Last night I had the pleasure of attending Ward 4 Councilman David Benavides’ re-election kick off at the South Coast Winery Restaurant. Needless to say, the event was a great success and I see one of our better Councilmembers heading towards a re-election. The crowd was diverse with many people from the city insiders to the neighborhood folks, people who are usually at odds coming together to support David.
Some of the electeds there were RSCCD Board Member and Democratic sage John Hanna, Mayor Miguel Pulido, Councilmembers Vince Sarmiento and Carlos Bustamante, Former Councilmembers Mike Garcia and Alberta Christy, SAUSD Board members Roman Reyna and Rob Richardson and our Assemblymember Jose Solorio. Some of his colleagues spoke briefly about him, but the one comment that stuck out at me was Carlos Bustamante saying he got in trouble four years ago by his own Republican party for endorsing David(who is a Democrat). Did he forget that David’s opponent in 2006 was also a Democrat?
Also premiered was a commercial put together by a friend of David’s that highlights some of the accomplishments in his ward, particularly the remodeling of the Jerome Park Community Center. My personal thoughts, there are times I have disagreed with some of David’s votes on the Council, but I have always found him to be a person who can take criticism and not make it personal, unlike other members of the City Council. He doesn’t hire bloggers to slander people who disagree with him, he doesn’t threaten to get people fired because they do not go and speak before the Council to denounce critics. David is the ONLY Councilmember who has a regularly monthly office hours at the Southwest Senior Center which allows the common resident to actually come and meet with him and express their concerns.
These are the reasons I support his re-election. I was honored to be at this event and look forward to helping him win this November.
Well said Claudio – I agree 100%.