District 4 Candidates Distinguish Themselves at Forum

The three candidates vying for a four-year seat on the Los Angeles City Council to represent District 4, which includes Hollywood, held their first candidate forum Wednesday.

Incumbent Tom LaBonge and challengers Stephen Box and Tomas O’Grady squared off on a number of issues, including transportation, the City Redevelopment Agency, bike lanes, City Council priorities and even sidewalks. About 100 people attended the forum, which was hosted by the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. KRLA radio host Kevin James moderated the two-hour event.

It was the first of six community forums; a second was held Thursday night in Silver Lake and a third will take place next week. The special election will be held March 8.

When asked what services they were inclined to cut if city revenues continue to dwindle, each candidate offered a different answer.

“I wouldn’t be inclined to cut services, I would be inclined to cut departments,” said Box. “We have redundancies in our departments. For example, the department of transportation, which is an ordinances department, competes with public works, which is then competing with the CRA for the same funds.”

LaBonge reiterated his years of experience at City Hall and pointed out a few of the things he believes the city can improve.

“What we need to do is form partnerships with other government agencies,” said LaBonge. “We need to stretch your tax dollar. I do believe there needs to be an overhaul of many city departments. I also want the city attorney to be aggressive about going after those people not paying their debt to the city.”

O’Grady got specific about what he would cut if elected to the City Council.

“The mayor has a full-time position dedicated to tweeting. There is a tweeter in the mayor’s office. That’s all they do all day long,” said O’Grady. “I would cut the tweeter. That’s No. 1. I’d also cut the Facebookers from City Hall. I also think we are giving out too many proclamations, so I’d probably cut that department.”

Questions came from the audience, Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council board members and a few were submitted through e-mail before the event. 

Overall, each of the candidates was pleased by how the forum went.

• “I think tonight was great,” said LaBonge. “This is what a neighborhood forum is all about. People should be informed about what’s going on.”

•  “There were a lot of passionate people from the neighborhood,” said Box, who lives in Hollywood. “It was a good crowd and a great opportunity to talk about the issues.”

•  “I think tonight went really well,” said O’Grady, who lives in Los Feliz. “I was a little nervous, but I think it went pretty good.”

One resident thought it went well too.

“They really articulated themselves well and they were all very different, which was great to see," said Benny Rosenberg, 31. "They each had their own style. It was also nice to see that there was such a great turnout for the forum.”

The Los Feliz Improvement Association will hold a candidates forum on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 4700 Western Heritage Way.