Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Trutanich, Park, rising stars of L.A. Politics - Governators Props go down in flames



Yesterdays defeat of Jack Weiss was a good thing for the City of Los Angeles. Nuch Trutanich showed that people can make the choice between a good candidate and a bad one, no matter how much money gets thrown into negative TV ads.  Most human beings have an instinctive "dishonesty detector" and their alarms were going off full blast when listening to Jack Weiss. Congrats to Nuch. I met him on the campaign trail earlier this year while I was running for Mayor. I came away from our meetings very impressed with his integrity and candor. Like I said in a previous blog, he's a man's man, and I trust him with the keys to the City Attorneys Office. I am quite certain he will do an excellent job as City Attorney. 

While I was very happy about his victory, one big thing really bothered me about it.
Every time I look at Nuch Trutanich, I keep thinking... "This guy is the next Mayor of Los Angeles."
As a probable candidate in 2013, I was already unhappy about having to face off against probable opponents Eric Garcetti, Laura Chick, and maybe even Wendy Gruel. If Nuch Trutanich spends four years doing a great job in City Hall, then decides he wants a promotion, it will be a very distressing moment for me.
Hopefully, he will be happy running for an overwhelming landslide re-election in 2013.

Another huge star from last night is Tina Park, a former New Yorker who is blazing a quick path to the top here in L.A. I first met Tina about six months ago at a meeting of the San Fernando Valley Republican Club. She really impressed me with her intelligence, drive, enthusiasm, and preparation. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Tina because she was one of the first of the other candidates I met and the first of them to sign my petition to allow me to run for Mayor. If I ever amount to anything big in politics, she will have a place in history...as she held the camera to record my very first campaign speech that night. (As a side note, I got stomped by Walter Moore that night as he had brought about half the crowd with him.)

Tina Park is now a rising star in L.A. politics, and I predict that within a few years we might be calling her City Council Member Park, if she can find the right match-up in a future election.

David Vahedi is still in limbo after last night. Final results have him losing the CD 5 race to Paul Koretz, but there are always issues in a race this close. He is losing by about 300 votes, but there are usually a few thousand late mailers and questionably valid ballots to be counted. It is not over for him, but he has to be prepared if things don't go his way. I really like David a lot, and he would have been a far, far better option than career politician Koretz, who I consider to be a hack...who just runs for office after office, non-stop.

My advice to David Vahedi...keep your head up. If it doesn't happen, spend the next four years shaking hands and getting to know every voter in CD 5. After four years of socialism and tax hikes from Washington to Sacramento to Los Angeles, voters should be fed up with it. They should be ready to throw all incumbents out of office in 2013. 

My condolences to Rabbi Shifren, who lost to Curren Price in State Senate District 26. Price is just another hack politician who moves from district to district every time he gets term-limited out of some position. He will be a total waste of time in Sacramento, and just vote along with all Socialist policies the liberals can put forward. He won't change anything. He won't have any effect whatsoever. There is really no point in him being there. He could stay home and cast his votes over the internet, actually.

Great joy in seeing the Propositions from the Governator go down in flames. No big tax raises, Arnie...time to fire people and slash worthless government programs. Prop 1F was the only success, and even that was just a voters  backhand to politicians. I didn't agree with it because it ties politicians performance to pay raises, which in some odd circumstances might cause them to do something even more vengeful and destructive than usual. As with most government and ballot propositions, I felt it was unnecessary. 

Don't like the performance of your politicians..? 
VOTE THEM OUT!