TOPICS : CITY COUNCIL ELECTION : 5th District Candidates Speak Out on Crime, Ethics

My wife, Gail, and I have a deep stake in Los Angeles. We own a home and are raising our children here. My parents live here, too. We have chosen to fight for our city’s future rather than retreat or move elsewhere, as have so many others.

My professional and personal activities in the affairs of our city express that commitment.

For the past eight years, I directed a multimillion-dollar organization based in North Hollywood and Beverly-Fairfax: Bet Tzedek Legal Services, the House of Justice. Bet Tzedek provided free legal assistance to 50,000 clients under my leadership.

I led a 55-member staff and 500 volunteers, providing services to senior citizens, homeowners, small business owners, tenants, landlords and people with disabilities. We fought to protect widows against schemes to defraud them of their property and to gain restitution for Holocaust survivors. We were named the outstanding agency serving seniors by the Metropolitan Region of the United Way.

In time of crisis, leadership gets its most severe test. After the 1992 riots, I began a project to help small business owners get back on their feet. After the Northridge earthquake, I created a series of programs that have helped 2,000 quake victims deal with emergency relief agencies and combat home contractor fraud. I have worked to fashion legislation at every level of government, taught at UCLA Law School, led community organizations and been active on issues from local airport noise to neighborhood development.

As I went door to door to visit San Fernando Valley voters during the primary election, I found the issues of greatest concern to be very much the same as the issues on the minds of voters in other areas of the district.

Everywhere, crime is the No. 1 issue. Of course, we need more police officers. But we also need to stop the defection of officers to other departments and re-evaluate how we deploy our officers.

In the 5th Council District, which extends from Sherman Way in Van Nuys on the north to the Santa Monica Freeway on the south, there is no police station or substation.

As a City Council member, I will fight to create substations and walk-in centers in our district as a key part of a program to stop crime before it starts. We can establish these cost-effectively through a partnership with local business and expansion of the police reservist and volunteer programs. We need a visible police presence, with officers on the beat in neighborhoods and business districts.

Beyond safety concerns, 5th District voters express a deep lack of faith in the integrity of government.

I will lead a renewed focus on ethics reform. I do not believe a council member should take a campaign contribution then vote on a matter from which that contributor would benefit economically. I will fight to diminish the power of money in City Hall by prohibiting lobbyists from raising funds for the officeholder accounts of council members.

I will also fight to prevent a business or individual implicated in wrongdoing such as bribery or money laundering from ever doing business with the city.

As a demonstration of my commitment to these principles, I am the only candidate in this election who is refusing to accept contributions from political action committees.

Wherever I go across the vast expanse of this council district, people feel they have no meaningful say in key decisions affecting their neighborhoods. As a council member, I will establish neighborhood councils with homeowners, tenants, business owners, police, educators and others working with me and my staff to address neighborhood problems.

There are many issues, some specific to the Valley, that I will address early on. None is more significant than accelerating the pace of recovery from the earthquake. I will work to bring additional capital into Sherman Oaks to rehabilitate housing and fuel economic recovery. I have had ongoing discussions with key federal officials on how to ensure that needed relief continues. I will protect community interests on issues such as the proposed MCA development, Van Nuys and Burbank airport noise, and Ventura Boulevard planning.

To ensure that Valley residents have the greatest possible access to their council representative, I will hold regular office hours in a Valley field office, meet frequently with neighborhood councils and conduct regular “town hall” meetings.

The 5th District requires leadership to make the needs of Valley residents a top priority in City Hall. I look forward to an exciting partnership with the residents of our district, in which, together, we forge a bright future for our community.