Tweet
Crowded field competes in Tuesday's election for Los Angeles' 13th
council district seat
89.3 KPCC (Southern California Public Radio)
March 4th, 2013, 6:00am
By Frank Stoltze
In her mailbox and on her doorstep, Echo Park resident Lucia Chappelle
has been inundated.
`It's crazy,' the freelance writer says, standing outside a
market. `I've got three or four people knocking on my door every day.'
Such is life when you live in a city council district where 12
candidates are on the ballot.
Chappelle, 60, says she votes in every city election, but still hasn't
decided who will get her support this time. `It's just really
difficult to engage,' she said.
When voters in Los Angeles go to the polls Tuesday, residents of the
13th city council district may have the most difficult choice. A dozen
candidates are seeking to succeed Eric Garcetti, who is running for
mayor. Based in Hollywood, the district can serve as a launching pad,
as Garcetti demonstrates. The district also includes Silver Lake,
Atwater Village and Glassell Park.
`It's one of the key districts in the city,' says Jaime Regalado, the
retired director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal
State LA.
For one thing, the area is one of the few in L.A. that's grown
economically over the past few years. Developer money has poured into
the district, along with trendy restaurants and boutiques.
`It's become a booming district,' Regalado says. `Its political
importance has become magnified because of that.'
That may be why four of the top candidates moved into the district
within the past couple of years - critics say to take advantage of
what they knew would be an open seat.
Gentrification has brought thousands of young, new residents, and
pushed out thousands who couldn't afford soaring rents. But it remains
a tale of two districts, Regalado says, with wealthy and poor living
nearly side-by-side. The 13th is also perhaps the most diverse in the
city, says the district's former Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who
served in the 1990s.
`It's Armenian, it's Thai, it's Persian, it's Polish, it's Russian,
and obviously it's Latino, but not solely Mexican," Goldberg
says. "There are a lot of Central Americans.'
The candidates reflect that diversity. `I was born in Seoul, South
Korea,' Emile Mack told a recent candidates forum. Mack is a chief
deputy with the L.A. Fire Department.
=80=9CWhen I was three years old, I was very fortunate to be adopted
by an African American couple and brought here,' Mack said.
Another candidate, Alex De O'Campo, senior director for a charitable
foundation, described growing up with his Filipino immigrant parents
and six siblings.
`Dinners usually consisted of two cans of sardines, a bowl of rice,"
he said.
De O'Campo, Mack, and labor activist John Choi are seeking to become
only the second Asian American elected to the L.A. city council. The
first was Mike Woo, who represented the same district in the 1980's.
The race is the most expensive council contest in the city, with Choi
topping the money list. Between his own fundraising and labor union
money, he'll benefit from nearly $500,000 in spending.
De O'Campo, Mack, and former deputy mayor Matt Szabo trail him in
fundraising. A third tier in the cash category includes former
Garcetti aide Mitch O'Farrell, who's won the LA Times endorsement.
But money is less important than face-to-face contact, argues former
councilwoman Goldberg.
"In my first campaign for city council, I think we had 120 coffees
during the primary,' she says.
And with a crowded field, a candidate with deep but not necessarily
broad support could win a spot in the expected runoff, says Fernando
Guerra of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount
University.
`I can easily see the top two people getting under 20 percent,' Guerra
says. That might amount to less than 6,000 votes.
Outside Trader Joes in Silver Lake, residents expressed interest in a
wide variety of issues, from more bike lanes to concerns over a
proposed condominium project in Elysian Park.
`Street violence,' Chappelle said. `We've had homophobic attacks in
our neighborhood, in a neighborhood where we have lots and lots of
LGBT people.'
`Roads, terrible roads here, its Third World,' Bruce Stewart
complained. Interestingly, none in a small survey of people listed
the city's projected budget deficit, which nears $1 billion dollars
over the next four years.
One Trader Joes worker and Echo Park resident threw up his hands as he
struggled to name one candidate. He reflected the overwhelmingly
number of choices in this district, as well as a general disinterest
in city elections, compared to presidential contests.
