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Politics & Government

Candidate Forum Heats Up in Final Days Before City Council Elections

Thursday's District 12 candidates' forum: the last of a four-part series.

The fourth and final candidates’ forum for the upcoming City Council District 12 race started off light and breezy Thursday evening before eventually pitting three of the six candidates against one who they say would continue governmental policies they see as disastrous.

Kelly M. Lord Jr., a board member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council, along with restaurant owner Navrai "Singh" Singh and Brad Smith, a member of the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council, ganged up on candidate Mitchell Englander, referring to him at times as the “anointed one” and as “his majesty.”

“So much for a positive campaign,” said Englander, who is chief of staff for outgoing Councilman Greig Smith. Englander has raised about 10 times the amount of money his rivals have, including contributions from city fire and police unions.

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Englander talked about character and challenged other candidates about not showing up to neighborhood council meetings and community events on a regular basis.

Singh referred to Englander as "a bad carbon copy" of past representatives.

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Candidate Dinesh "Danny" Lakhanpal denounced the negative approach of Lord, Singh and Smith, while candidate Armineh Chelebian didn’t have much to say about their tactics.

The threesome, who challenged every move City Hall officials have made that they say would dig Los Angeles’ economy deeper in the financial hole, traded barbs with Englander, who didn’t dish it out as often as they did, but did hold his own at times.

Lord, Singh and Smith said Englander would be the latest in a line of council members that started with Hal Bernson 24 years ago and continued with Greig Smith, who is retiring after eight years and making way for his “son.”

They say business as usual is crippling the city and responsible for a $50-million budget deficit this year and a projected $350-million deficit next year.

Most of the candidates took umbrage at the fact that council representatives earn $179,000 annually and a chief of staff is paid nearly $150,000 a year, another swipe at Englander.

A majority of the candidates blamed unions for much of the city's financial woes, due to lucrative pension benefits enjoyed by public employees.

Candidates answered questions presented to them in front of 130 people gathered in Rawley Hall at the Granada Hills Charter High School. Candidates grappled with questions ranging from illegal sober-living homes to fixing the city’s devastating budget deficit.

There were no real standout answers to the questions posed, except individual positions as to why they were the best candidate based on their individual experiences.

None supported illegal sober living group homes or boarding houses in residential neighborhoods. All candidates agreed on the need to bring new business to the San Fernando Valley while supporting existing ones and creating new jobs.

They all supported the idea of neighborhood councils, which grew out of the failed Valley secession movement years ago. But, they disagreed with Councilman Greig Smith’s motion to decrease the neighborhood councils’ budgets to $5,000 from $50,000.

Candidates agreed neighborhood councils were imperative to local representation and some gave a call-out to those who have been instrumental in volunteering time, energy and community volunteerism over the past many years.

Proposed installation of parking meters in the Valley drew much opposition from candidates worried that the idea could hurt business and not fix the problem that City Hall is spending more money than it’s taking in.

Privatizing some city services was also a hot topic.

When asked who they would select as their staff members if elected, Brad Smith said, “No one in City Hall today. A Navy veteran. USS Los Angeles has run aground a long time ago.”

Though Greig Smith and candidate Brad Smith are not related, some candidate camps hope the name confusion results in a run-off.

He added there were skilled, passionate and dedicated people in the community who would be willing to take over City Hall and do a better job.

Links to the four-part series of candidate election forums:

Jan. 6: Candidates Agree That City Government Is Broken

Feb. 1: City Council Election Forum Takes a Testy Turn

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