How LA Should Vote When It Doesn't Know Who To Trust

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - Los Angeles-area elections in recent decades usually go down in a very predictable way.

First, the Los Angeles Times endorses incumbents regardless of their job performance or, if they are termed out, their chief of staff or a member of their or a prior incumbent's broader family.  Second, instead of making recommendations of their own, other local media parrot the Times' recommendations.  Finally, Angelenos follow the Times' lead or don't vote at all, which is what the politicians and the Times want anyway.

What LA has in 2022 is the consequence of, or more precisely, the punishment for, going along with them like lemmings.

If that works for you, stick with it.

If it doesn't, keep reading at my Substack.  While you're there, sign up for my free newsletter and follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

(Daniel Guss, MBA, is nominated for three 2022 LA Press Club awards and was runner-up in 2021 and 2020. He has contributed to Mayor Sam, CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News and the Los Angeles Times in its sports, opinion, entertainment and Sunday Magazine sections among other publishers.)

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday

As I stated on the John Phillips show Friday night Mayor Villaraigosa has little shot at securing the Democratic nomination for Governor - particularly given his wounding in the March and May City Elections - and most likely won't run. While Team Villaraigosa is busy denying reports the Mayor has opted out; they're currently on the ground assisting fellow Clinton compatriot Terry McAuliffe to win the Democratic nomination for Governor in Virginia.  This follows on the heels of a report that former Democratic Presidential candidate Ralph Nader is claiming that McAuliffe attempted to buy Nader off if he agreed to not run in key battleground states in the 04 election, when McAuliffe was Chairman of the Democratic Party.  Sounds like "T-Mac" would fit right in in Los Anngeles.

Zuma Dogg often tells me of things before they hit the mainstream press and usually I don't pay enough attention to it at the time.  Whether it was Pensiongate, Weatherly Capital or Meruelo Maddox I read about these things weeks or months after Zuma has brought it to my attention.  That's why maybe I better pay attention this time when Zuma Dogg says that City Controller-elect Wendy Greuel's connection to a fundraiser for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo "will become a bigger issue in weeks to come."

The goofball effort to rebrand a portion of Van Nuys as Sherman Oaks has managed to find one friend in the person of Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce Bob Cohen though it seems just about everyone else in both communities - including both elected Neighborhood Councils - oppose the effort. It really seems like a battle that a Chamber of Commerce should stay out of; if I was a business owner I would think twice about Chamber membership when it spends time on something other than helping the local economy.

It looks like Paul Koretz has secured election as the new Councilman for the 5th District having just barely bested community leader David Vahedi.  Still some questons remain about election irregularities, claims the County Clerk has denied.  What everyone will be watching for is if Koretz cn clean up the mess his predecessor Jack Weiss has left for him and if he can avoid Weiss' mantle of being the "Most Hated Councilmember."

Early Morning Briefs and Outtakes......

"Landslide Koretz" meet "Councilman Koretz".

That is what Paul Koretz with verbage crafted by Parke Skelton, wants you to believe, as stated in his "victory declaration".

"Although we have been told that there are still approximately 100 ballots left to count, we can now safely claim victory," the Koretz campaign said. "Once these ballots are counted, and the election is certified, we will update the website."

But leave it to Paul and Parke to have their backup plan in place....

To defend our lead through the vote counting process, we have hired election law expert Stephen Kaufman and his firm. This means we need to raise funds again to pay the cost of this effort, which could go as high as $20,000. This is an extension of the General election campaign so the same contribution limits apply with a maximum $500 per person limit—so if one has already given the maximum ($500 per person) then no more can be contributed to this effort. If someone is a new contributor to the General election, then they can give the full $500. Anyone who has already contributed to the General election, but has not donated the $500 maximum, can contribute the difference up to the $500 limit.

We have to raise this within the next week. Anything anyone can do to contribute or raise funds will be a huge help!

Thanks,

Paul

News Galore on Prop 8.

That is if you were reading the LA Times Website "LA Now", as the scribes went on with "post y post y post" on yesterday's California Supreme Court ruling upholding Prop 8.

