The Issues That Drive the 3rd District City Council Candidates : Challenger: It’s time for a change at City Hall. Much, much more can and must be done to turn this city around and rebuild a real sense of community.

Can anyone doubt it’s time for a change at City Hall?

Tom Bradley and several City Council members have been in office for 20 years or more! Joy Picus has held on to her seat for 16 years, and now she wants to go back for another four-year term. No wonder she opposed the term-limit measure on the April ballot. She doesn’t want anyone telling her how long she can hold on to the position she regards as her private fiefdom.

I love Los Angeles, and I’m deeply concerned about what is happening to my community. I moved to the San Fernando Valley nearly 20 years ago because I wanted a safe, quiet, friendly neighborhood for my family . . . a place where my little girls could walk to the store or play in the front yard. A place where we know just about everyone on the block and there was a real sense of community.

Now I find those precious qualities slipping through my fingers. And as I walk door-to-door during this campaign, I’m finding that all too many people feel the same way. That’s why it was no surprise to me when I read in the Sunday Times that 35% of the people in the Valley are thinking of moving away.

Joy Picus can’t be blamed for all of our problems, but she must be blamed for not finding solutions to many of them. I went to work as an aide in Picus’ Reseda office because I care about the West Valley and believed that I could make a positive impact. As time passed, I became disillusioned by the way things were done in City Hall and the inability or unwillingness of the incumbent to take tough stands on important issues. It was as if there were an invisible sign on Joy Picus’ wall, saying: “Play It Safe--Get Reelected.”

I left Picus’ staff and I’m now running to replace her on the City Council because I believe that much, much more can and must be done to turn this city around.

My first priority is to make our streets safe again. I will cut $100,000 from my own City Council budget and turn the money over to the Police Department to pay for more cops on the street in the 3rd District. I won’t accept the perks, the cars or the junkets. I won’t hire a private driver or a full-time press agent to keep my name before the public. I’m not a professional politician, and I don’t want a pension for my public service. We need that money for more important things.

I’ll apply that same cost-cutting philosophy to the city budget. Joy Picus thinks we need to increase taxes to pay for more police. I know we can beef up the LAPD without taking more money out of the pockets of overburdened taxpayers.

It’s not going to be an easy campaign. Joy Picus is furious that anyone would run for the office she thinks belongs to her.

I’ve already felt the sting of her personal attacks on me, my family and my supporters, and I’m braced for more mudslinging. Joy Picus knows she can’t get reelected on her own record, so she has no choice but to go after me.

What voters will hear from me during this campaign is a clear message about Joy Picus’ record during her 16 years and what I will do if I am elected. That’s what the voters want to hear, not the exaggerations and half-truths that mark Picus’ campaign rhetoric.

My priorities, if elected, will be:

* Fighting crime: We need to redeploy our resources so that we have more police on the street during every watch. I’ll cut government waste to give the LAPD the resources it needs to make our city safe again.

* Breaking up the school district: Our children deserve a quality education and safe schools. I intend to be a vocal leader in the effort to cut the LAUSD down to size.

* Jobs: I will create the Valley Economic Council and work to make the Valley more attractive to existing and new employers. We must keep and expand our job base.

* Ethics reform: I will not have a city-paid-for car or a city-paid-for driver, and I won’t accept free trips as many council members do.

KCAL-TV news said recently that the real issue in this race is Joy Picus’ performance during her 16 years in office and whether it’s time for a change. On June 8, I believe the voters of the 3rd District will answer “yes” to both questions.