Having worked with Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl since the first day of his campaign in 2005, District 11 candidate Mike Bonin says the Westside has the "highest level" of community and neighborhood participation on any issue.
"I think it's the most active, informed and engaged district in the city," he told Patch. "That makes the nature of the Los Angeles City Council different here than in other districts, because you have tremendous partners here in every community."
Bonin said Mar Vista resident Chuck Ray knows more about the Department of Water and Power rates than the DWP director, and Pacific Palisades resident Chris Spitz knows more about cell phone tower regulations than probably anyone in the city. Bonin added that many reliable leaders of the entertainment industry reside in Brentwood.
One of the major challenges in downtown L.A. is overcoming the occasional perception that since District 11 is a wealthy district, it doesn't need anything, he noted.
"There's a constantly struggle to correct that misconception," Bonin said, adding that, if elected, he wants to get more police and fire department services for District 11, particularly in the northern portion.
"When we lost an engine company at Station 69, that is a huge issue for me," Bonin said. "The fact that 911 response times are so slow in Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, particularly on those winding canyon roads, is a huge problem."
Prior to working with Rosendahl, Bonin said he's been a community leader and grassroots activist with a track record of fighting for Westside neighborhoods for nearly two decades.
"To deliver for our neighborhoods, you need to know how government works," he said.
What Bonin learned from Rosendahl
"Bill Rosendahl has a bigger heart, a stronger sense of optimism and a more boundless positive spirit than anyone I've ever met," Bonin said. "I've learned from him how you can create change, and move our neigbrohoods in a positive direction."
Bonin said as Rosendahl's chief of staff you have to "be a traffic cop," when having to deny spending money and resources on an tough initiative.
"Bill always forced the 'yes,'" Bonin added.
If elected, Bonin said he will expand on Rosendahl's transparent approach with his constituents by holding office hours twice a month at different locations, and consider nights and weekends for those who have tough schedules. He's also considering hosting "communty chats," if elected, and wants to use technology more to keep residents more connected to government
"I want to take his level of transparency an accessibility and put it on steroids," Bonin said. "It doesn’t make sense to me to talk to nieces and nephews on east coast very easily on Skype or something else, but if someone needs to testify at a planning hearing, they need to take day off work, fight traffic and sit on bench downtown."
When asked if his campaign has an advantage since he's so closely connected with Rosendahl, Bonin said that his experience working in the city for 17 years adds to not just what he learned becoming chief of staff with the city councilman.
"I think we all run the experiences we have and the vision we express," Bonin said. "And having worked to get stuff for neighborhoods for the past 17 years, that gives me a lot of experience, a lot of know-how and, I think, a lot of vision to make our neigborhoods stronger and make our city better."
Bonin said he's worked to get more cops for Westside neighborhoods, build new playgrounds and skate parks, help clean up the local environment, help cut taxes to keep good jobs here in the district, work with communities and agencies to synchronize traffic signals and start building the Expo line.
If elected, Bonin said he would take on the same committee assignments at city hall as Rosendahl, and would like to be appointed by Los Angeles' next mayor for the Metro Board of Directors.
Key transportation subjects
- Bonin said by 2015 the Expo line will be extended all the way to the Westside, and he's currently on the construction authority overseeing that. He added that, since it's being projected the Expo will carry more people than the I-10 Freeway, Metro, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Culver City Bus become more coordinated and integrated with the Expo Line.
- Additionally, Bonin said in the next five years he'd like to get the Green Line to LAX, and, sadly, since it's probably a generation away, he added he'd like to see a north-south transit line from San Fernando Valley to LAX.
- Bonin said he'd like to see a trolly and shuttle system, at least from the top of Lincoln Boulevard, take some pressure off gridlock, and would like to see LAX create some flyaway shuttles for Venice and Santa Monica.
- With Rosendahl's success on promoting bicycling in the city, Bonin said he will look to continue building out the bicycling network with more lanes.
- Bonin wants to alleviate the issues of traffic on Sunset Boulevard near the 405 Freeway project in Brentwood, such as red light cameras to prevent vehicles from blocking intersections, additional traffic control officers, addressing streets used as cut-through traffic and other calming measures.
Thoughts on LAX's future
Prior to Tuesday's decision by the Airport Commission to move a runway 260 feet north closer to Westchester and Playa del Rey homes, Bonin said he supported alteratives 2 and 9, regarding the reconfiguration of the airfield and ground transportation system, respectively. He said he's worked on this issue since the late 1990s with former City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, Congresswoman Jane Harman and Councilman Rosendahl.
"I share Bill's mantra of 'modernization yes, expansion no,'" Bonin added.
Findings by NASA Ames showed there was no compelling reason to move the runway north and that, to make it safer, add more runway status lights and add better federal government staffing to the air traffic control tower.
