LOS ANGELES—Despite a record breaking 16% voter turnout on March 5, there was a clear winner: Special Interest/Corporate- sponsored candidates in most of the races for Mayor, City Council, Los Angeles Unified School Board and Los Angeles Community Colleges Board of Trustees.
First the Mayor race. The three top contenders—Jan Perry, Wendy Gruel and Eric Garcetti—are all ex or current City Council members who vote alike 99% of the time. Eric Garcetti and Wendy Gruel will have a showdown in May. One thing is sure—the citizens of Los Angeles will not benefit. Both Garcetti and Gruel passed a high-density ordinance which removed over 14,000 low-income housing units from their respective districts. Over 5,000 Latinos were forced to move from Garcetti’s Hollywood District because they couldn’t afford the high rent of condos and townhouses.
The School Board races were more explicit in the reach of special interests. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in his quest for privatizing public education obtained the support of New York Mayor Bloomberg and Robert Murdoch in supporting his candidates. Millions were raised for Antonio Sanchez, a protégé of Villaraigosa and his chosen one for public office. Sanchez is a big advocate for Charter Schools—the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) leads the nation in converting public schools into private money-making schools. The intention of both big city mayors and Murdoch is clear: starve public school education. If Murdoch or Bloomberg were so concerned about the LAUSD why didn’t they donate those millions for school supplies rather than impose corporate candidates on the electorate? Luckily there was opposition in School Board race #6; progressive candidate Maria Cano drew enough votes from Sanchez to force a runoff with Monica Ratcliff, who is an attorney and a genuine teacher.
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) race was close because the Democratic Party and special interests supported an unknown Latino candidate against outstanding incumbent Board member and former Green Nancy Pearlman. They also will be heading for a runoff in May.
What is needed in Los Angeles is Campaign Finance Reform, to give all candidates a level playing field. Also needed is Proportional Representation and Ranked voting to reduce the millions of dollars needed for runoffs.
