While the Los Angeles mayoral candidate field is crowded, it’s clear Eric Garcetti is the king of the hill. And Los Angeles voters would be remiss not to give him a second term.
This board endorses Garcetti for mayor because of his innovative outlook, his accomplishments as the current mayor of LA and – most importantly – his experience.
Back in 2013, Garcetti assured voters, among many things, that he would fix potholes on the streets, help improve LA’s rampant traffic congestion, work towards more affordable housing and restructure the LA Department of Water and Power. And over the past four years, he has accomplished – or at least started to address – these very issues.
For example, Garcetti helped launch a data collection and mapping system that allows citizens to request a multitude of city services, such as graffiti removal, pothole repair and bulky-item pickup. He helped author and pass Measure M in November, which provides funding for LA to revitalize and revolutionize its transportation system to meet the city’s growing transit needs. And he has pledged to build 100,000 new affordable housing units by 2021 and put a referendum on November’s ballot to overhaul the LADWP to allow for more community oversight.
There is undoubtedly no better choice for mayor than Garcetti. None of his opponents come close to competing with his qualifications and track record.
However, this accolade is not without reservations about his governing style. Throughout his tenure, Garcetti has had trouble consistently making difficult political decisions. Be it attempting to overhaul the LADWP or protecting his vision of LA’s housing, Garcetti has tended to ride the coattails of city propositions instead of taking the initiative himself as mayor to lead major citywide efforts. The measures have been doing the heavy lifting over the past four years – not the mayor’s office itself.
Certainly, the city has been blessed with an economic boom and improved infrastructure these past four years, and Garcetti can be thanked for some of that. But the mayor needs to be willing to take more creative risks to solve LA’s long-lasting problems, like crime and homelessness.
LA deserves a mayor with qualifications and ideas. Garcetti is the clear winner for the first criterion and the only candidate showing the aptitude for the second.
My name is YJ Draiman; I am an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council for 4 terms. I would like you to elect me as Mayor of Los Angeles. My vision is to improve L.A. for all Angelinos, and it starts initially with 5 crucial issues: bringing good paying JOBS back to L.A.; improving the educational system; fixing our infrastructure; a balanced budget; and addressing the homeless epidemic.
The most fundamental building block of any prosperous city is Economics, which means good paying full time Jobs. I will stop the current loss of good paying jobs and implement an aggressive plan to keep industry, and bring new industry and businesses into L.A. by providing great incentives and employ the unemployed.
In order to secure the future of L.A. we must ensure the future of our children and grandchildren, which means we MUST substantially improve our Educational System, and do it now. We must utilize city services for all Angelinos equally and provide responsible finance, transparency and full disclosure.
The City of LA has been going downhill for at least the past 15 years and more. The budget and revenues do not cover the costs of running the city. We must operate the city with responsible finance management and transparency.
Promote new businesses, fix the infrastructure, and obey the law no matter what. Fix and improve our education system and our transportation system.
Devise a system that will maintain our infrastructure on an ongoing basis without coming to the people to fix and do a catch-up for 90 years of neglect.
I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true.
Thank you, YJ Draiman
Check my website at http://draimanformayor.com
An elected official duty is to serve the people not himself.
A Mayor is elected to serve the people. If the elected official treats his/her position as a seat of power, he/she does not belong in his/her position and must be replaced.
When the voters elect a Mayor or any other elected official it is to serve the people equally without favoritism to any select group. When an elected official violates that trust of the people and considers him-self or some select group first and not the people, than that person must be replaced.
It is an awesome responsibility to serve the people, which mused be assumed with full recognition of its obligation to the people and conduct himself with honesty and integrity, without any bias. No lies, no exaggeration, just plain bare facts and any deviation is not accepted.
The finances must be handled with extreme care, transparency and accountability is a must.
All laws and ethics must be observed and enforced with no exceptions.
The people’s well being and concerns comes first and foremost.
YJ Draiman for Mayor of LA
Check my website at: http://draimanformayor.com