Articles covering Assemblyman Paul Krekorian’s win in the LA City Council District 2 election were under the Sunroom Desk paperweight last week.
The Glendale angle, covered in the News-Press, led with the expectation that another contentious special election will follow.
LAist called the victory a landslide, while Walter Moore in City Watch lamented the low turnout.
Neighborhood councils’ success in marshaling support for Krekorian was called a sign of life in this City Watch commentary, as voters didn’t succumb to a barrage of last-minute, special-interest campaign mailers.
His opponent’s campaign became notorious for outsize donations and outrageous campaign mailers funded by IBEW, the union representing LA Department of Water and Power workers, just as an upcoming city council vote to raise DWP wages heightened citizen anger. Another City Watch commentary called for existing LA Council members to show some leadership and say no to the DWP.
As LA Weekly and KPCC reported, the council unanimously approved the raises, at a time when other city workers are seeing wages and hours cut.
In Riding the Public Gravy Train, Steve Lopez of the LA Times devotes a long column to the politics of the council’s expected vote. Later in the week, Lopez featured a $100,000 secretarial job at the DWP.
LA Now quoted neighborhood advocate Jack Humphreville –
…a DWP critic who said it was unfair for the utility’s employees to get raises when others civilian workers face such sacrifices.
“Our city workers are getting sliced and diced,” Humphreville said.
Humphreville led last week’s neighborhood council meeting criticizing rising DWP rates.