Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will be a heavy favorite for a second term in next year’s elections, but he’s going to get some aggressive competition.
Green Dot Public Schools founder Steve Barr was among seven people filing declarations of intention to run for mayor on the final day to turn in candidate papers for the March 7 city election.
Barr has said he is running “to disrupt the political establishment and turn our city around.” He said he is building a grassroots movement “to transform L.A.’s public schools, end the homeless and (housing) affordability crisis and fight for a city where every family can thrive.”
The mayor of Los Angeles has no formal role in education, although mayors have routinely weighed in on education controversies.
Green Dot Public Schools was founded in 1999 in response to the poor state of public high schools in the Los Angeles area. It had one ninth-grade class of 140 students when it started in 2000, and now serves more than 11,000 students in Los Angeles, Memphis, Tennessee and Tacoma, Washington, according to information supplied by the nonprofit organization.
Green Dot seeks to serve students who may fall through the cracks in the traditional school system, both in terms of academic preparation and the need for academic acceleration.
Also filing Friday to increase the field to 19 were Jeffrey Aundre Sharp, a community economic advocate; Jonathan Kirkland, a chief executive officer; Ed Ryan, a political activist; William “Washington James” Haynes, a writer/web publisher; Frantz Pierre, a community activist; and Michael Maier, who did not list an occupation.
The period to submit nominating petitions begins Saturday and ends Dec. 7.
Not all candidates filing declarations of intention will qualify for the ballot.
Announcing his candidacy on Friday was Paul E. Amori, the creator of Amori’s Casino & Burlesque, which he describes as a late-night venue celebrating love in all its forms and passions.
Amori is the founder of the Love Party, which he said will create a new political paradigm by bringing love to politics and putting it to action to solve real world problems.
“With the nation’s largest homeless population, congested streets and highways, rising cost of living and crime, Los Angeles is in dire need of more love,” said Amori, who filed his declaration of intention on Tuesday.
Garcetti filed his declaration of intention on Wednesday. His campaign declined to respond to the comments by Barr and Amori.
— City News Service