Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Councilman Joe Buscaino won his first full term in office March 5 in a 60-plus point landslide against James T. Law, a candidate that also ran in the race to replace Janice Hahn who vacated the council office after winning Cong. Jane Harman’s seat. During his victory speech, the councilman reminded voters of his administration’s accomplishments in the short time he’s been in office, from Watts to San Pedro. Among the accomplishments was the groundbreaking of Watts first movie theater since the 1968 Rebellion, the building of a pocket park to break up the large concentration of sex offenders in Harbor Gateway, the building of sports fields in Wilmington to replace the dust bowls kids on sports teams had to practice in, the fixing of the Paseo del Mar slide area, and the progress being made in the development of the Waterfront.
Though Councilman Eric Garcetti got the edge against Councilwoman Wendy Greuel by finishing the primary with 32 percent to Greuel’s 29 percent, the two will meet again in the May 21 election to decide who will become mayor of Los Angeles. Councilwoman Jan Perry on the other hand was edged out of contention by radio personality Kevin James, the race’s lone Republican candidate, by less than a percentage point. Neither candidate posed a serious threat to the top two vote-getters.
Councilman Mike Feur will be heading into the runoff against City Attorney Carmen Trutanich on May 21, even though he beat the once popular San Pedro local by more than 10 points.
For Controller, Ron Galperin and Councilman Dennis Zine finished nearly tied at 37 percent with the two separated by a couple hundred votes. Galperin got the edge but the two will meet again to decide who’ll become the City Controller for the next four years.
Los Angeles residents voted down Proposition A by a 10 point margin. The measure would have increased the transactions and use tax by one-half percent in order to fund a variety of City services, including police and fire emergency services, senior services, gang and drug-prevention programs, pothole and sidewalk repair and others. Expenditures would have been reviewed by a citizen’s oversight and accountability committee, and subjected to independent audit.
Charter Amendment B, a proposal that would allow public safety officers under the Department of General Services to switch their retirement plans governed by the more generous Fire and Police Pension Plan if they transferred to the LAPD or the Los Angeles Fire Department, passed by a wide margin.
Los Angeles City Mayor
JAN PERRY 45,480 15.93%
ERIC GARCETTI 93,978 32.93%
WENDY J. GREUEL 83,308 29.19%
KEVIN JAMES 46,684 16.36%
Los City Attorney
CARMEN TRUTANICH 80,587 30.17%
NOEL WEISS 23,045 8.62%
MIKE FEUER 116,883 43.76%
GREG SMITH 46,578 17.43%
Council District 15
JAMES T. LAW 2,255 16.66%
JOE BUSCAINO 11,273 83.33%
PROPOSITION A – NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC SAFETY AND VITAL CITY SERVICES FUNDING AND ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURE.
YES 117,820 44.82%
NO 145,049 55.17%
CHARTER AMENDMENT B – FIRE AND POLICE PENSION PLANS; COST NEUTRAL PURCHASES OF RETIREMENT CREDIT BY CERTAIN MEMBERS.
YES 145,721 58.03%
NO 105,386 41.96%
Mayor Dear Re-elected, Councilwoman Raber Out
The measure that gave Carson residents a choice to decide if they want to return to rotating mayorship or not failed by 80 point margin March 5. Proponents argued the measure would bring balance back to the city council alter the council dynamics from they saw as a “dictatorship” under Mayor Jim Dear. If the measure had passed, the mayorship would have rotated every few years among the elected council persons.
Corresponding to the ballot measure, Mayor Jim Dear defeated Councilwoman Lula Davis Holmes in a 20 point landslide. Possibly helping Dear in the coming four years was the elevation of Water Board President Albert Robles to the City Council. He edged out Councilwoman Julie Ruiz Raber, leaving him and Councilman Mike Gipson as the two top vote-getters. Though the mayor backed Robles’ campaign, Robles has long standing relationship with Gipson going back 20 years, it is unclear how reliable a Dear vote he will be. However, there is one thing that is certain, the block of three that has frustrated Dear over the past year has ended for the time being.
Measure M
YES 1,628 16.84%
NO 8,042 83.16%
For Mayor: Term Ending March 2017
LULA DAVIS HOLMES 4,306 40.15%
JIM DEAR 6,419 59.85%
For Member of the City Council: Term Ending March 2017
STEPHEN C. ANYAKA 330 1.74%
TIMOTHY R MUCKEY 265 1.40%
JOSEPH GORDON 521 2.75%
MIKE A. GIPSON 5,536 29.22%
JULIE RUIZ-RABER 4,091 21.59%
ALBERT ROBLES 4,512 23.81%
CHARLOTTE BRIMMER 1,908 10.07%
RITA R. BOGGS 1,786 9.43%
All reported data was retrieved from the Carson and Los Angeles City Clerk’s offices.