A Chance to Get It Right

This is the last hurrah for Los Angeles City Councilmen Hal Bernson and Joel Wachs. After a combined 48 years on the City Council, the two San Fernando Valley lawmakers are heading into their final term in office--forced out by term limits. Neither faces viable opposition in the April 13 elections, but voters should nonetheless reflect on what these two council veterans have done for--and to--the Valley. And they should demand more over the next four years.

Although both Bernson and Wachs have demonstrated moments of leadership in their respective tenures, they embody the dissatisfaction Valley voters feel with their elected representatives. No one said being a member of the City Council was easy work, but Bernson and Wachs must make an extra effort over the next four years or their legacies will be that they presided over the dissolution of Los Angeles. The disaffection residents feel with City Hall is real, created in part by longtime lawmakers such as Bernson and Wachs.

Bernson was elected to the 12th District council seat in 1979. Over the past 20 years, Bernson has taken the lead on issues of importance to Valley residents. For instance, he wrote the law protecting oak trees, lobbied for tighter earthquake building standards and preserved Stoney Point Park as open space. But he also drew fire for his handling in the early 1990s of the development of Porter Ranch. In short, Bernson delivers for his district. But there is more to the job than that. Bernson says proposed revisions to the city’s cumbersome charter would “destroy the balance of power.” Yet he understands the resentment residents feel toward City Hall and sometimes sounds like an outsider himself. What gives? And what’s the alternative? Secession?

Wachs was elected to his 2nd District council seat in 1971. In recent years, Wachs has become something of a grandstander as he points out inefficiencies in local government. Although his various crusades--from office supplies to the downtown Staples Arena--have saved the city real money, they sometimes seem more about Joel Wachs than fiscal conservatism. And some in the district grumble that Wachs cares more about the bigger city than about his district. Wachs talks the talk when it comes to charter reform and giving residents more say in their government. Let’s hope he lives up to that talk in the next four years.

Both Bernson and Wachs have the opportunity to make a mark on the city they have served for so long. Without a reelection campaign looming on the horizon, each can focus on doing the right things for the right reasons so they can leave a better government than they got.