Show real leadership, for a change

It is very regrettable that the mayor and members of the City Council do not get off the fundraising campaign trail after they are elected. Everyone knows the power of money in reelecting candidates, but we forget about its influence after the campaign is over. The reason we haven’t addressed so many challenging city issues is because even after the election, we’re still catering to special interests. Issues like homelessness, affordable housing, crime and public safety go by the wayside if they’re not feeding the council members’ campaign coffers.

Roundtable discussions should be held between the mayor and the council where all sides discuss short-term goals and longterm solutions. The community needs to join in this effort, and the press needs to explore creative ways to communicate to the public how our council members are voting and where the special interest money is going.

We need to step away from the “not in my backyard” mindset. The go-along, get-along informal policy where council members give one another almost total leeway to make decisions within their own districts must stop. We are one city, and a bad decision in a council member’s district hurts the wellbeing of the entire city.

We also need our mayor to ensure that special interests are not getting special privileges from our department heads. Homelessness, lack of affordable housing and crime are destroying our city. But we have an opportunity to make real reforms with a new mayor and new council members, if they will only step up to the challenge.

Gloria Molina is a former L.A. city councilwoman and a former L.A. County supervisor.