Grassroots candidates almost never win in L.A. Voters religiously elect heavily cash-backed City Hall insiders, former legislators or lifelong politicians. Epperhart says Buscaino "brags about not being an insider. Most of us look and say, 'OK, dude, they're gonna kill you.' "
Buscaino drives over to Wilmington's Harbor Park, whose soccer field, wedged between a golf course and a parking lot, looks like it got shipped here from the Third World. It's a dust bowl. At night, swarms of mosquitoes descend. Parents show up for their kids' games armed with bug spray.
PHOTO BY TED SOQUI
City Council candidate Joe Buscaino: It's pronounced Boo-Sky-ee-No.
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"These Wilmington folks," says Buscaino of the working-class portside neighborhood, "they feel such a disconnect. They tell me, 'We're the stepchild of the city of Los Angeles.' "
He boasts that 75 percent of his contributions come from the district. The $103,063 he had collected as of Sept. 24 put him second to Furutani, with McOsker third at $91,004. That doesn't count a hefty $146,566 separate expenditure on McOsker by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), whose leaders hold tremendous sway over the city's powerful Department of Water and Power.
Will the Los Angeles Police Protective League union, which endorsed Buscaino and spent $12,000 on two mailers, spend as heavily on him as IBEW has on McOsker? The police union went big in 2009, spending more than $400,000 on Christine Essel's doomed bid for City Council and $745,000 on Carmen Trutanich's successful run for city attorney.
With 11 candidates, the Nov. 8 election in CD 15 almost certainly will go to a runoff, since no candidate is likely to earn 50 percent plus one vote to win outright. To stay alive, Buscaino needs to be among the top two vote-getters.
The biggest news Buscaino has made was by refusing to attend a "debate" hosted by the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters, which tried to manipulate things by promoting the wide-open race — for which no public polls were conducted — as a three-person election by inviting only Buscaino, McOsker and Furutani.
Buscaino declined the invite, noting there are 11 people in the race. The League, facing bad press for trying to play kingmaker, canceled its event.
"And this is what's wrong with city government," Buscaino says. "Far too many times, you have these small groups who [pretend to] represent the entire city. Why not include everyone in the process?"
Reach the writer at hillelaron@mac.com.
