The Mayoral Candidate Video Series: Eric Garcetti

Filmed, directed, and edited by Shireen Alihaji and Kris Fortin
Produced by Damien Newton for Streetsblog Los Angeles
Questions from: Bus Riders Union, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, Occidental College UEPI, Southern California Transit Advocates and Streetsblog Los Angeles.
Previous Video: Emanuel Pleitez , Kevin James, Jan Perry

Of all five of the candidate interviews Streetsblog conducted, the one with Eric Garcetti was possibly the most fun. For starters, he chose a park as the film location, so kids were playing in the background as the camera rolls. Second, he kept pitching us stories throughout the interview.

But if course it’s the content, not the tone, that matters most.

Garcetti pledged to make sure his Metro Board appointees actually ride Metro and ties the ability of the agency to keep fares at their current rate (or even target reductions) to the overall economy. As we saw with Pleitez, Garcetti wants to see L.A. become a gold level bike friendly city.

But Garcetti’s most interesting answer comes when asked about updating the city’s zoning laws, something the city will undertake for the first time since 1946.

“I think we have the worst of both worlds here in Los Angeles right now. Projects that are embraced by a community, it still takes way too long to get them done. Projects that aren’t embraced by a neighborhood, nobody knows how to track them or how to speak out and be heard, or how to make sure that they don’t happen.”