Like many others, I think his ideas for "running" is just plain silly. This man can do a lot better than be President. Governor of California is a bit more powerful a position these days, thanks to Trump!
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Okay, lets see ... said that he would diversify LAPD (i.e. hire more Latin American, African American, Asian American women & men - he did not. Said that he would make marginal improvements in homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area - he did NOT. He acted as a complete coward in that he never proclaimed Los Angeles as a 'Sanctuary City' until he was humiliated, kudos to deBlasio for that. He has used redistricting in Los Angeles just like the corrupt republicans have. And he's rumored to be closeted gay.
He's not worthy, there are MANY MORE people (Harris, Gabbard, Warren) more worthy.
I have no idea why anyone would expect a mayor to have any remote impact on traffic, positive or otherwise. He cannot force people to not drive their cars. Nor can he force people to move out of LA. As long as there are so many cars on the road, there will be traffic, period. He can’t magically change that fact.
Eh, there's much that can be done by the municipal government.
Keeping roads in good repair.
Adding turn lanes.
Ensuring adequate lighting.
Not removing important lanes for a handful of bicyclists (*).
Working with public transit authorities to make mass transit more appealing (on time, clean, etc.)
Working with businesses to encourage employee carpooling.
Taking on special interests to create timed light one-way boulevards (e.g. the Pico / Olympic plan).
Pushing for more construction of multi-unit apartments and condos against the endless NIMBYism and economic illiteracy standing against good projects, thus allowing people to live closer to work.
The mayor does not have a magic wand, but he does have some power to move the needle.
* I ride my bike in LA, but do not agree with many of the lane closures that have caused bad traffic to become terrible.
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eric garcetti is fooling himself. he is barely a step above our previous mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, and he was the lowest of the low. a piece of advice eric, if you're going to be mayor, lead. don't buckle to special interest, ie., water and power. you lost my vote of confidence on that one and it's never returned.
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LADWP is a very powerful union. He was up against a lot there.
Public sector unions in general wield enormous, concentrated power.
Also, it's hard for him to reign in abuses when at a young age he's already collecting a six-figure government pension (with inflation adjustment and benefits).
Trust me as a resident, Garcetti and the last one both had their eyes on bigger, better deals before they were even sworn in as mayor. That's why half the time they are out of town hobnobbing and globe-trotting. While in town Garcettie seems to rattle off soundbites and feel-good slogans aimed at the broader electorate.
The sprawling, diverse city is tough to manage and it's impossible to do well when you're doing it part-time.
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Sorry, but Eric Garcetti, during his TWO TERMS in office, has been unable to do ANYTHING to significantly improve the Los Angeles traffic nightmare. Our roads are literally crumbling. And Garcetti's administration has allowed dozens upon dozens of companies to put up high-rise 'luxury' apartment buildings all across the city, forcing rents to skyrocket and making the cost of living go higher than it's ever been before. When i look at a lawmaker, I look at his/her record on the basic things: how did the person deal with roads, bridges and the cost of living in his/her city. On these important issues, Garcetti has failed in an epic way. There's no way I would vote to inflict his ideology on the nation. We can do better.
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Regarding traffic, he did put us on those "road diets", taking away vital rush hour traffic lanes to improve the bike lanes used by a relatively small number of able-bodied residents. Wonderful.
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He is preferable to Villaraigosa, much in the way that a headcold is preferable to pneumonia. The principle thing he seems to have done as the Mayor is give a lot of favors to Live Nation. If anyone should run from California it should be Kamala Harris or maybe Xavier Becerra, actual leaders and not just grifty councilmen. That said, Sherrod Brown of Ohio is the smart play for the Democrats in 2020 in my opinion.
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Yes Garcetti belongs in the white house. The one in Hancock Park in L.A. I don't think it's white though. He must be delusional just like Trump. Garcetti is not close to being ready for prime time. Fix the potholes, traffic, homelessness, crime rate, property taxes and educational standards first.
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Not much he can do about property taxes. What would you suggest? Prop 13 is state law.
I don't know whether Garcetti should be running for President because after all this time, I have yet to acknowledge his talents as mayor here in LA.