Then there was this about Billboards.

When things look dicey, politicians at City Hall have a time-tested strategy: punt. So, faced with criticism from business leaders and neighborhood councils, the Los Angeles City Council put off a vote on the complicated overhaul of its sign ordinance, agreeing to wait until after July 1 to make a decision -- after City Atty.-elect Carmen Trutanich is seated.

FREEDOM AND FREE ENTERPRISE!!

Your Thoughts.......

Vahedi Surges in CD5

BIG NAIL BITER IN CD5 - all but two precincts counted, Koretz lead over Vahedi now down to only 316 votes! Looks like Rick Orlov jumped the gun.

CD 5 is "THIS" close...**Final results posted.

This race will be decided during the "wee hours" of the morning.

Consider the latest at 12:46 AM.

PAUL KORETZ 15,787 50.51
DAVID T VAHEDI 15,471 49.49

This may require a recount............

****Final results with 100% of precincts reporting,

PAUL KORETZ 15,917 50.53
DAVID T VAHEDI 15,582 49.47

Koretz by 335 votes.........

A Night Against The Status Quo

Governor Schwarzenegger crashes and burns. Jack Weiss loses. An amazing night. But wait there's more.

Earlier Tuesday evening (on Twitter) I called the race in the LA Community College Seat 2 contest for Tina Park over incumbent Angela Reddock, it is now certain that Park will win, current returns with 86% of precincts reporting show Park with 54% of the vote over Reddock with 46%. Reddock had the LA Times but looks Park, who was backed by the LA Republican Party, had the voters in an unexpected win.

It had also looked like insider favorite Paul Koretz was handily defeating Neighborhood Council candidate David Vahedi but very recent returns with 82% of the precints show that Vahedi has closed the nearly 6 point gap he had all night and now the race is extremely tight, way too close to call at this point. If Koretz still wins, it won't be a strong victory if this trend holds.

Other than LA Community College Seat 6 candidate Robert Nakahiro losing to incumbent Nancy Pearlman nearly 62% to 38% it looks like overall a smashing defeat for the status quo and political insiders. That just may be the mood of the voters overall these days. Perhaps elected officials may start taking the people seriously now. Or not.

Mid-morning briefs and reminders on the issues of the day

We start with these comments from Mayor Villar about the cover of next weeks Los Angeles Magazine.

......when Villaraigosa was asked about the magazine cover he smiled, rocked back and forth a bit and said: "Well, it's a pretty nice smile. A few pounds lighter and a couple of years younger. So what can I say?"

One can't remember what Villar thought of this cover, but we link here to the story by Alan Mittelstaedt , which contain a comment on Jack Weiss and his role in the contentious "Pico and Olympic Traffic Plan".

Weiss, by the way, does get rewarded for his blind support of the mayor. During the news conference on Olympic, KNBC’s Laurel Erickson asked if the neighborhood critics of the plan were correct to say that he had sold them out. The mayor took the microphone and defended Weiss, a vocal opponent of the traffic plan when it bore Yaroslavsky’s name.

Republican candidate in CA 32 Congressional Race, faces audit.

Some would say that the timing of this, races eye brows, as noted in this San Gabriel Valley Tribune story.

A restaurant owned by the lead Republican in the Congressional race to replace former Rep. Hilda Solis is being audited by the state tax board which one of her main opponents, Democrat Judy Chu, helps lead.

Candidate Teresa Hernandez received a letter from the Board of Equalization Monday saying her South El Monte Mexican restaurant, Cielito Lindo, is being audited for sales tax payments.

Chu, who is an elected member on the five-member Board of Equalization, said neither she nor her staff had any knowledge of the audit.

"I know nothing. I have nothing to do with the selection of places for audit. This is the first I knew about it," she said Thursday.

Parke ???? There is a mailer making the rounds that ask some tough questions about Gil Cedillo days at SEIU 660.

LA Weekly has these offerings in this week's issue.

Why Governor "Kennedy Republican's" May 19 bailout is failing.

LAPD Chief Bill Bratton's political endorsements.

Vahedi vs. Koretz CD 5 slugfest.

