Defining the Issues for Los Angeles’ Next Leader

In roughly six weeks, Angelenos will cast their votes for mayor. Their choice could hardly be more distinct. Millionaire Republican and former businessman Richard Riordan is the incumbent, facing millionaire Democrat and state Sen. Tom Hayden.

The issues are equally clear. A discussion of those matters, and an open invitation to the candidates to address them during this mayoral race, is our focus here.

* The local economy: A different city has emerged from the recession, corporate mergers and flight, and the Cold War engine that once powered the region’s finances has shut down. Some of the fallen Los Angeles-based corporate giants have been replaced by a new economy of small- and medium-sized businesses, many of them owned by immigrant or ethnic entrepreneurs. In large part, this is Los Angeles’ new job creation and tax generating engine.

One of the tasks of the city’s next mayor will be to help create a more business friendly environment for such firms. The goal will also be to encourage collective community involvement and philanthropic leadership among these emerging companies. And of course, the existing businesses, the ones that toughed it out during a withering recession, can and should be brought together with new companies. Who better to integrate the old with the new--thus promoting strong and responsible business leadership--than the mayor?

* Public Safety: There ought to be more to celebrate here, with a declining crime rate and a substantially larger police force thanks to Mayor Riordan, the City Council and timely federal funding. But the rate of homicides solved has fallen precipitously. The next mayor will have to lead new and probably expensive initiatives for everything from an expanded pool of police detectives to more criminalists.

* Critical Personnel Matters: Part of this campaign ought to help fashion the debate and establish a civil and open tone on crucial job appointments facing the city this year. By probable order of importance, this involves a decision on who will lead the Los Angeles Police Department and the choice of a CEO for the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

* Charter Reform: Effective change in the way that this city is governed, and a plan to make that government far more accessible to the public, cannot be accomplished without real cooperation between the mayor and the City Council. Part of the onus here is on the Council, which seems loathe to dilute its powers in any way, but the next mayor will clearly have to be a peacemaker and consensus builder with that body. While there’s no doubt that power is far too diffused in a city that desperately needs strong leadership, charter reform alone can’t dictate how a mayor and council work together.

* Mayor of all Angelenos: This must necessarily extend to the city as a whole, which is too often polarized along racial and ethnic, class and geographical lines. Getting Angelenos to see their common interests, rather than their divergent differences, is a tough task for any mayor. But there may be no task more important for the city’s top elected leader.