Jennerjahn: Christine Essel for City Council!
I am today announcing my endorsement of Christine Essel in the special election on December 8th for the seat on Los Angeles City Council from District 2 in the San Fernando Valley.
I am quite certain this announcement will come as a surprise to many members of the Los Angeles political community. I have been quite tough on Christine Essel in my coverage of this election. I had labeled her a "carpetbagger" because she has lived outside of the district for many years. However, the "carpetbagging" issue is now a non-issue, as both Essel and Krekorian lived outside the district at the start of the campaign.
I have poked fun at her stumbles and gaffes along the campaign trail. But Christine Essel is a first time candidate and can be expected to make a few missteps along the way.
I have criticized her taking of large campaign donations from outsiders to the District. But in the world of politics, this type of thing happens all the time.
I criticized her for refusing to go on the Kevin James radio show. She now seems to be making arrangements to settle this issue and answer questions from voters on the air.
None of my criticisms of Essel were ever personal. I thought that Christine Essel showed a lot of class and dignity out there on the campaign trail. She was savagely attacked and ridiculed by media, bloggers, and some of the other candidates. I never saw her attack anyone in return and - if I remember correctly - she was rarely ever critical of the other candidates at the forums. Because of her classy behavior, she doesn't seem to have any enemies. In fact, Christine Essel has reached out to the eight candidates that were defeated in the primary. I am hearing from sources that several of them are planning on endorsing her , and several more are leaning in her direction.
As a Conservative, it is very difficult for me to endorse someone who does not share my political ideologies. However, Christine Essel has a history in business and has promised to work to lower taxes, which is good enough for me, given the choice between her and Krekorian. I am endorsing Essel for three reasons:
(1) Christine Essel is a businesswoman. As an executive at Paramount, she had to make responsible financial decisions to ensure the studios made a profit and stayed in business. If she brings this skill to City Council, that will be a good thing for Los Angeles residents.
(2) Christine Essel is an open book, politically speaking. We are all unsure as to how she will vote on issues or who she will take sides with. Because she is wealthy from her career in the movie industry, she has no pressure to sell her votes or her positions for financial gain.
(3) Christine Essel is not Paul Krekorian. As far as I know, Paramount Pictures never had to file for bankruptcy because of the financial misbehavior of Christine Essel. The same cannot be said of Paul Krekorian. We have already seen his handiwork in Sacramento, and the liberals up there have put California in a state of teetering on the brink of financial Armageddon. We already have a budget-destroying Socialist named "Paul" on the City Council. Adding another one won't help anything or anyone. Krekorian is also a "Runaway Politician" from the Burbank/Glendale area, and that shows that there are issues of trust concerning him and his future plans and commitments.
I encourage Christine Essel to continue to seek peace and cooperation with the other eight candidates. It is their supporters who will decide the outcome of this election.
Chris Essel once offered to have coffee with me. I hope she wins in December so that I can someday take"Councilmember Essel" up on that previous offer.
Posted by Phil Jennerjahn @ 10/08/2009 02:14:00 PM
35 Comments:
What kind of bagels and soft drinks does she serve Phil?
Isn't that the point you care to make most?
I'm sure she's uh "thrilled" to be endorsed by the LAST PLACE candidate in the mayor's race!
Hmm, she got one more vote with this endorsement. You guys are so into yourselves. Do you think anybody cares what you think?
Phil
1 - Christine Essel is NOT a businessowman. She was not responsible at Paramount for anything but lobbying. She's a paid hack, obviously very good in that she was able to enlist government support to outsource production jobs from California.
She has never run anything, had to make a payroll, read a balance sheet. She was a high paid pretty girl who made nice for Paramount with the guv'mint.
On the other hand Paul Krekorian was a business owner as well as worked in his family-owned business.
2 - We know how Christine will vote. With the downtown developers, against small business, against neighborhood councils and against local control (such as her support for the socialist legislation SB1818). Paul Krekorian already has the support of the vast majority of NC leaders who already have experience with him, indeed, Essel is a SCARY open book.
3- Thank god. I don't think Paul Krekorian filed for bankruptcy so you may want to retract that fact. Essel is a carpebagger, clueless member of the wine and chablis set who can't name one school or neighborhood in CD2 and will have to enlist a GPS device to get around her district. Krekorian was born and raised there and its really disengenous to claim he's some sort of refugee from Glendale when he is not from Glendale and while he was living in the City of Burbank, it was a stone's throw from North Hollywood and CD2 (as well as the fact that Paul is already representing the area).
