Whistleblower hotline: (213) 785-6098
mayorsam@mayorsam.org

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

CD 2 Candidate Chris Essel to the Armenian-American Community, "Nerokutsoon"

"There are times when hiding in a crowd can be good"
In case you didn't know, there is this "little controversy" in the CD 2 Special Election Runoff between Businesswoman Chris Essel and Assemblyman Paul Krekorian.
Essel, as the likes of the LA Weekly and our own Michael Higby reported, attended a Beverly Hills fundraiser hosted by a board member of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, a lobbying group that adamantly denies the Armenian genocide.
"Asberez", the official publication of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Western United States Central Committee also wrote about Essel's interaction with the group and has closely covered the CD2 campaign efforts of Armenian-American candidate Paul Krekorian, as reported by Chelsea Cody at ourla.org.
Asberez follows up on the the fallout from the Beverly Hills fundraiser with this "letter of apology" from Essel to the Armenian community, Simply, "nerokutsoon" .
To My Friends in the Los Angeles Armenian-American Community:
It has recently come to my attention that reports are circulating which suggest that I have aligned myself with special interest groups from the Turkish and Azeri communities in my bid for election to the Los Angeles City Council. These reports are false and have mischaracterized my campaign efforts in an attempt to drive a wedge between the voters and myself, drawn along ethnic lines and deeply held feelings. Out of my deep respect for you as a community, your history and heritage, I wish to address these reports to answer any question you may have as to where I stand on issues I know are of the utmost importance to you.
While it is true that I was a guest at a gathering hosted by a Turkish-American, my stance on the Armenian Genocide is unwavering. It is, and always has been, my position that the genocide of the Armenians from 1915 to 1918, like other atrocities, must be recognized as historical fact. It is only through this recognition that we may be able to close these chapters in our human history and begin to heal the wounds caused by man’s inhumanity to man. As elected officials, we must always stand by the truth, and call for justice without compromise.
I pledge my support to the Armenian community in fighting for the recognition that your history so rightly deserves. As a candidate, I also seek to solve the problems that are facing the City of Los Angeles: joblessness, excessive taxation, community blight and an aging infrastructure, just to name a few.
I hope that you will join me in seeking a brighter future for all of us who call Los Angeles home, knowing that as we look to the future, we shall never forget the past. While Los Angeles is a city of many ethnicities, we are all Angelenos and we must stand united to solve the problems that affect our quality of life. As I continue my campaign, I look forward to meeting with all members of our community, to share my vision for Los Angeles and our future.

Your thoughts.............

Labels: , ,

22 Comments:

Blogger Phil Jennerjahn said:

This is what happens when someone puts a story on Mayor Sam... candidates feel they have to respond.

I want to see Paul's apology for his tantrum at the City Clerks office....

So far...Paul is a "tantrum denier"

October 28, 2009 5:49 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

I'm sure he'll do that Phil right after you apologize for trashing the reputation of an innocent man, promising to rectify your half-story, and then failing to.

Karma, baby. This is your karma.

In the same way that we won't forget your failure to get signatures for your STUPID Antonio recall effort, people are going to continue to ask that question of you for years until you admit you're a fuckup.

October 28, 2009 5:58 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Give it a rest, Phil. jeez!

October 28, 2009 6:54 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

zzzzzzzzzzz. who cares about any of this? non of this has any bearing on L.A. Politics. whoever shows greater fund raising totals next week will win the race. enuff said.....

October 28, 2009 7:05 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

We should all vote against Krekorian for creating this stupid controversy out of a non-issue. It shows the kind of slimeballs Krekorian and Hackopian really are. Krekorian knows nothing about the district he's trying to get elected to serve so he turned to ugly racial politics to smear Essel and this blog played right into it.

October 28, 2009 7:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

"Nerokutsoon" ??

Now, considering this thread was posted by the blog's Iliterit-in-Cheef, Red Psot, how do we know that's actually "I'm sorry" in Armenian, and not his way of spelling the title of one of the Jackson 5's first hit singles ("Never Can Say Goodbye"), or a common Swedish last name (Knutson).

How can we ever be sure?

October 28, 2009 8:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Shouldn't she be saying

"Özür dilerim!"

October 28, 2009 8:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Hey Phil,

The story was in the LA Weekly. You really think she'd be responding to something posted on Mayor Sam?


You think far too highly of yourself.

October 28, 2009 8:45 PM  

Blogger Foxy LA Lady said:

I still don't see how this statement helps the Essel campaign at all. Reminds me of a wise remark I once read: "Only doubtful truth needs defense."

I can't see anyone rapidly picking up the phone and calling the Essel campaign office saying: "Oh yes, I want to talk about this gross-misunderstanding."

