May 6, 2013
Downtown News 7
Celebrating 40 Years
photos by Gary Leonard
Glasnost in the First District Big Spending and Bitter Accusations Make the Campaign To Replace Ed Reyes the Best Race No One Is Watching by Jon RegaRdie executive editoR
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n the election cycle that culminates on May 21, the mayor’s race between Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti has garnered the lion’s share of the headlines. The City Attorney slugfest between incumbent Carmen Trutanich and challenger Mike Feuer has gained attention for its unending vitriol. The Controller’s race between Dennis Zine and Ron Galperin has — OK, it hasn’t done much of anything, because almost no one in the city has any idea what L.A.’s official controller does. Those campaigns have overshadowed other important races, including the contest for the First District City Council seat being vacated by a termed-out Ed Reyes. The lack of attention is too bad, because the battle pitting Reyes’ chief of THE REGARDIE REPORT
staff Jose Gardea against Gil Cedillo, who spent much of the last 15 years in the state legislature, is full of intrigue, oddities, big money and nasty mailers. It is easily the best political race that almost no one is watching. It nearly ended March 5, when Cedillo notched 8,390 votes while Gardea pulled 7,392 ballots. Cedillo had 49.3% of the turnout, just under the majority needed to win outright. Instead, democracy dictates that the top two finishers advance to the runoff. Actually, democracy is the wrong word if you take into account an accusation that Cedillo leveled during a recent Downtown forum. When asked about low voter turnout and politicians establishing partnerships with nonprofits, Cedillo, as he sometimes does, ignored the question and spun in a completely unrelated direction. He hit the “change” theme, which plays well politically, then veered toward… wait for it… Cold War era-politicking. “City Hall is like the old Soviet Union,” Cedillo remarked. “It’s about protecting itself and there’s not going to be change from the inside.” The line is as fantastic as it is farfetched. Is Cedillo, who first won a State Assembly seat in 1998, comparing Reyes to old bloc leaders like Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev? Does he think Reyes is settled in the First District equivalent of Red Square building up a nuclear arsenal to hand over to Gardea. Even more interesting is what the comparison means for Cedillo himself. If he’s the change agent, then he’s probably a CD1 Mikhail Gorbachev, who introduced the openness concept of “glasnost,” which made him adored by the West and hated in the fading USSR (though there is little evidence he could become “Gorby II”). Maybe he’s salty Boris Yeltsin. Or perhaps Cedillo fancies himself a Los Angeles Vladimir Putin. The mind boggles. After the debate I asked Gardea about the remark. “You’ve just been compared to Soviet Russia,” I said. “Do you agree?” He responded with a bemused smile. “Nyet.” Smooth Orator Because I’m somewhat of a masochist, I do things like attend forums and press events where there are more people standing behind the podium holding signs than there are folks in front listening to the remarks. Such was the case last Thursday when I headed to a spot just west of Downtown to watch Cedillo and John Choi, a candidate for the 13th District seat, endorse each other and pledge to work together, assuming they both get elected. While completely artificial, the event revealed how polished a candidate Cedillo is. With his six years in the assembly and eight years in the State Senate, and plenty of time in the spotlight for propelling bills including the California Dream Act (which paved the way for undocumented students to apply for financial aid), his delivery is effortless and smooth. At the podium he’s in his element, smiling wide and speaking confidently. He connects with the crowd in a way that Gardea, whose manner is a mix of folksy and wonky, has yet to master. No doubt that approach, along with his Sacramento experience, have helped Cedillo curry favor with those who, depending on your point of view, are either grassroots supporters or dastardly outside special interests. According to documents filed with the City Ethics Commission, Cedillo has benefitted from more than $500,000 spent on his behalf through independent groups. Entities including the disparate political arms of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the union representing DWP employees have dropped huge cash on mailers and other support. Gardea, by contrast, has seen $26,000 directed his way through unaffiliated interests. The mailers on both sides have been frequent and forceful — Team Cedillo regularly labels Gardea a “failure,” and the Gardea
camp ravages Cedillo for going on international junkets. Then there are the veteran politicos’ respective efforts to cast themselves as agents of change. “If you want change, then you have to elect somebody different,” Cedillo said at an April forum. “You have candidates who come from Sacramento and who have a culture of collaborating and meeting incredible challenges.” When I can pull together a dozen people who think that Sacramento pols generally meet incredible challenges, I’ll see Election, page 8
Last week (left) Jose Gardea appeared with councilman and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, who has endorsed him. (right) Gil Cedillo and John Choi endorsed each other.
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