As a lawyer, business owner and civic leader who serves on the city, county and state levels, Angela Reddock believes her combination of business and civic skills makes her the best candidate for the 11th District City Council seat. The seat will be vacated by termed-out Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski in June. Reddock is running against fellow first-time political candidates Bill Rosendahl and Flora Gil Krisiloff in the nonpartisan primary election March 8. Appointed to the City’s Transportation Commission by Mayor James Hahn in January 2002, Reddock advises the Department of Transportation on traffic issues, but feels frustrated by the lack of resources devoted to mitigating traffic. As a councilperson, she would like to serve on the transportation, budget and environmental affairs committees and be part of redirecting the priorities of the city. Her campaign slogan is ‘Putting People and Neighborhoods First.’ A partner in the law firm Collins, Mesereau, Reddock & Yu, LLP, Reddock, 35, grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, in a close-knit extended family. ‘I spent a lot of time with my grandmother,’ she told attendees at the Palisades AARP meeting last week. She recalled joining her grandmother, an assistant in a convalescent home, on a picket line, fighting for fair wages. When she was 9, she and her mother, an administrative assistant, moved to Los Angeles, where her mother’s siblings already lived, ‘in search of the good life on the West Coast.’ They settled in Compton, where Reddock attended elementary school and began her involvement in student government. Her junior high school had a sister program with Brentwood School, where Reddock attended high school. ‘It was my first connection with the Westside and I’ve been on this side ever since,’ said Reddock who lives in Westchester. Reddock was encouraged to look into East Coast colleges by a Brentwood teacher who himself had attended Amherst College, where she ended up studying political science and English. She spent her junior year abroad at Oxford University. ‘I love the East Coast, but I love L.A. more, so I came back,’ she said. Immediately after college, Reddock was one of 12 Coro Foundation fellows, a year-long fellowship in examining different areas of government, from public affairs to nonprofits and government entities and, ‘how they work together to build consensus and get things done.’ Reddock worked on L.A. County Supervisor Yvonne Burke’s campaign and interned with LAUSD, MTA and other governmental agencies. She interviewed civic leaders including Kenneth Hahn and Willie Brown. ‘It was my first opportunity as an adult to hone leadership skills, shine as needed but also learn the art of mediation and consensus-building in a group. I decided whatever else I do professionally, I’d be involved in government.’ After graduating from UCLA Law School in 1995, she began her law career at a boutique firm specializing in employment and labor law, and spent eight years at the L.A. branch of Jackson Lewis, a national firm. ‘I was on the partnership track, but I wanted the freedom to be involved civically and and to pursue my entrepreneurial passions.’ Currently, she is a co-owner of an executive transportation service on the Westside as well as managing partner at her law firm which specializes in employment law. The part of her work she is most proud of is the training she does for large companies’training workforce and management on preventing discrimination, harrassment and workplace violence. She also has served on nonprofit boards, such as the executive committee for Ability First. Supervisor Burke appointed her to serve on the County Small Business Development Commission in October 2002. Reddock was surprised when former Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson asked her to serve on the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology in 2003, since she has no experience in the field. ‘He said ‘The reason we need you on the board is that you understand how to create policy and regulation.’ It’s a heavily regulated industry and we fall under the Consumer Protection Agency.’ Her priorities while in office would be traffic, public safety, environment and development but first and foremost addressing the needs of the district’s residents. ‘Making sure I deliver in our local services that our tax dollars pay for’filling potholes, fixing sidewalks and trimming trees,’ she said. ‘These are the things we’re in business to do at the city council level.’ Traffic, she said, is a citywide issue. ‘To get to the root of the problem, we have to look at regional solutions, working with the 14 other councilmembers to get traffic moving on major thoroughfares’Wilshire, Lincoln, Sepulveda and Santa Monica boulevards’streets that go through multiple districts. A large part of our ability to make change within our city depends upon funding we receive on the county, state and federal levels. ‘I want to be sure we receive a better share of these dollars for public safety. I want to preserve and possibly build or enhance current open spaces. Everyone wants to build here, and we are starting to lose the quality of our existing neighborhoods. Planning is taking place in an ad hoc fashion.’ Reddock would like to call a summit, bringing together residents, stakeholders, business leaders and experts in planning and development to talk about development needs in the district and put together a strategic plan. ‘My goal is to involve as many interested members of the community as possible.’ In fact, this goal is pervasive in her campaign. ‘People feel distant from City Hall, that their voices are not always heard and that they don’t have full access,’ Reddock said. ‘People are frustrated. They want to feel as though they have a connection to their elected representative. This would be a priority for me and my staff.’ If elected, Reddock would hire a chief of staff, deputies on certain issues as well as deputies specializing in various neighborhoods. ‘Resident-constituents can have direct access. When they call our office, they’re going to get a return call within 24 hours by someone who knows their neighborhood and issues.’ She also plans to hold office hours throughout the district where people can meet with her one-on-one or as groups. She would continue to attend community meetings as she has throughout her campaign. Another of her ideas is to form 11th District advisory groups, made up of neighborhood and business leaders, which would meet quarterly. ‘Many of our issues are the same throughout the district. I want to foster the spirit that we all live in a common place, share common concerns and can work together to reach common solutions.’ Reddock began campaigning late last summer and her field team consists of director Pirikana Johnson and two top UCLA students. ‘It’s a family effort, my mother and aunt are heavily involved with day-to-day operations,’ she said. Reddock set up her campaign office on Sepulveda in Westchester a month ago. ‘Business associates who have known me and seen me in action are committed to helping me get the word out.’ Reddock, who is single, has a brother who is a senior at Southern Texas University. Her father, who served in Vietnam and is retired from the Army, also lives in Texas. As busy as she is in the political drama, Reddock still makes time for her spiritual life as an active member at Citizens of Zion Baptist Church in Compton. ‘I know firsthand what it is to be an advocate,’ said Reddock, who adds that ‘as a litigator, I spend most of my time discouraging litigation, because it is an enormous use of resources.’ She believes the City should use consensus and mediation more to work through problems. Two examples are Playa Vista development and LAX expansion. ‘The current litigation against these projects could have been prevented had elected representatives brought stakeholders to the table earlier in the process and said ‘Let’s talk about this and see what we can do to build consensus and address everyone’s concerns to the extent possible.” Living so close to the airport, Reddock is personally affected by LAX expansion, and opposes the existing plan. ‘If we’re going to spend dollars on anything, we need to spend it on taking cars off the street and not encouraging more cars. We’ve got to increase spending for the Green Line so it goes all the way to the airport. [Currently it stops a mile from the airport.] Reddock is interested in regional airport solutions and encouraging people to use airports in Palmdale, Ontario and Orange County. Reddock said she wouldn’t trade the experience of campaigning for anything. ‘No experience in my life has allowed me to work with so many wonderful people, to delve into so many issues that really affect our everyday lives. ‘Imagine what we could do if the city worked together. I want to focus on the big picture and not just putting on Band-Aids. Otherwise my time in office would be null and void.’
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