Had enough?

• Had enough of downtown bureaucrats and City Hall insiders running roughshod over your interests?
• Had enough of people who don't live in the Northwest San Fernando Valley making decisions that ruin our neighborhoods, through over-development and blight?
I have, which is why I got involved in local politics, and
why I would like your help.
As life-long residents of the northwest San Fernando Valley, my wife Maria and I have done our best to try and maintain our neighborhood as the kind of community we grew up in; a safe and, just as important, affordable middle class neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles.

Once the Los Angeles City Charter was amended to allow the creation of neighborhood councils, I was eager to get involved - again, because I knew the powers-that-be in City Hall are not looking out for our interests; they are looking out for their own.

In 2006, I had the great honor of being elected as a founding member of the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council board. I was elected vice-president in 2007, and re-elected to both in 2008.

Since 2006, I have worked with the rest of the council on planning and land-use issues, fighting over-building and over-development, supporting intelligent growth, and assisting our local civic groups and emergency services. I have advocated for the Council's support of beautification efforts throughout Granada Hills, notably for the Veteran's Triangle Memorial at Zelzah and Chatsworth, and for support of Granada Hills Charter High School.

Today, the mayor and the council are planning on cutting spending on city parks, libraries, and all the other services we pay for to make Los Angeles inviting place to live; they are not, of course, planning on cutting their own budgets.

Angelenos need to fight to protect our communities at every level, from the neighborhood councils to City Hall; that is why I am involved, and also why I would sincerely appreciate your vote in 2010.

Very respectfully,
Brad Smith