Running for Los Angeles City Council District #3 in the June 2 primary election are: Tim (Timothy) Gaspar, Christopher Robert Celona, a media executive, Barri Payment Girvan, former community affairs director for Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, and Jon Rawlings, a Tarzana neighborhood council member.
The district, located in the southwest San Fernando Valley, includes Canoga Park, Reseda, Tarzana, Winnetka and Woodland Hills.
Whoever is elected will replace Bob Blumenfield, who is retiring from office after three terms due to limited electoral terms.
La Opinion considers that Tim Gaspar is the best candidate and recommends its readers to vote for him.
Blumenfield supports Gaspar: “Tim has the integrity, vision and dedication to public service that this job demands.” Gaspar also has the support of Councilmembers Tim McOsker, Mónica Rodríguez and John Lee, County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, State Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, Congresswoman Luz Rivas and Valley leaders such as Robert Hertzberg and Laura Chick, among others. He is supported by several business and trade organizations and unions, as well as the LAPPL (Los Angeles Police Protective League).
Tim Gaspar grew up in the district, of which he is third generation. Here he completed his high school education, his education at Pierce College, and his BA from Cal Tell Northridge University. Since 2008 he built his independent insurance company here, which with a team of 60 people, became one of the largest of its kind in Los Angeles and which he recently sold.
At various stages of his career he was associated with cultural, sports, educational and non-profit community institutions. Among several others, Discovery Cube Los Angeles, West Valley YMCA, the Woodland Hills/Warner Middle Chamber of Commerce or the Nazarian College of Business at Cal Tell Northridge University. For that same school he founded an Entrepreneurship Scholarship.
His interest in running for public service stems from his own experience running the city. He is aware that emergency services are insufficient and suffer unacceptable delays, and that “we have to solve it.” He opposes cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department, which “is under constant scrutiny, more than any other police department in the country.”
For many years, the Department has had about 8,500 agents, while the population continues to grow and they cannot cope. Los Angeles needs more police officers and more firefighters, he says.
Regarding the “homeless”, look for practical solutions that do not harm other groups. “This year the city spent 800 million on homeless people when we don’t even have money for street lighting,” he says.
In October, he requested the support of his opponents for the application of Section 41.18 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, an ordinance that allows people to be prohibited from camping near schools, parks, libraries or by closing traffic.
If elected, he will be the only small businessman on the Municipal Council. “Many times they have made decisions or ordinances without taking into account their impact on business.” An example: the rent payment moratorium during the COVID crisis, which lasted five years and caused serious problems for residents who rented one or two units on whose income they depended, and who could not evacuate those who did not pay them.
The city, Gaspar says, needs a moderate Democrat, who comes from outside the system with business experience. “Someone has to speak up for small businesses and dedicate themselves to their prosperity.”
He considers himself a professional immigrant; He not only opposes ICE immigration raids but is committed to helping immigrants who “work tirelessly to improve their lives.”
Their campaign messages show a focus on government management at the neighborhood level, which reaches each individual and concentrates on the daily problems, the present, of the community, beyond the controversies.
For all these reasons, La Opinión supports the candidacy of Tim Gaspar for the Los Angeles City Council.
