The Progressive Versus the Populist

The decision between Furutani and Buscaino

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

The political odds makers have all but anoint- ed Joe Buscaino to be the next councilman for Council District 15 of Los Angeles before the election is even held. If you were to judge this critical election or be swayed by the abundance of political signage in the south end of the city, this might seem true, ex- cept for the fact that the only real poll that counts is the actual one reflecting the will of the people on election day­ and those results can be fickle­ Just look at Iowa and New Hampshire. Populism as a current in American politics that can swing either right or left, varying upon what is most popu- lar at the moment. Anti-immigrant, anti-communist, anti-abortion and law and order are often the call for rightwing populist uprisings. Just look at the Tea Party or some of the Republican candidates running for president. Michele Bachman comes to mind.

Now, I’m not saying that this very local race for office amounts to the kind of political luna- cy that we are witnessing on the national stage, but the difference between Warren Furutani and Joe Buscaino basically comes down to this one critical distinction: one is the progressive candi- date and the other is the populist. The progres- sive leads in the direction of greater social and political justice, understanding that the arch of history leans towards political reforms designed to make our society more equitable and govern- ment fairer. The populist champions the current most popular cause without a true sense of the direction his politics may lead him. Without any malice towards Buscaino, whom I know as a quite honorable police officer and concerned citizen, I find him to basically be a reflection of all the populist zeal and a man wanting to replay his days campaigning for student body president. His City Council campaign kind of reflects this. He has even brought it up as a resume experience. But this isn’t stu- dent council!

What hasn’t been fully explained by Fu- rutani’s campaign are Warren’s roots in polit- ical activism, community organizing (before he ever ran for office) and his continued fight for social justice while in office. The recent “dust-up” he had on the Assembly floor with one of the freshman Tea Party Republicans was over the derogatory use of a slur related to, of all groups, Italian Americans. Furutani isn’t anywhere close to being Italian, but I am sure he has been on the receiving end of many racial slurs during his life as a Japanese American. He just wasn’t going to stand for some Teabagger ragging on an ethnic stereotype under the capital dome. Good for him! That’s the kind of person I want to represent me.

And it’s not that I think Buscai- no wouldn’t be fair or sympathetic. I just don’t think he’s had this kind of experience that will help him make the right choice.

For myself, one of the tell-tale issues that has come before the city recently is the issue of impounding of vehicles from drivers who are stopped without a valid drivers licenses or reg- istration. Currently there is a 30-day impound on these cars and has been called a discriminatory form of enforcement by both Mayor Antonio Vil- laraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief, Charlie Beck, who wants this impound reduced to 24 hours. The issue centers on the estimated $24 million that is collected each year by the Associa- tion of Official Police Garages (OPG), composed of 18 towing companies that provide their servic- es to the municipality. The city council has taken this under its control from the LAPD Chief and transferred it to Councilman Mitchell Englander, chair on the Public Safety Committee. His un- cle, Harvey Englander, runs the firm Englander, Knabe & Allen, which has been lobbying for the OPG since 2010 and also represents the Police Protective League.

The question for us is how would Buscaino vote on this issue, being the third former LAPD officer to sit on the council. Englander is a “re- serve officer” making him the fourth. Would he buck his former chief or would he bow to the lob- byists who have spent some $305,000 on cam- paigns? He is running on the public safety posi- tion, but his conflict of interest comes in when he has to weigh the public’s rights versus city reve- nues, his loyalty to the Police Protective League, nd the profits of the 18 contracted towing com- panies. Joe will undoubtedly be appointed to this subcommittee.

The progressive position would be to reduce these onerous fines because putting people back to work in Los Angeles means they must have a car. In the end, as this example underscores, I doubt and distrust populist campaigns and renew my endorsement for Warren Furutani as the real progressive candidate in this election.