Candidate for
Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 6

"As your city councilman, I will focus on improving the economic vitality in the Valley. Private sector jobs will be a priority.

"We will do this by cutting red tape and bureaucracy, and by lowering the cost of doing business in our city. I will work tirelessly with the council and the community to reform the budget so we can invest in repairing crumbling sidewalks and pot-holed roads within our district.

"I will invest in our people by enacting a comprehensive plan to bring better representation to the Valley, by encouraging greater civic participation and establishing open two-way communication through the use of technology. This will allow us unprecedented power as we tackle the biggest issues against special interests in City Council."--Rich Goodman

LET'S INVEST IN OUR LOCAL ECONOMY

The unfortunate loss of jobs in Rich Goodman's family in 2007, and the foreclosure on their family home impacted Goodman's outlook on the importance of jobs in our community. He has dedicated the past three years to rebuilding his life through hard work as a small business entrepreneur. Goodman is uniquely dedicated to bring jobs to the people and families of the Valley, and understands the importance and urgency to make sure it happens.

As your Councilman, Rich Goodman will:

• Cut red tape and bureaucracy that prohibits small businesses from succeeding
• Simplify fees and permits for small businesses
• Create a plan to phase out gross income tax to make L.A. a competitive city with which to do business
• Enact local business tax incentives to hire and train locally
• Encourage partnering of schools, industry, and non-profits for vocational and internship opportunities
• Create a task force to successfully attract businesses to relocate to the Valley
• Attract the next generation of industry jobs by encouraging industry specific development zones
• Establish a feed-in tariff to expand the renewable energy sector

The Valley has always received the short end of the stick when it comes to city services. Rich Goodman will work to make sure the City of Los Angeles prioritizes improving city services. In order to invest, we need to make sure we trim the fat and excess waste that has plagued our city for too long. He will lead by example by cutting in the first year of his term 33% of operating budget costs for his council budget.

• Focus on funding more street services to make sure our streets are clean and safe for our families.
• Vote against motions that shift liability to homeowners for sidewalk repairs and any lawsuits.
• Work with residents to establish tax incentives for fixing the crumbling sidewalks.
• Create a task force to ensure we utilize all state and national funds to invest in our communities.
• Encourage and participate in volunteerism for Graffiti Busters and cleanup days.
• Stop wasteful giveaways to special interests by requiring competitive bidding on all city assets, including bonds (to avoid losing $20 million in bonds like in 2006).
• Minimize overtime policies in all departments to save labor costs.
• Oppose projects that spend your precious dollars on subsidizing private enterprises.
• Enact stronger fiscal policy reforms.

In order to make a big impact in our community and beat special interests from influencing what is best for our city, Rich Goodman will build build a grassroots coalition of citizens within the district that will put pressure on all our city officials to make meaningful change once and for all. He will make sure that the people's voice can be heard and encouraged. With the new medium of technologies, we can do more than ever before.

• Work closely with Neighborhood Council's and Neighborhood Associations, to solve local problems.
• Use Facebook to constantly update and solicit feedback on ordinances I vote for.
• Have weekly "Coffee with the Councilman" meetings throughout the district.
• Do a weekly video of the major activities of the week and post it on my site.
• Develop an online forum where people can participate by giving input on proposed ordinances and local issues.
• Develop community task force to propose further ideas for creating transparency and accountability.