Election winners and losers: Bratton, sea lions, police union and more

If anyone lost big last night in L.A.’s local elections, it was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who risked his considerable clout to get Councilman Jack Weiss elected as city attorney – only to see former prosecutor Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich win instead. But who were the others whose fortunes rose and fell because of the whims of the electorate? Check out Times city hall reporter David Zahniser's Winners and Losers list:

^WINNERS

 

The LAPD’s police union: The Los Angeles Police Protective League spent nearly $746,000 on behalf of former prosecutor Trutanich, who defeated Weiss in a runoff election. Even more significant: In a race that was notably nasty, the police union’s ads were by and large positive.

Parke Skelton: This political consultant saw client Judy Chu, a member of the Board of Equalization, come in first in the race for the 32nd Congressional District in the San Gabriel Valley. And in the race for a Los Angeles City Council seat on the Westside, Skelton client Paul Koretz, a former Assemblyman, pulled narrowly ahead of his opponent, neighborhood council member David T. Vahedi. They’re separated by only 335 votes, but Koretz looks strong.

Councilman Dennis Zine: While most of his colleagues either stuck with Weiss or stayed quiet, this San Fernando Valley councilman came out early and often for Trutanich, regularly going on talk radio to stump for his candidate. On election night, Zine predicted that other council members would eventually fall in line behind Trutanich -- once all of the results were in, of course.

LOSERS

 

Police Chief William Bratton: Already under fire this year for endorsing so many political candidates and causes, the LAPD chief has another problem: His candidates aren’t winning. Weiss lost his bid for city attorney, despite TV ads featuring Bratton. State Senator Gil Cedillo, backed by Bratton, fell short in his bid for Congress. And two months ago, Proposition E, a proposal making it easier for L.A. businesses to get taxpayer subsidies, went down to defeat Those three losses come at a time when council members are unhappy with Bratton’s tough talk on the city budget.

Developer Michael Rosenfeld: Who’s he, you might ask? The man who wants to raze the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City and replace it with two 50-story towers, that’s who! The only thing is, Rosenfeld announced his plan in the middle of a political campaign, immediately prompting both candidates for Los Angeles City Council to denounce it. Koretz went the extra mile, sending a letter to voters promising to do everything within his power to stop the demolition of the Space Age-era hotel.

Sea lions: There were plenty of TV ads featuring these cute little suckers in the final days of the campaign, with backers of Weiss pointing out that Trutanich, a defense attorney, had represented a man who admitted to shooting at sea lions. One mailer even featured the adorable creatures behind a bull's-eye! Still, the ads weren’t quite the ace in the hole that Weiss’ supporters hoped for. And L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca argued that it’s unreasonable to equate a defense lawyer with the crimes of his client.

-- David Zahniser

Upper top photo: An LAPD officer on patrol. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Upper bottom photo: Dennis Zine. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Lower left photo: A sea lion. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Lower right photo: William Bratton. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Ed Greenberg]

I agree with Sheriff Baca. It's not acceptable to tar the lawyer with his client's (alleged) offences. Everybody is supposed to be entitled to quality representation.

I found the Weiss hit pieces to be offensive -- a major reason I voted against him.

[Henry Jennings]

You forgot to mention a couple of other winners, John and Ken of local KFI640 radio, who spearheaded the fight against the initiatives.

[JUAN]

I hope one day I see the latimes building converted in a prison for illegals and corrupted politicians. "I have a dream"

[Phred]

Another loser: ethics. According to the May 15 filings with the Ethics Commission, Jack Weiss has still not returned the money he collected in the illegal April 27 fundraiser hosted by Kelly Candaele.

[Janet]

Please I'm glad Los Angeles has a police chief who speaks his mind. Since when are we all gutless morons who have to get the approval of a bunch of ignorant council members who cry if you say BOO to them like Rosendahl, Parks, Zine, Smith. Bratton is world reknown and has a list of accomplishments turning around police departments. He's a tax paying resident that is entitled to his own opinion whether we like them or not. I can only imagine the shape of LAPD without him and unfortunately, this city will never ever see a chief with his leadership.

[jill]

Weiss himself always made clear in interviews that he objected to Trutanich saying he did one thing (prosecutor, environmental law) which he hadn't done in decades, while in fact doing something else (criminal law, where he just happened to go against the city and the laws he'd have to enforce). One of the commercials which seemed to blur that distinction gave rise to the misunderstanding Weiss somehow objected to criminal law in general, which is beyond ridiculous.

He's a good man and nice person and never deserved the vitriol he got from a small group which then infected Trutanich's campaign like a cancer. These same people were the core of his support and with a 17% voter turnout, they and the anti-tax people just happened to skew the vote. Too bad the "silent majority' remained just that. Most people in CD5 especially the Jewish Community really support Weiss, but unless they voted absentee it was just too much trouble for most people to go and vote. (Same with March when opposition to all of City Council's Measure B drew out a certain type of voter, while others sat it out.)
And then there was a problem with voting places being moved all the way up to Mulholland Drive to the Bel Air Presbyterian Church.

