Posted on May\u00a022,\u00a02013<\/h4>\n\n<\/p>\nBy Bill Boyarsky<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles election Tuesday again revealed a city unlike most of the country\u2013more liberal, more deeply Democratic, yet also more interested in medical marijuana than the troubles of the poor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouthern California, an island on the land,\u201d is how Carey McWilliams<\/a>, the late historian and editor of The Nation, once described L.A. and the area around it. \u201cA region geographically attached, rather than functionally related, to the rest of America,\u201d McWilliams wrote in 1946 of the place he loved.<\/p>\nThe next politician who will try to preside over Los Angeles is the new mayor, Eric Garcetti<\/a>, 42, a city councilman who exemplifies all of L.A.\u2019s contradictions and clich\u00c3\u00a9s. <\/p>\nHe\u2019s a good-looking man, well turned out in a stylishly conservative way, a perfect fit for the trendy restaurants, clubs and galleries of the Hollywood-area district he represents. Ethnically, he\u2019s all but perfect for a city of great diversity. His father, former District Attorney Gil Garcetti, is Mexican-American and Italian. That heritage and his fluent Spanish helped the younger Garcetti win a significant number of Latino votes. His mother is Jewish. Garcetti, who attends synagogue services on the High Holidays and some Sabbaths, will be Los Angeles\u2019 first Jewish mayor. <\/p>\n
Garcetti defeated City Controller Wendy Greuel 181,995 votes to 155,497<\/a>, a small percentage of the nearly 2.5 million registered voters and of the 3.8 million people living in the city. The fact that he was elected by such a tiny part of L.A.\u2019s population shows how hard it will be to get residents to join him in attaining the goal he set<\/a> for himself on election night: \u201cLet\u2019s make this a great city again.\u201d<\/p>\nHis job will also be made difficult by the poisonous domination of money in the election. In that respect, Los Angeles isn\u2019t much different from the rest of the country. A record $32 million<\/a> was poured into the race, either money raised by the candidates or from \u201cindependent expenditure\u201d committees, L.A.\u2019s version of the super PACs legalized by the Supreme Court\u2019s Citizens United decision. In Los Angeles, civic engagement is in the hands of a few campaign contributors\u2013developers, other businesses that depend on City Hall for permits and subsidies, and the labor unions.<\/p>\nWalking\u2013or as is more common, driving\u2013around Los Angeles, it is easy to see the results of a city run by a government disconnected from its residents.<\/p>\n
What is striking is the number of medical marijuana shops, made possible by a state law legalizing the practice. These businesses have proliferated in L.A. because of the city\u2019s inability to find a way to regulate them. In Tuesday\u2019s election, voters approved a measure<\/a> limiting the number of pot shops to 135, a cap authorized in 2007 when the city placed a moratorium on them.<\/p>\nThat ordinance, however, was riddled with loopholes and exceptions, driven by the increasingly well-funded, savvy and generous political campaign contributors of the marijuana lobby. Although a UCLA study pegged the number of shops at 472, the city estimates there are currently more than 1,700<\/a>. With the marijuana industry having exerted influence in the courts and at City Hall, and now ready to shoot holes in the new law, it\u2019s hard to see how the number of shops will decrease.<\/p>\nWherever you go in the city, you see the dispensaries. Some are discreet, marked by a green cross, while others, such as those on the flamboyant Venice Beach boardwalk, have salespeople in front pitching potential customers in the manner of old-time carnival barkers. Even supporters of medical cannabis wonder whether anyone is in charge, other than the big marijuana political contributors and lobbyists. The logical question is what use is a city government if it can\u2019t control an industry free to foist all kinds of unregulated, untested pot on the public. <\/p>\n
And observant pedestrians and motorists alike are struck by another feature of Los Angeles: the number of homeless on the streets.<\/p>\n
By Bill Boyarsky<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles election Tuesday again revealed a city unlike most of the country\u2013more liberal, more deeply Democratic, yet also more interested in medical marijuana than the troubles of the poor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouthern California, an island on the land,\u201d is how Carey McWilliams<\/a>, the late historian and editor of The Nation, once described L.A. and the area around it. \u201cA region geographically attached, rather than functionally related, to the rest of America,\u201d McWilliams wrote in 1946 of the place he loved.<\/p>\n The next politician who will try to preside over Los Angeles is the new mayor, Eric Garcetti<\/a>, 42, a city councilman who exemplifies all of L.A.\u2019s contradictions and clich\u00c3\u00a9s. <\/p>\n He\u2019s a good-looking man, well turned out in a stylishly conservative way, a perfect fit for the trendy restaurants, clubs and galleries of the Hollywood-area district he represents. Ethnically, he\u2019s all but perfect for a city of great diversity. His father, former District Attorney Gil Garcetti, is Mexican-American and Italian. That heritage and his fluent Spanish helped the younger Garcetti win a significant number of Latino votes. His mother is Jewish. Garcetti, who attends synagogue services on the High Holidays and some Sabbaths, will be Los Angeles\u2019 first Jewish mayor. <\/p>\n Garcetti defeated City Controller Wendy Greuel 181,995 votes to 155,497<\/a>, a small percentage of the nearly 2.5 million registered voters and of the 3.8 million people living in the city. The fact that he was elected by such a tiny part of L.A.\u2019s population shows how hard it will be to get residents to join him in attaining the goal he set<\/a> for himself on election night: \u201cLet\u2019s make this a great city again.\u201d<\/p>\n His job will also be made difficult by the poisonous domination of money in the election. In that respect, Los Angeles isn\u2019t much different from the rest of the country. A record $32 million<\/a> was poured into the race, either money raised by the candidates or from \u201cindependent expenditure\u201d committees, L.A.\u2019s version of the super PACs legalized by the Supreme Court\u2019s Citizens United decision. In Los Angeles, civic engagement is in the hands of a few campaign contributors\u2013developers, other businesses that depend on City Hall for permits and subsidies, and the labor unions.<\/p>\n Walking\u2013or as is more common, driving\u2013around Los Angeles, it is easy to see the results of a city run by a government disconnected from its residents.<\/p>\n What is striking is the number of medical marijuana shops, made possible by a state law legalizing the practice. These businesses have proliferated in L.A. because of the city\u2019s inability to find a way to regulate them. In Tuesday\u2019s election, voters approved a measure<\/a> limiting the number of pot shops to 135, a cap authorized in 2007 when the city placed a moratorium on them.<\/p>\n That ordinance, however, was riddled with loopholes and exceptions, driven by the increasingly well-funded, savvy and generous political campaign contributors of the marijuana lobby. Although a UCLA study pegged the number of shops at 472, the city estimates there are currently more than 1,700<\/a>. With the marijuana industry having exerted influence in the courts and at City Hall, and now ready to shoot holes in the new law, it\u2019s hard to see how the number of shops will decrease.<\/p>\n Wherever you go in the city, you see the dispensaries. Some are discreet, marked by a green cross, while others, such as those on the flamboyant Venice Beach boardwalk, have salespeople in front pitching potential customers in the manner of old-time carnival barkers. Even supporters of medical cannabis wonder whether anyone is in charge, other than the big marijuana political contributors and lobbyists. The logical question is what use is a city government if it can\u2019t control an industry free to foist all kinds of unregulated, untested pot on the public. <\/p>\n And observant pedestrians and motorists alike are struck by another feature of Los Angeles: the number of homeless on the streets.<\/p>\n
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