If you like the powerful downtown interests you'll love Downtown Chris Essel whose values are NOT in line with CD2, who has no experience in government, who is an empty suit that must read from a briefing book at debates and whose only claim to fame is that she is Dick Riordan's "girl" whom he told the LA Times "We own her."
Next?
A businesswoman is someone who starts a business, or who runs a business.
Essel is middle management, but I wouldn't expect a turnip like Phil Genderjane to know the difference.
He thinks that if you have an office, you're a "businesswoman."
Phil shocking!!! I don't understand these dumb men. How can you slam Essel during the election and call her a carpetbagger, and other negative comments then come out and endorse her. You lose your cred just like Zuma did. You guys are so full of crap that you can blow where you think the winds goes. No one is ever going to take you seriously now. Paul is looking better and better after this.
Great, this endorsement will help Essel get the idiot vote.
Listen to Phil, he gets all his catchy economic buzzphrases from Rush Limbaugh.
On the business person thing, you must be confusing her with Meg Whitman.
I do think there's a threat to the city from either choice available in CD-2- which would be really nice if their voting impact would be confined to their CD-2 zone.
But each CM STILL affects the rest of the city and either one will still be part of the "unanimous vote" on matters before the council.
There really is only a contrary voter when something happens to step on his or her toes, and most don't vote independently, I suspect, because they haven't got even the faintest idea of the subject, relying on hiding in mass vote for safety.
But neither one makes me feel any bit hopeful for an improved city, especially with Mayor Tony forced to change the roster with what may be 2nd-stringers now, as all that's left to choose from.
And why is the Mayor so silent as a Leader on the David Nahai pay-and-play deal? Hush Money but Tony's the one hushed.
CD-14
Higby - You speak the truth!!
Thank you for saying it so I don't have to. Everything you said regarding Krekorian and Essel is correct. I ask fellow readers who you would vote for based on that.
She was and is part of the wine and Chablis set.
Phil - Seriously....She was middle management..She is not a real businesswoman. She is the nice nice equivalent of a Bagman/woman. Phil I never realized how similar you are to all the candidates you criticized in this race. Talk about being a hypocrite.
Businesswoman. My ass.
Who other than DOPEY Phil would endorse someone while mentioning the allegations of carpetbagging.
Way to endorse, Phil.
Is there anyone else here who agrees with me that Phil is a guy who turns 40 this year and is a poseur who thinks that IF you run for Mayor and IF you stand for a photo in a suit in front of a flag that, therefore, people will think you have credibility just because you showed up?
It sounds like Phil is having an early midlife crisis and desperate for something to show that he accomplished. "I'll run for Mayor and that will show everyone!" Not mentioning that he came in last.
It's the same thing with a dopey endorsement. Where is the credibility? Why do you think someone like Dick Riordan or Bob Hertzberg's endorsement means something and Phil's doesn't? It's because they've BEEN SOMEWHERE in their careers, whether you like the person or not. They've succeeded in business to the tune of millions, or in Riordan's case, hundreds of millions.
Phil reports on the flavor of cream cheese at Neighborhood Council meetings. Kinda different. Kinda late in life to think that your endorsement means anything.
It's the same childishness as when Phil went to city council to announce that he bought (for $27!!!) a domain that is worth $2.99 to start a recall of the Mayor.
Six months later, and the domain is all he's got. Showing up and making a public comment doesn't make you a somebody. It makes you a goober.
Michael Higby
1) You might want to take a call from Chris Essel so she can tell you exactly what she did at Paramount... I think she's the better source.
2) Chris will have to answer about her support of SB 1818, which happened because she was part of a bigger organization that wanted it to happen. I think she's flexible enough to change her mind about issues as a Council Member. Krekorian is a slave to the demands of the Democratic Party and the SEIU, who are responsible for the current mess both in the City and in the State. Their endorsement, support, and money do not come without conditions and demands. Chris, on the other hand, is a free agent.
3) Krekorian helped put this State in danger of bankruptcy with his voting for budget-destroying Socialist program after budget-destroying Socialist program while one of the top honchos up in Sacramento. He cannot escape responsibility here. And running away from his elected job six months into a new term shows you that he cannot be trusted and his "word' isn't worth the paper it's written on.
I could look at a list of future City Council votes for the next ten years and tell you with a 95% accuracy rate how Krekorian would vote on each issue.
