While many give the candidates with the most money a big edge in elections, the hometown paper in the City Council District 2 race in the East San Fernando Valley came out Sunday for Tamar Galtzan and Pete Sanchez in the Sept. 22 special election."Wwe're hoping that voters put candidates Tamar Galatzan and Pete Sanchez into the runoff race. Both candidates are intelligent, articulate and have long years of political and community activism in the district and th...

An Open Letter to the Grassroots CandidatesIt pains me to see grassroots candidates either deliberately or inadvertently make remarks that hurt each other. A few of you have become embroiled in arguments that have helped no one but Krekorian and Essel. I realize when you are allotted only a few minutes to speak at a forum and receive almost no news coverage from the mainstream media, it is easy to vent your frustrations with unintended consequences. That&rsqu...

Kevin James announced that Paul Krekorian could not participate because he was on the floor of the Assembly where the final bills of the session were being considered.  Later in the program, Kevin stated he had heard that the session had actually ended prior to the start of the show.  However, he did not believe Krekorian was attempting to duck the broadcast. He did eventually reach the Assemblyman off the air. Other interview arrangements would be made f...

Maeve Reston in the LA Times and Rick Orlov in the Daily News wrap up the CD2 election campaign as voters prepare to go to the polls Tuesday to decide which two among the 10 candidates will make into the December runoff.Turnout is expected to be low with the majority of votes likely to be cast by mail.Reston finds "there is little admiration for the policymakers at City Hall" in the heavily-gerrymandered East San Fernando District and that the carpetbagger is...

The L.A Weekly poses the question, "Can an Activist Crack L.A. City Hall's Machine?"An interesting query as there are are seven such acvists running in the special election for the Council District 2 seat previously held by Wendy Greuel.While three of the ten candidates have both the monetary and political backing to be considered serious contenders for the September 22 vote, the grassroots and activist candidates have the advantage of running to represent ...

This was easily one of the best forums of the campaign.  My complements to Kevin James for intelligent questions and moving the discussion along.   After the customary introductions, Kevin’s first question concerned the city’s infrastructure in wake of fires and water main ruptures.  Everyone expressed disgust with the DWP for its neglect, but no one addressed the issue of allowing development in fire zones.  Peter Sanchez also ...