Eric Garcetti is smart, charismatic and philosophically in line with the Democratic majority of Los Angeles and California voters. Those are big political advantages — which come with one disadvantage.
On the upside, Garcetti’s gifts are why political analysts are looking beyond the L.A. mayor’s bid for re-election on March 7 and saying he will be a leading contender for higher office if he chooses to run for governor in 2018 or the U.S. senate in the coming years.
On the downside, his talent saddles him with high expectations and leave many Angelenos disappointed in what Garcetti has achieved in his first term.
These are accurate perceptions, both the good and the bad, and they color the upcoming citywide election.
Garcetti is a clear choice for this newspaper’s endorsement for mayor, but that’s partly because his nine challengers’ resumes show little sign any of them is ready to lead the nation’s second-biggest city.
Top opponent Mitchell Schwartz, a Democratic strategist, argues Garcetti has failed to fulfill his “back to basics” agenda and has offered inadequate leadership for a city that Schwartz sees as “slowly declining.”
In the hands of a candidate with better qualifications and resources, such criticism could have made this a race. As it is, they are criticisms that Garcetti and his supporters should take to heart. What would Garcetti’s legacy really be if he were soon out of office?
This is not a purely hypothetical question. Although the winners of this year’s mayoral and City Council elections are entitled to 5 1/2-year instead of four-year terms because L.A. is aligning its elections with the state’s starting in 2020, it would be no surprise if Garcetti abandoned the mayorship early for a state office.
Schwartz has tried to get Garcetti to commit to serving a full term if re-elected. But Garcetti refuses, and fairly so — politicians are free to pursue other offices, and voters are free to judge them for it.
In any case, there are bigger matters to confront Garcetti about.
Garcetti deserves his share of credit for the city’s incremental improvements in several key challenges, including business tax reduction, public employee pensions and Department of Water and Power customer service. Garcetti can celebrate political victories in the passage of county Measure M (the property tax increase for mass transit), city Measure HHH (bonds for homeless housing), and a minimum-wage increase.
At the same time, L.A. residents see little improvement in basics like the affordability of housing and the condition of streets and sidewalks; we see crime inching up; homelessness is only getting worse; and City Hall ethics are as questionable as ever. Sometimes it appears Garcetti saves his boldest stands for issues that play to potential statewide and national supporters, such as his confident posture when discussing the city’s stance on immigration.
Garcetti is expected to receive an outright majority in the primary and avoid a runoff. But if he gets a less than overwhelming percentage (as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did in the 2009 election that cost his rising star some luster), it would be no surprise in a season of frustration with City Hall.
We recommend a vote for Eric Garcetti for mayor on March 7, and we ask Garcetti for more in a second term.
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