You can't say that about Chris Essel.
I think she is an open book and has an open mind about things.
She is the better choice in CD 2.
Jennerjahn: your an idiot.
SHE is a better source Phil?
This is YOUR endorsement! How come YOU can't explain it if you're endorsing her?
Somebody tell me how to get a yard sign from Kerkorian. I'm sold on him.
Who cares who Jennerjahn endorses, or who cares what anyone on this blog says about anything, for that matter?
First Zuma dog and now Jennerjahn.
Essel can't possibly lose now.
AV's folks must be really proud of their candidate now.
So Jennerjahn thinks Essel was savaged by the media & bloggers while she never critized any candidate at the forums. Give me a break. What about the numerous hit piece mailers she did against Galatzan & Krekorian? Shame on her for the outright lies and exaggerations. And shame on Jennerjahn for completely ignoring them. Not the work of a class act but the cowardly act of an empty skirt who can't address the issues because she doesn't know them, so she smears her opponents.
She's not an open book but a book with blank pages on her experience and knowledge of the isues in CD2. She's a phony and a one trick pony. And who's trick is she...
As far as how she will vote, that's crystal clear (and her personal wealth has nothing to do with it) she's taking her marching orders from her buddies downtown and slimy politicians, especially the Mayor. Higby couldn't be more right on every point. He has articulated the facts, not the fiction that Jennerjahn presents.
She's outspent Krekorian 2 to 1 and has quite a war chest still. And that doesn't even include her Independent Expenditures of $56,000from two major unions which doesn't count against the limits on fundraising. One has to be more than suspicious about that much money, most coming from outside of CD2. Now Jennerjahn gives her a pass on that, too?
And finally, she's reached out to the other candidates? Yeah, on election night while they were still licking their wounds from defeat. She thought that by calling them first she could get an endorsement? Not classy but very insensitive. Only Zuma Dogg was smitten with her sweet talk that night (guess no one ever calls him). No, make that two, now include Jennerjahn. Hope you were wearing protection.
Sorry, no coffee is in the offing for Jennerjahn with our next Councilmember Krekorian.
Who is the write-in candidate??
Or maybe Lisa Sarno can oversee CD 2 like she did CD 14 until 2011.
4:15, look how you attack the person with an opinion, rather than giving your own opinion about the candidate. Operative is the operative word.
Jennerjahn, Chris Essel is not the better source. She's a liar, liar, liar. Higby is correct about her job at Paramount.
She was the Chair of the organization Central City Association (CCA) that in her words in a 2008 CCA newsletter: "Through our results-oriented advocacy, CCA was successful in pushing forward Senate Bill 1818..." and "As a result of our efforts, a citywide ban on condominium conversions is off the table, and neighborhood councils will how be required to submit economic disclosure statements before creating a council file." How convenient for her to express now that this was not her personal opinion. That's bullshit. If she felt strongly, she should have had more influence over the group or simply resigned.
She also openly promoted film production out of state last year and now she claims she wants to halt runaway production. Another lie. Her comments are available in the minutes of the Florida Film Commission in October 2008 where she is quoted telling them how to get film production located there.
Only now when running for city council has she taken an opposite position on these issues. If you believe her, then P.T. Barnum was right.
And your fabrication about Krekorian's record in Sacramento is just that, fabrication. In fact, Krekorian helped save our local gasoline tax revenue when the state was proposing they take it. But that doesn't fit your personal bias. You are looking at everything Krekorian through your distorted lens. You are nothing more than Essel's jennerJOHN, aka pimp.
Again: Jennerjahn is a fool.
Cant believe any one outside of City Hall would fall for Essel's BS.
Essel had that long time position in the Entertainment Industry during which almost everything entertainment related left the state. How come Alarcon has now been assigned the task by Garcetti of bringing those jobs back if she did such a great job? Where's her record of achievement? I haven't seen one valid reason from you Phil as to why she should be endorsed. Your reasons are not good enough. I want to know if you are holding out on us? What do you know that we don't?
Endorsement from Phil = kiss of death to any campaign.
How's that recall campaign going Phil? Signatures flooding in? Must have quite a thick stack of those ballot sheets. No, you're too busy torpedoing Ms. Essel's campaign. Thank you.
Clearly, Phil has never dealt with land use or quality of life issues which are very important in all council districts.
