A Vote for the Anti-Politician Politician

The 1990 election was marked by voter hostility toward politics as usual and the politicians who practice it, as illustrated by the enactment of term limits in California and other states. Some pundits dubbed it the Year of the Anti-Politician.

If the primary election results in Los Angeles County’s 1st Supervisorial District are any indication, local voters are still in an anti-politician mood. That should help Gloria Molina make the historic move from the Los Angeles City Council to the Board of Supervisors in Tuesday’s special election. For, despite her years in public office, she is still regarded as an outsider by all of the political insiders who grimace at the very mention of her name. The voters certainly see her that way, which is why they easily made her the top vote-getter over eight other candidates--including two well-known state senators--in last month’s primary election.

There was a message in those results for the denizens of the county Hall of Administration. If there is any level of government left hereabouts that needs to be shaken out of its cozy and arrogant lethargy, it’s the county.

As we argued when we first endorsed Molina some weeks ago, she is far more likely to change things in county government than her opponent, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles). Torres is a fine public servant with an admirable record of accomplishment. There are many posts in state and local governments where he would be the best man for the job--but not this job, and certainly not now.

County supervisors have shown all too often how isolated and arrogant they can be, most blatantly in wasting more than $6 million fighting the redistricting lawsuit that led to the special 1st District election. Torres is the kind of politician who gets ahead by going along, and we frankly doubt that he would be willing to go against all of the special interests and moneyed lobbies that cater to the members of the Board of Supervisors. We find it more than a little revealing that special interests, lobbyists and even other members of the board are lining up now to endorse Torres and give him campaign donations that could total $1 million. They don’t want their cozy county arrangement shaken up.

Granted, Molina can be abrasive and hard to get along with. Having opposed her on issues like putting a state prison in downtown Los Angeles, we can attest to her political wrath. But she fights that way because she sincerely believes she is battling for her constituents. No voter could ask any more of a political leader, which is why we expect that those constituents will want to vote for Molina next week. We urge any voters who have not yet made up their minds to join them.