Essel for City Council

Voters in Los Angeles’ 2nd Council District go to the polls Tuesday to elect a successor to former Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who was elected city controller earlier this year. Ten candidates are running. If none emerges from the special election with more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff Dec. 8 between the top two finishers.

The Times has endorsed former Paramount Pictures Corp. executive Christine Essel.

Essel is a former member of the Airport Commission and former chairwoman of the Community Redevelopment Agency. She knows her way around the city bureaucracy but is not beholden to it. Unlike some of the self-styled grass-roots candidates, she does not regard City Hall as an occupying force, yet unlike current officeholders, she is independent from the political establishment. Essel offers the district the best chance at an effective representative who sticks up for her constituents while helping to run and oversee city government.

The 2nd Council District runs from the hills and horse trails to the sushi-rich eastern stretch of Ventura Boulevard, into the Hollywood Hills and out to the Sepulveda Dam. More than a quarter of a million people live within its communities of Lake View Terrace, La Tuna Canyon, North Hollywood, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Sunland, Sun Valley, Tujunga, Valley Village, Valley Glen and Van Nuys.