Los Angeles Politics Hotsheet for Wednesday

Vas te faire encule Conseil municipal!

Shades of France.  How do you get the City Council to stop doing something? Get a powerful public employee union who has several bought and paid for members on the Clowncil to yell and scream.  That's what happened when Bernard Parks brought a motion to rein in the DWP's employee pension program and put under the control of the City. "Uh-uh," said the union that represents the utility's employees.

It's coming down to the wire for the Clowncil to put Jose Huizar's series of election "reforms" on the ballot for next spring.  You need to pay attention to this.  It includes things that sound good like "instant runoff voting" (where the devil may be in the details) and extremely concerning schemes such as consolidating neighborhood polling places into "Neighborhood Voting Centers" where "trained staff" would help people vote.  Contact your Councilperson on this one folks.

If neither jovial 4th District Councilman Tom LaBonge nor his bearded bicycling opponent Stephen Box are your cup of tea you may have another choice for that CD.  Neighborhood Council member Tomas O'Grady has thrown his hat into the ring and is catching attention for his work to help save libraries in Los Angeles.  Of course there is blogger Phil Jennerjahn also in the race and some folks are still pushing businessman Jack Humphreville to run.

KABC's John Phillips deconstructs a questionable LA Times poll that shows candidate for Governor Jerry Brown up by massive numbers.  As in past OLD GRAY HAG ON SPRING STREET's fall classic polls this one is clearly overstating turnout models.  Phillips says the poll is nothing more than "Democratic Party masturbation." Next week both the Times and Democrats may have to find other ways to pleasure themselves.

It happens somewhere every election cycle and this time here in Southern California we have a dead politician on the ballot.  Former State Senator Jenny Oropeza died last week but election rules require her name to stay on the ballot and were she to get a plurality of votes she could even win the race.  John Stammreich has been Oropeza's opponent and while some polls have been showing the South Bay Republican in a dead (pardon the pun) heat with Oropeza no one knows how her untimely passing will impact the final tally.  If Oropeza happens to win the election her office would be declared vacant and another election would be required.