David R. Hernandez has been a community advocate and leader in Los Angeles for 20 years. He has 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and is a Combat Vietnam Veteran. He is the executive director of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce and is president of the Los Angeles Mission College Foundation.
Daily Bruin: Why are you running for mayor?
David Hernandez: As a 60-year resident of Los Angeles, I’ve seen many good and not so good changes within the city. As a community activist for the last 20 years, I’ve done what I could through various organizations to help my community.
I believe the best vehicle for me to accomplish what I have set out to do is elective office, and the mayor of Los Angeles is in a great position to do some great things for the city and the people. In the past administrations, there has not been a focus on addressing the real needs of the community, so I have entered in the race to give people the opportunity to choose a different course, should they choose to take it.
DB: What are the most important issues facing Los Angeles right now?
DH: For me, public safety is inclusive of things like well-lit streets, sidewalks for seniors to walk on ““ so it’s a blend of quality-of-life issues as well as providing first responders with the resources and the strategic planning that is necessary in the event of a natural disaster or any type of disaster that will take place in the city.
Traffic in Los Angeles is the worst in the country. And there is nothing in place currently that is going to impact the negative trend of the traffic. So let’s not just look at the long-term but also at short-term and immediate solutions that we can begin to do today. We can start with the streets ““ we can have a more concerted effort to repair the 700 miles of streets in Los Angeles. It will cost about $2.8 billion, but every year, the cost to repair the streets continues to grow, so unless we act now, that $2.8 billion could become $10 billion.
We are talking about the greening of Los Angeles, but the capacity to conduct the research and development and manufacturing of green technology ““ that needs to be a priority here in Los Angeles. There’s no need to rush to move to green technology if we have to import it all from other countries.
We have a great opportunity right now. We are going to move forward with green technology, but let’s do so in a way that will be inclusive of not only creating jobs but also supporting the educational institutions that are going to be training the future scientists and engineers that can manufacture the green technology and material right here in Los Angeles.
DB: How has Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed or not addressed these problems?
DH: His intentions may have been good, however he has had a number of distractions diverting him from his job at hand as mayor. When we look at areas such as transportation: He did not avail himself of input from local communities when he created, for example, one-way streets at Pico and Olympic, without input from local businesses and community leaders.
Whether it’s transportation, public safety or creating a sound business environment, I believe that one of the areas that the mayor has responsibility for is monitoring what is happening with the city council, and you can’t have a hands-off policy.
DB: What experience in your track record can you point to that suggests you have the leadership skills and understanding of issues or infrastructure necessary to be an effective mayor?
DH: As an activist and a community advocate involved in many issues, not just education, not just land use, not just homelessness, not just social services, … the experience that I bring to the table is that (of) the past 20 years of interacting with individuals in the community.
I have been able to develop relationships with people that would help me bring a wealth of ideas to the table.