Yaroslavsky endorses Koretz in City Council race

In the race for a Westside seat on the Los Angeles City Council, former Assemblyman Paul Koretz announced today that he has picked up the endorsement of County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who held the seat for roughly two decades.

Yaroslavsky offered praise for Koretz, who briefly worked for him as a council aide in 1975 – his first year in office –and later spent 12 years on the West Hollywood City Council. “He has the courage to take on issues that most other people will not take on,” Yaroslavsky said.

Koretz is running against neighborhood council leader David T. Vahedi in the May 19 runoff election. He has already received the endorsement of former Councilman Mike Feuer, who succeeded Yaroslavsky and stepped down in 2001.

-- David Zahniser

Comments

[Dan]

Sad....I used to respect Yaroslavsky, but he's just another politician playing the politicians' games.

Vahedi would make a great Councilmember, and Koretz is a special interest politician...I guess that tells us what Zev is all about.

Or maybe he's supporting Koretz because he's Jewish.

Well, Weiss is Jewish, and we've suffered for eight years with him as our Councilmember.

I'm Jewish, but I don't care about the candidate's religion...I care about their record, their votes, and who's contributing to them.

Koretz had an opportunity to stand up to developers when he was in Sacramento. He should have voted against SB 1818, which gave density bonuses and incentives (like additional height and FAR) to developers, under the guise of affordable housing. In fact, it reduces affordable housing, and has destroyed the character and scale of our neighborhoods. Instead, he abstained, and now he claims that he will fight developers for us...don't believe the hype !

Go to the City Ethics website, and check who Koretz has taken money from, and then compare it to Vahedi...Vahedi has turned down so much money, so he won't owe anybody any favors when he's in office, and so that he can represent our interests, not special interests.

Let's hope that on election day we'll get somebody who will rock the boat at City Hall, not a career politician like Koretz who moved into our neighborhood for another paycheck.

If you want real change, you'll vote for Vahedi.

If you want this City to continue being flushed down the toilet, you'll vote for Koretz.

[Jason]

Dan,

You obviously don't know much about SB 1818. It passed both the Assembly and Senate with only 4 votes against it. Koretz abstaining says something more about the man than his voting for it (there were 68 yays in the Assembly). That means that there was wide consensus that it was a good bill. It was only after its implementation that SB 1818 was found to have negative aspects.

And let's see the Ethics website for all donations under $100. Rumors are that Vahedi is asking developers to give him donations under the reporting limit.

As for Koretz moving into the city...those charges can be made but since he was born and grew up and represented the district before, I have a feeling he cares more about its residents than Vahedi does.

And please....talking about change at City Hall is just plain idiotic. I'd rather have someone who has experience at getting city work done than someone who is opposed to doing anything. We need someone who has a vision for West L.A., not a NIMBY.

[John]

Looks like all the insider politicians and political organizations are siding behind the insider politician in this race. I dont think its religious at all. I think its straight money.

I went to the ethics website and wow.

Now I got a mailer from Koretz accusing Vahedi of being a Republican and then later another accusing him of being a Muslim. Looks like Koretz took one out of the Sarah Palin playbook.

Just another politician doing what politicians do. My vote is for Vahedi, and I urge everybody else to also.