Los Angeles Mayors Race

May 21 2013

Low voter turnout expected

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — After two years of hearing pitches from the two mayoral candidates left standing, Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel, Los Angeles voters will finally decide today who will succeed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

But despite a multitude of debates and public appearances, the record amount of money spent on mailers and television, radio and other ads to woo voters, election turnout could prove stubbornly low.

May 2 2013

Garcetti campaign denies involvement

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The publisher of a southeast Los Angeles weekly newspaper filed two complaints today accusing City Controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel of misusing city resources for campaign purposes.

Brian Hews of Los Cerritos Community Newspaper submitted letters to the District Attorney’s Office and the city Ethics Commission, requesting investigations into Greuel’s city emails that he claims have been used to further her mayoral campaign.

Apr 22 2013

Calls for take back of employee pay raises

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today released his final budget proposal before leaving office, in which he called for solving the city’s projected budget deficit by rescinding scheduled employee pay raises and requiring them to pay 10 percent of their health
premium contributions.

The idea of employees paying more into their healthcare benefits “is not a radical notion,” but rather a “sustainable notion,” Villaraigosa said in outlining his proposed 2013-14 budget.

Apr 18 2013

Visible involvement with the Black community

Mayor Tom Bradley has a good name in the city of Los Angeles, as well as in the Black community, and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel has undoubtedly gained traction by using it.

In an interview with Our Weekly, published June 28, 2012, she spoke of receiving the Tom Bradley youth leadership award when she was a 17-year-old student at John Kennedy High in Granada Hills. That led to her serving on Bradley’s youth council for two years and an internship in his administration while a student at UCLA. After that, she worked on his staff for 10 years.

Apr 12 2013

After the minority vote

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel faced off tonight in their first debate of the mayoral runoff campaign, with each seeking to take unique stances on topics ranging from improving the quality of education to fixing city streets.

The pair butted heads a few times during the debate at American Jewish University in Bel Air and broadcast live by KABC-TV Channel 7, but in the end each echoed the other on most issues.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”