........and props to the scribes at the "Weekly of Record" for their multiple award nominations from the LA Press Club. I guess there was no P.R. catagories for the graying writers at the "OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET".

Rally reminders:

Join John and Ken at their next Tax Revolt Rally Saturday, May 16 from 4-7pm at Tom’s Farms in Corona. From John and Ken, "Our last Tax Revolt Rally in Fullerton had 15,000 angry taxpayers, Let's make this one bigger!"

Thanks to Phil for this.

Please join the Westside Republicans as they host the Westwood Tea Party Rally on Sunday, May 17th from 3pm to 6pm at the Federal Building at 11000 Wilshire Blvd (near UCLA).Multiple speakers (including KRLA's Kevin James, will protest higher taxation in the form of Proposition 1A, on the ballot in the election on Tuesday May 19th.http://www.westsiderepublicans.com/

FREEDOM AND FREE ENTERPRISE!!

"OLD GRAY HAG" endorses Trutanich, Vahedi, and Pearlman

The "OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET" has bestowed its editorial blessings on Carmen Trutanich, David Vehadi and Nancy Pearlman for the elective offices of City Attorney, City Council District 5 and Los Angeles Community College District Office 6 respectively.

Excerpts below and links to full editorials.

Carmen Trutanich for City Attorney

Trutanich has represented alleged polluters, and that's a good thing: The city of Los Angeles is one of the nation's biggest polluters, and taxpayers need someone who knows his way through the regulatory process to ensure that cleanups can move forward while penalties remain manageable. But he also was a groundbreaking environmental prosecutor, building up experience and know-how that would serve the city well in its aspirations to become cleaner and greener.

David Vehadi for City Council

Vahedi is often portrayed, for good and for ill, as the outsider candidate. He makes much of the fact that he hasn't held elective office before, although he did run four years ago in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Councilman Jack Weiss. But for an outsider, Vahedi impresses with his encyclopedic knowledge of even the most obscure zoning regulations, Environmental Quality Act provisions and parking policies. He is among the breed of homeowner activists who can match wits and quote Municipal Code passages with any elected official or bureaucrat.

Nancy Pearlman for LACCD Board of Trustees

Yet Pearlman is the stronger candidate of the two. Nakahiro, a lawyer who grew up in Boyle Heights, is an energetic and likable community activist, but he has yet to develop a deep understanding of the community colleges and a well-honed agenda for improving them. Pressed in a meeting with The Times' editorial board for details on what the district needed most, Nakahiro responded that students should understand the governing board's role at the colleges. In truth, most college students care little about such matters; they rightly want to know whether they can land a spot in an over-enrolled class, how to get academic help when they're floundering and why the prices of textbooks are so high.

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

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Friday

Getting down to the wire in the 5th Council District race. Candidate David Vahedi is accusing his opponent Paul Koretz of ethics violations and has filed a complaint against Koretz with City and State officials. Vahedi claims that Koretz has violated borrowing and expenditure limits and is co-mingling campaign funds with other monies. Vahedi campaign consultant Phil Giarrizzo accused Koretz of being a career politician "who will do anything to get elected." In the meantime, Koretz picked up the endorsement of a past CD5 Councilman, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

A sign that Mayor Villaraigosa may not be running for Governor of California? The Mayor is ditching this weekend's California Democratic State Convention in Sacramento, citing needing to deal with budget issues at home. Since we've never known Antonio Villaraigosa to miss a photo op and chance to gladhand - even when there's work to be done (remember his attending a Dodger game in the luxury box with owner Frank McCourt when the Valley was on fire last year?) - something must be up. Steve Maviglio of the California Majority Report suspects that Villaraigosa "couldn't compete in the convention buzz with the other major candidates gunning for gubernatorial prize," and that the Mayor fears "a cold shoulder from organized labor" over his recent budget policies and job cuts.

The new Metro Gold Line light rail route will be the first transit line to have a name in both Spanish and English following a recent MTA vote. CurbedLA thinks that Bill O'Reilly will have a fit over it; I suspect Walter Moore would be much angrier.

