Cover Stories Wesson ‘Three-peats’ as L.A. City Council President
In a history-making move, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously reelected Councilmember Herb Wesson to a third term as council president on July 1.
“I am humbled by the faith my colleagues have put in me to quarterback the City Council in our shared goal of enacting bold public policy,” said Wesson. “This is a “can-do” council and together we can do and will do big things.”
As the first African-American council president in city history, Wesson added to his own legacy by appointing Councilmember Nury Martinez as assistant president pro tempore, the first Latina to ever hold the position.
“We have too few women serving in local elected office and it is my intention to elevate female leaders like Councilmember Martinez into leadership roles,” said Wesson, who also reappointed Councilmember Mitchell Englander as President Pro Tempore. Englander and Martinez will share parliamentary duties and responsibilities in Wesson’s absence.
According to City Hall observers, Wesson has performed effectively as council president where he presides over L.A. City Council meetings, sets committee assignments and serves as the city’s chief executive in the Mayor’s absence.
Wesson plans to continue his record of effectiveness by implementing a bold agenda over the next year.
In his acceptance speech, he said that in addition to addressing everyday issues affecting Angelenos, he will prioritize a citywide plan to create jobs and recruit and retain businesses, identify new permanent revenue streams for financing city services including pothole filling, sidewalk repair and tree trimming, and devote more resources to finding workable solutions for addressing homelessness.
Also, Wesson will place an emphasis on combating the statewide drought ensuring local residents conserve and recycle water wherever possible and receive the city’s fair share of water resources.
Speaking specifically about South Los Angeles, Wesson’s spokesperson, Vanessa Rodriguez, said, “Over the next several years, the Council President will be about job creation and business recruitment. Anytime the Council President puts an emphasis on creating more jobs, it will have an impact on traditionally underserved communities like South Los Angeles. When we have more jobs and businesses coming here, there is more opportunity for local residents to get those jobs.
“In one his first actions, he created a committee to that will deal specifically in putting together a comprehensive jobs plan and he’s appointed Councilmember Paul Krekorian to oversee this committee and the Council President will serve as vice-chair.
“It’s a signal that he is serious about creating jobs in this city. One of the first tasks of the committee is to review the resources we have available and determine if we are using those resources to the highest effectiveness,” she said.
Also, Rodriguez invited the public to share their insights with Wesson. “He wants to hear from his constituents and as Council President, the entire city, so we welcome conversations from the community about what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. He wants to hear from the public about what we can do to make the city more livable.”
Mark Ridley-Thomas Elected Chairman of MTA Board
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas takes the wheel of Metro’s Multi-Billion Dollar Transportation System
Danny J. Bakewell, Jr.
Executive Editor
While several elected officials were being sworn in July 1, one of the most notable and most powerful leadership roles changed hands with very little fanfare, no grand ceremony but the change was historic just the same.
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas the first African American Male to ever Chair the powerful County Board of Supervisors is now the chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Ridley Thomas in an interview in Metro’s internal magazine stated, “I have a triple bottom line, put people to work, green the environment and get people where they need to go efficiently”.
The MTA is working on projects all over Los Angeles County, the expanding Gold Line in Pasadena, The Culver City Line which will ultimately bring passengers all the way to the beach is in full swing. But, no rail line is as critical as the Crenshaw Line to the African American Community. The Crenshaw Line economically represents over 3billion dollars being spent right here in the heart of the African American Community. Supervisor Ridley-Thomas understands this and has worked diligently to insure that African Americans and all members of the South Los Angeles Community participate in this economic investment.
“We have passed legislation to insure that local citizens are the first ones given the opportunity to work and contract on the line. This is not lip service this is law” stated the supervisor. Ridley-Thomas who resides in the heart of community is no stranger to the challenges that construction on the line have presented to the community and he has worked diligently with Walsh-Shea (the contractor on the project) to insure that residents, businesses and visitors to the Crenshaw Community remain involved and informed about what’s going on and what is happening along the Crenshaw Line.
Ridley-Thomas is quick to credit his political predecessors like the Late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and the Late Congressman Julian Dixon with having the vison, the tenacity and the determination over 30 years ago to see Los Angeles as a major public transportation city back during a time when no one else believed it could be done. These two men on both a local and federal level were the driving force behind securing funding to create the transportation system we are seeing today stated Ridley-Thomas.
Metros budget is now $5.5 Billion almost doubling what it was just five years ago. Ridley-Thomas says “it means investment will change the landscape of Los Angeles County.”