Los Angles Mayor Zev Yaroslavsky? Time Running Out For Popular Pol To Announce Candidacy

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky

So here's the deal... well-known, widely respected Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is the frontrunner of the 2013 Los Angeles mayoral race. Political pros think he'd win and do a solid job of fixing a broken city; wealthy liberal contributors would love to throw money at him; and nearly everyone acknowledges that he's smart as a whip and personable.

Here's the problem: Yaroslavsky still refuses to say if he's going to run for office.

As much as the popular supervisor apparently thinks he can announce whenever he wants, time is not on his side, and the race is already starting to pass him by. "There comes a time when it's too late for practical reasons," says veteran political consultant Garry South. "The people and money are gone."

It was nearly a year ago that L.A. Weekly reported that several very smart political observers deemed Yaroslavsky as the standout frontrunner for the 2013 mayoral election. Since then, all major candidates -- such as L.A. City Controller Wendy Greuel, L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, lawyer Kevin James, and wealthy investment banker Austin Beutner -- have thrown their hats into the ring for Los Angeles' top political job.

Yaroslavsky? Well, his spokesman, Joel Bellman, says the supervisor is still "actively considering" a candidacy and "keeping his own counsel." At the same time, Bellman tells us, the supervisor refuses to be "rushed by anyone's time clock."

That's all fine and good, but South and UCLA School of Public Affairs Dean Frank Gilliam Jr. say Yaroslavsky is only making things harder for himself and better for everyone else.

"You absolutely need to declare a year before the election," South, who worked three mayoral campaigns, tells the Weekly. "You can't do this in six or nine months. L.A. is too spread out with 4 million people. You need to cover a lot of territory. [Running for mayor] is too big a task."

Gilliam points out that without Yaroslavsky in the race, he's giving Wendy Greuel, who our pundits gave a second place rating behind the front-running supervisor, more of an opportunity to connect with voters.

"The more time [Yaroslavsky] takes to announce," says the UCLA dean, "the more it gives Wendy the room to make her case. He doesn't take away any of her air space."

Gilliam also notes that Greuel has been making the most of Yaroslavsky's absence.

"She's been very active on the campaign trail, building up support. People see her as a viable candidate."

Indeed.

At one point, wealthy contributors may have been waiting to see if the supervisor would announce before they forked over their cash to anyone else. But South says in his political circles there's a belief taking hold that Yaroslavsky is NOT going to run, so they're willing to give their big bucks to Garcetti and Greuel.

"I don't think [Yaroslavsky's indecision] is holding anyone back," says South.

The 2013 mayoral primary is actually less than a year away, taking place on March 5. Time is clearly running out. Yaroslavsky spokesman Bellman says his boss will let everyone know if he's going to run or not. He just doesn't know when.

According to South, the supervisor needs to pull the trigger no later than this coming June. If we don't get the news by then, a lot of political observers are probably going to start calling Greuel, who could be the first female mayor of Los Angeles, the new frontrunner.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

Follow McDonald on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/PRMcDonald and his Facebook page.

Tags:

2013, Eric Garcetti, Frank Gilliam, Garry South, Los Angels Mayor, Patrick Range McDonald, Wendy Greuel, Zev Yaroslavsky

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helpfulheroine

the lack of any good mayoral candidates makes me cry every day :(

karldotcom

Who would want to reign over the bankruptcy of Los Angeles? That is a lose-lose situation.

SZwartz

I think Zuma Dogg understands management best and he would run the city better than any politico. You know Zuma dogg don't play no corruption game. Wouldn't it be refreshing for LA to have its first NON-corrupt Mayor. We should try it.

John123@aol.com

Interesting....

Guest

i believe he is running and he's changed his name to Zev Yaroslavskedelston...

Pretty_izah

my roomate's step-aunt made $13705 past month. she is making income on the computer and got a $469700 home. All she did was get lucky and put in action the advice written on this web page MakeCash10.comONLY

kana_mae

my roomate's sister-in-law earned $14134 past week. she is making money on the laptop and bought a $341300 condo. All she did was get fortunate and put to work the steps laid out on this web site...MakeCash10.comONLY

Sbsierra

Please Run Zev!

