A Voice for the Westside

The Times endorses selectively. The only open seat on the March 8 ballot is in the 11th Council District.

*

The Westside communities that form the 11th Council District, hugging the coast from Mulholland Drive to LAX, encompass some of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods. No surprise, then, that issues generating political heat in Mid-City or Eastside neighborhoods, such as gang violence and luring developers, don’t resonate in the same way there. What seems to matter most to Westsiders is cutting traffic and blocking construction.

The three candidates who want to take over from termed-out Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski hold very similar views on these issues. They oppose LAX expansion, want the planned Exposition light-rail line to run all the way to Santa Monica, believe that the city can do more to untangle traffic snarls and want more community involvement in construction projects.

We endorse Flora Gil Krisiloff because her experience and style would best serve district residents and she would play a constructive role on the City Council.

A public health nurse by training, Krisiloff is a civic activist by passion. She helped found the Brentwood Community Council and has been active in several other local boards, commissions and schools. Krisiloff was a key player in skirmishes over the Westwood Veterans Affairs property and over Westside commercial development. Her record of building consensus quietly and effectively prompted Miscikowski to endorse her.

Krisiloff’s style contrasts strongly with opponent Bill Rosendahl’s table-pounding. Rosendahl is deservedly revered for the cable public affairs show he hosted while he was with Adelphia Communications. Many of his former guests, including several local politicians, are repaying him with their endorsements. On camera, Rosendahl hosted in an informed and evenhanded manner. What a disappointment then that candidate Rosendahl comes across as bombastic, divisive and ill informed. For instance, in a recent interview he was incredulous to the point of sarcasm that there is, he said, no regional transportation planning agency, forgetting or dismissing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for one.

The third candidate, attorney and businesswoman Angela Reddock, is thoughtful and earnest but doesn’t yet have Krisiloff’s track record on district issues.