The Next Election
I'll bet you thought it was all over. November 7th., the ballot measures, the political ads, the automatic calling machines, the pundits pontificating. Finally, you were probably thinking, there would be warm silence. But this year when the politicians poked their heads out of Sacramento and City Hall they saw the shadow of term limits, and that means six more months of campaigning.
What could be left to be voted on, you may ask. Why the non-partisan municipal election for the city of Los Angeles, when we shall chose, amongst other things, a new mayor. Are you ready for another election? Well, you'd better get ready. Because it's going to be messy.
There are, right now, sixteen announced candidates for mayor. Sixteen. Officially, that is a herd. It's a mob of politicians. It's a gaggle of talking heads. It's one more person than will probably vote. Two more candidates and they could play themselves in a baseball. And since the registration doesn't close until January 10th., a few more may yet join the crowd.
The job pays $153,000 a year and that kind of money always attracts people with ambition and no actual job skills. Of whom there are, evidently, at least sixteen in L.A.
And why, in God's name, didn't we take care of this on November 7th., along with everything else we voted for and against? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to have added the mayoral election to that ballot instead of holding a separate election that will attract maybe thirty percent of the voters?
The thinking amongst the moral elite who designed our city government is that politics in L.A. should be non-partisan, thus avoiding those nasty party influences like crony-ism, and party hacks, and graft and influence peddling; things unheard of in L.A. non-partisan politics.
The truth is non-partisan politics is like a virgin birth; the out come is the same but all the fun has been squeezed out the process. There is currently so much back scratching, back stabbing, and back door deal making going on in City Hall that our government resembles one of those shadow puppet plays.
All the action takes place behind the curtain.
Putting the participants in team uniforms couldn't add any graft. There's no room left for any more graft. But at least it would make it easier to track the players and keep score.
Besides, without a party machine behind him a mayor loses half of his power. He has no armies of faithful to focus on issues, and little punishment to inflict. And a council person standing up to a special interest at today's City Hall (it could happen!) is usually left standing alone.
Non-partisan L.A. politicians must depend upon lobbyists and bureaucrats for fund raising and power. But this shadow government has never been exposed to the direct will of the people. It has never been thrown out of office, so it never cleans house and it never champions reform. It is occasionally a force for justice, but it is never a force for change.
And with no party nominating process, we, the voters, are probably going to have to carve those 16 candidates down a couple of times before we actually choose a new mayor. That means April 10th. could be just the first of a couple of "extra" elections we get this year. Doesn't that sound fun?
The city council may not have a new face on their dart boards until mid-summer! Who are they going to hate in the meantime? Who are they going to blame for their own stupid mistakes? It's a quandary. And there is no good reason for it.
So as we gear up for the next election season I ask you to consider if it wouldn't be better if we didn't let the politicians get this mess organized. This is their field of expertise, isn't it?
Perhaps when The Valley succeeds in succession we might want to consider doing it right.
Kimit A.Muston is a writer living in North Hollywood. If you have comments about his column, he may be reached at inditer.com.
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