COUNCIL—Council Newcomers Bringing Pragmatism to City Hall

0

By July 3, six new members will have been sworn in to the L.A. City Council, making for the largest freshman class in the council’s 150-year history.

And unlike the recent years of bickering among themselves and with outgoing Mayor Richard Riordan the new council will be more pragmatic, more cooperative with Mayor-elect James Hahn and more receptive to business concerns than previous bodies.

“You’re going to find a more business-friendly city council all across the board,” said Councilman-elect Dennis Zine, who eked out an upset victory for the West San Fernando Valley district seat.

Zine may be among the more conservative of the new crop of council members, but his view is widely shared by other new members and outside council watchers.

On the Westside, former prosecutor Jack Weiss, who defeated liberal icon Tom Hayden, talked about more “balance” between business and quality-of-life concerns. In Chinatown and other L.A. River neighborhoods northeast of Downtown, Councilman-elect Ed Reyes said he wanted to make City Hall “more predictable” for businesses.

And in the Harbor area, Councilwoman-elect Janice Hahn sister of the new mayor said she wants to use her extensive private-sector background to push for reforming the city’s business tax code and use public-private partnerships to help the Los Angeles Unified School District open new schools across the city.

All of this is welcomed by business groups that had grown accustomed to fighting off unwanted government regulation under prior councils and seeing initiatives from a business-friendly mayor blocked.

“The current crop of new councilpersons are more practical and more open and accessible to business concerns,” said Charles K. Woo, chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “In previous years, we often got caught in the middle of the rivalry between the council and the mayor and watched things that we had pushed for wither on the vine.”

“We’ve interviewed all six of these council candidates and the most important thing we took away from those interviews is that they are all non-ideological,” said Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Association. “The essence of good, sound policy is to balance interests and look at all sides of an issue and these council members have indicated they will do that.”


Pet projects

But if L.A. businesses are looking for quick and decisive action to improve the local business climate, they may be disappointed. Each of the new council members faces a learning curve, although some, like longtime City Hall staffers Jan Perry and Ed Reyes, may have less than others.

What’s more, there are more changes to come. In the next several months, two more as-yet-undetermined members will take seats on the council, replacing the late John Ferraro and the departing Joel Wachs. That will bring the number of freshman council members to eight, or a majority of the 15-member body. (Two others, Alex Padilla and Nick Pacheco, have yet to serve full four-year terms.)

That’s not to mention a new mayoral administration and the impending turnover in commissions and the other decision-making bodies of city government.

“For the next six months or so, people are going to be finding their way,” said veteran lobbyist and council observer Richard Lichtenstein. “That will probably mean less focus on global issues like bringing football back to L.A. or expanding LAX. Instead, people will deal with specific campaign promises they made in their districts, like Eric Garcetti promising to open more parks in his Hollywood district.”

Each of the newly elected council members said they want to focus on economic development or revitalization projects in their own districts.

Reyes said he intended to push for a combination of park space and mixed-use development on the Taylor Yards parcel northeast of Chinatown. Weiss said he wants to see redevelopment of portions of Westwood Village, while Garcetti said he would support residential and mixed-use development in Hollywood. And Janice Hahn listed as her top priorities the development of the San Pedro waterfront and the revitalization of downtown San Pedro.

Of course, broader issues like Police Department reform, expansion of LAX or siting new schools will come up, and when they do, the ability of the new council members to cooperate will be crucial.


Leadership void

It is these situations that pose the greatest risk of council members disagreeing and even squabbling, especially since there is no longer a Ferraro to cajole fellow council members.

“In the past, you always had John Ferraro, the voice of reason and experience,” Woo said. “I can only hope that some on this new council will rise to that occasion and look at the big picture.”

Term limits, though, make the emergence of such a leader highly unlikely. More likely is the emergence of blocks on the council that will come together around certain types of issues, like siting new schools.

At least that’s what the new council members are saying.

“As a freshman class, we are already meeting amongst ourselves and there’s a definite level of bonding that’s taken place,” Garcetti said. “I expect that to continue once we’re on the council.

But as past council members have realized, all of the bonding in the world will be of little use if the council ends up at loggerheads with the mayor as took place between Riordan and the council.

But the relationship between the new council and Hahn is expected to be far different.

“Mayor Riordan brought in a lot of outsiders who didn’t understand the politics of City Hall and it ruffled a lot of feathers, preventing him from getting off to a good relationship with the city council,” said political consultant Jorge Flores.

“Riordan became expert at going around the council when he felt it was necessary,” Flores said. “He himself often said it was better to take an action and ‘ask forgiveness’ rather than seek permission first. I would expect James Hahn will seek input from the council at the outset, as opposed to presenting the council with a fait accompli.”

There is one other major difference: Hahn will have a staunch ally on the council: his sister, Janice. She said last week that “Ninety percent of the time, I will be an advocate for my brother’s agenda in the city council.”

With Janice Hahn functioning as the council’s de-facto liaison to the mayor’s office, the business community is expected to have especially close access to City Hall decision-makers. The former marketing exec and chamber president has just hired as her legislative deputy one of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce’s top lobbyists.

“I think L.A’s business interests are going to find this council to be much more approachable than past councils,” Flores said.


DISTRICT ONE:


ED REYES

Age 42 Born and raised in Lincoln Heights neighborhood to parents who emigrated from Mexico Got master’s in urban planning from UCLA… Joined L.A. City Planning Department in 1989… Economic development deputy to Councilman Mike Hernandez in 1991 and his chief of staff in 1999.


DISTRICT THREE:


DENNIS ZINE

Age 53 Born in L.A Son of a Lebanese immigrant Joined LAPD at age 21 Supervised motorcycle officers Elected to Police Protective League board in 1993 Ran for L.A. City Council in 1993, lost to Laura Chick Elected to city Charter Reform Commission in 1997… Won council race by 88 votes.


DISTRICT FIVE:


JACK WEISS

Age 35 Born in L.A. to parents who were both prosecutors Received degree from Princeton Received law degree from UCLA School of Law Editor in chief of UCLA Law Review… Joined U.S. Attorney’s L.A. office as an assistant U.S. Attorney, specializing in corruption, fraud and civil rights cases Lives in Bel-Air.


DISTRICT NINE:


JAN PERRY


JAN PERRY

Age 46 Born and raised in Cleveland Came to L.A. in the 1970s to attend USC Graduated cum laude with bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public administration from USC Legislative deputy to Councilman Nate Holden, chief of staff to Councilwoman Rita Walters… Lives in South L.A.


DISTRICT THIRTEEN:


ERIC GARCETTI

Age 30 Son of former county District Attorney Gil Garcetti and an L.A. native Bachelor’s and master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University…. Rhodes Scholar Was professor of public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and at USC… Jazz pianist and composer.


DISTRICT FIFTEEN:


JANICE HAHN

Age 49 Daughter of late County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and sister to Mayor-elect James Hahn Born and raised in South-Central L.A Pursued career in private sector Worked for Edison… Obtained securities license In 1997, elected to charter reform commission… Lives in San Pedro with two sons.

No posts to display