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Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Mayor Sam profile: Joe Thomas Essavi

by Joe Thomas Essavi


Who is Joe Thomas Essavi?

I am currently serving as a Los Angeles County Commissioner, on the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Commission and am a Two term Neighborhood Council Member, Small Business Owner, and an Education Reformer. I also served as a Former delegate to Los Angeles Congress of Neighborhood Councils and am a Controller for a Non-Profit Organization.

The City of Los Angeles is at the mercy of special interests, which have infiltrated and infested the closest government to the people, namely the city government. Now every special interest group is descending on Council District 2, in order to thwart the people’s decision one more time.

I am not a career politician looking for a better paid job and as the first act as a councilmember, I will take a $90,000 annual pay cut. I am not going to return that money to city since they will waste it like everything else. Instead I will donate that to CD2's Neighborhood Council Projects.

With the new City Attorney in office, I believe we can expand gang injunctions and prosecution of graffiti artists. Being tough on crime will mean more police officers and expansion of private public partnerships to keep our kids and our homes safe from criminals. I support protecting the tax payers by protecting Prop. 13, repealing DWP and other rate and fee increases. As Vice-Chair for Planning and Land Use Committee, I have opposed high density projects and support each community's specific plans for expansion so that developers will not turn our district into New York. Traffic congestion, lack of timely services, higher costs are just few examples of these ill drawn development plans. I want to be a voice for our residents and that is why I have refused to take special interests money.

Politicians are now job hopping and carpetbagging and will leave the future 3 Million dollars special elections tab once again to the voters. We can hire 90 teachers with that money or keep 85 violent felons from cruising our streets. Please don't fall for the recycled repackaged politicians. We can do better. On September 22 Vote for the Average Joe, since we tried everything else and we are now bankrupt.

Thanks
Jozef Joe Thomas Essavi

34 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

No more recycled candidates. We don't need candidates wasting our time simply because they want to get elected to something...anything. First, it was LACCD board of trustees, now CD 2. When he loses this election what will Average Joe run for next?

September 02, 2009 5:09 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Paul, Chris and Tamara, meet the quiet giant.

At he CD2 Forum at Adat Ari El, he landed sucker punch afer sucker punch on the three machine candidates. In his quiet and polite manner he ripped them to shreads. Paul may have been looking and listening at him but he was turning red around the ears.

Following his remark that the ink was not yet dry on Tamaras 2 million dollar bankroll from the Mayor in the School Board race, she had to respond. They had a few words after the forum

A Krekorian supporter confronted him afer the forum asking how can he say those awful things and that he did not even know him. To his credit, Joe said he was speaking of his record and carpetbagging and the cost of a special election in the 43rd. It wasn't personal it was reality!

September 02, 2009 5:40 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

So far, nice job getting the candidates, Phil.

September 02, 2009 6:26 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Jozef?

Forget it. I was okay with a "joe" but there is no way I'm voting for a "jozef". Strike 1

And what is with his clunky accent? I can't hear what the heck he is trying to say! Strike 2

September 02, 2009 6:38 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

This guy is a star amongst the lower 3.

September 02, 2009 8:23 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Mayor Sam, I think you should commend Phil for his awesome service getting these candidates. Let's all recognize his good works.

September 02, 2009 8:31 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

BREAKING NEWS:

ESSEL CHARGES AHEAD

Valley businesswoman jumps into the lead in Special Election to replace new City Controller Wendy Greuel

STUDIO CITY, CA - Today Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates released a survey of 400 likely voters in the upcoming Los Angeles 2nd City Council District Special Election. The poll shows Christine Essel now receiving 16 percent of the vote to State Assemblyman Paul Krekorian’s 15 percent and LAUSD Boardmember Tamar Galatzan’s 12 percent.

Compared to a poll released by Krekorian pollster Goodwin Simon Victoria research in July, Essel has surged ahead following an introductory mail campaign featuring the endorsement of City Controller and outgoing Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. According to the most recent survey, Greuel enjoys a better-than 70 percent favorability rating from district voters. More than three-in-five voters (63%) are likely to vote for a council candidate endorsed by Greuel.

The poll also shows that more than eight-in-ten voters believe the State of California is on the wrong track – a total rejection of the state’s leadership by CD2 voters. Similarly, 72% of voters disapprove of the job being done by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The survey was was conducted between August 25 and 27.

September 02, 2009 9:10 PM  

Anonymous LouieG said:

Even as a "freedom-hating liberal", I'll second the motion- Phil is rockin'! He's light years ahead of his professed influences. Look out, Fox News.

September 02, 2009 9:23 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Interesting that Joe mentions the "new city attorney" in his piece. He's clearly trying to hitch his wagon to the "out with the business as usual" momentum that cost poor Jack Weiss his job. The irony is that Tamar Galatzan tried to do the same thing, and then proved she was one of the "business as usual" candidates with that LAUSD mailer.
Although Joe does not have the money of the big three, he does not have the Frank Shifty credibility problems. He could emerge as a run-off candidate to Krackorkian, in which case he'll raise a ton of money in a heartbeat. While ZD would really be a great choice if only because he would definitely not be any part of the Klowncil Klan, his staying power is too dependent on a handful of PayPal supporters who probably cannot sustain the level of support needed.

