Christine Essel FINALLY appears on the Kevin James Show.

Tuesday night was the night that many people in Council District 2 had been waiting for. CD 2 candidate Christine Essel finally agreed to go on Kevin James' radio show on KRLA 870 talk radio. The meeting was highly anticipated because Kevin James had been bashing Christine Essel quite hard on his show for refusing to come on his show and talk to the voters...even though all the other candidates had chosen to do so in the past.

Fans of the show were curious to see what would happen and if sparks would fly between them. Kevin James had been previously going on his show and saying "I wouldn't vote for Christine Essel if she were the only name on the ballot!" Christine Essel was probably being a bit guarded because of this fact, but the appearance on the show went well for both of them.

James pointed out that she had outraised Krekorian. He pointed out that she is still behind Krekorian in name recognition. Chris said she was very happy to go from 3% at the beginning of the campaign to almost matching Paul at the end of the primary.

Talking about the endorsements from former rivals, Kevin James quoted the Mayor Sam blog!!

"Essel 4 Krekorian 0!!" Thanks Kevin!

Chris kind of waffled on a question concerning unpaid wages and lawsuits. She said she would look into it.

She needs a better answer than that.

Kevin asked her about the Neighborhood Council embezzlement scandal involving people blowing through all the NC budgets without reporting properly. He asked if Paul Krekorian was opposed to financial disclosures, and Chris said he was the last time they had a forum together.

James asked her about runaway film production and asked her to respond to his criticisms of her.

Christine gave a great answer about how studios search for a location with a bottom line price that fits their budget. She talked about her frustrations dealing with Sacramento over this issue. Kevin asked how we could bring the jobs back to this City. Christine said the city was not friendly to business or to the studios. She talked about how she could work between the State and the studios to keep jobs here.

James mentioned Krekorians boasts about saving jobs from up in Sacramento. He asked if Chris thought Krekorian was overplaying his impact, Chris said yes.

James mentioned how Christine would be back on KRLA for a debate with Paul Krekorian in the future.

Krekorian's Tantrum: A True Diva Moment

Word is circulating back to The Jennerjahn Report about a disturbing incident that happened early in the special election campaign for the vacant seat in City Council District 2. It appears that Burbank Assemblyman Paul Krekorian threw a major temper tantrum in the City Clerk's office when he was denied the right to get his nominating petitions. On top of that he demanded the City Clerk use a ballot designation for his position that really actually does not exist. "San Fernando Valley Assemblymember?"? It sounds awfully suspicious.

Sources say that Krekorian also threw his weight around during his hissy fit...as if to say to City Clerk employees.."Don't you know who I am.??" It is unclear if he used those exact words, but it was clear that Paul Krekorian was letting them know he was an important elected official who had to catch a flight back to Sacramento very soon. In Pauls twisted vision, the City Clerk employees were there to serve him.

The problem with his paperwork was that Paul had not completed his official Ethics training with the City. Paul had not run for a City position before (because he lives in Burbank) and was not familiar with this requirement. Paul was upset that not getting his nominating papers would put him behind schedule with this latest, ambitious run for office. Paul threw his weight around. He mentioned that he was an elected official, a State Assembly Member. Paul mentioned that he had a flight to catch back to Sacramento and "didn't have time for this!.." .

When the City Clerks came back with the answer that Paul would not be allowed to get his paperwork that day, Krekorian was apoplectic. Angry and frustrated by his inability to get exactly what he wanted when he wanted it , Krekorian let loose with a burst of profanities. The exact words were heard by several witnesses, who said that the torrent included several uses of the "F bomb". Eventually, this tactic appears to have worked. Browbeaten and fatigued City Clerk employees allowed Krekorian to take his oath and get his papers, in direct circumvention of the rules.

Things we learned from this story:

1) Paul Krekorian has an explosive temper.

2)Paul Krekorian believes his government position entitles him to special treatment.

3) Paul Krekorian does not mind bending or breaking the rules to get what he wants.

4) Paul Krekorian will treat other government employees poorly if they are not at his same pay grade.

Now, I ask CD voters...is this really the man you want in power in your district for the next 14 years?

PS.. Krekorian's camp is welcome to deny this if they want.

(Disclaimer: Phil Jennerjahn has endorsed Christine Essel in the CD 2 special election.)