While he's less of a grand stander than Villaraigosa, Garcetti has nonetheless decided that using city funds to pay for lawyers for illegals is a better use of resources than doing something for his legal citizens who get to travel 4 miles on the 101 freeway in the space of 30 minutes on a regular weeknight. Next on his list of priorities was ensure that LA would host the Olympics in the next decade despite all the congestion.
For a man who still hasn't gotten his priorities straight, I don't deem him qualified to be in the White House to manage priorities for 300+ million people.
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I was impressed with Mr. Garcetti when I would see him in meetings with notebooks of information and research he had done to prepare. He is highly intelligent, motivated and appears to care about the city and the people he serves. He listens and I personally love the fact that he is multi-cultural. Given where we are now, this country would be fortunate to have a man like this as our leader.
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Great smile too. Reminds me a bit of John Edwards. Gotta love toothy smiles and good listeners. Seems gentle too. And somehow he himself is "multi-cultural" - maybe he wakes up Catholic and goes to bed atheist each day?
If Garcetti wins the Presidential bid I wonder if he'll elect to live in a tent on the White House lawn.
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If you want someone to promote sanctuary cities and illegal immigration, Garcetti's your man. You, too, can have your public school system destroyed as it is overrun with illegals. But that's ok, just suck it up and send your kids to private school, as anyone with the means does in L.A.
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i do not live in LA no desire at all. i cannot vote for any richie rich again. this guy is at least 2nd generation wealth. sorry his life does not pass muster with that fact alone. if elected he will be another in a long line of corporate presidents. we have much too many of those fools for far too long. lets get real people from the people in office.
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Cool story, we don't need you anyway.
The Democrats are simply not going to win with another milquetoast candidate. Americans are looking for a bold leader with innovative ideas. If the Democrats fail to come up with the genuine article, they will lose to another (or perhaps the same) blustering faux populist.
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Living in LA County, I can only say that Garcetti isn't as big a money grabber as his predecessor Villaraigosa, Mr. Herbalife, but he is too busy preening for the cameras to see the problems of little people- the Atwater 'paint your fence' scandal is only one of many mindless assaults on average Angelenos by the city 'protect your donors' machinery. No way this guy will become Governor, President or Senator. I don't see him one step in the trenches.
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Better Mayor Garcetti than Senator Kamala Harris. At least he is in the trenches, actually trying to run the most difficult and diverse city in America.
Harris was San Francisco DA, then California AG, then US Senator.
Garcetti is the name-sake of his father.
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As a white liberal democrat who's spent his entire life in Los Angeles, Garcetti has done nothing to prove he's capable of handling any government position at a national level, let alone the top job.
Los Angeles is thriving as a result of a good economy and significant stimulus created by the Obama administration. There's been no noticeable change since Garcetti took office, and most mayors in Los Angeles have little impact on our day to day lives. As everyone in LA knows, the County Supervisors control most of the purse strings and policy making authority here.
Give us a couple of years to get entrenched in the Trump recession and then we will see what, if anything, can be done locally by the mayor to ease the pain.
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It's interesting these days that people like you (who as white, liberal Democrats subscribe heavily to identity politics) must qualify your opinions as those of a white liberal Democrat living in Los Angeles to make sure you opinions count more so than others.
I'm a white liberal Republican (yes, we exist) and I don't like Garcetti either. My opinion shouldn't carry any less weight than yours simply because of party affiliation.
How about we just agree that as Angelenos, Democrat or Republican, Garcetti is miserable failure who is in office only because no serious contender existed in either of his elections and much like his predecessor, he only took the job with his eye on higher office.
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Half the school kids in LA are so far behind intellectually that they will vote against their interests and give us people like Garcetti, who make everything worse. Traffic, pollution, crowding, homelessness, crime have been getting worse. The lumpen proletariat grows...
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Mr Garcetti, I admire your position and you make a good point... however, this is the USA and unless you grease a lot of wheels, you face an uphill battle. Also, You are little known (have you ever been in a "Home Alone" cameo? Did you have a self centered ego television show where you are the big cheese and destroyed the lives of those who grovel about your feet?) No? Unfortunately here in the USA we (the ordinary citizen) choose our leadership based upon important things like this. Perhaps land a starring role in a movie rather than a cheap cameo role. You know, things that matter. Oh yes, also, we are doomed anyway and there may well not be another election at the rate we are going.
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