Citywide Election

L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti reshuffled the arithmetic and geography of the race to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday, joining the growing field of contenders in the 2013 citywide election. Garcetti, 40, is the third elected official at City Hall to take the plunge, following City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry. Fluent in Spanish, he immediately becomes the only high-profile Latino in the race; his father, former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, is of Mexican descent.

Next month, Los Angeles voters will go to the polls in a first round of balloting to elect a new mayor and other city officials. The election is taking place just four months after the presidential balloting, which means that Angelenos have been caught in a months-long cycle of nonstop electioneering. No sooner was the presidential election over than a new round of debates, television commercials and mailers started up for the city election. It's no wonder that only a small fraction of registered voters will cast ballots this March.

After reading your article (Feb. 17) regarding L.A. City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, I am more than ever in favor of his opinions. Whenever I look at my sample ballot to vote on anything pertaining to a citywide election I always look to see what Councilman Bernardi feels about that particular person or subject. I wish we had more people on the council like him. I wish I had been asked to sign his petition for a reform measure for tougher restrictions on campaign fund-raising.

L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti reshuffled the arithmetic and geography of the race to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday, joining the growing field of contenders in the 2013 citywide election. Garcetti, 40, is the third elected official at City Hall to take the plunge, following City Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry. Fluent in Spanish, he immediately becomes the only high-profile Latino in the race; his father, former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, is of Mexican descent.

Next month, Los Angeles voters will go to the polls in a first round of balloting to elect a new mayor and other city officials. The election is taking place just four months after the presidential balloting, which means that Angelenos have been caught in a months-long cycle of nonstop electioneering. No sooner was the presidential election over than a new round of debates, television commercials and mailers started up for the city election. It's no wonder that only a small fraction of registered voters will cast ballots this March.

The citizens of San Diego will have the opportunity to vote for the Clean Air Initiative in the citywide election Nov. 3. A number of newspaper accounts that have appeared in the past few days have characterized the initiative as "anti-SANDER." Though the adoption of the initiative would stop the proposed SANDER garbage incinerating plant in the populated area of Kearny Mesa, it will do much more than that. The initiative establishes reasonable standards for all solid waste facilities that will burn 500 tons or more per day of residential, commercial or industrial waste.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to delay a ballot measure calling for a reduction in the time survivors of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty have to wait for cost-of-living adjustments to their benefits. Faced with a projected $600,000 bill to place the Charter amendment measure on the ballot, the council voted 12 to 0 to rescind an earlier resolution to place the measure before voters in a June 6 special election. Under the motion by City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, the measure could come up for a vote during the next citywide election, most probably in June, 1990.

Two issues will be put before Long Beach voters on the November ballot--citywide election of a full-time mayor and district elections of school board members--and it is my hope that the handful of people who show up at the polls soundly defeat both propositions. If these were "up" times I am sure that I would feel differently about both causes, but we are in "down" times if, in fact, we have not achieved "advanced collapse"; and history teaches that arbitrarily taking things apart when one is not in a position of ascendancy only invites trouble.

Recent action by five members of the San Diego City Council to deny federal funds to Councilman Bob Filner's district have been characterized by some members of the media as confirming their worst fears about the effect of district-only elections on council decisions. Longtime opponents of district elections are claiming that the five council members who took San Ysidro's share of the Community Development Block Grant funds were mindful of never again having to worry about getting votes in San Ysidro.

At a rowdy meeting, the City Council decided 4 to 1 to have residents vote on whether to allow gambling at card clubs. About 50 residents came to Tuesday's meeting to rail against card clubs, which are currently not allowed in the city. No resident spoke in favor. Many said they fear increased crime and a sleazy image for Stanton. "It's just not anything to be proud of," resident Martha Zuniga told the council. "I don't want a prostitute outside my house, turning her little tricks."

A decision late Tuesday by Irvine's City Council to submit a portion of the CenterLine light-rail plan to voters creates a new threat to the entire project, transportation officials said. Arthur Leahy, chief executive officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority, said a rejection of the project in Irvine probably would force a reevaluation of the rail line to determine if it still made "transportation sense." OCTA is the lead agency behind the $1.1-billion project.

Pasadena has nearly all the institutions usually associated with a big city--a football stadium, a respected art museum, a university with three Nobel Prize winners, a symphony orchestra, a decidedly urban school district and a City Hall that provides everything from health care to water and power. To many in this mid-size city of 134,000, only one thing is missing: a mayor who is elected by voters citywide.

At a rowdy meeting, the City Council decided 4 to 1 to have residents vote on whether to allow gambling at card clubs. About 50 residents came to Tuesday's meeting to rail against card clubs, which are currently not allowed in the city. No resident spoke in favor. Many said they fear increased crime and a sleazy image for Stanton. "It's just not anything to be proud of," resident Martha Zuniga told the council. "I don't want a prostitute outside my house, turning her little tricks."

The troubled Los Angeles School Board faces severe challenges that handicap its mission to provide a quality education for the more than 600,000 children who attend public schools. Insufficient public financing is the most obvious concern, of course, but it is not the only pressing problem that board members must tackle as they determine public policy and set priorities for the huge district. PROBLEMS: Improving academic achievement for all students must be the overriding focus of the board.

The city of Bell Gardens is being sued by three residents who allege that the citywide election system is racially biased against Latinos. The suit, filed Sept. 26 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the city's at-large election system dilutes the voting power of Latinos.

Voters will decide June 5 whether to recall Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant and may be asked to enlarge the City Council to seven members and eliminate the elected post of mayor. City Clerk Elizabeth Villeral reported Tuesday night that petitions seeking the recall of Bryant had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The council voted to submit the recall to voters at the June 5 state primary, saving the expense of a separate city election.

The city of Bell Gardens is being sued by three residents who allege that the citywide election system is racially biased against Latinos. The suit, filed Sept. 26 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that the city's at-large election system dilutes the voting power of Latinos.

The troubled Los Angeles School Board faces severe challenges that handicap its mission to provide a quality education for the more than 600,000 children who attend public schools. Insufficient public financing is the most obvious concern, of course, but it is not the only pressing problem that board members must tackle as they determine public policy and set priorities for the huge district. PROBLEMS: Improving academic achievement for all students must be the overriding focus of the board.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to delay a ballot measure calling for a reduction in the time survivors of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty have to wait for cost-of-living adjustments to their benefits. Faced with a projected $600,000 bill to place the Charter amendment measure on the ballot, the council voted 12 to 0 to rescind an earlier resolution to place the measure before voters in a June 6 special election. Under the motion by City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, the measure could come up for a vote during the next citywide election, most probably in June, 1990.

Recent action by five members of the San Diego City Council to deny federal funds to Councilman Bob Filner's district have been characterized by some members of the media as confirming their worst fears about the effect of district-only elections on council decisions. Longtime opponents of district elections are claiming that the five council members who took San Ysidro's share of the Community Development Block Grant funds were mindful of never again having to worry about getting votes in San Ysidro.