Tonight we must make a difficult choice between two respected leaders. AAA-Fund Southern California endorses Christine Essel for Los Angeles City Council.

We’ll go to the mat to help Chris Essel win on Dec. 8.

Essel seeks to replace now-Controller Wendy Greuel, who used to represent a sprawling swath of the San Fernando Valley (Council District 2). The dynamic Greuel has thrown her support squarely behind Essel.

Both finalists for the job bring solid experience and credentials. Essel, a prominent civic and community leader, most recently served as a top executive at Paramount Pictures. Paul Krekorian, a respected State Assemblymember, previously practiced business litigation and intellectual property law.

To their credit, both Essel and Krekorian support two reforms dear to our heart. First, they support Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which will strengthen our democracy, save millions of taxpayer dollars, and empower Asian Americans and the community-at-large.

In fact, if LA were using IRV, this runoff election wouldn’t even have been necessary. Instead, voters would have elected a majority winner last September — and saved taxpayers over $1 million.

What’s more, both candidates join Carmen Trutanich in opposing racial and ethnic gerrymandering. Even though they make up one-seventh of the city, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) hardly get any political respect in the City of Angeles (much less from Attorney General candidates Pedro Nava or Alberto Torrico). As we noted earlier:

After all, no AAPI has been elected to the LA City Council since 1989 – in part because of gerrymandering. In 2001, LA’s Koreatown was balkanized into four City Council districts. As a result, thousands of Koreatown’s Latinos, AAPIs (mostly Korean Americans and Bangladeshi Americans), African Americans, and Anglos were politically marginalized.

We are keenly aware that history could be made in this election. If he wins, Paul Krekorian would become the first Armenian American to serve in the LA City Council. But if Essel doesn’t win, only two women would remain on the City Council — yielding a male-to-female ratio of 13 to 2.

This cruel zero-sum game provides a compelling argument for enlarging the Council. Indeed, if NYC’s population were chopped in half to match LA’s 4 million residents, Gotham City would have at least 25 Councilmembers — almost double the current size of LA’s City Council (15 members).

Ultimately, our decision boiled down to one question: which candidate has shown (s)he can lead LA through one of the worst economic crises in its history? On that score Chris Essel stands out.

First, Essel brings three decades of business and civic experience to the job. Until recently, she was Vice President at Paramount Pictures. With LA facing the grim prospect of up to a $1 billion budget deficit next year, Essel’s business acumen would be welcome in City Hall.

What’s more, Essel has forged a broad, business-labor coalition that will enable her to build a consensus when the City must make tough decisions. Her supporters include the Los Angeles Times, LA City Controller Wendy Greuel, LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, seven LA Councilmembers, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 18), and many others.

While Krekorian offers impressive legislative experience, Essel is no stranger to government. For decades, she has served on a number of city and state boards and commissions, most recently as Los Angeles World Airports Commissioner. She’s also served as Chair of the California Film commission, where she was the top Sacramento representative for LA’s entertainment industry.

This raises one final factor that clinched our tough call. If Essel wins, she has promised to serve out her term. But if Krekorian wins, voters will be asked to vote again, in yet another special election to fill his current State Assembly seat (43rd District). The cost of that “special” election? Up to $5 million in taxpayer dollars, during a vicious economic downturn. Moreover, Krekorian’s current constituents would be deprived of representation in Sacramento for half a year (the time it usually takes to fill vacancies).

Chris Essel brings the right blend of judgment, experience and business savvy to steer LA through turbulent waters. We look forward to working with her in the days ahead — and starting next year, in LA City Hall.

On Dec. 8, vote Christine Essel for Los Angeles City Council (2nd District).

– Gautam Dutta

Posted by gautam on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 11:55 pm.