Greetings –
We were all set to put out a newsy blast sharing some of our recent accomplishments in Superior Court and with the Coastal Commission in our continuing battle against the Venice Median Project, until Mike Bonin, the infamous Mike of “Mike’s Monster,” sent out a vicious political hit job against Traci Park, in which he falsely accused one of the most caring, ethical, and enlightened people we have ever met of being a racist.
As a result, we’re switching gears and want to share some of our insights (and outrage!) into the blatant hypocrisy/insincerity of our narcissistic lame duck Councilman, as well as announce which candidates the Coalition has decided to endorse – and why we are supporting them.
Let’s start with what we consider to be the most important choice facing us.
Traci Park for Council District 11 – tracipark.com :
Mike Bonin’s total disregard and well-known contempt for constituents who disagree with his policies has never been more prominently displayed than in the past couple of weeks. A devastating fire in the Venice Canals destroyed 3 homes and damaged 2 others. Multiple witnesses reported vagrants in the construction site in which the fire started. So naturally, Mike wants nothing to do with it. Not a peep, or an offer of condolence. No acknowledgment of the Venice Blvd. encampment that now stretches from Pacific to Dell Ave., just steps from where the fire began. No accountability for the over-taxed fire department, with the one truck most familiar with the canals unable to respond to the raging fire because it was on what amounts to its nightly call to help one of Mike’s “unhoused neighbors.”
You know who did show up? Traci Park, no surprise there. That’s who Traci Park is. That’s what Traci Park does; repeatedly displaying the character and compassion needed to get us out of the mess Mike and his cronies created.
In the course of her campaign, Traci has visited every corner of CD11 to learn about various neighborhood issues, reassuring anxious voters that, if elected, public safety would be her top priority. What a novel idea: a Councilmember who listens and responds.
In addition, Traci has remained steadfast despite the vile and hateful mudslinging thrown her way, not just by her Bonin clone and puppet with a DSA pedigree, opponent Erin Darling, but by our do-nothing Councilman himself, piling on with malicious, false accusations of Traci’s character that are not worth repeating. The ugliness that the Bonin-Darling campaign has brought to this race is unprecedented. What does need to be repeated – again and again – is that Bonin and Darling are effectively the same. A vote for Darling is a vote to keep the current conditions we’ve all been forced to endure.
If you want the change we so desperately need – Traci Park is the only candidate committed to bring back safe livable communities across the district. We can’t stress enough how fortunate we will be to have a dynamic person of Traci’s stature representing us in what has become an ineffective and embarrassing City Council – and we believe the rest of the City of LA will also be grateful to have her in the public sphere once they get to know her like we do.
One more thing before we move on: Traci has been outspoken in her opposition to the wasteful expenditure of taxpayer funds on the Venice Median, also known as Mike’s Vanity project, from day one. Need we say more.
Rick Caruso for Mayor – carusocan.com :
We had the opportunity to give both candidates for Mayor, Rick Caruso and Karen Bass, a personal tour of the site intended for the Venice Median project. Both candidates met the longtime tenants who will be forced out of their affordable homes to make way for units half their size at a cost of $1.2 million each. Both candidates learned of the significant environmental risks in plopping this massive project on the historic Venice Canals. However, only one candidate cared enough to get back to us – that was Rick Caruso, not Karen Bass who remains too close to Mr. Bonin for our taste. The last thing this city needs is Bass to appoint Bonin to a prominent position in her administration. We have gotten to know Rick during the campaign and are duly impressed with his passion and love for the city, his vision for fundamental change, and his strong and proven leadership.
Hydee Feldstein Soto for City Attorney – hydeeforcityattorney.com :
Since Hydee was in the midst of a highly competitive primary between four high-profile candidates, no one in the Coalition could have ever expected that a few days before voters would be going to the polls, she would send an unsolicited statement to Kevin De Leon’s Homelessness and Poverty Committee asking that it delay the vote on the Venice Median. Here is what, in part, she wrote:
“1. This Committee should not permit acceleration of the approval timeline to allow a councilmember on his way out the door to bind the City to a 99-year ground lease at $1 per year in rent. 2. The costs of the project warrant closer examination. 3. The competitive bidding process for a structure that would draw many more bidders at a market rate rather than the 10x market rate construction proposed.”
Remember, no one asked her to do this. That she did gives us great confidence in the independence and courage this eminently qualified attorney and neighborhood activist will bring to the city.
Interestingly enough, Hydee is the only candidate we are endorsing who also is being endorsed by the Los Angeles Times. We won’t hold that against her. Seriously, Hydee’s extensive business experience overseeing complex deals and managing teams of lawyers, as well as her focus on the issues with no-bid contracts and the extremely high cost of homeless housing (such as with the Venice median project, at $1.2 million per unit!) makes her a great candidate.
Paul Koretz for City Controller – koretzforla.com :
When members of the Coalition went before the City Council in late June to speak against the Venice Median during the Public Comment section at the start of the meeting, most of the Councilmembers seemed too self-involved to pay attention to what “the folks suing the city” had to say. While commenting, we noticed only one person was sitting off by himself, taking notes. That person was Paul Koretz, who defied the council’s quid pro quo modus operandi, to join Joe Buscaino in being only one of two members to vote against a project in a colleague’s district. Paul is running with the support of Ron Galperin, our current City Controller, whose audit of Prop HHH Funding exposed a profound waste of taxpayer dollars. With decades of Public Service, Paul is definitely qualified for the job — and, more importantly, his name is not Kenneth Mejia. Here is some information about the sketchy guy he’s running against: truthaboutmejia.com
Bob Hertzberg for County Supervisor 3rd District: hertzbergforsupervisor.com
In all candor, most of us voted for Henry Stern in the primary, but Bob, a career democrat, has an impressive track record of leadership in both the public and private sectors – not to mention an infectious energy — that merits our support. Unlike his predecessor, Bob is not an ideologue, but a pragmatist who knows how to find consensus among those with differing opinions. And he’s a stand-up guy who has the guts to admit when he makes a mistake – and he made a doozy when, as State Senate majority leader, he naively/erroneously supported AB1197, Mayor Garcetti’s scheme to bypass CEQA and environmental review for affordable housing in Los Angeles. Bob insists that Garcetti told him the bill was necessary to streamline the stalled Prop HHH projects in the downtown corridor without ever mentioning the one in the Coastal Zone. Bob has apologized and promises to use the full resources of his office to oppose what he now knows is little more than an environmentally and fiscally challenged, public land grab masking as affordable housing, initiated by Mr. Bonin and his lackeys at Venice Community Housing Corp.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva – alexvillanueva.org :
Until the Sheriff walked the Venice Boardwalk in the spring of 2021 and saw firsthand how our politicians had purposely let blight accumulate in our most precious shared public spaces after being commandeered by lawlessness and a host of unsanitary/unsafe encampments, we had been left to fend for ourselves. The Sheriff took a lot of heat for standing up for the business and residential communities of Venice when no mainstream media outlet in this city could be bothered to cover the story. Moreover, anyone who saw the Homeless Outreach Street Team (HOST) in action knows that it was the County intervention, led by Lt. Jeff Dedrich, that allowed the healing process to begin. So, while we acknowledge that Mr. Villanueva has said many things that make many of us cringe, we are grateful for his help when it comes to Venice – and we are voting for him.
We recognize voting is a personal choice and appreciate you taking the time to understand the reasoning behind our endorsements.
There’s never been a more important time to get out and vote on Tuesday, November 8th or right now via the vote-by-mail ballots that you should have received by now!
Vote like the future our community depends on it!
Vote now!