`The other day I got a huge stack of brochures, literally all in one
day from a bunch of people I've never heard of,' Roman Rose said. `I
threw them all out. It's just like a pizza flyer to me.'
council district seat
89.3 KPCC (Southern California Public Radio)
March 4th, 2013, 6:00am
By Frank Stoltze
In her mailbox and on her doorstep, Echo Park resident Lucia Chappelle
has been inundated.
`It's crazy,' the freelance writer says, standing outside a
market. `I've got three or four people knocking on my door every day.'
Such is life when you live in a city council district where 12
candidates are on the ballot.
Chappelle, 60, says she votes in every city election, but still hasn't
decided who will get her support this time. `It's just really
difficult to engage,' she said.
When voters in Los Angeles go to the polls Tuesday, residents of the
13th city council district may have the most difficult choice. A dozen
candidates are seeking to succeed Eric Garcetti, who is running for
mayor. Based in Hollywood, the district can serve as a launching pad,
as Garcetti demonstrates. The district also includes Silver Lake,
Atwater Village and Glassell Park.
`It's one of the key districts in the city,' says Jaime Regalado, the
retired director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal
State LA.
For one thing, the area is one of the few in L.A. that's grown
economically over the past few years. Developer money has poured into
the district, along with trendy restaurants and boutiques.
`It's become a booming district,' Regalado says. `Its political
importance has become magnified because of that.'
That may be why four of the top candidates moved into the district
within the past couple of years - critics say to take advantage of
what they knew would be an open seat.
Gentrification has brought thousands of young, new residents, and
pushed out thousands who couldn't afford soaring rents. But it remains
a tale of two districts, Regalado says, with wealthy and poor living
nearly side-by-side. The 13th is also perhaps the most diverse in the
city, says the district's former Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who
served in the 1990s.
`It's Armenian, it's Thai, it's Persian, it's Polish, it's Russian,
and obviously it's Latino, but not solely Mexican," Goldberg
says. "There are a lot of Central Americans.'
The candidates reflect that diversity. `I was born in Seoul, South
Korea,' Emile Mack told a recent candidates forum. Mack is a chief
deputy with the L.A. Fire Department.
=80=9CWhen I was three years old, I was very fortunate to be adopted
by an African American couple and brought here,' Mack said.
Another candidate, Alex De O'Campo, senior director for a charitable
foundation, described growing up with his Filipino immigrant parents
and six siblings.
`Dinners usually consisted of two cans of sardines, a bowl of rice,"
he said.
De O'Campo, Mack, and labor activist John Choi are seeking to become
only the second Asian American elected to the L.A. city council. The
first was Mike Woo, who represented the same district in the 1980's.
The race is the most expensive council contest in the city, with Choi
topping the money list. Between his own fundraising and labor union
money, he'll benefit from nearly $500,000 in spending.
De O'Campo, Mack, and former deputy mayor Matt Szabo trail him in
fundraising. A third tier in the cash category includes former
Garcetti aide Mitch O'Farrell, who's won the LA Times endorsement.
But money is less important than face-to-face contact, argues former
councilwoman Goldberg.
"In my first campaign for city council, I think we had 120 coffees
during the primary,' she says.
And with a crowded field, a candidate with deep but not necessarily
broad support could win a spot in the expected runoff, says Fernando
Guerra of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount
University.
`I can easily see the top two people getting under 20 percent,' Guerra
says. That might amount to less than 6,000 votes.
Outside Trader Joes in Silver Lake, residents expressed interest in a
wide variety of issues, from more bike lanes to concerns over a
proposed condominium project in Elysian Park.
`Street violence,' Chappelle said. `We've had homophobic attacks in
our neighborhood, in a neighborhood where we have lots and lots of
LGBT people.'
`Roads, terrible roads here, its Third World,' Bruce Stewart
complained. Interestingly, none in a small survey of people listed
the city's projected budget deficit, which nears $1 billion dollars
over the next four years.
One Trader Joes worker and Echo Park resident threw up his hands as he
struggled to name one candidate. He reflected the overwhelmingly
number of choices in this district, as well as a general disinterest
in city elections, compared to presidential contests.
`The other day I got a huge stack of brochures, literally all in one
day from a bunch of people I've never heard of,' Roman Rose said. `I
threw them all out. It's just like a pizza flyer to me.'