Having spoken to Essel for at least 5 hours, heard her at debates, and read her campaign literature she mentions NOTHING that is really relevant to what is on most CD2 residents' minds these days, i.e., how large scale developments will be controlled, i.e., all the new traffic, how the infrastructure is going to support the extra stress from more (over) development, and more.
Just remember the question that Tamar Galatzan asked at one of the debates: (not an exact quote): "I have gone to countless community meetings - homeowners' groups, neighborhood councils, chambers, etc., for the past 7 years. How come I never saw you at any one of those meetings, Chris?"
Hey Phil, I got a stack of mailers from Essel attacking Tamar & Paul.
She calls them captains of the Titanic! You are truly an idiot, you don't do your research before posting, Essel received $35,000 from a UNION. Do you think they don't own her now?
WoW - the Krekorian machine (including Higby) is out in full force tonight... Feel the race slipping away? Attacking anyone who has a contrary opinion?
LIBERAL STATE LEGISLATOR.... hmmmm... we need any more of them on the City Council? Alarcon, Cardenas, Koretz, Wesson and Villar aren't enough?
Except for 10:03, which is probably Phil, it looks like Krekorian is going to take this race in a landslide! If you can call less than 10% of the voters a landslide!
So Phil, if you are completely honest then the reason you want Essel is strictly because Krekorian is already an elected Democrat.
Even if Essel is also a Democrat, she's not elected so that makes her okay so far. Even with that long list of horrible things she was responsible for. And don't tell me that her affiliation with the downtown chambers is the only reason she was pro SB 1818.
And Galatzan is no better at all. She's been around for 7 years, has she? I don't think so. Anyone who lives in her school district knows that she never came around until she started running for school board. Nobody in this town ever heard of her before and they won't after this race is over either. She's over. She's totally screwed. She didn't want the school board job after they didn't get the amount of money she thought they were going to get. She is now stuck as the neighborhood prosecutor and there is no office for her to run for. Boo hoo.
Put your partisan differences aside Phil. City Council is a non-partisan seat. There is only one candidate for CD 2.
Paul Krekorian! If Paul doesn't win, then all of CD 2 will be very, very sorry.
If you only listen to this blog then Chris Essel should have gotten 1 vote and that's if she remembered to vote for herself that day. So clearly this is not an accurate prediction tool.
It's funny to me to come here and see all these people who are soooo against the Mayor and (what's it called, oh yeah) downtown interest and they are singing Paul's praises. Folks if and when you elect Paul as the anti-establishment candidate, boy are you going to look back and feel foolish.
Paul seems like a nice man and I have nothing against him, but stop with the Paul is the man of the people speech. Paul spent 3 years in the State Assembly - I must have missed his bill eliminating SB1818. Oh wait, that's cause he is fine with it or worse he didn't know about it.
Paul is a job hopping elected. He'll be competing with Richard Alarcon shortly for most seats won. How long after this will he see something better and decide to move on? He won't? How was the Burbank School Seat and the State Assembly seat?
So stop with the Paul "the people's choice" and just talk about your employer's or candidate's qualifications. Or are the 3 years in the State Assembly something you're not terribly proud of?
Michael:
It is not "wine and chablis", it is "brie and chablis".
Chris is not a taxer and spender; Paul is a taxer and spender.
Once again, you have backed the wrong horse.
Do you want the same old boy network running our city? then Pauls your guy. Let's not do that. Let's not make city council the next stop job for the former loser assembly members. Essel offer a fresh new non politician representation. With the support of the grassroots candidates Essel wins this in a heartbeat. Bye bye Paul!!! Go back up to Sacramento and do your job!!
Chris Essel is a personal friend of mine; she is not a member of the "Wine and Chablis" or, correctly, "Brie and Chablis" set.
She is a woman who has worked all of her life and been successful at at; something most of you burros have never done.
She is not a profeesional politico.
I say she will bring a new, fresh set of eyes to the Council. No more Assembly hacks from Sacramento and their carpetbags....
5:51A - Can you tell me which grassroots candidates are supporting Essel?
Essel's a friend of Greuel. That's pretty much her entire qualification for the position. That, and she's Zuma's choice (spare us).
VOTE KREKORIAN.
5:51 AM-
Guess what? If you want the same good old boy network running Los Angeles, then I think you should pay attention to who the good old boys were who talked Chris into running. You think it was the mayor? Most people think it was people like Greig Smith and his chief of staff. That is a matter of "birds of a feather flock together". That makes her neither fresh or new.
Don't try and pass her off as something she isn't.
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