Frank Sheftel announces endorsement on Kevin James Show

Tonight, Frank Sheftel, the former CD 2 candidate, went on the Kevin James Radio show. He and Kevin spoke about the issues concerning the marijuana collectives, patients, and the City Attorneys office. While they spoke on this subject for some time, Frank ended his guest appearance with an endorsement of former CD 2 rival Christine Essel. He also released this statement to the media:

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Sheftel Endorses Essel in the L.A. City Council District 2 Run-off Election

With the run off election less then 7 weeks away I have decided to announce who I am supporting in this race. I have met with both candidates and have attended several events since the primary and seen both Christine & Paul in action. Both have sat down and had private meetings with me and have been very candid and forthcoming in my questioning of them. Both have a lot to offer and both come with concerns. Frankly both have asked for my support & I am honored and humbled. It's been a great experience to run a campaign against such a diverse and committed group of people.

At this time and in this particular situation, with our city and state facing a crisis situation I believe that Christine Essel is the right choice for City Council and to represent CD 2. She has the education, the experience and the connections to hit the ground running and get the job done. She is not backed by the Mayor and doesn't come with the added baggage of being from the political machine. Like myself and many of the other grassroots candidates she truly wants to make a difference in the community she grew up in and has signed a pledge not to run for any other office. A pledge I haven't seen Paul Krekorian sign. Paul is currently a State Assembly Member having just been re-elected, and is in a position already to effect change, He is not termed out yet and as a matter of fact can run for another term. The cost of another special election to fill his Assembly seat (estimated at 2 million dollars) weighed heavy in my decision. Christine Essel will have less then a year and a half to prove herself at which time this seat is up again. If she lives up to what I believe are sincere and realistic goals then we are better as a community. If not, there are many others ready to run for that seat. I have met with all the former CD2 candidates since the primary. We all care about this district and want to see someone in there that will best represent us. I become the fourth former candidate to support Christine Essel.( David Saltsburg, Augusto Bisani and Joe Essavi have already endorsed Essel). I hope that the remaining four will follow suit and we can all come out united behind one Candidate. I am pleased and proud to support Christine Essel for L. A. City Council and urge all my supporters and the rest of CD2 voters to do the same.

Frank Sheftel

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For those of you who are keeping track, that is now four former rivals who have declared their support for Christine Essel.

Repeating the score....

Christine Essel 4

Paul Krekorian 0

Craig X. Rubin Arrested in Raid!!

Craig X. Rubin, a very high-profile cannabis advocate, was arrested today in a stunning raid of his Temple 420 facilities. One of his assistants was also taken into custody.

Rubin, who is a minister of the Universal Life Church and the founder of Temple 420, was also a candidate in the March 2009 Los Angeles Mayoral election. This is not the first time Rubin has been arrested for marijuana-related charges. Rubin has argued in the past that his use of marijuana is part of a religious practice, although local law enforcement and judges have not agreed with his stance.

Angry cannabis activists are pointing fingers at Nuch Trutanich, and more specifically at Jane Usher, who some accuse of being behind this arrest.

Stay tuned for more details as this story develops.

Los Angeles becoming "Dope City"

"Excuse me while I light my spliff" are the famous opening words to the song "Easy Skankin' " by Bob Marley - a song that has become an anthem to the pro-cannabis crowd.

Well, voters here in Los Angeles better get used to hearing that phrase. It is about to become a permanent part of our culture here in Los Angeles. The overly lax enforcement of Californias Medical Marijuana Initiative has led to cultural armageddon...the proliferation of over 1000(!) marijuana collectives and shops here in Los Angeles. Yes...that is not a misprint..ONE THOUSAND! marijuana shops here in Los Angeles.

New City Attorney Nuch Trutanich and District Attorney Steve Cooley have decided that this is a fight worth winning and are willing to take on the pot shops, declaring them to be "100% illegal". As a Conservative, I admire their character and toughness, but I worry that they may have picked a fight they can't win. As I mentioned to another involved person, I said "I think the toothpaste is out of the tube on this one." Even if Nuch and Cooley go crazy and bust 100 shops this week, I'm worried that 125 more new ones might open next week.

The Cannabis activists are a little less confident and worry about Nuch and Cooley. Degé Coutee, director of the Patient Advocacy Network, says that "Patients feel threatened in a new way in Los Angeles. They (Cooley and Trutanich) are re-creating reefer madness and are out of step with the will of the people. We want acceptable rules, not raids."

Cannabis Activists and Patients have arranged to protest all over the State of California tomorrow.

The Los Angeles protest will be at City Hall at 2p.m.

I already saw one protesters sign --- "ZINE! WTF!!"

(I'm sure Councilman Dennis Zine will like that one!)

I hope someone makes a big sign that says "LOS ANGELES IS DOPE CITY!!"

Because, as an activist pointed out to me .."There are now more dope dealers here in Los Angeles than in any place on earth...!"

