If you ever wanted to miss voting in an election without having a guilty conscious, March 3 may be your day.

How can a civic-minded newspaper say such a thing. Well, you can call it being realistic. There is no serious opposition in most races. There is no “change guy” running to turn things around in L.A. Yes, the Mayor is running for reelection, but there is no well-known opposition, unless you count Zuma Dogg. Bill Rosendahl is running for reelection for city council. His only opponent is on the far rightwing of the political spectrum. 

If you decide to vote, here are the Beachhead recommendations:

For Mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa has blown it, big time. He campaigned four years ago with the support of nearly every progressive in town. He won election and was quickly seduced by the Dark Side. He even rode a corporate jet to Rosa Parks funeral. Rosa Parks, who started the civil rights movement by boycotting the segregated Birmingham, Alabama, buses. She walked, and Antonio flew in style. He could have been a positive role model of thousands of Latino youth. But he blew that one too. When Lincoln Place tenants asked for his help, he denounced them for not giving in to LP’s corporate owner. Don’t reward bad behavior with your vote.

For Council District 11: Bill Rosendahl has stood out in sharp contrast to the Mayor. He has gone to bat for Lincoln Place tenants, and he’s done the right thing on many other issues that affect Venice. Sadly, he has dropped the ball when it comes to helping the weakest among us, the homeless. Bill has talked a good game about finding places to park for those forced to live in RVs. He’s expressed compassion for our Venice neighbors who live on the street. But when it comes to action, we’re still waiting. He’s sided with the homeless haters who would impose a parking permit tax on all of us, in their misguided attempt to force the RVs out of Venice. Sorry Bill, we can’t endorse you and remain true to the homeless at the same time.

For City Attorney: Hooray, Rocky Delgadillo, our worst City Attorney, perhaps in history, is leaving office. He’s been picketed a number of times by angry tenants who resent his biased support of landlords. The favorite to succeed him is Jack Weiss, a city councilmember who has been a target of recall for all the right reasons. Jack Weiss would not be much of an improvement. Also running is Noel Weiss, a Venice resident who represents some of the Lincoln Place tenants. He’s not universally favored by the tenants, but he would be an improvement on Jack Weiss (no relation).

For Controller: Unfortunately, Laura Chick is termed out of office. Her audits kept the rest of the gang at city hall on their toes. Running to replace her are Wendy Greuel, a city councilmember, and Nick Patsaouras, a transportation expert. Greuel has done nothing to shout about during her term at city hall. On the other hand, Patsaouras is intelligent and seems honest. Qualities that might come in handy as Controller.

Other Offices: Angela Reddock, who ran against Bill Rosendahl four years ago on a platform including a moratorium on development, is running for the Community College Board of Trustees. She should be supported. Nancy Pearlman, a candidate for a different Community College seat is a Green who began running for this office in the ‘90s on a very low budget. After building name recognition, she finally won a few years ago. She’s done a good job, and is running for reelection.

The Propositions

Also on the ballot are five propositions (called Measures in Los Angeles). When it comes to propositions from the city of Los Angeles, it’s best just to vote no. Most of them involve some scheme for someone, or some group, to get rich at your expense. Other measures don’t do what the voters think they will. A case in point is the 2006 measure to increase monthly trash fees from $11 to $28 in order to hire 1,000 new LAPD officers. Didn’t happen. According to City Controller Laura Chick, much of the money was used to increase the LAPD budget without hiring new officers.  

One of them is highly controversial, even though it has an innocent sounding title, “Solar Energy and Job Creation Program.” See sidebar for the story (to the left).

Polls will be open at the usual locations on March 3 from 7 AM to 8 PM.

–The Beachhead Collective