Just A Few Thousand People Will Determine Who Wins L.A.'s Mayoral Race: You Should Be One Of Them

Fill in the blank:  Put your _____ where your mouth is.

Do you realize how very few people contribute to the campaigns of people running for Mayor in the City of Los Angeles?

The City Ethics Commission requires candidates to disclose the names of only of those people who have contributed $100 or more.  As a result, I can't tell you exactly how many people and businesses have contributed.  But I can tell you how many contributions of $100 or more each candidate has received -- some of which, by the way, can be multiple contributions from the same people.

Let's start with Kevin James. Mrs. Moore and I have each made our modest initial $100 contributions to Kevin's campaign, and I hope you will contribute, too.  (Here's a handy link for you to do so.) Our contributions are two of 401 contributions of $100 or more Kevin's campaign received in 2011.

Austin Beutner, the billionaire, received just 896 contributions of $100 or more. Eric Garcetti, the career politician, received 1,860 contributions. Wendy Greuel, another Spring Street insider, received just 1,910 contributions of $100 or more. Jan Perry, another member of the Spring Street Gang, got 1,416 contributions of $100 or more.

Add it all up, and you find there have been just 6,483 contributions of $100 or more to all of the candidates combined -- including all those career politicians who will be cannibalizing one another's voting blocs.


Think about that, would you?

In a city with around four million residents, just a few thousand people are funding the campaigns to determine who the next Mayor will be.

That means you -- yes YOU -- need to open up Mr. Checkbook to try to salvage this train wreck of a city. Think about it: you live here; your stuff is here; your job is here; your house is here; your kids and dogs are here, too. You're not a bystander, man. You're a passenger on this Italian cruise ship, and you're handcuffed to the deck railing. (I know, I switched metaphors; so sue me.)

Do you really want to sit this out to save $100? No. Your contribution really can make a difference. The few thousand people who contribute will determine which candidates get their message out to 200,000 or 300,000 people who will bother to vote.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Contribute to Kevin's campaign, and do it now, so he can get the word out to people who aren't as knowledgeable as you about local politics.