The blog, DOWNTOWN NEWS, supports REYES since he's getting money spent there for projects. I disagree with many of their conclusions, noting that much of the support mentions REYES increasing parklands as a valuable city resource- but then WHAT about so many open spaces being taken away by CONTINUED CONSTRUCTION, slowed only by the present downturn in the economy? Otherwise, MORE buildings would sprout up like weeds, and YOUR open spaces vanish. THAT'S the irony- he gets credit for parks and he's one of the ones helping wipe out open spaces, making more CROWDED city life, and STILL CRIME cannot be handled properly.
From the DOWNTOWN NEWS endorsement:
Reyes' only foe on the March 3 ballot is community activist Jesse Rosas, but Rosas has done little outreach and has failed to adequately inform the district about his platform. We would prefer, for the sake of democracy, that there was stronger opposition.
http://ladowntownnews.com/articles/2009/02/16/news/opinion/02-16-09-edit01.txt
To me, all it says is Reyes gets the vote because there's no one equally strong. They could say, "Not really much, but he's all we have." But that's not there since Ed's winning, and they have to live with him- and don't want him angry. This is what I mean when I say "THEY are supposed to serve the PUBLIC, and not have the PUBLIC SERVE THEM."
Money in campaign war chests can make lots of difference- Tony has almost $3 million in his- and Rosas' candidacy is all but ignored by REYES- still you should expect REYES to earn his votes by meeting voters and with ROSAS and both tell why Ed is or is not doing his job.
Reyes is into development and not all is as it first appears. The park recreation area built on the old train yard (next to the LAUSD'S high school number-whatever's construction site on San Fernando Road) was widely praised, but a feature included was a "burm", a built up piece of land, to block possible drive-by shooting from the street. A nice safety measure, but REYES still is not DEALING with WHY such measures are needed for safety instead of solving that problem.
It's really a signal that REYES ACCEPTS the conditions of the city life as they are. REYES and his political life will continue without ever seriously taking steps to make the CITY safer, short of giving out body armor to the residents.
For that and many more reasons- as matter of protest- a vote against Ed will tell him that people DO pay attention to him, and HE should pay attention to THEM and improve THEIR living conditions, not HIS OWN and his special interest supporters' financial gain that increased and densified development brings. The L.A. River is an area for his pet projects, but it would be nice if as much atttention was paid to SAFETY.
AND ForYourInformation: ED is on the "Public Safety Committee" and the "Planning and Land Use Committee" so he SHOULD be doing more for the constituents, instead of for the developers and their plans.
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