First of two parts
Because the race to succeed termed-out Antonio Villaraigosa as the next Mayor of Los Angeles is in its embryonic stages, three of the four candidates on deck last evening in Boyle Heights, deep in the barrio, are longshots from here to Saudi Arabia.
More than half a year out from the March primary, nine months before the likely runoff and 11 months before the new His Honor or Her Honor takes office, the lineup at the historic La Casa del Mexicano on Calle Pedro Infante scarcely would have been recognized beyond family reunions.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry was the only one of the three top-tier contenders at the event sponsored by Ya Basta and the East L.A. Chamber of Commerce.
Kevin James, a Huck Finn lookalike who is a former radio talk show host and a former federal prosecutor, strapping Emanuel Pleitez, who grew up nearby and resembles a latter-day Superman, and S. Deacon Alexander, owner of the evening’s most unusual resumé, including Skid Row as his home address, rounded out the field for one transitory occasion.
If Only…
Would that they were the lone candidates. Los Angeles would be facing easily the most intriguing leadership election in its 2¼-century history.
Alas, the two absent heavyweights received a mixed report card:
• Eric Garcetti, a City Councilman, was excused on the grounds of tardy notification and a simultaneous fundraiser in Hollywood.
• City Controller Wendy Greuel was not excused, said the organizers, who felt snubbed. Evidently, the former Councilwoman chose a campaign event in Northridge over Boyle Heights.
It would have been a more fascinating show if the presumed frontrunners, Mr. Garcetti and Ms. Greuel, had not blown off the debate because thjey would have been pressed closeto a wall.
Mr. James, arguably, emerged as the strongest debater with the weightiest and most penetrating solutions to the questions posed while also making a muscular case for his candidacy on his own.
Young Mr. Pleitez was at least close if not exactly even with Mr. James for the same reasons.
A hefty third was Mr. Alexander. Hard to take your eyes off of him. He hopes to be an old-fashioned candidate. He articulated provocative cures, a blend of common sense, progressive and traditional ideas – but who also, realistically, made a bid to fundraise to round up the $1,000 he needs to file in November to officially enter the race.
While the true reason is not known, Ms. Perry, the single giant in name recognition at the on-stage table, must have surveyed her relatively faceless competition and concluded this was a test she could ace without a second thought. The formula made her the fourth most effective speaker because of her facile, unreflected, sloughed-off answers.
(To be continued)
