Shockley for the 10th District

Four years ago, Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden, embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment, promised that 1995-1999 would be his last term in office. Now seeking reelection in the 10th Council District, he has changed his mind. That is his prerogative; it’s also the prerogative of others to hold him to that promise. It’s past time for the 12-year incumbent to go.

The councilman likes to describe himself as the one person on the council willing to “tell it like it is.” But what Holden is too often best at is deliberately taking a contrarian view for the publicity value. His flirtation with the Raiders in their bid to return to Los Angeles, for example, was not realistic or useful to the city’s efforts to secure a National Football League franchise.

Certainly Holden is persistent, but too often about the wrong things, such as sticking to the notion that it was wholly appropriate for taxpayers to pick up the $1.3 million in legal bills accumulated in so far successfully defending him and the city against sexual harassment charges from more than one woman.

A better candidate to represent the 10th District is Madison Shockley. Most recently, Shockley has served as pastor of the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship, United Church of Christ, in Mid-City Los Angeles. The longtime area resident, 43, has deep roots in the community, where he and his family have been politically active.

Shockley and another Holden opponent, Korean American businessman Scott Suh, understand that political power depends on pulling the district’s diverse communities together. While the district’s voting base is largely black and white, the area also includes a significant number of Latinos and a growing Asian American population.

Shockley has the best chance of uniting the 10th behind a set of basic goals. He is seeking the ear of district voters by forming a neighborhood assembly. The 10th District, which includes parts of the Crenshaw district, Koreatown, mid-Wilshire and Palms, still enjoys clean and stable neighborhoods. But too many of its neighborhoods lack a good mix of consumer services and open space. Shockley has a plan. He has pledged to revitalize the 10th’s eroding business and will seek to convert vacant lots into mini-parks. He has also promised to curtail local slumlords and try to create more affordable housing.

The 10th District deserves a council member who will advocate for constituent needs while keeping the interests of the city in mind. Shockley is the best candidate to fulfill that role. The Times endorses Madison Shockley for City Council in the April 13 election.