September 02, 2009 9:48 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Thanks LouieG. I'm a fan of Phil's even though he would call me a "socialist." Hah@ Really good work Phil. The S-T community owes you a nod of gratitude.

September 02, 2009 10:07 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

PHIL ROCKS!!

September 02, 2009 10:32 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Joe Thomas Essavi is one smart cookie, alright.

He says, hooking into the magic that is Carmen the Soap Opera that keeps on giving: "With a new City Attorney in office, I believe we can expand gang injunctions and prosecution of graffiti artists. Being touch on crime means more police..."

Last part first: so, you just DECLARE you're tough on crime and that means more police? Just like that, voila, snap of the fingers! Why didn't anyone ever think of that before? You think, because there's a budget crisis - even though the mayor and some others are insistent on expanding the police force to the 10,000 number?

And then, Essavi is clearly unaware that the Nooch's brilliant new injunction against "graffiti artists" is atually written so that it criminalizes anyone who MIGHT be talking to someone who MIGHT be a tagger, and is blasted everywhere as being ignorant of the constitution, freedom of association, and a few other things we hold sacred in America.

Even LA CityWatch, that conservatve NC blog, featured last Friday the "Trutanich, Taggers and the Madness of Really Bad Injunctions" article. (CURIOUSLY it's been pulled from the page, although it comes up in the search as "lead story" -- typically, the Nooch's thugs/ censors screamed and yelled at the blog and forced them to remove just sacrilege. But meanwhile even the dumb and duped Daily News has run stories and editorials criticizing this as ill-considered at best. And then the same thing with Nuch's declaring all MJ shops illegal: class action law suit announced. (Good thing Sheftel has that candy business to fall back on.)

Yes, Essavi is one smart cookie, just about as smart as Trutanich!

September 02, 2009 10:53 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:53PM sounds like E$$el's mouthpiece Shallman. Joe's association with Trutanich must have Shallman worried as it looks like Joe's copying Trutanich's winning ways. Funny thing is that Shallman was Tutnanich's mouthpiece so you have to wonder why didn't he advise E$$el to use the Trutanich magic. Must be because there's no way E$$el could pull it off; openness, transparency and accountability? That's enough to send E$$el back to the westside.

September 03, 2009 12:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Why is he including his middle name, Joe Thomas Essavi?

That's what they do with mass murderers, not office candidates.

I agree with the person who wrote that I cannot vote for someone who spells his first name "Josef." It wreaks of more ethnic pride around the horseshoe, and we already have enough of that. Same goes for Bisani.

September 03, 2009 6:26 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Why don't you rename the blog "CD2Blog"?

Is there any other news in the world? Or, evenin LA?

Anybody notice there is a fire out thre?

September 03, 2009 7:45 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I agree with the above commenter. There are a whole lot of us who aren't involved in cd2.

The disproportionality of coverage between cd2 and the other 14 council districts is downright bizarre, ESPECIALLY since Phil's breakdowns of the candidate forums is virtually identical event after event.

September 03, 2009 7:48 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Even if we were to beleive the poll, what does it really say? It says that 57% of the respondants want someone other than the 3 insider AV establishment candidates. That's the real news!

And out of 400 respondants, Essel got 64 votes, Kerkorian got 60 votes and Tamar 48 votes. Who got the other 228 votes?

September 03, 2009 10:04 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

September 02, 2009 9:10 PM

“BREAKING NEWS:”

The polls don’t mean much! Didn’t some “New Polls” have Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton winning? The polls also showed Councilmember Weiss ahead for the City Attorney’s race and guest who won, Mr. TRUtanich.

Angelenos should NOT get caught up in these polls. The most important thing Angelenos can do is to get out and VOTE on Sept. 22.

September 03, 2009 11:10 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The “BIG 3”

David Saltsburg
Joe Essavi
Michael McCue

September 03, 2009 11:33 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

No one should be worried about the support of Carmen Trutanich.

I am here to tell you all that he has a strict policy of not endorsing candidates in any election other than law enforcement or Judicial races. Anyone who says otherwise does not speak for him or know what he or she is talking about.

Thus, he has not endorsed in CD 2 and he will not endorse in CD 2.

Now go back to your other nonsense and leave Nuch out of it.

September 03, 2009 11:50 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

People don't like the state government and the LAUSD. That's not breaking news.

Let's talk about people's opinion of big busine$$, like Paramount and it's master, Viacom. The corporate fat cats are the ones that got us into this mess in the first place.

Put simply, if:
Krekorian=Sacramento
Galatzan=LAUSD
then
E$$el=Enron

And we know what happened last time we trusted Enron.

September 03, 2009 12:01 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

11:33 AM

In order of ego??

