City Council forum held in Westwood

  EDWARD LIN Tom Hayden, candidate for Los
Angeles City Council, voices his views at a forum in Westwood
United Methodist Church Tuesday.

By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Contributor

As Fifth District City Councilman Mike Feuer leaves office this
June, the race to elect his successor manifested itself into a
brief “meet the candidates” forum at the Westwood
United Methodist Church Tuesday.

Westwood is one of 10 communities that constitute the Los
Angeles Fifth City Council District, with Van Nuys as the northern
and Cheviot Hills as the southern boundary.

If a candidate does not obtain more than 50 percent of the vote
on the April 10 election day, a runoff will be held between the two
leading candidates.

“The responsibilities of the elected councilperson are to
take care of the council districts and serve the residences and the
greater issues of the city,” said Sandy Brown, president of
the Westwood-Holmby Homeowner Association and organizer of the
forum.

Of the 11 candidates, 10 attended the forum ““ and two of
them are former UCLA professors.

Former political science and environmental professor turned
fourth-time city council candidate Laura Lake focused her five
minute speech on the revival of Westwood. She also mentioned the
importance of students becoming politically involved.

“Students don’t vote, which puts our country in
jeopardy,” she said.

Of the 141,775 registered voters in the Los Angeles Fifth City
Council District, 11,906 are between the ages of 18-24, according
to the Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association.

Former UCLA political public relations professor Jill Barad said
she wants to “get in the face of bureaucracy.”

Barad is the co-founder of the Open School, the first
community-initiated magnet school in the L.A. school district.

Former California State Senator Tom Hayden said he views
institutions of higher education as crucial to the improvement of
the city. He downplayed rumors that he was still running for state
congress.

“UCLA can be an immense resource for good, specifically
for turning the city into a safer and more cultured place, or an
untapped resource,” Hayden said.

Candidate Joe Connoly cited graffiti as the main source of crime
in Los Angeles.

“Graffiti is the first step in crime and the average age a
juvenile will commit a crime is age 8. If you can eliminate that
first step, then you stop them from committing crimes in the
future,” he said.

Connoly has earned the nickname “Graffiti Guerrilla”
due to his anti-vandalism antics. His trademark sign, near Pico and
Fairfax Ave. reads, “Graffiti No Longer Accepted Here! Please
Find a Day Job. Thank You.”

According to Daniel Hinerfeld, deputy to Feuer, one of the main
challenges the new councilmember will face is implementation of the
consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice concerning the
reform of the LAPD.

“(The decree) is going to create lots of challenges
including fiscal challenges due to cost, and pricing challenges.
There is a certain amount of maintenance that goes along with any
good and needed reform.”

Candidate Jack Weiss served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles where he focused on criminal
prosecutions involving corrupt public officials, civil rights
violations, white collar and violent crime. He said corruption is
just as potent as laziness when it comes to high ranking
officials.

“People feel crime returning. I will make sure to put the
right people in the right places,” he said.

A late entry to the race, Constantine Milonopolous, brought her
two high school-aged children to the podium. Her platform involves
bringing an end to gun violence and expanding education at the
elementary school level.

Promising “Nordstrom-quality service” to his
constituents, Nate Bernstein is a consumer protection attorney up
for election. His main goal is to increase openness and access to
government.

Former L.A. Deputy Mayor Steve Saltzman, who served from 1978 to
1982, is attempting to return to elected office by proposing
solutions to the decline of Westwood Village and traffic
congestion.

Candidate Victor Viereck seeks to use his accounting and real
estate experience to resolve the city’s rental housing and
redevelopment policies, which he believes are suffering due to
government policies.

Former journalist and TV anchor/producer Robyn Ritter Simon is
seeking the council position with the mantra “someone who has
brought change.”

Not in attendance was Kenneth R. Gerston, who wants to increase
police officers’ ability to respond to the needs of the
community.