Politics & Government

Rosendahl's YouTube Channel Is Live Online—Watch Out Justin Bieber?

The City Councilman has big plans for YouTube.

This newfangled Web thing is perfect for me, since I like to watch.

I sit in the home newsroom (in my jammies, of course) and one day there's an and then a   for my reporting pleasure.

Since I'm apparently one of many "journalists [pushed] more deeply into the tragically expanding low-wage sector of our increasingly brutal economy," according to one media critic, I must note that reporting from home in my PJs has the added advantage of saving on dry cleaning, gas and parking.

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I did get free VIP parking when I went to , so maybe some of the big shots downtown  are sympathetic to our plight.

Today's nail-biter, on the city's webcast channel, featured a joint hearing of Bill Rosendahl's Transportation Committee and the Planning and Land Use Management Committee. On the agenda: the . [Twitter featured live comments: see photo.]

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Equestrians, hikers, bikers, mountain bikers, commuters (and nacho lovers) all had their say, but that's another story.

Today's story is Rosendahl's YouTube channel.

Although he registered the channel on Aug. 5, Rosendahl has only now begun programming it with videos—four uploads in the last 10 days. The most recent three—discussing the AEG stadium proposal, the Wilshire BRT and the bike plan—were shot at the same video session on Feb. 2, and showed him in a dotted red tie.

We e-mailed Tony Arranaga, Rosendahl's communication director, to get the scoop on the councilman's video efforts and Facebook and Twitter ambitions. We also checked whether that was his only necktie.

Here's our e-conversation—after we got the e-mail, we reviewed the videos and yes they are two different dotted red ties:

Brentwood Patch: I see you have a YouTube channel and that the bicycling video is upload No. 4 (the last three apparently recorded at the same session.)
Tony Arranaga: As you can see, we just started pushing content to the channel. Stay tuned for more from Councilmember Rosendahl!

Patch: What is the purpose of the channel?
Arranaga: The purpose of the channel is to inform our constituents about policy and newsworthy events or information affecting our district. 

Patch: Whom do you hope to reach?
Arranaga: We're engaging the constituents of the 11th Council District in conversation ... and anyone else who wants to hear what Councilmember Rosendahl has to say!

Patch: How often will you be updating it?
Arranaga: We're hoping to update the platform about three times a week.

Patch: Will you be moderating comments?
Arranaga: Anyone can comment.

Patch: Does Councilman Rosendahl only have one necktie?
Arranaga: Don't be ridiculous. He has two.

Patch: You're on Twitter, FB, and YouTube. What are you hearing back from constituents? Who monitors everything? Are you building up to something Zev-like in terms of a Web presence?
Arranaga: Our constituents love that Councilmember Rosendahl is using social media! We've heard nothing but positive feedback! I monitor and Councilmember Rosendahl responds. The supervisor's online presence is pretty good, but honestly we're aiming for Justin Bieber status. (Go big or go home, right?)

Since Bieber's videos on YouTube have amassed more than 700 million views, Rosendahl has some catching up to do.

As of Wednesday evening, Rosendahl's channel had about 200 views, two friends and four subscribers.

One subscriber is me. Another is Arranaga.

On the other hand, Rosendahl does have 1,262 Facebook "friends." 

Are you one?


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