Now that the votes have been tallied, the results certified and Bernard Parks declared winner of the 8th District City Council election, the extraordinary nature of this political contest can be examined.
Parks, who will take the oath of office for his third and final term around July 1, won a hard-fought race that literally went down to the wire in terms of counting votes. In the end, he was able to fend off challenger Forescee Hogan-Rowles by a margin of 424 votes to win with 51.21 percent versus 43.52 percent. To avoid a runoff, Parks had to win by at least 50 percent plus one vote.
According to some political observers, what was particularly amazing about the contest between Parks and Hogan-Rowles is how much money labor poured into the race–an estimated $1.3 million.
Observers said this was an unprecedented expenditure for a local city council race and, by contrast, only $300,000 was spent against Councilman Jose Huizar in the next mostly hotly contested race.
It also sent a message that people need to think long and hard before taking on labor.
While some observers also feel that after labor spent all that money trying to unseat Parks, Hogan-Rowles should have won. Consequently, the loss is a black-eye for the unions.
USC professor and political analyst Sherrie Bebitch Jeffe doesn’t agree. “People have been positioning it as a labor loss, because she didn’t win. But her percentage went from 6 to 49, and I think that is quite an impressive showing for labor . . .. They came very close to unseating an incumbent. They forced the incumbent to campaign and spend money,” added Jeffe.
“Our goal was to gain 10,000 votes, because we knew at 10,000 we could actually win,” said Hogan-Rowles, who thinks that a little more time would have given her the opportunity to become even more familiar to constituents in the district.
This campaign was her second attempt at the 8th District council seat, and in contrast to her 2003 run, which she called very grassroots and lacking union support. This time around, Hogan-Rowles said her campaign was able to engage people in a way they had not done in 2003.
“I made over 47 church visits, and I stayed to hear the message and talk with people after,” said Hogan-Rowles, who believes this gave her a deep understanding of the issues constituents were concerned about.
Now that he has won reelection, some pundits think that although he can’t run for council again, Parks should be more responsive to labor and to his constituents.
That is because, despite garnering the majority of votes, experts note that a whopping 49 percent of voters living in the district voted against Parks. That means his office needs to be more responsive to requests for service, and to return phone calls more efficiently to become more “warm and fuzzy” in his dealings.
The Parks campaign is pleased with the outcome of the election, particularly because the councilman was outspent 3-to-1.
“We were not necessarily running against a candidate; we were running against an independent campaign,” contends Parks, who said the key to his success was that the people who vote for him consistently saw through the special interest and outside forces.
“The other key to the success is that we actually deliver to the community what they have told us is important to them.”
Now as he moves into his last term, Parks will remain chair of the budget and finance committee, which presents him with the daunting task of figuring out how to eliminate the city’s $400 million debt by May 31.
Additionally, he will continue to upgrade civic facilities such as parks within the district.
In terms of development, Marlton Square and refurbishing the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall are tops on his to-do list. This includes finishing the senior housing on Buckingham Road for occupancy in September; clearing the dilapidated structures from the property; moving forward on developing a grocery store and other amenities at Broadway and Manchester; and building a mixed-use housing facility at 94th Street and Broadway, along with a store.