It's bad luck for our city because Weiss really was the mainstream choice and a nice man. I hope he runs again but whatever he does will be a major contribution to the life of this city. Shame on Dennis Zine for gloating so nastily today in Council -- Weiss is and always will be the far classier man. Bratton did make the right choice.

[Kevin]

Jack Weiss' ads were so sleazy and misleading. Until then, I kind of gave Mayor Villaraigosa the benefit of the doubt. After seeing his support for Weiss, given Weiss' sleazy campaign, I just can't trust him anymore.

[alex]

Winner: John and Ken

Loser: LA Times

Whether you like them or not, John and Ken clearly stated their postiion and was able to mobilize their listeners against these propositions.

The LA Times editorial board clearly spends too much time chatting with and trying to please the insider political establishment of Los Angeles and has become totally out of touch with its own readership.

[EB]

California has a long, long history of demanding Cadillac services but refusing to pay more than Yugo prices. The tax propositions were in no way going to pass, whether or not highly paid (read very, very wealthy) shock jocks like "John and Ken" mentioned it.

The big losers; like in every election, are voters. We use the proposition system to legislate instead of having the people we elect do it. This leads to never-ending props that tie hands, raise taxes and fees, and sectionalize the budget. As a result we've ruined the State. End the prop system, make the electeds do their jobs instead of sloughing it off to the voters, and we'll see progress without unreasonable tax increases.

[Daniel Moss]

Jack Weiss lost mostly because he did not connect with the voters who count; the ones that show up and vote. Most of Weiss's support came from wealthy people who either don't live in the city, or are too busy to vote. The real voters did not connect with Weiss.

[rb]

WINNERS CALIF TAX PAYERS losers la times editors and legislators

[margaret]

Right-wing anti-Weiss/ Antonio/ Garcetti/ City Hall in general blogs like RonKaye have commenters gloating that this paper's David Zahniser helped by "writing at least 6 hit pieces on Weiss." That is true but it's a disgrace to this paper. It's very true that the bias against Weiss and FOR Trutanich was unbelievable.

The OP ED section was the same -- attacking Weiss for his alleged negative ads in features on behalf of Trutanich, yet not doing the other side. When any remotely objective observer sees that Trutanich started out nastier than Karl Rove could imagine and went downhill from there. But that was OK because "Weiss is an incunbent who deserves it" by some twisted logic.

It's definitely like this paper's city AND editorial sections have become a lobbying agent for owner Fox News. Shockingly so. If you don't believe me, look at the anti-Weiss blogs and rightwing commenters which lionize Zahniser. (Who has ANOTHER piece today with quotes from "critics" selected from among his handful of most vocal long-time enemies ONLY.) What a disgraceful lack of balance in this paper.

[jef costello]

Liberalism run amok!!! You deserve what you get California, corrupt unions and failed government. More to come, I will be long gone by then, leaving this third world cesspool.

[DA in LA]

There are no winners in an election with such a terrible turnout. Democracy is the only loser.

[Laurie]

I'm a filmmaker and political junkie. The Trutanich commercials were, by far, more interesting and dramatic. Weiss's ads were cliche and lacked any continuity. Trutanich's ads were simply more innovative and memorable. The ad I saw right before the election featuring the African American cop telling the story about he and Trutanich under attack by gangs in a park was chilling and emotional. Even the commercials for the Propositions were horrible. Trutanich stood out from the field of commercial mediocrity at a time when most people weren't really paying that much attention.

[Phred]

Jack Weiss could have won this election. But he started losing it several years ago. Look at the document that was served on him as notice of the recall campaign against him:

"CD5 cannot be properly represented by someone who routinely displays a condescending attitude toward colleagues and members of the community. A council member who walks out of homeowner meetings, ignores requests for information from community leaders, and refuses to justify decisions to voters is unacceptable."

If you had been told this about yourself, you probably would have asked yourself first, is this true? And if not true, why do they have that PERCEPTION? That is called 'humility'. Had Jack been willing and able to do what it takes to change that PERCEPTION, Trutanich would never have entered the race, and Jack would be City Attorney today.

Instead, Jack just dismissed his critics as a "small minority of disgruntled constituents." And the PERCEPTION remained. And the PERCEPTION grew. Among his constituents. Among his colleagues in City Council. Among the press. Among many City employees. Probably even among some of his own staff, who had to deal every day with the consequences.

Yes, Jack Weiss is a good man. Yes, he's certainly smart. But the archetype that keeps popping into my mind when I think of Jack, is Anakin Skywalker, who started out as the golden boy with so much promise. But somewhere, somehow, he ended up on the Dark Side.

What a waste.