POLITICS--Councilmember David Ryu’s swearing in one hundred days ago, was the payoff for a well-earned victory, fought by a hard-working, door-knocking, promise-making political newcomer and City Hall outsider. Now, he has asked us to consider his accomplishments in his first 100 days in office and he’s published a “report card” to help guide us to what he considers those accomplishments to be.
The councilmember recently repeated his swearing in ceremony at the LA City Hall in Van Nuys in front of a Valley crowd that may have clinched his win in Sherman Oaks. This was a hotly contested battlefield that helped get him where he is and will be for his 2,007 days in office.
One hundred days may seem like a minimal tick of the clock but, ever since JFK famously issued a report of his first hundred days as President, that metric has been one that is looked at to measure a newly installed politician’s progress.
The first 100 days report card concept may have actually been created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He allegedly coined the phrase “100 days in politics,” according to CBS News, but it was the charismatic JFK who caught the attention of the nation when he presented himself as, again quoting CBS News, “an example of how to hit the ground running and show the voters that a new guy is in charge and change is happening.”
Not a bad example of “vigor” to follow for any politician, especially if he or she has something to say that resonates with voters, reassuring them that they made the right choice and giving hope to non-supporters that all is not lost.
In Council District 4, expectations were high for a number of constituencies. From the Miracle Mile to Hollywood, Hancock Park and Los Feliz, and over the hill to Sherman Oaks and Toluca Lake, residents needed a new leader for their district that encompasses 40 square miles -- approximately the size of San Francisco.
Ryu’s self-issued hundred day report card, notional in nature and offering a glimpse into how he inventories his interests and intentions, was passed out to constituents at the second swearing in.
If his promises are not broken and his dreams not diluted -- if he can sustain his goal to challenge the insular “go along to get along” City Hall culture -- the District and the City may benefit. He pledged a lot coming in the door. He’s here now, so…what has he done?
Leading his list of achievements is the creating of a “ministry of elders,” stressing the importance of input from neighborhoods and communities. The “Community Discretionary Funds Task Force,” composed of nine leaders from neighborhood councils, homeowner groups, and associations throughout the district, will help him decide how to spend $1.2 million in annual discretionary funds.
These proven volunteer leaders are well positioned in key CD4 neighborhoods. They are already in service to their communities and will be able to offer input to the councilmember on many issues. If he will allow them to weigh in beyond funding issues and if he accepts their mentoring capabilities, Ryu will have, at no cost, expanded the size of his staff by nine.
His colleagues around the council chamber horseshoe should note what David Ryu has done. He has set up a template for the formal and organized inclusion of stakeholders in the decision-making process, giving his constituents an influential voice in how discretionary funds are spent in the district. His colleagues might consider following that lead.
This level of stakeholder inclusion is an admirable move toward outreach, community building, and encouraging local input – all the life blood of support every politician needs. He must keep in mind, though, that there is always the temptation for some funds to be earmarked by panelists for their own special interests…everybody has an agenda. During Councilmember Ryu’s term in office, there will be a total of about $6.6 million in discretionary funds that must be spent impartially.
The nine members of this task force are: Owen Smith, president of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council; Bob Anderson, board member of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association; Ron Ziff, first vice president of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council; Richard Bogy, vice president of the Toluca Lake Homeowners Association; Anastasia Mann, president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council; Chris Laib, co-president of the Los Feliz Improvement Association and a board member of Friends of the Griffith Observatory; Cindy Chvatal, president of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association; Krista Michaels, president of the Cahuenga Pass Property Owners Association; and Lucy Gonzalez, of the Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Association.
What else has kept Councilmember Ryu busy the past 100 days? His handout states that he has “introduced,” “fought for,” “proposed,” “pushed for,” and “scheduled” a number of items -- from interim control ordinances to protect against mansionization, to changes in the 2024 Olympics agreement, transit funding in the valley, and a Greek Theater report.
These are all good action verbs, but they are not votes or motions before the City Council that would result in votes.
Also listed was his scheduling of a joint meeting between two council committees to address mental health issues facing homeless people, the closest direct action David Ryu has taken to respond to the homeless crisis gripping almost every neighborhood in our city. Solving this issue deserves the highest priority and the City Council needs to work closely with our County Supervisors and the LA County Department of Public Health.
The plight of homeless people, especially the mentally ill, is a singular issue that Councilmember Ryu has the experience to help solve. He came to City Hall with a background as a mental health service provider and he touts his knowledge of chronic homelessness. This is an issue that he could own outright, establishing himself as an expert that produces deliverables for homeless people in need.
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There was no word in his wrap-up report as to whether or not the joint meeting he scheduled actually took place; also no word of what was on the agenda or the results of the meeting. It would be disappointing if that was only a press release.
Councilmember Ryu did note in his review that he cast two votes in his first 100 days, responding to motions by others. One was to ban the use of smokeless tobacco at all city sports venues, and the other was to ban possession of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Both motions were passed unanimously by his council colleagues. Surely there were other votes, but possibly these two relating to public health and safety were the ones he was most proud of.
The legislative part of the lawmaker’s job -- authoring motions – is an important leadership component of his position. Making motions, casting votes, winning votes…that’s what shows us that “change is happening.”
Councilmember Ryu has made what appears to be a decent start, given the challenges he has faced: the size, diversity and demands of his district, as well as navigating the steep learning curve of a newly-minted politico. Now he has nine new volunteer advisors available to help -- just as the traditional political honeymoon grace period comes to an end.
So what else could Ryu do?
- Upgrade his public relations program. A weekly newsletter would be a good start as he waits for a website to be created and published. The shell at www.cd4.lacity.org is limited at this time to only the names of his staffers and the location of his offices.
- Call for public hearings about how the recently announced $100 million to help the homeless will be spent. Use these hearings to get feedback from street-level service providers and homeless people themselves. Break the old mold that saw City Hall unilaterally making all those spending decisions. No record of achievement by the Spring Street collective has emerged on the issue of homelessness.
- Show some empathy: tell the public, with conviction, why he turned down a cost of living raise. When asked by the Los Angeles Daily News why he refused the salary increase for elected officials announced in August, he “declined to comment,” telling the reporter he would “prefer to get press for “real solid issues, not small things like that.” This comment sounds like he doesn’t understand the struggles many in our city have in these still-hard economic times. Not everyone has the luxury of turning down a raise or living in Hancock Park. Ryu’s $200,000 annual compensation could feed and house several families for a year. When the first President Bush was unable to cite the cost of a loaf of bread in the grocery store, it haunted him from then on. He was seen as someone who could not relate to the people he served.
- Think JFK: show the voters that “a new guy is in charge and change is happening.”
(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 85
Pub: Oct 20, 2015