Talk about what? History to be recognized is just that. End of story. Recognize it, remember it, honor it. A lot of people died. There is no way to be casual about that.

October 28, 2009 8:46 PM  

Blogger Joseph Mailander said:

I think I told you this five days ago but Shallman wannabe Michael Higby kept right on with his divisive behavior and is pretending that Chris Essel is the antichrist rather than simply another hopeful carpetbagger like Paul Krekorian.

Why people are continuing to get so worked up over such little difference between these two pro-development, City Hall-connected candidates remains stupid and even hurtful to the community.

October 28, 2009 8:52 PM  

Blogger Red Spot in CD 14 said:

Bloggin Disclaimer.

"Szabo Higby" is for "Krackorian".
"Sancho Phil" is for "Empty Vessel Essel".

Red Spot says write-in the best option.

October 28, 2009 9:13 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Phil, THIS WAS AN LA WEEKLY STORY, you clown! You probably think you had something to do with Measure B
being stopped as well.

October 28, 2009 9:41 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Higby why do you ban you know how but not Mailander? He's poo-pooing Genocide now. Is it because most Armenians are Republicans?

Hey Michael if Essel (or Krekorian) attended a SNAP meeting Mailander would pop a vein right? He had a drunken freak-out and called Alan Mittelstaedt an anti-Catholic bigot for calling out Phoney Baloney Mahoney on pedophile priests.

http://witnessla.com/crime-and-punishment/2008/alan-mittelstaedt/who-let-roger-out/

October 28, 2009 9:41 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Here is the truth of the situation, it was a HUGE blunder from the Essel camp. The LA WEEKLY broke it. It is a legitimate story, because it shows Chris's own poor judgment.

The bottom line is that statement should have come out a week ago.
What is ridiculous is Essel not addressing it and apologizing right away. Too slow to respond...

October 28, 2009 10:00 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

bottom line is she is digging a bigger hole for herself.

"While it is true that I was a guest at a gathering hosted by a Turkish-American"

No Essel you attended a fundraiser for yourself, that is why there are public invites to this event.

It was a not a "gathering", but a fundraiser.

October 28, 2009 10:24 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

It is not going to be hard to figure out if she is lying or not.

Fundraising reports come out tommorow. If the host and his friends wrote Essel a check, they will stick out like sore thumbs.

My bet is that she is lying.

October 28, 2009 10:29 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

She is lying.

http://www.alaturkaonline.com/yazi.asp?4485/champagne-brunch-on-saturday-

Don't know if any one has seen this before.

October 28, 2009 10:37 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

10:37

You nailed her.

What a lying excuse of a candidate. Got to love the internet.

October 28, 2009 11:00 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Mailander, exactly how many dozens of different vanity photos of yourself do you have for posting your messages here?

Just wondering.

October 29, 2009 9:49 AM  

Anonymous g said:

THE BIGGEST BLUNDER IS THAT ANYONE IN CD2 VOTED FOR THESE 2 IN THE FIRST PLACE. BAD MOVE!!!

October 29, 2009 1:59 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

if this is not a blunder by Essel, then why is she going around asking Armenian organizations to meet with her so that she can "explain" herself. She did nothing illegal, but everything on this issue shows bad judgment by her. Bad judgment leads to bad governance.

October 29, 2009 2:26 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

7:19, says: "We should all vote against Krekorian for creating this stupid controversy out of a non-issue." EXCUSE ME, WHO CREATED THIS? IT WAS ESSEL WHO ATTENDED A FUNDRAISER BY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIERS. HOW IS THAT KREKORIAN'S FAULT?? "It shows the kind of slimeballs Krekorian and Hackopian really are." SAY WHAT? THE SLIME BALL IS ESSEL AND SHALLIMAN. DIRTY CAMPAIGN, GUTTER POLITICS. "Krekorian knows nothing about the district he's trying to get elected to.." EXCUSE ME AGAIN. PAUL KREKORIAN ALREADY REPRESENTS A LARGE PART OF THE DISTRICT IN HIS ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 43, HAS SERVED THEM, ATTENDED MEETINGS AND BEEN INVOLVED IN LOCAL ISSUES. NOW EXPLAIN WHAT ESSEL KNOWS OR HAS DONE OR WHEN SHE HAS EVEN ATTENDED LOCAL MEETINGS IN THE DISTRICT. "....serve so he turned to ugly racial politics to smear Essel and this blog played right into it." EXPLAIN HOW KREKORIAN PLAYED THE RACE CARD. ESSEL SMEARED HERSELF.

October 28, 2009 7:19 PM

October 29, 2009 10:56 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

Advertisement

Advertisement