Miscikowski for the City Council

For the first time in 34 years, Marvin Braude’s name won’t be on the ballot for the 11th City Council District, and that has created an open race to succeed the retiring councilman. The voters are fortunate to have the opportunity to choose between two highly qualified front-runners. Both Georgia Mercer and Cindy Miscikowski have the connections and know-how to serve the district--which stretches from Palms in the south to Van Nuys in the north--and to help find remedies for a City Hall plagued by provincial squabbling and voter mistrust.

Mercer, a former aide to Mayor Richard Riordan, rose through the ranks of community groups and nonprofit agencies. She helped found a synagogue in the west San Fernando Valley and was public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, earning high marks for her blend of optimism and pragmatism.

Miscikowski, a former, longtime deputy to Braude, has 22 years of experience in City Hall and is considered masterful in dealing with seemingly unworkable situations. She’s a certified land-use planner who helped create the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan. Despite her record, Miscikowski portrays herself as an outsider, saying the contentious City Hall of today is a far cry from the cordial place she knew before leaving in 1993.

On the issues, it’s hard to tell Mercer and Miscikowski apart. Both vow to improve relations between City Hall and the communities it serves. Both want development that makes sense for businesses and residents. Both want to preserve open space in the Santa Monica Mountains, which bisect the district. And both support reform of the city’s 72-year-old charter. The difference comes down to this: Mercer is an outsider, one with talent; Miscikowski, her claim to the contrary, is an insider, also talented.

Under the crunch of the new term limits that will restrict the election winner to no more than two four-year terms on the council, Miscikowski should more quickly get up to speed. She could bring a sorely needed reasonableness to City Hall.

Her biggest challenge: avoiding the appearance of conflict between her council duties and the interests of her husband, Doug Ring, a former lobbyist who represented clients before the City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Although Ring quit lobbying a year ago, he maintains business interests across the city. As a council staffer, Miscikowski was scrupulous in disclosing potential conflicts of interest. As a councilwoman, she would have to be even more careful. But there is no reason to believe she wouldn’t. The Times endorses Miscikowski.