Homeless in Venice
Rosendahl and Bonin tout a strong track record to working with those less fortunate and responding to that population in Venice. Bonin cited the Project Assisting The Homeless agreement has helped considerably.
He said Rosendahl apologized for the process used to get the storage locker near Venice Beach so people unhoused are able to store their belongings before heading north at night to the shelter.
"There can be very strong and loud voices on either end of a spectrum," Bonin said, highlighting the issue of Los Angeles' homelessness at the city council. "On most local decisions, most people reside in the reasonable middle. It’s important to do the hard work for listening for some of the quieter voices to realize where the reasonable middle is, and to work with people who are genuine."
To view more about Bonin's campaign and stance on city issues, view his website.
Related:Frederick Sutton Enters Council District 11 Race
L.A. Streetsblog profiled all four CD11 candidates this week during the "Liveable Streets" candidate forum. Click here and scroll to the Jan. 23 entries.
I'm not surprised that a politician would paint a rosier picture of his history than reality plays out. But, the claims Mr. Bonin makes to "fight for every neighborhood" really ring false when you start talking about Playa Vista. Mr. Rosendahl and Mr. Bonin have fought tooth and nail for 8 years directly against that community. The only time they paused their relentless battle against that neighborhood was for the 2009 election. Any reasonable person would look back at that as empty political rhetoric - much like this false promise. It's time to move on. Our community spirit doesn't need to be so weighted down with cynicism. We don't have to take it anymore. http://www.Bostick4LA.com/playavista
Please check out my website at "HessforCouncil.com" and please join us at any of the upcoming candidates' forums.
The 16 million visitors that come to Venice--and support you and all the other business owners here--come specifically to see the Boardwalk scene. (Do you think they come from Australia to play paddle tennis?) If all that goes away, we lose our tourists and then what? Sorry to tell you, but the people on the Boardwalk--many of them--ARE residents--AND have been here longer than you. If you stop fighting people who are trying to solve these problems maybe you would see a great change, but you fight every solution, sometimes without even knowing what the program is first! (Like the Storage Container for the Winter Shelter) If we stop social services are you advocating that we let people just suffer and die? These include veterans, foster kids who turn 18 and have no resources, domestic violence victims, runaway kids from abusive homes, people who have been illegally foreclosed on, people who got sick and could not pay rent, people with mental afflictions that need assistance, etc...remember that these are the people you would victimize, not only the few criminals you speak of ad infinitum...
On Playa Vista, Rosenbonin has a track record of fighting that community. It's a bit ridiculous, but here's the backstory. The development was approved (I believe before the Rosenbonin reign). The first phase was built and focused primarily on housing, though there was a main shopping district built within the community as well. Politically, Rosenbonin attempted to appease environmentalists and prove their environmental mettle by fighting the development of phase II, the commercial-intensive section of Playa Vista. They blocked the development at many points and generally worked to look like they disapproved of the work because they wanted to appear to environmental groups like they were fighting for the environment by fighting phase II. It's typical political lip-service. The ballona wetlands had already been altered for the construction of phase I and preliminary work on phase II. The "fight" against the rest of the development was rooted in a political desire to appear progressive. Problem is, with the work down on phase I, the area for phase II had already been cleared for development. It's kind of like pretending to stop at a stop sign, but really just rolling through. Disingenuous. They pointlessly fought a new urbanist development after the harm to nature had been done only for politics.
I'm a voter like you and I want change. I wholeheartedly desire to get help for the homeless in Venice, but we suffer from mismanagement and neglect under Rosenbonin. Their desire has been to please people temporarily while skirting responsibility for tough decisions the entire time. Moreover, they have squandered the emotional capital people invested in the issue 8 years ago so much that deep divides have developed within the community and trust is a relic of the past. I believe it's time to move forward, build consensus, and redirect people back to our original mission: finding homes for the homeless. On Ryavec, you are correct. We can chat privately about him further, though I have a lot to say. And you are right, I don't have experience in government. But I understand our problems from a variety of perspectives (homeowner, father, teacher, and child of addicts). I also have the knowledge, desire, fortitude, and will to heal venice. Give me a chance and you will not regret it. Contact me directly. Let's talk in person again. I'm available. odysseus@bostick4LA.com
That Container is a waste of space. I have sat out there on many afternoons just to watch a few stranglers with too much shit use it. The container benefits a few (2 - 4) homeless each day. The greater good for the community out weighs the benefits to those folks who need to down size. They are homeless and should be not be dragging 4 - 6 suitcases with them. The container takes away from our ocean views. It is an ill conceived program that was forced down the throats of Venice residents to benefit how many? Most days you have more container volunteers than users. Admit it the program does not work.