Candidate for
City Attorney; City of Los Angeles

• Public Safety
• The Environment
• Senior Citizens
• Working people and families
• Budget, Finance and Economic Development
• Political Ethics & Government Reform
• Youth, Families & Education
• Neighborhood Improvements & Empowerment

• Co-authored Proposition "F" to fund upgrades and expansion of city fire stations and animal shelters
• Initiated the Community Court Pilot Project in Van Nuys and Downtown to combat quality of life crime
• Secured the funds to expand domestic violence emergency intervention and prevention teams
• Obtained the funds to improve the 9-1-1 system and initiated the effort to create a 3-1-1 non-emergency system
• Led efforts to increase the budget for police overtime, fire safety and brush clearance
• Established the citywide volunteer school crossing guard program with LAPD and the L.A. Unified School District
• Wrote the nation's first municipal law to combat illegal weapons trafficking by restricting the sale of handguns to one a month
• Wrote the city's comprehensive firearms control bill that bans high-capacity magazines, requires sale of trigger locks, mandates background check for gun store employees and toughens ammunition registration requirements
• Convened the first Gun Law Enforcement Summit to improve enforcement of gun laws

• Chairs the City Council Budget Committee
• Chairs the City Council ad hoc Committee on Business Tax Reform
• Created tax incentives for start-up businesses and small businesses
• Led the effort to craft the city's first debt policy
• Increased staffing to improve the city's tax collection efforts
• Initiated the overhaul of the City capital projects administration and instituted new oversight requirements
• Developed new methods for financing construction of public parking facilities citywide

• Obtained funds for 75,000 additional home delivered meals for seniors
• Preserved the emergency transit voucher program for the elderly
• Developed the Safety NET senior preparedness program that has been replicated citywide
• Won approval for new senior housing in Sherman Oaks
• Created and funded a new position of Elder Abuse
• Coordinator in the Department of Aging
• Called for installation of audible pedestrian signals at intersections frequented by seniors

• Initiated the charter reform process in the City Council and developed major charter reform proposals
• Wrote the successful charter amendment that increased the independence of the City Ethics Commission
• Won passage of an ordinance that prevents serious ethics violators from obtaining city contracts
• Successfully fought for a City Council Code of Conduct in the new City Charter
• Initiated the pending measure to ban political contributions and fundraising by lobbyists
• Called for the U.S. Department of Justice to create a joint federal, state and local panel to investigate and prosecute criminal activity associated with the Rampart scandal
• Led the effort to provide the Police Commission and Inspector General with the resources to independently evaluate the Rampart Board of Inquiry report
• Initiated the overhaul of the city capital projects administration and oversight
• Led the effort to create a city Human Relations Department and expand it resources

• Wrote the ordinance to ban diesel trash trucks at city landfills
• Led the City Council effort to eliminate MTA diesel buses
• Secured funds to preserve Deervale as public park land, adding 80 acres of open space in the Santa Monica Mountains that were previously slated for development
• Facilitated the greening of public schools
• Introduced legislation to require recycling at commercial and multi-family buildings
• Called for investigation into potential health risks from petroleum coke at the Port of Los Angeles
• Secured funding for greenbelt and recreation use along the L.A. River in Studio City
• Led the successful fight to prevent diversion of storm water fees used to limit pollution in Santa Monica Bay
• Initiated the comprehensive inventory and abatement of lead paint in Recreation and Parks facilities
• Organized and implemented numerous tree planting projects in the Fifth Council District

• Created READ LA, a partnership of the school district, community colleges, state colleges, three unions and the library system to help students learn to read
• Developed a joint use agreement with the school district to open school sites for public recreation
• Initiated the city's first child care program for evening hours using elementary school sites
• Led the effort to create the first citywide standards for quality after school child care
• Established artist-in-residence programs at elementary schools
• Wrote the ordinance to ban billboard and on-site advertising for tobacco and alcohol near schools, parks, churches and residential areas
• Led the effort to expand library hours at 15 community branch libraries
• Wrote legislation to fund park and recreation facilities in under-served neighborhoods
• Created the "Shoulder-to-Shoulder" program to promote improved race relations among middle school youth

• Established two pilot Neighborhood Councils to address local issues
• Secured federal funding to compensate homeowners for earthquake damage repairs
• Created an earthquake recovery team to help property owners rebuild after the earthquake
• Led the effort to insure that parking revenues for construction of new parking facilities remain in the districts in which they are generated
• Established a Task Force to seek solutions to the citywide housing crisis
• Won approval of redevelopment of the Sherman Oaks Galleria
• Helped create Business Improvement Districts in Studio City and Sherman Oaks
• Saved 260 affordable housing units by preserving Chase
• Knolls Apartments as an Historic Monument
• Secured a Neighborhood Initiative designation and funding for Fairfax Avenue cleanup
• Secured the SMART radar system for the Westside Traffic Division to slow traffic and improve safety
• Increased police patrols in the Beverly-Fairfax area
• Developed traffic mitigation programs for four neighborhoods around Fox Studios
• Revitalizing Westwood Village with a new parking structure, police substation and streetscaping improvements
• Led the effort to decommission Santa Monica Airport LDA - eliminating airport flight path over residential neighborhoods in Beverlywood, Cheviot Hills and Century City
• Initiated an innovative Neighborhood Improvement plan for the newly-created Valley Glen area
• Secured funding and developed design for the Studio City Library minipark

• Supported City Council living wage ordinance
• Supported City Council prevailing wage requirements
• Supported project labor agreement before the City Council
• Spoke out against Proposition 226 on the ballot in 1998
• Spoke out in favor of Proposition 26 on the 2000 Primary Election ballot
• Opposed the voucher initiative on the 2000 General Election ballot
• Opposed Proposition 35 on the November 2000 General
• Election ballot
• Opposed anti-labor Valley transit legislation
• Attended Justice For Janitors rallies and facilitated labor contracts for janitors
• Strongly supported the Sherman Oaks Galleria renovation
• Strongly supported Staples Center
• Strongly supported Trizec-Hahn's Hollywood Project
• Supports the Farmers Market project
• Created the "Shoulder-to-Shoulder" program to promote improved race relations among middle school youth
• Co-authored Proposition "F" to fund upgrades and expansion of city fire stations and animal shelters
• Initiated the city's first child care program during evening hours using elementary school sites
• Led the effort to create the first citywide standards for quality after school child care
• Secured federal funding to compensate homeowners for earthquake damage repairs
• Created an earthquake recovery team to help property owners rebuild after the earthquake
• Wrote legislation to fund park and recreation facilities in under-served neighborhoods
• Won approval for new senior housing in Sherman Oaks
• Created and funded a new position of Elder Abuse
• Coordinator in the Department of Aging
• Obtained funds for 75,000 additional home delivered meals for seniors
• Developed new methods for financing construction of public parking facilities citywide
• Brought together leaders of labor organizations representing teachers and college professors to help create READ LA, a partnership of the school district, community colleges, state colleges, three unions and the library system to help students learn to read
• As Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, provided the leadership to create El Portal, a program to protect the rights of Spanish speaking Alzheimer's patients
• As Executive Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, created a Home Equity Fraud Prevention Task Force to protect Seniors against losing their homes