September 03, 2009 12:06 PM  

Blogger Phil Jennerjahn said:

Anon@ 7:48

Chill out.

The CD 2 election is this month. This spot might be held for the next 14 YEARS by the person who wins it, so Mayor Sam wants to make sure voters have all the info they need to make their choice.

(Anyone but Krekorian!)

After the election, Mayor Sam will cover a variety of different topics. If we're lucky, it will include indictments and criminal proceedings against some well-known current City Hall figures.

If Monica Garcia is squealing to the Feds in order to avoid the limited menu choices of prison cuisine....how long do you think it will be before some other downtown employees are wearing orange jumpsuits?

September 03, 2009 3:05 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Phil Jennerjahn can't get elected to anything he runs for, now Congress in 2010? Why take seriously anything this joker says. Anyone but Jennerjahn is more like it.

September 03, 2009 3:22 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

9:10pm, Common, in a poll put out in the field by Christine Essel's team, it is shown that she is winning; people are against the Assembly and are dissatisfied with LAUSD boardmembers and the poll only included three of the ten candidates.
Can you please post the questionnaire? I would like to see the methodology. These kind of surveys are fun to speculate over during a campaign, but is completely invalid. Even if you do not think any of the other seven candidates have a shot, once they are included, as they will be on the 22nd, that can change the entire ranking of the other three, since you never know who the other seven will draw votes away from.
But it's fun to look at.

September 03, 2009 4:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Hello 3:22pm, sssssh, don't tell Phil not to run for Congress!!!!

It would be SUCH great entertainment (whispering to the side) to watch him make a complete fool of himself, on a bigger scale, now that Mayor Sam has pumped him up with vapid pride.

Quiet!!!

September 03, 2009 7:02 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Christine Essel's poll showing her ahead is put out by a group including D'Arcy, the folks who bought you Measure B. Doesn't mean it's more or less accurate than Paul Krack's.

September 04, 2009 12:08 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Not true 12:08. Did you not read the Daily News story? Working Californians (Measure B people) put out their own poll 3 weeks ago and it showed Krekorian in first place. The Fairbank poll with Essel in first was just last week.

September 04, 2009 8:47 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"Even if we were to beleive the poll, what does it really say? It says that 57% of the respondants want someone other than the 3 insider AV establishment candidates. That's the real news!

And out of 400 respondants, Essel got 64 votes, Kerkorian got 60 votes and Tamar 48 votes. Who got the other 228 votes?"

This is why we need INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING! Obviously more people prefer grassroots, but due to an inefficient voting system everyone may end up cheated. Both in finances (whole new run-off election) and representation (or lack thereof).

Also, anyone else notice how often Essavi said "machine" this and "machine" that last Wednesday? Sounds a lot like he was biting McCue's slogan. I really think he was copping McCue's style because he saw how effective it was before.

September 04, 2009 10:26 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Essavi says he is Controller for a non-profit, but doesn't say the name of the organization. Does anyone know?

September 05, 2009 1:47 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I can't believe that anyone would question the validity of a CD 2 race. Especially one as important as this one. You should all care who the new council member is since they will be making decisions based on what YOUR council member tells them too.

Unless you're Zuma Dogg. He has a mind of his own and that is why I'm voting for him.

September 05, 2009 2:45 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Benson called in to Kevin James last night talking about how much she wanted to work with Zine and Trutanich to further their agenda and how Zine was the man, confirms what people are saying about her being just like Walter Moore and David Berger, Trutanich's righthand man and his political payback. Who everyone in the City Attorney's office thinks is a bad joke, waste of time and money. Want more of the same, vote Benson.

The woman is NOT some independent thinker at all. She would be mini- me to Zine and Trutanich, no differnt than what ZumaDogg wants.

September 05, 2009 10:39 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Essavi AND Benson are both cut of the same cloth: suck-ups to Zine and Trutanich. WE KNOW the dogg is. Who else? For all the talk about "the machine" which of these wanna-be's is hitchin their star to the Republican "machine" of Zine- Cooley-Trutanich-Baca-PPL/McOsker- Antonovich and Herzberg? Let's make it clear that Antonio's "machine" is not the one to worry about, he's fallen apart, it's that collection of rightwing special interests.

September 05, 2009 10:41 AM  

Anonymous g said:

DON'T VOTE FOR THESE MACHINE POLITIANS. YOU WILL BE THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME IF THEY WIN!!!!DON'T FALL FOR BOUGHT ADS AND BOUGHT ENDORSEMENTS. VOTE FOR UN-POLISHED SINCERE PEOPLE WHO CAN WIN IF YOU VOTE FOR THEM. YOUR FUTURE AND YOUR POCKETBOOK DEPEND ON IT. THIS POLITICAL PROCESS MUST CHANGE IN ORDER FOR ANYONE TO WIN WITHOUT THESE ALLIANCES OF SPECIAL INTERESTS THAT YOU WILL PAY FOR.

September 05, 2009 5:44 PM  

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