VOTE FOR MEASURE R TO RESTORE INTEGRITY.Byline: RICHARD RIORDAN Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. local view IN 1993, as a mayoral candidate, I urged residents of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to support term limits for all citywide elected officials. I was right then -- about the need to eliminate career politicians in city government by creating a fixed term of service. And I am right again today, when I urge you to support Measure R to extend City Council service from two to three terms and reform ethics ethics, in philosophy, the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a rules to bring integrity back to City Hall. Term limits remain essential to a healthy government. They prevent politicians from getting too comfortable. They enforce accountability The traceability of actions performed on a system to a specific system entity (user, process, device). For example, the use of unique user identification and authentication supports accountability; the use of shared user IDs and passwords destroys accountability. , and require elected officials to deliver on their promises. However, the two-term limit at City Hall has created a high-speed high-speed adj. 1. Operated or designed for operation at high speed: a high-speed food processor. 2. Taking place at high speed: a high-speed chase. 3. revolving door, eliminating institutional knowledge and the historical perspective integral to tackling complex civic problems. Currently, the longest-serving member of the council has been there only seven years. Seven other members are due to be forced out of office in 2009, and five more in 2011. Today's eight-year limit discourages long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. government commitment to major city problems such as tackling traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. or increasing public safety. Elected officials are reluctant to invest their time and resources into ongoing projects that they will never see completed or consider a political risk. The constant changing of council leadership, focus and priorities results in the abandonment of citywide efforts and district-specific projects. By allowing City Council members to serve an additional four years, Measure R would give elected officials more time to make a difference and an opportunity to tackle the big issues. Measure R would also amend the City Charter to create powerful restrictions on lobbyists and bring an end to special interests' access to City Hall. These restrictions include prohibiting free gifts to elected officials, tightening controls on campaign contributions and imposing tough reforms on contract bidders. In addition, Measure R would ban lobbyists from being appointed to any city board or commission. By passing Measure R, voters will ensure that lobbyists will no longer be able to ``buy votes'' at City Hall. Measure R would stop special-interest groups from influencing city officials by toughening disclosure rules for millions of dollars of independent expenditures made in elections and requiring greater disclosure by candidates in all political advertisements. It would also increase restrictions on former elected officials' ability to lobby the city after leaving government service, and require current officials, their staffs, and city commissioners to attend mandatory ethics training. A vote for Measure R is an opportunity to rein in to check the speed of, or cause to stop, by drawing the reins. to cause (a person) to slow down or cease some activity; - to rein in is used commonly of superiors in a chain of command, ordering a subordinate to moderate or cease some activity deemed excessive. See also: Rein Rein the special-interest groups and bring an end to the ``pay to play'' era at City Hall. Ethics reform at City Hall is long overdue OVERDUE. A bill, note, bond or other contract, for the payment of money at a particular day, when not paid upon the day, is overdue. 2. The indorsement of a note or bill overdue, is equivalent to drawing a new bill payable at sight. 2 Conn. 419; 18 Pick. , and Measure R is the answer. Extending term limits combined with increased restrictions on lobbyists and campaign contributions would protect City Council members from the influence of special interests and afford them the time to do their jobs ethically and effectively. I urge you to vote yes for Measure R on Nov. 7. Bring integrity back to City Hall. |
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