Our Issues

The past year or two has brought the Hollywood City Hall, its Mayor and its Commissioners much controversy. The tumultuous recent past has seen the City get sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (Chabad case), lose its heavily protested "eminent domain" suit against my family and be forced to defend rising utility rates and property tax increases. This all culminated with the much-publicized ousting of Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom as he was charged with multiple counts of corruption while representing the people of District 4 in Hollywood.

This mounting pile of troubles leaves the City in desperate need of new leaders who will right the ship. This job WILL NOT be done with former Commissioners who are part of the development/lobbyist/political infrastructure put in place to make Hollywood a "condo canyon" and keep its citizens in the dark. This job WILL be done by changing the leadership at City Hall and by electing someone who can bring the idea of RESPONSIBILITY back to "The Diamond of the Gold Coast."

If I were elected to represent District 4 as Commissioner, I would bring back pride and success to this city with:

Responsible Government:

Among my many trips to City Hall, I have seen numerous activists and citizens attempt to stand up to the current Commission, ask important questions and seek the truth in certain issues. These concerned citizens are sometimes berated, made fun of and are not even taken seriously in some cases, simply because they chose to differ in opinion with that of the politicians that represent them. All this after being forced to have their public speaking time delayed time and time again so that developers and their attorneys can have hours upon hours to speak with the Commissioners and Mayor. In some cases, it seems certain attorneys in this City get more public speaking time than the Commissioners themselves. Before the public finally gets its three-minutes in, decisions are generally already made. Changes need to be made to allow for a set, definite time for public speaking and to allow this speaking to have an impact on items on the agenda.

Another way to achieve Responsible Government would be with term limits. I believe all Commissioners and the Mayor need to be limited to three terms in office; a total of 12 years. If a politician cannot achieve a vision or make good headway towards it within a little more than a decade, it is time for that person to move on;

Responsible Development:

I, much like most other Hollywood citizens, am all for making this City a better place to live. Sometimes, that does mean making Hollywood a bigger place to live as well. Proper development is the key to not only attracting new homeowners and increasing your tax base, but it is also important in establishing the foundation for our children and the future Hollywood citizens of tomorrow.

Now, I will tell you what Responsible Development should not be associated with: Trampling property rights and zoning regulations. While most developments will be controversial and each project will always have some citizens objecting to it, those projects and developers that are oblivious to the needs of the neighborhood and its residents should be sent back to the drawing board or trashed all together. An obvious example: the Tri-Rail project proposed for Sheridan Street. A major thoroughfare with already difficult traffic and long waits to get off I-95 during rush hour is expected to host additional hundreds of cars in a double-digit story condo complex? Are we to believe the ridiculous claims that most of these people, who will spend a pretty penny on their new homes, will be using public transportation to get to and from work? If you paid a lot for your new home and owned a nice car, would you?

All future development projects in Hollywood need to be done with a respect for surrounding buildings, communities and traffic. Does this mean we can never have a variance from our zoning laws? Of course not, but whatever that variance is, it better make sense have some kind of logical reasoning behind it.

Additionally, those who represent the City in almost every development project should not be the same lawyers who are the lobbyists for Hollywood. We must not allow these obvious conflicts of interest to continue;

Responsible Leadership:

There are many hard-working and honest people who do try to make Hollywood a better place to work and live, but when under the influence of poor or corrupt leaders, they may tend to make the wrong decisions as well. The City needs a leader, like myself, who will refrain from giving undue influence to developers, their attorneys or anyone else with an inside track. The City needs a leader, like myself, who will not make back-room deals and look out for his own financial and career advancement instead of the betterment of his constituents. If City Hall employees see their elected officials acting the proper way and looking out for the proper interests, maybe they will begin to do the same;

Responsible Problem-Solving:

In our own battle over "eminent domain" with the City, my family went a full three years from last hearing from the developer to being notified, through the "grape vine", of the City's hearing on passing a resolution to condemn our property. This time passed with not one call from the developer, the Mayor or any Commissioner to see if there was a way to get the project past this conflict. Meanwhile, the City was clashing with Chabad in Hollywood Hills over their land rights or lack thereof. Only when a judge was about to rule that all of the city's zoning laws were unconstitutional and needed to be redrawn, only then did the City's leaders decide to have an open meeting with Chabad and their attorneys to work something out.

Where was the conciliatory phone call to ask if there was anything that could be done? Where were the efforts to clean up their messes before judges were forced to step in? Why, when I asked the Mayor about this lack of communication during a radio debate a year or so ago, did she say her door is always open for discussion? Shouldn't she have been the one to reach out since she was so heavily pushing the need to acquire my family's property for the area's supposed traffic issues? Where is the proactive approach to solve problems instead of further creating them?

Rest assured, if I was elected to represent District 4, if one of my constituents had an issue with the City, they would be hearing from me at every step along the way.

Responsibility is Hollywood's main issue at the moment. These troubled times need leaders in whom citizens can have full confidence. That is why, on February 13th, 2007, the residents of District 4 in Hollywood should elect me as their next Commissioner.

Back to top of page