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# LA City Hall’s Rigged System Is Hot-Button Issue in Council District 5 Race
December 19 2016
Written by Patrick Range McDonald.
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VOX POP--LA City Hall’s [shady, underhanded ways have become a serious hot-button issue](http://2preservela.org/los-angeles-planning-land-use-system-needs-reform/) in the city’s March 2017 elections — and now City Council District 5 candidate Jesse Creed has jumped into the fray.
“As reported by the *LA Times*, ” Creed wrote in an email to supporters, “special interest lobbyists were at the center of a corrupt and illegal campaign finance scheme, collecting over $600,000 in illegal contributions for City Hall politicians. Do you think the politicians care about the people when the lobbyists are the financiers of their campaigns? Please. The people get hosed.”
Since early 2016, the Coalition to Preserve LA, the grassroots movement sponsoring the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, now known as Measure S, has been leading the charge against [City Hall’s unfair, dishonest methods](http://2preservela.org/la-city-council-ramrods-approval-martin-expo-town-center-megaproject-gridlocked-westside/), which favor greedy developers over ordinary Angelenos.
With the City Council and mayoral elections coming up in March, numerous candidates running against City Hall incumbents are now sounding alarm that it’s time for much-needed change. [Jesse Creed](http://www.creedforcouncil.com/) (photo left) is one of them.
Creed is running against [Council District 5 member Paul Koretz](http://councilmemberpaulkoretz.com/index2.php), who serves Hollywood, Bel Air, Fairfax, Century City and Westwood, among other neighborhoods. In a recent email to supporters, the challenger wrote:
Lobbyists are responsible for a culture of special interest dependency and corruption in City Hall, resulting in politicians who ignore the needs of the people. Meanwhile, problems like our broken streets and sidewalks, illegal dumping, and flagrant violations of building codes go unfixed.
We owe it to the people of LA to break this culture of special interest dependency. The people of LA help fund our city elections with a matching funds system that gives candidates up to $100,000 in taxpayer funds. We owe it to the taxpayers of LA to run an ethical campaign.
Coalition to Preserve LA has noted for months that [developers spend millions on politically connected lobbyists](http://2preservela.org/developers-spend-million-la-city-hall-lobbyists-break-rules/), who then woo City Hall politicians and bureaucrats for special spot-zoning favors that negatively impact the rest of us through ruined neighborhoods, gridlock traffic and displacement of longtime residents.
It’s why [community leaders across LA are asking Angelenos to vote “Yes on S”](http://2preservela.org/faqs/) in March.
For his own campaign in Council District 5, Creed vowed to not take developer or lobbyist money.
*Join the Coalition to Preserve L.A. by [clicking here right now to donate](http://2preservela.org/#icons) any amount you wish, and follow and cheer our efforts on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/PreserveLA/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PreserveLA) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/preservela/). For more information, you can also send us an email at .*
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