03/07/05

LC050307

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Who will lead Los Angeles into the future?

James Hahn>> I don't think there's anything that is more
important to your quality of life than feeling safe.

Bernard Parks>> When you and I work five days a week, criminals
work seven, but our police officers only work three.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> This election will be about what has
happened in the last four years or what hasn't happened in the
last four years.

Richard Alarcon>> I want to change the city of Los Angeles and
I believe the best way to do that is to become mayor.

Robert Hertzberg>> You've got to be bold. You've got to get up
every day and fight for this place.

Val>> We profile all five mayoral candidates in this special
election eve edition of Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Welcome to this Life and Times election special where we
profile all five major candidates for Los Angeles Mayor. Now
tomorrow voters will narrow down the field from five to two and
there is no shortages of challenges when it comes to running Los
Angeles, everything from too few police to too many potholes.
Yet each candidate believes he is the best equipped to make Los
Angeles more livable. We begin with a look at Richard Alarcon,
a State Senator from the Valley. Toni Guinyard has his story.

Richard Alarcon>> I believe that I've walked the walk and not
just talked the talk.

Toni Guinyard>> Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Richard Alarcon,
has been doing a lot of talking.

Richard Alarcon>> I want to change the city of Los Angeles and
I believe the best way to do that is to become mayor.

Toni Guinyard>> And he believes there is an audience for what
he has to say.

Richard Alarcon>> Well, I'm the guy that wants to first clean
up the pay to play scandal at City Hall. I want to eliminate
the influence of the contractors and developers who are stealing
the decisions away from the neighborhoods and destroying
neighborhoods. I want to give the power back to the
neighborhoods.

Toni Guinyard>> Alarcon launched his bid for mayor with the
promise of building middle-class dreams. It's a campaign theme
born from his memories of growing up in the San Fernando Valley
and his desire to take some decision-making power from
politicians and give it to the people.

Richard Alarcon>> "We should not fear the neighborhood
councils."

Toni Guinyard>> It's become a cornerstone issue for Alarcon
during forums, mayoral debates --

Richard Alarcon>> "I absolutely believe neighborhood councils
should have planning authority and land use authority."

Toni Guinyard>> And interviews.

Richard Alarcon>> I want to give City Hall back to the people.

Toni Guinyard>> But that means changing a culture that's been
ingrained for years and years. What's the first step towards
doing that?

Richard Alarcon>> Well, more than changing the culture, you
have to change the rules. You can't just change the name.
You've got to change the game.

Raphael Sonenshein>> Richard Alarcon is a guy with a lot of
experience both in Los Angeles city government and in state
government.

Toni Guinyard>> Cal State Fullerton Political Science Professor
Raphael Sonenshein.

Raphael Sonenshein>> He was the first Latino elected official
from the San Fernando Valley. He was in the City Council.

Richard Alarcon>> "I think this is absolutely fruitless."

Raphael Sonenshein>> Elected back in 1993 and then moved on to
the State Senate in 1998 where he has been ever since. He's an
interesting guy because he's the only candidate in the race
who's been talking about poverty in Los Angeles as an issue and
saying that that's something that ought to be dealt with
directly.

Richard Alarcon>> One of my first acts as mayor would be to
convene a group to come up with a master plan for Los Angeles
for each of the issues of poverty that affect Los Angeles.

Toni Guinyard>> From a hotel in Woodland Hills to the First AME
Church, the campaign trail winds through communities he's
counting on for support.

Richard Alarcon>> "We have to build that bridge of trust
between the Latino community and the African-American
community."

Toni Guinyard>> He doesn't miss a chance to remind constituents
that it was during Mayor Tom Bradley's administration that he
got his first taste of Los Angeles city politics.

Richard Alarcon>> "You do not know how that made a young Latino
male feel when an African-American leader with the stature of
Mayor Bradley would reach out and say, "You are the one that I
trust."

Toni Guinyard>> Alarcon says his bid for mayor is not about
what him. He says it's about the people. He points to work
done during his City Council term as proof of what can be
accomplished if given the chance to serve as mayor.

