Essel and Krekorian Debate at Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils

from The San Fernando Valley Daily Business Journal

The two candidates fighting for the Valley seat on the L.A. City Council District 2 were peppered with questions from Valley neighborhood council leaders on Nov. 12, who mostly wanted to know what the candidates would do to support and raise the profile of neighborhood councils in the City.

The debate, which also tackled city finances, marijuana dispensaries, the proliferation of billboards, development, the entertainment industry and other topics, was organized by the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils and took place at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

The candidates, former Paramount Pictures executive Christine Essel, and Democratic Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, both pledged before some 30 neighborhood council representatives to become important advocates for their projects and issues.

Both said neighborhood councils should be granted appeal rights on land use issues and said they would introduce a resolution, once elected, to make that happen.

“Of course neighborhood councils should have appeal rights… it’s central to what neighborhood council’s roles are, which is to stand up and reflect the views of the community,” said Krekorian.

“It seems absurd that neighborhood councils can’t take the same action as any other person in the community- so of course I would make it a priority on my agenda,” said Essel.

Concerned with over-development and density in their neighborhoods, some Valley representatives asked where the candidates stood on a bill encouraging development of affordable housing by allowing developers a density bonus if they price a number of units in the affordable range.

Essel, who has been criticized by Krekorian and others for helping to spearhead the bill’s passage as chair of the Central City Association, said she was not in favor of increasing density and overdevelopment in the Valley.

“SB1818 doesn’t belong in the streets of the San Fernando Valley,” Essel said.

Also emphasizing his intent to curb density and overdevelopment, Krekorian said the city has to look at ways of implementing the law appropriately and look to other cities such as Santa Monica, where the law has been applied more effectively.

On the topic of medical marijuana dispensaries, both said the city has failed to curb their proliferation. With 800 dispensaries in the city, while other municipalities of similar size only have a handful, the candidates called for better enforcement of new and existing regulations.

Addressing runaway production, Krekorian touted his accomplishment in authoring recently approved legislation that created California’s first incentive to encourage film and television production in the state in more than 15 years.

Essel, who served as Chair of the California Film Commission and garnered support to get the bill approved, said Los Angeles should follow in New York’s footsteps and offer an additional bonus on top of the state’s incentives to make it even more attractive for productions to film in the city

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