EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written for the February edition of Nina Royal’s North Valley Reporter.
The most dangerous thing a politician can do is to raise the people’s expectations – just ask Antonio Villaraigosa what happens when you promise voters a dream come true and deliver a nightmare.
Paul Krekorian won election as the Council member for District 2 in the East San Fernando by convincing voters from Sunland-Tujunga to Sherman Oaks he would be a true public servant and meet their needs within the region and carry their values and interests into City Hall.
His first days in office were marked by a whirlwind of activity, immediately wading into the controversy over the Magnolia Project in Valley Village in search of a compromise, saving the McGroarty Oaks in Sunland-Tujunga from being destroyed for an unwanted road project, and reopening a park in North Hollywood.
Constituent services and local issues are the bread-and-butter of elective office. The tougher task is being able to affect the course of broader citywide issues – the budget, DWP policy, planning – in a City Hall political system that has run amok.
The City Council demands unanimity these days on almost all things of importance and those who get out of line usually find it is difficult, if not impossible, to get support for the needs of the people in their districts.
That’s the challenge Krekorian faces: Can he stand up for his ideals and fulfill his promises when all around him are men and women who have succumbed to back room deals and sold their consciences to special interests?
he battle for the soul of Paul Krekorian was very much in evidence at
his ceremonial swearing-in at Van Nuys City Hall on Jan. 17. Hundreds of
people were there: Family and friends, community activists and
supporters and a large gathering of politicians from the state, county
and, most of all, the city – few of whom backed Krekorian in the
election against Chris Essel.
The mayor, of course, took center stage recalling how he owed a debt of
gratitude to Krekorian for the critical support he gave him at the start
of his own political career – without mentioning that he and his team
led the campaign to defeat Krekorian in the Council race.
He reduced Krekorian to being nothing more than a political progressive,
his way of suggesting he would be a faithful and obedient member of the
team that has pushed the city to near bankruptcy and wrecked the
economy and now is begging, borrowing and stealing in a desperate effort
to pull the city out of its nosedive.
Garcetti, Smith, Zine, Rosendahl, Hahn, Greuel – they all had their arms
around the newest Council member now that’s he one of them, hoping he
will become just another cog in a failing political machine, just as
they are.
Krekorian’s words betrayed their hopes. He talked about City Hall’s
failure and the need to make hard decisions that will determine the
city’s fate for “generations still to come.”
Of all the crises LA faces, he said, “the most critical, urgent and
difficult … is the crisis of confidence that our people have in whether
their government can serve their needs.
“Our success is dependent on our coming together in common purpose,” he
said. “Too often the people feel their aspirations are denied… (by) the
influence of the wealth and power…the people are our bosses.”
Spoken like a true leader, the leader LA needs. It isn’t going to be
easy to live up to those words.
The problems are great and the mayor and Council have made them far
worse by the actions and inactions of the last year. We’ll find out soon
enough whether Krekorian can live up to expectations that he has
created.
He can’t do it alone. It will take the community in his district, and
citywide, to come together to give him the courage and strength to stand
up for the aspirations of the people – and create the political
pressure on his Council colleagues to fall into line.
Politics at its best is a dance, a balancing of competing interests, in
the service of all the people.
That isn’t the case now at City Hall where all too often it’s nothing
but a sellout to the highest bidder.
With a brash and independent City Attorney in Carmen Trutanich and an
ambitious and earnest new Council member in Krekorian, there is hope for
real change if the people rally and organize behind them.