Friday is City Controller Laura Chick's last day in office as she heads to Sacramento Monday to hopefully keep Arnold from cooking the books. For those of Mayor Sam readers working in City Hall, stop by Chick's office for coffee and cookies. Now with Chick gone and Wendy Greuel not stepping in until July 1; who signs the checks? Not the Mayor I hope!

And finally, big congratulations to long-time purveryor of press releases to Mayor Sam, publicist extraordinaire Ginny-Marie Case who will wed her fiance Alexander on Saturday. Best wishes to the happy couple!

Post-mortem: Election 2009

The Associated Press says Mayor Villaraigosa “easily claimed a second term,” but for the mayor and his advisors, 55%, in a race largely ignored, against a group of challengers he out-fundraised 10-to-1 — and refused to debate, is not a win. “Landslide” was the headline Villaraigosa needed for his 2010 gubernatorial prospects, and the disappointment in his voice was clear.

Walter Moore turned out an impressive 61,000 votes — or 26%. It’ll be interesting to see whether he now leaves LA, or decides to stay and continue building on that momentum. In the meantime, one candidate, Zuma Dogg, is calling it quits — not on LA, but on his volunteer advocacy for the resistance at City Hall. He says the “spell” is finally broken.

Measure B is on life support, likely to be removed within 36 hours. Ron Kaye declares a “miracle in LA.”

Three months ago we knew it would take a miracle to defeat what was nothing but a scam for City Hall to get its hands on billions of dollars of our money in the name of something everyone wants, has wanted for years, solar energy. Well, we got our miracle. Measure B lost.

(snip)

The election results are a repudiation of City Hall's failure, proof positive that the people are waking up and demanding full participation, complete transparency and honesty, an end to machine politics that tramples on their interests and destroys their quality of lives.

No surprises in CDs 1, 3, 11, 13, and 15, or the joke elections in CDs 7 and 9. Per the latest City Clerk totals, CD5 will see a runoff between David Vahedi and Paul Koretz. Smart money says the neighborhoods take this one.

The City Hall machine sent one sacrificial lamb to the altar yesterday. Jack Weiss faces a runoff battle against Carmen Trutanich. I say May 19th will be Jack's last election night party in this town for some time.

Also noteworthy: Wendy Greuel received more votes than Mayor Villaraigosa … and Zuma Dogg received more votes than Ed Reyes, Eric Garcetti, Richard Alarcon, and Jan Perry.

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Election Day

Make sure you vote today.

LA Business Journal via RonKayeLA: Antonio tells the truth (finally) about Measure B and the IBEW: "You say, 'We cut a deal with them.' Yeah, we did. We built a partnership with them...they didn't see any jobs." How surreal.

In a last minute endorsement the Daily News selects our pick David Vahedi for the 5th Council District seat that Jack Weiss will be dragged from kicking and screaming. "Vahedi stands out as a candidate well-versed in district issues and who has track record of representing community concerns," says the News.

The Fishwrap of Record does the usual lame pre-election preview. One interesting note - very low numbers when it comes to receipt of absentee ballots. About a third of those who requested have mailed them back in.

Jon Regardie at the LA Downtown News does it again. Jon imagines Mayor Villaraigosas's acceptance speech. "Los Angeles, there is so much we can accomplish in the next two - sorry, the next four years."

We mentioned yesterday an LA Times piece that reported that Skid Row residents are screwed when it comes to getting government coupons for free converter boxes when over-the-air TV goes digital. Turns out our friends at the LA Downtown News were on top of it before the Times with more detailed coverage.

Vahedi - You're Not Supposed to do This

Lawn Sign Thief Caught on Tape

Fifth Council District candidate David Vahedi says that someone has been stealing his lawn signs - over 400 signs costing nearly $1600 - and now it appears that at least one theif has been caught on tape.  A webcam was set up near a Vahedi sign and the suspect is seen clearly removing the sign from where it's been installed.  The suspect appears to be a husky blonde caucasian female in her 30s or 40s.  Let's hope the police find her.  If you recognize this person, please contact the Vahedi campaign.