Rosendahl, Stryer Candidates Talk Priorities

‘Didn’t we just have an election?’ joked Jamie Halper last Thursday evening to a group of about 50 Pacific Palisades and Brentwood residents gathered at his home in the Huntington Palisades. Halper and his wife, Priscilla, were hosting a fundraising event for City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is running for reelection in District 11, and Pacific Palisades resident Mike Stryer, who is vying for the District 4 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board. The election will take place March 3. Rosendahl, 63, told the crowd that he decided to run again because he now understands the job’s challenges. ‘I feel I can be more effective in another term,’ he said. Also, ‘I love it, and I have a lot of things that I want to get done.’ In Pacific Palisades, Rosendahl would like to see work resume on the long-delayed Potrero Canyon Park. He also plans to work on a view-protection ordinance since many homeowners are concerned about the impact of mansionization and tall, untrimmed trees. ‘I like the Palisades and respect its character,’ said Rosendahl, a Mar Vista resident and former talk show host and vice president of Adelphia Communications. In addition, Rosendahl also hopes to be named chairman of the City Council’s transportation committee, so that he can work on solutions to the Westside’s gridlock. Endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Rosendahl said he tries to honor the Pacific Palisades Community Council’s wishes. ‘It’s a sincere and engaged Council, and it’s one of the oldest in the city.’ He is running for reelection against Harry ‘Craig’ Wilson, 57, who said he became inspired to seek office during a rally for mayoral candidate Walter Moore. Wilson, who lives in Westchester, said his main campaign platform is cracking down on gangs. He supports Jamiel’s Law in honor of Jamiel Shaw, allegedly murdered by a known gang member who was an illegal immigrant. Jamiel’s Law, a proposed ballot measure, would require the city to develop and implement a plan to ‘identify, arrest, deport and/or prosecute and imprison gang members who are in the country illegally.’ ‘We need to make it really miserable for guys to commit crimes,’ said Wilson, a hydrographer for the L.A. Department of Water and Power. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Cal State Northridge. In the LAUSD board election, Stryer, a social studies teacher at Fairfax High, is running against Steve Zimmer, a Marshall High teacher and counselor. The winner will replace Marlene Canter, who served two terms on the seven-member school board and was board president from 2005-07. At Thursday’s fundraiser, Stryer announced he would advocate for reduced class sizes, rigorous teacher evaluations and more mentor programs for new teachers. ‘When I started, I was thrown the keys and told ‘good luck,” said Stryer, a 47-year-old who left a 15-year career in finance about six years ago to become a teacher. In light of the state’s budget crisis, LAUSD is considering laying off about 2,300 teachers. ‘There are alternatives, and I don’t think the board has explored them thoroughly,’ Stryer said. He suggested the district could save money by eliminating its periodic testing, which is above and beyond the state requirements. The local district offices could also be reduced or eliminated and teacher-training programs could be more streamlined. Stryer, who has received endorsements from the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and the Palisades Democratic Club, has opened a campaign office in West Hollywood with four paid staffers. ‘I’m passionate about changing L.A. Unified,’ said Stryer, a graduate of Stanford and Yale. He resides in Marquez with his wife, Barri, and their children Adam, 14 and Leah, 11, who attend Viewpoint School and Milken School, respectively. Zimmer told the Palisadian-Post on Monday that he decided to run for office because of his firsthand knowledge of the district. As a teacher, ‘I’ve gotten to see what works in LAUSD and what doesn’t work,’ he said. A Hollywood resident and graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore and Cal State L.A., Zimmer began teaching English as a second language at Marshall High in 1992. In 1995, he created the high school’s public service program, and in 1999, he helped found Marshall’s Comprehensive Student Support Center, which provides health and mental health services for students and their families. ‘We wanted school to be a place where problems are solved or where students at least receive support,’ Zimmer said. If elected to the board, Zimmer plans to advocate that every LAUSD school have a health clinic. The 38-year-old oversees Marshall’s mental health and intervention programs part-time and also teaches English, history and a training class for high school students interested in a teaching career. Zimmer, who is endorsed by the United Teachers of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Democratic Club, also wants the K-12 complexes (such as the Palisades Charter Complex) to have more control over their curriculum and instruction methods. ‘Teachers are much more effective when they are connected personally to what they teach rather than when it’s handed down [from the district],’ Zimmer said. Zimmer, with one paid staffer working on his campaign, also thinks complexes should be in charge of their own budgets because each complex has different priorities. ‘The people who are the most connected with the kids should have real power.’