Citywide Name ID

The Mitch O’Farrell campaign announced today that Mitch has secured the endorsements of two top former CD13 candidates from the March 5th primary election: Sam Kbushyan, who came in a strong 3^rd, and Josh Post, who finished a very close 5^th. Mitch O’Farrell won the primary with a strong showing.

“I’m honored and humbled to have the support of both Sam and Josh, who both ran strong campaigns and earned the respect of the residents across CD13,” said Mitch. “I look forward to teaming up with them on the trail to victory on May 21st.”

Sam Kbushyan stated, “I firmly believe that Mitch is a genuine leader. Having worked in the District for over a decade, he is deeply rooted and understands everyone’s needs and concerns… I have personally worked with Mitch on different projects and believe he has a track record higher than the Capital Records Building. The strong political force I was able to capture in the Armenian-American community will now stand firm behind the next Councilmember:  Mitch O’Farrell.”

The Kbushyan and Post endorsements further demonstrate that this race is about protecting our neighborhoods from outside special interests while making sure local concerns are addressed at City Hall.

Josh Post, who finished a little over 100 votes behind Kbushyan, remarked, "During my own campaign for this seat, I had some specific goals—to make the City more responsive to our underserved neighborhoods, to create good jobs, and to develop a better sense of community for all of us. Mitch not only advocates for these same issues, he has spent years on the front lines actually doing these things. He is a community leader in every sense of the word. I am inspired by his service and am proud to endorse Mitch O'Farrell to represent the 13th Council District."

Building Civic Trust

POLITICS - Greater Los Angeles has been a mecca for Armenian immigration for more than one hundred years, as early as the Turkish massacres of Armenians in 1895-96 and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. In the last four decades, the city has attracted an increasingly large number of immigrants from the Middle East as well as from the former Soviet Republic of Armenia, which gained its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. 

This complex yet vibrant community of “Hayastanci” - Armenians from Armenia proper – have been notably absent from politics and public service, albeit for understandable reasons. Emigrating from the harsh politics and government policies of a Communist regime, they learned not to rely on government for even to their most basic needs. 

Their presence in the U.S. has focused on rebuilding their lives and consolidating their presence through diligence and hard work. Embracing their freedoms in their newly adopted homeland, politics became a baggage of the past. Until late last year, that is. When one of their own decided to run for public office in East Hollywood, the show of unity and force became unprecedented for this community. 

When Sam Kbushyan, a former Board Member of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and Executive Director of the IC Foundation, decided to run for LA City Council District 13, he registered thousands of Armenians in the District within several months. 

Perhaps even Kbushyan did not realize the far-reaching implications of his personal initiative, which became a powerful drive not only for voter registration but also for community empowerment and democracy-building. 

Even though Kbushyan lost in the primary election, he came in an impressive 3^rd place to the surprise of residents and City Hall power-brokers alike. Kbushyan soon endorsed local candidate Mitch O’Farrell over newcomer John Choi, and his loyal Armenian supporters helped secure Mitch O’Farrell’s victory on May 21. About a quarter of the approximately 20,000 voters in the election were Armenians, mostly registered by Sam Kbushyan. 

With the elections over, LA’s Council District 13 and its neighborhood of Little Armenia inherited a politically-energized and newly-registered immigrant population from Armenia proper - a victorious community that almost overnight gained the respect that it once did not have, even amongst its own. 

The impact of Hollywood’s immigrant Armenian community on Council District 13 is quickly becoming a benchmark for other parts of Los Angeles, particularly in the San Fernando Valley, where large communities of Armenians reside. For many, the half a million-strong Armenian community in the greater LA area represents an electoral goldmine which could sway many local elections. 

With continued community organizing and voter registration, the immigrant Armenian communities from Armenia could quickly become a powerful voting bloc within Los Angeles that will have national and even international implications. 

The 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is fast approaching, along with numerous important local, state and national elections. The newly empowered population of immigrants from Armenia may hold the key to the success of the highly regarded Armenian lobby in the United States, including their ability to further influence Congress as well as the President on critical issues such as the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide and a peaceful and just solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict grounded in the principle of self-determination for its native Armenian population. 

Already considered by many to be the second most influential ethnic lobby after the Jewish lobby in Washington D.C., Armenian prominence at the national level has serious potential to grow considering their new successes in California – the nation’s most populous and most powerful state. 

Given the internal feuds amongst the different Armenian factions in Los Angeles and beyond – which once again surfaced during the May elections - the bigger question is whether Armenians will transcend their differences and the interests of a few personal fiefdoms to collaborate for the benefit of their national cause? 

This will serve as a test of the community’s maturity and fortitude during this significant time in the history of this ancient nation.

(Harout Harry Semerdjian is a PhD Candidate at the University of Oxford. He holds advanced M.A. degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also a Council Member of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council.)

-cw

  

CityWatch

Vol 11 Issue 51

Pub: June 25, 2013

Dark horse Sam Kbushyan Hangs Tough with Frontrunners

In the Los Angeles City Council District 13 race, dark horse candidate Sam Kbushyan, who was ignored by nearly all media, is keeping pace with frontrunners Mitch O'Farrell and John Choi in a competitive race for one of California's most prized political seats. Past CD 13 council members have made strong runs for mayor and have served in the state legislature.

With more than 50 percent of votes counted, Kbushyan, who came out strong from the start, sits in a second with 2,126 votes and 16.1 percent. Frontrunner Choi leads him with 2,201 votes and 16.6, and O'Farrell has 2107 votes with 15.95 percent.

Choi is the favorite of big labor unions, and O'Farrell is a former aide to District 13 Councilman Eric Garcetti, who's running for mayor.

Kbushyan is a little known community activist, but he's beating frontrunners Matt Szabo, a former deputy mayor under Antonio Villaraigosa, and Alex De Ocampo, an executive for billionaire Haim Saban's charitable foundation.

All of them have raised major money, and Choi, Szabo, and De Ocampo recently moved into District 13 to try to land the plum seat. Kbushyan, by comparison, raised a lowly $59,432.

The CD 13 race will be a squeaker, so get ready for a long night.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.