LA City Attorneys Association Candidate Forum

(Image courtesy of Joe Grantz under Creative Commons License)

On Tuesday, the L.A. City Attorneys Association held a candidate forum. The group was very gracious to invite me to participate, and I really enjoyed discussing my views regarding the the Office of the City Attorney.  Prior to the candidates form, participants were asked to provide answers to 5 questions in advance. My answers are posted below.

The link to the video can be found here.

1. What are the major initiatives that you want to implement once elected to our office?

I want to redefine the office. The model which has most impressed me is that of the Oakland City Attorney. My core beliefs are (a) in the power of ideas, (b) in the power of the people, and (c) that the goal should at all times be to get the right result, for the right reason, in the right way. I believe in bottom-up governance, not top-down; and I believe in taking steps to ensure that the people have a seat at the table along side the special interests. I don’t believe the City Attorney’s office should ever run political interference for any council member. The City Attorney is independently elected Citywide and has a legitimate political consensus of his or her own which is just as legitimate as that of any Council member. The City Attorney’s office should be the focus for new and exciting ideas and approaches so that the system can better work for the people. I believe we are entering into a new political era – one of ‘practical, progressive politics’. Accordingly, my overriding governance philosophy will be to filter any new program, idea, or approach through the following criteria:

Programs and policies must be (1) Practical, (2) Pro-active, (3) Positive, (4) Progressive, and (5) Principled.

CD5 Coalition of Homeowner Associations LA City Attorney Candidate Forum

Early January 2009, the folks of the  Coalition of Homeowner Associations – Council District 5 held  a Los Angeles City Attorney candidates forum.

The Coalition has posted the video of this candidates forum on YouTube. To ensure that these videos reach the widest audience possible, these videos are featured here, in their entirety. 

Noel has decided to include all the questions and all the candidates that were a part of this forum so that you can fully research your choices in this important race for LA City Attorney.

This is the type of transparency and openness that Noel will continue if elected Los Angeles City Attorney.

In the videos below, Noel is on the far right of the screen, as indicated in the picture below:

Introduction

Upon election, the first 3 changes that would be instituted

Click on the red box below to see Noel’s response to each question that was asked at the candidate forum.