Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti: The Last Days of His Term-Limited American Life in the ’70s
The term-limited Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti was in South Los Angeles prior to the inauguration of Karen Bass, the first female mayor of Los Angeles.
He donned a hard hat to survey construction at a massive affordable housing site, checked in on formerly unsheltered residents at a motel-to-interim housing conversion and toured another spacious campus with more than 90 shelter beds and nearly 200 units for the formerly unhoused.
For a year, Garcetti wasn’t involved in the LA mayor candidates’ discussion of the state of the city, from the ongoing homeless crisis to concerns about crime and corruption on the City Council.
Garcetti believes that he will get confirmed to the ambassadorship and said the delay gave him a chance to work through the last day of his term. CNN talked to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti about his future, his record and the state of the city as he returns to private life.
Garcetti: I’ve stopped doing the guessing game of the when, but I feel quite optimistic. I have good support from Republicans and Democrats who recognize this is a critical position. … I can’t wait to get to work. Even if it was longer than was first estimated, it was kind of a gift to be here. … To be there for the finishing of the Crenshaw line, which will bring transit to LAX – finally bringing trains to planes; seeing records amount of housing getting built. It was dealing with issues like the leaked audio tapes in City Hall. … And, seeing the city through the end of the crisis of Covid. It made me not have any guilt about leaving a day early.
Reston: When you think about your major accomplishments all the way back to when you were a council member, what is different about the state of the city today than when you started that you had a real hand in changing?
We won the Olympics. It’s like the biggest civic prize in the world, which isn’t just about an amazing sports event. It’s about really showing who you are to the world. Is that possible? Then the transit. Our city has been the world’s car capital for a long time, and we are building 15 transit lines off of one measure. We tripled the pace of housing. It’s only a matter of time until LA is a place where you can actually buy a home again because of the amount of growth we’ve achieved in the last decade.
Reston: So, the other half of the equation – as you talked about – is not under your control as the mayor, and that’s the mental health space. There’ve been a lot of committee hearings in Washington about these issues, but nothing ever seems to emerge in terms of a grand plan. What do you want to see happen there?
The country is in a mental health and addiction crisis. There are not enough professionals who can treat mental health afflictions, and we have no right to mental health care in this country. … Treating trauma and mental health issues is the biggest gap in the American health care system by far. The housing crisis and homelessness in America are not going to be solved by people treating them like a health crisis.
Reston: I want to pivot to politics. You’re waiting on your own confirmation. (California Sen.) Dianne Feinstein’s been in her office for a long time. Some people have concerns about her mental acuity. Do you think that the people of California are receiving full representation from that office?
Reston: She’s not raising a lot of money though, and folks expect that she will step down at some point. Is that an office that would interest you in the future?
I don’t plan on being in India for that campaign. … I generally don’t close doors, but after 20 years, I think it’s really important to take time to reflect. … I’ve read two novels in 10 years. I’ve read maybe 10 non-fiction books (during) that time. I listen to a lot of music, but I have not yet played the piano. Humans always ask what are they going to do next. Nobody asks, ‘Who do you want to be next?’ I want to spend a little time on who I want to be.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/politics/eric-garcetti-los-angeles-what-matters/index.html
What would you like to do if you stand down and don’t run for president? Commentary on Eric Garcetti’s what-matters
Reston: If (President Joe) Biden were to stand down and not run for president, you could potentially have both (Vice President) Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom running for president at the same time. Who would you let go?
Garcetti: I don’t answer hypotheticals. I don’t say that to anyone. And by the way, look, I genuinely love both of them. After she was district attorney of San Francisco, she became a close friend of mine and we were co-chairs of the Obama campaign. Gavin, I got to know in a very personal way (during the pandemic), and I think he’s a really critical leader for our country. I have known him fairly well, but wartime leadership is a different level of bond.
Reston: When you think about the things that still are on your bucket list – beyond being an ambassador – what are the things you’re most excited about right now? And I need an update on how many countries you’ve visited – since you said you were going to try to get to all of the countries in the world.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/politics/eric-garcetti-los-angeles-what-matters/index.html
The Wire: Creating a City Hall for Black and Brown Families in the 21st Century. A New York City Voucher Program to Relocate Poverty-Induced Housing Families
Garcetti: I was working on a musical a long time ago that I thought would be really interesting in LA. The riots begin with the internet and then an earthquake in Northridge as the internet first becomes available. It kind of defined us. A group of young professionals living together. … A lot of people said, Let’s develop a City Hall (series). ‘The Wire’ was good, but there’s not been, since that, a really good series about City Hall. That would be kind of fun.
The filmmaker Spike Lee, a longtime New York booster, said he worries about the city becoming more expensive and less accessible to people of color in particular, who have contributed so much to the city’s culture, from the birth of hip hop in the South Bronx to artists like Alvin Ailey and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Eric Adams, New York’s second Black mayor has pledged to create a more affordable city to stem the bloodshed of Black and brown families. Mr. Adams biographical information shows how his family became involved in the community, going from poverty in New York to middle-class homeownership in Queens and relying on public schools and colleges.
Younger Black families say that trajectory isn’t available anymore. New Yorkers have been hit hard by high inflation and a turbulent rental market. Black families lag behind their white counterparts when it comes to building wealth and homeownership. Black households have a median income of $53,000, compared with roughly $98,000 for white households, according to the most recent census data.
Ruth Horry, a Black mother who bounced through cockroach- and rodent-infested Brooklyn apartments for years, has repeatedly been priced out by rising rents. Horry and her three daughters ended up in the shelter system. At a shelter in Queens, the sink was so small that Ms. Horry washed her children’s hair in the bathroom at a nearby McDonald’s.
Ms. Horry relocated to Jersey City through a New York City voucher program known as the Special One-time Assistance program, which relocates vulnerable families into permanent housing with a full year’s rent upfront. Ms. Horry said that she is considering moving to the South to save even more money because of the drop in living costs.