Los Angeles Police Protective League members wonder why organization spent $400,000 on Essel in CD2
In Rick Orlov's Tipoff, members of the Los Angeles Police Protective League express their frustration at how and why the group spent $400,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to elect Christine Essel as the councilwoman for CD2 when the guy who won, Paul Krekorian, doesn't seem all that bad.
Worse, did the LAPPL make an enemy? The same could be said for the IBEW, the union that reps DWP workers and which also spent heavily to promote Essel's candidacy.
That's why smart people, when they want to curry at least a little favor, tend to give to both sides. Gotta hedge your bets, you know.
And coming from where I sit, all that mail for Essel so obviously funded by third parties just made it look like a) they feared Krekorian more than they liked Essel and b) Essel not only had lost control of her own campaign but seemingly never had it, turning into a potential pawn for monied downtown interests.
Whether that was true or not, we'll never know, since Essel didn't win, but it's a good lesson for future candidates: It's not what you spend, it's how you spend it ... and leadership or the lack thereof — either real or perceived — can boost or sink a candidate.
As I've written before, I don't know whether or not the Krekorian campaign made a conscious decision NOT to attack Essel as much as the other side(s) attacked Krekorian. But whether Krekorian-sponsored attack mailers far trailed Essel's in volume due to principles, strategy or simply a relative lack of money, I firmly believe it worked for the Krekorian camp.
We'll have to see how Krekorian plays it, but the DWP, if not the LAPD rank and file shouldn't be surprised if they get less than top-tier treatment from the new councilman in CD2.
Krekorian campaigned on a law-and-order and DWP-ratepayers ticket, so both of those philosophies will probably help the two groups that spent so dearly to keep him off the City Council.
Kids, if you want to know what irony is all about, this is a pretty good example, or at least it could be (and time will tell).
I doubt if Los Angeles City Councilman-elect and still California State Assemblyman Paul Krekorian will even think of getting funny with the municipal unions which opposed him.
In fact a Los Angeles Police Department North Hollywood Division alumnus is an Aspen policeman named Chip Seamans.
Since it appears Mr. Krekorian has social climbing ants in his pants besides the hunger for greater political power and recognition, I think the LAPD has the rich and the famous standing he seeks through now Aspen Police Officer Chip Seamans, don't you agree?