This is depressing.

When you elect people like Villaraigosa and the City Council Members, you reap what you sow.

Is John Walker Committing an Ethics Violation?

I am receiving complaints from political activists around the city that are pointing me to questionable behavior from Studio City Neighborhood Council Vice President John Walker. I won't reveal the details of the emails, as they were not originally sent to me, but they involve Walker inviting people to a special event for Paul Krekorian at CBS Radford Studios on Sunday, November 15th. In fact, the emails even go so far as to ask people to make donations to Krekorians campaign. The emails clearly are identifiable as coming from John Walkers Studio City Neighborhood Council email address.

The problem here is that elected Neighborhood Council members are not supposed to be doing this.

I guess John Walker must have skipped his ethics training session downtown.

(I have a funny story coming about Paul Krekorian wanting to avoid ethics training...more on this later...)

This is probably another event where they will want to keep the softball questions coming one after another.

They will want to keep out the riff-raff and have uninvited guests aggressively removed from the premises.

But who ...who can be called upon to organize security like that at an event like this?

Hmmm... one name comes to mind.

Valley Glen Neighborhood Association President/Dangerous Enemy of Freedom Judy Price!

I have a feeling that John Walker and Judy Price are already familiar with each other...

...being as how they appear together on a Paul Krekorian mailer, shamelessly hyping him to uninformed Valley voters.

Memo to John: Give Judy a call.

TJR interviews Christine Essel

Christine Essel! Welcome to The Jennerjahn Report! We are happy to have you here. It is an unexpected pleasure.

Thanks for having me Mr. Jennerjahn!

1) Congratulations on your results in the special election on September 22nd. You came from what were, originally, small numbers in the polls and surged past the other candidates, almost overtaking Burbank Assemblyman Paul Krekorian. Tell us what you are feeling about this election and the path that you will take to December 8th.

Thank you. I'm honored to have the support of so many community members from every part of CD2. The next two months are all about meeting with voters, knocking on doors or reaching out to them by phone. It's an energizing process and I am really enjoying the opportunity campaigning allows me to meet so many people who care about the future of the city.

2) At some of the candidate forums in this special election, you were attacked pretty aggressively (verbally) by some of the other candidates. At all the forums I attended, I never saw you fight back or attack the other candidates as they had just done to you. Was that strategy by you? And if so, why?

Well, I'm not a politician. Political attacks are not my style. I think that the candidate forums were very important because the voters got to hear from a wide range of very bright and thoughtful candidates. When I had the chance to ask a question of another candidate at SOHA, I chose to ask Pete Sanchez a constructive question about how community members can be effective advocates and stop bad development. I think the attendees of the forums would rather hear about that, rather than watch more political posturing.

3) As I understand it, after the election, you reached out and contacted the other defeated candidates and asked them to support you now. I am hearing from some of these candidates that they were surprised by your behavior. They didn't expect it. Some of them are openly supporting you now. One big endorsement would be that of third place finisher Tamar Galatzan. Who do you think she will support? And why?

Well I don't think it's my place to make predictions about who others will support. I think all the endorsements from all of the other candidates are important. Tamar Galatzan is extremely important to the East Valley as our LAUSD board member.

4) You seem to have struck up an unusual friendship with a rival in this election -- fellow CD 2 candidate Frank Sheftel. The two of you even went so far as to campaign together at the Farmers Market in Studio City! What created this friendship and spirit of cooperation with a political rival?

Frank Sheftel is a terrific advocate for this community. He really distinguished himself as a critical thinker and as a strong debater in the primary. He has a lot of great ideas about what we need to do to shake up City Hall and I am proud to call him my friend.

5) I am quite certain that both you and Paul Krekorian realize that the total number of voters who voted for the other 8 candidates is a higher number than you or Paul achieved on Sept. 22nd. This means that the election will hinge on the decisions of unsettled voters who must now decide between you or Paul. Tell us why you are a better choice than Paul Krekorian.

I believe the voters are looking for someone who will take the job seriously. I spent 31 years working at the same company which shows the level of dedication I will bring to the job of Councilwoman. That's a distinction between me and my opponent, who has moved around a lot.

The community also wants someone who will be free to make decisions independently. You know, political job hopping is just an epidemic in California politics. So many elected officials leave powerful positions after only a few years, just to climb the ladder. That's why I've taken a pledge not to run for higher office. Paul won't take that pledge.

That's the clear distinction between me and my opponent. He's a career politician, and that means he'll need to play ball with special interests to sustain his political career. I'm different. I'm not doing this to develop my career. I'm running because I want to do everything I can to help fix our broken city.