Mackeo

I agree that we shouldn't fall for the "first" angle, the first Latino's been a bust (of course it would've been different with someone who was actually as smart as he was street-smart), and Wendy's just skilled at using her Controller job to "Find" waste and abuse that she was part of on the Council. Garcetti's smart and talks a mile a minute but his claiming both Jewish AND Latino creds b/c of his parentage is just fundraising and electioneering opportunism. though we could do worse. As for Zev, he's getting paid too much as Supervisor and wields so much power with so little scrutiny, speculation is he won't give it up for being under a microscope. Being L A Mayor is a job for those aiming for higher office or maybe a Beutner who is trying to make a real difference. At his age by the time he was done with 2 terms as mayor wouldn't Zev be like almost 80? And while he's personable, what's he done, really, besides survive? He was behind pushing to halt the subway using the methane spill near Fairfax as an excuse to bow to powerful homeowner groups -- who still control CD 5 too much but have a point that westsiders bear the brunt of horrid car traffic from commuters from the cheap burbs. In those days 20 years ago there was Fed money but Zev actually asked Waxman and other national pols to Just Sat No, Now he's championing it but we have to pay many many times more for the subway, including the 1/2C sales tax increase voters passed without any assurance we'll see a subway - it could go for light rail to the nether regions who drive to L A crowding our streets but claim "elitism" or go nowhere at all. Who'll remember in 50 years, when the sales tax allegedly ends? Having said this we could do worse than Zev, like Jan Perry the "first female black" Mayor wanna-be.

SZwartz

Jan Perry would be the first "female Black Jewish Mayor."

That should bring back together a major LA groups in a coalition, but this isn't 1965. Jan needs to adopt a mixed Mexican-Asian child and marry some White GOP woman. Then, she'll cover all basis.

We need a decent manager for mayor and the only one who fills that bill is Zuma Dogg.

cynic

Greuel for Mayor? We are not willing , again , to elect as Mayor another incompetent, publicity hound, hypocrite. At least Garcetti has the smarts, something Greuel, among many things, lacks. Getting tired of this stuff; First woman, first gay, first black. We got the Latino, and look where we are!We need Zev. I hope he runs.

SZwartz

Garcetti is atrocious. The monied people better wake up and face reality. AB 2531 was vetoed; thanks to an LA resurrection. AB 2531 only applied to Los Angeles as it expanded the corrupt CRA to the entire city and the focal point of opposition came from Hollywood -- CD #13 to be exact. It was Garcetti arrogant hubris that launched the veto effort of AB 2531.

That was a several billion loss over the next decade. CRA was the main conduct to funnel tax dollars to billionaire developers, and the smaller the CRA, the fewer the projects,and the less chance to rip off the tax payers.

Garcetti did get Prop 22 passed -- only for it to later become the worst political boomerrang in LA history.

The veto of AB 2531 showed that the CRA's were vulnerable and the out pouring of constant anti-CRA materials from people who had been trashed by Garcetti pushed the anti-CRA campaign over the top and we got the CRA's abolished. Garcetti's hubris was coming home and his developer buddies were losing their shirts.

They thought they could get the CRA's back with AB 27x, but then Garcetti's Prop 22 bit them in the pants. Since Garcetti had shoved Prop 22 into the Constitution, it invalidated AB 27x. The CRA's were dead, dead, dead.

Next, Garcetti's hubris struck low the Hollywood Community Plan. It was stuffed with false data and horrendeous procedureal nightmares. In over a year he canot get it through council, and the City Attorney had advised that not only will the HCP be sued, but the opponents are likely to win.

While Garcetti was council President, it voted in unison over 99% of the time -- making a prima facie case for a RICO action and the world's largest Brown Action violation.

And who was behind the downsizing of Fire station 82 and cutting the LAFD budget by $200 Million based on falsified data? Garcetti.

So the top spot goes to Ellen Degeneris, er, Greuel. John Walsh's theory is that Greuel looks so much like Ellen that LA voters will vote for her because she looks like Ellen. That's John's idea. He may be right.

Mia

Maybe he can extend some of the awesome leadership he has shown on the Coleseum Commission to the Mayors office.... but I am not sure that we cn afford that.