the Westside elite. Weiss broke the law just 2 weeks ago when he took part in an illegal fundraiser in a $16M Beverly Hills mansion hosted by a City Pensions Board Commissioner; Kelly Candaele. That’s a violation of LA Municipal Code 49.7.8 which prohibits City appointees from engaging in fundraising. Candaele resigned. This was all reported in the LA Times.
Carmen Trutanich was born and raised of immigrant parents in San Pedro. His father worked in a Tuna canning factory, as did Carmen, to pay his way through law school. He’s a self-made man who never had anything given to him on a plate. Trutanich’s first job was at the District Attorney’s Office where he tackled gang members for 10 years before leaving to start a successful private law firm. In 21 years as a private defense attorney and civil litigator, Trutanich has not a single complaint filed against him.
Weiss, on the other hand, has 40 ethics violations filed against him.
The thrust of Weiss’s criticism of Trutanich is based on Trutanich being a defense attorney, that’s not a crime. People charged with crimes deserve a defense – guilty or not. It’s what our constitution demands. Weiss himself has used defense attorneys – it’s just another example of how deceptive Jack Weiss is.
So, the choice comes down to this; Do you want a City Attorney with a clean record, who understands what it’s like to be a ordinary person just trying to make a living, or do you want a Westside politician with a record of ethics violations?
Vote Trutanich for City Attorney, please
I’ve lived in Council District 5 the entire seven-plus years Weiss has misrepresented that district.
During that period of time, Weiss has been fined for numerous ethical violations, may be investigated for additional recent fundrasing violations, has been notorious for ignoring his constituents and missing City Council meetings, and repeatedly displayed incompetence in general and surprising legal incompetence for someone who desires to be City Attorney.
I know little about Trutanich, other than the fact that he appears to be a competent attorney who, in almost thirty years in practice, has never been disciplined by the California Bar.
I don’t believe in rewarding someone who has displayed gross incompetence for seven-plus years and has been repeatedly rude to the people who hired him (Council District 5 residents).
If enough people disagree with me, we’ll get an opportunity to see if Weiss can mismanage the City Attorney’s Office to the extent he has mismanaged his City Council Office.
I hope voters keep the above in mind.
I am supporting David Vahedi in the race to replace Jack Weiss in the 5th Council District for a number of reasons. I believe he is the most qualified candidate and possesses an almost encyclopedic understanding of the specific issues that challenge those of us who live in CD5. He has fresh, new ideas and is not beholden to the “old boys’ network. He pledged from Day 1 not to accept a penny from the developers and billboard companies who have had a tremendous impact on the residents of CD5. He has been a tireless advocate for both the residents and businesses in the community. He has falsely been portrayed as a no-growth candidate which is simply false. He has run a clean and ethical campaign. His opponent has accepted a large amount of money from the same developers and billboard companies that owned Jack Weiss, and it will be business as usual if Paul Koretz is elected. Paul Koretz has slandered David Vahedi with false campaign mailers that expose his character as a liar. Moreover, I personally attended 6 different candidates forums. David Vahedi specifically answered the questions that were posed to him. Paul Koretz either could not or would not take a specific position on just about every question that was asked. Both the LA Times and the Daily News have endorsed David Vahedi for the reasons I have enumerated. I hope that you will support David Vahedi for City Council in CD5. If you want to see things get shaken up downtown, you really have no other choice. If you’re satisfied with business as usual, then go ahead and vote for Paul. You will get more of the same from a career politician who moved into a rental in the district solely for the purpose of running for the seat versus a candidate who has lived in CD5 for 35 years and has already dealt with many of our problems as a tireless volunteer. Just as we brought change to Washington, DC, with the election of Barack Obama, we can bring change to the City Council with the election of David Vahedi.