This past week, our campaign volunteers, Nathan Paternostro & Jaymie Profico, joined me at North Hollywood Park for an unveiling/lighting ceremony for our city park’s very first solar-powered streetlights.  Councilman Tom LaBonge emceed the ceremony where many of North Hollywood’s civil servants were honored, including senior lead officers, John Catalano and Robert Benavidez.

Ed Begley Jr. was there to help light the solar-powered lamps which automatically turn on at sunset and are completely self-contained.  Each lamp has a solar collector connected to a battery which powers the lights.  These lamps are as powerful as a normal streetlamp and the power is free!  Ed has always been very supportive of my political activism and even endorsed me when I ran for Studio City Neighborhood Council.  Ed generously provided narration for the soon-to-be-released educational video regarding the use of Leaf-blowers in our communities, (more later…) so naturally it was great to see him and his lovely daughter, Hayden at the event.

Ed reminded everyone that they should fulfill their green desires by starting out with what they know they can do and what they can afford.  Small steps first, then keep going.  Good advice for those who are learning to be Green.

These solar lights are historically significant for our community in that they are the very first solar lights installed at an L.A. City park.  We support installing solar-powered lighting not only in every city park, but also all over the city—do we not?  We do!

Also this past week I lectured a class on Democracy 101 at Pasadena City College and explained the 10 Key Values of the Green Party to them.  The students there were very bright and the students had a lot to say about the Key Values of Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice, Ecological Wisdom and Future Focus.

I also participated in a debate of the different political parties for another class at Arroyo High School this past week.  The debate was centered on the issue of Health Care Reform but other subjects came up as well.  The students could easily tell the differences in the various parties’ platforms and of course, we reminded them that single-payer, universal care is the only meaningful reform that will truly bring our nation into the 21st century.

We have been following up with the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment regarding the problems we discovered during the campaign with various Neighborhood Council members who may have committed violations of ethics through their partisan efforts to support candidates.  We are soon to receive a few very-needed determinations from the City Attorney’s office on this subject as well.

Saturday is the Neighborhood Council Action Conference, which I will be attending.  I will be promoting Clean Money elections for the City of L.A. at this event and will also join break-out groups to discuss urgent city issues such as a Rate-Payer Advocate, a 50% pay cut for City Council members, and other issues of reform that matter to us all.  I will submit a follow-up report on this gathering later.

Coming up next week…

Robin Gilbert and I have an important meeting coming up with Trent Lange, the Executive Director of the California Fair Elections campaign.  We will be discussing strategies to bring
Fair/Clean Money Elections to Los Angeles.

I will be testifying at Long Beach City Council regarding the implementation of Instant Run-Off voting rules for the city of Long Beach.

Wednesday I will be presenting a report on IRV at the Government Affairs Committee meeting in Studio City.  I have served on this committee since its inception and it is the originating source of my motions for action regarding election and ethics reforms.  All are welcome to attend.

Then-next Saturday is the Mayor’s Budget Day and the big Neighborhood Council Congress at City Hall.  Hundreds of community leaders will be there and the workshops for NC members should be interesting, but I’ve attended this event several times before and I have to say that I do not appreciate the Mayor hijacking precious time at this NC Congress day every year for his own ends.

Will keep you posted on these events.  This update will be posted at our web site at www.McCuefor2.com.  Please feel free to look for updates there as the website will continue to stay online until further notice.

Until next time, I remain…

In your service,

Michael McCue

Board Member, Studio City Neighborhood Council
Chair – Environment Affairs Committee
Green Party Candidate for CD-2

Studio City, CA