from the LA Daily News - OPINION

WHATEVER happened to community representation for the sake of community representation?

Elected positions in Los Angeles are some of the most coveted in the state. Not only are most of them lavishly paid (the

Los Angeles City Council, for example, is the highest-paid council in the nation), they also offer visibility that officeholders in Fresno and San Diego can only dream about. And the perks ... well, the car perks alone - free car, free gas, free maintenance - make them dream jobs.

That's why the mayor of our national-league city could have easily been a viable gubernatorial candidate or why state lawmakers think nothing of dumping their Sacramento gigs for a chance at one of the 15 spots on the council. Get elected to one of those, and it's at worst a guaranteed six-figure lush job for 12 years and at best a launching pad into an even more powerful and high-profile job.

This system explains why city-elected positions - and seats on feeder boards such as the L.A. Unified Board of Education - attract professional politicians who drop millions for what in most places is an obscure, low or unpaid job done for the love of community, not the love of politics.

This is why the special election on Sept.22 to replace Councilwoman Wendy Greuel - who herself went on to a bigger and better elected position as the city's controller - has attracted big money and relatively big-name contenders for the East Valley Council District 2 seat.

There's Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, who has served less than three years in Sacramento. Krekorian is a Burbank resident who sat on the Burbank Board of Education. He rented an apartment in Valley Glen in order to qualify for the L.A. City Council race.

Krekorian will have stiff competition. Tamar Galatzan, a neighborhood prosecutor in Van Nuys and a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for two years, entered the race Tuesday. It wasn't a great surprise. When Galatzan raised more than $2 million to win a position that pays at most $45,367 a year (and that's only for members without other jobs; it's much less for those with jobs) it was clear she understood the political possibilities involved in the seat.

Another contender is Christine Essel, a former executive at Paramount Pictures, who lived in the Hollywood Hills until she moved into the district to run for the CD2 seat. Essel was appointed earlier this year to the Airport Commission but quit that post after five months.

Those three better-known names and the money behind them will make it difficult for the lesser-known, homegrown candidates such as candymaker Frank Sheftel, community organizer Pete Sanchez, neighborhood council board member Mary Benson, county commissioner Jozef Thomas Essavi, businesswoman Laurette Healey and neighborhood council member Michael McCue.

Just because candidates haven't lived in the district and simply moved in to run for office doesn't mean they will fail to adequately serve constituents. And job-hopping politicians may be willing to put their personal ambitions aside to serve in the best interest of residents.

But it's not been reflected in the city's recent history, and many of the problems in both City Hall and the school district can be directly traced to a lack of concern for regular Angelenos or the city's long-term health. Instead, so many of the elected positions have been filled by people either looking for their next job or just hoping not to lose this sweet gig, rather than by sincere community activists who just want to make their city a better place to live.

And what stands in the way too often are the special interests that bankroll campaigns - developers and public employee unions. Too often the city's elected officials, particularly those who are planning to run for higher office, are unwilling to risk their future with a challenge. A recent example is the Michael Jackson memorial. Only one council member, Dennis Zine, had the temerity to suggest that AEG, the company that owns Staples and L.A. Live, pitch in to defray the city's estimated $4 million in costs for security. A suggestion that prompted AEG President Tim Leiweke to scold him publicly. No one else had the courage to stand up to such a politically powerful company.

This kind of deferential treatment has cost L.A., and Angelenos, and will continue to do so for years to come.

Los Angeles is facing a billion-dollar pension obligation, and must take on pension and public employee benefits reforms. Taxpayers need leaders who aren't afraid to refuse the demands of unions. Likewise, residents need leaders who can protect communities from the demands of developers and billboard companies.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles is unlikely to get that kind of leadership from its elected officials if they are more interested in the pay, the perks or the visibility that comes with the job. Homegrown leaders, who have history and an understanding of their communities, just don't have much of a shot next to the big-moneyed campaigns of professional politicians.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_12788777