Richard Alarcon>> When I developed the General Motors plan and
created four thousand jobs, I negotiated with business and I
negotiated with the community. When the community came together
with business, it was a beautiful thing. They created four
thousand jobs in a way that the project was embraced.

Toni Guinyard>> But his accomplishments have failed to
translate into campaign contributions. The Senator is lagging
far behind in fundraising, but when you ask him about it, he'll
tell you that says a lot.

Richard Alarcon>> What it tells me is that I'm doing the right
thing. It tells me that I'm standing up to the powerful
interests. I'm not their poster child. They don't want to vote
for me. They don't want to support me because they want the
system the way it is.

Campaign Ad>> "They jacked up the water rates and waste the
money on PR contracts, so I sued them."

Toni Guinyard>> The tough-guy image reflected in this campaign
ad gives no hint that Alarcon has been labeled the underdog.
He's behind in the polls now as he was during the contentious
race against Assemblyman Richard Katz for the Twentieth District
senate seat. Alarcon won the race by only twenty-nine votes.

Richard Alarcon>> I was nineteen percentage points down in the
polls two weeks before my senatorial race and I won that race.
You know, polls --

Toni Guinyard>> -- how do you explain it?

Richard Alarcon>> The polls are obviously flawed, but the
people are not. On election day, that's the only poll that
counts. I'm the one that's suing the city of Los Angeles
because they raised the water rates illegally. I'm the one
that's introducing the ballot measure to eliminate contractor
and developer contributions to City Hall. That will change Los
Angeles. I'm the one that's taking the airlines on at the
airport. I'm the one that's taking on the shipping lines at the
harbor. I think the people know the difference between somebody
who's going to fight for them and somebody who's going to fight
for contributions.

Toni Guinyard>> And one more thing, he says don't worry about
how to pronounce his name.

Richard Alarcon>> My father says Alarcon, my mother says
Alarcon. In Spanish, we say Alarcon. Alarcon, Alarcon,
Alarcon, you know, however you want to say it, I hope people
will remember it as a name that was good for Los Angeles.

Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times.

Val>> Our next profile is of incumbent mayor, James Hahn. His
last four years in office have not been without controversy or
accomplishments. David Okarski has his story.

David Okarski>> Los Angeles Mayor James Kenneth Hahn is showing
off the new police surveillance camera at Hollywood and
Cahuenga. He reminds reporters that, since he took office,
violent crime in the city has dropped eighteen percent.

James Hahn>> "Gang-related crime is down fifty-nine percent
here in Hollywood."

David Okarski>> When Life and Times asks to talk with him about
the election, his representative suggests we sit down at a new
restaurant a few blocks away to show off Hollywood's resurgence.

James Hahn>> The great Schwab's Restaurant here, brand new
developments, mixed housing and retail. We have over a billion
dollars in new development coming into Hollywood because we
brought gang crime down by sixty percent over the last year. I
don't think there's anything that is more important to your
quality of life than feeling safe.

David Okarski>> He started as City Controller, won four terms
as City Attorney and, four years ago, won his first term as
Mayor, but it wasn't easy and the road to reelection looks even
tougher. For one thing, Hahn may have alienated some Hollywood
and San Fernando Valley voters when he led the successful
campaign against secession, but there's a bigger reason.
Ongoing investigations into whether city officials illegally
tried to raise money for the anti-secession campaign. The cloud
hanging over Los Angeles City Hall involves allegations that key
people Mayor Hahn appointed tried to pressure businesses vying
for city contracts into making campaign contributions. No pay,
no play. Now several of those people have left and state and
federal authorities are investigating.

James Hahn>> I've made some enemies along the way and
sometimes, you know, people obviously are going to go after the
guy at the top of the hill. I'm confident that I did nothing
wrong, but if somebody has, like I said, I don't have any
sympathy for them and I wish people would wait for the facts
before they make up their minds.

David Okarski>> The mayor has proposed barring people who do
business with the city from contributing to political campaigns.
Pay for play or not, the people who gather to talk politics in
Lawrence Tolliver's barber shop down on Florence Boulevard have
a lot to say about James K. Hahn.

Lawrence Tolliver>> He was by here Saturday. I thought he was
very stiff before I met him. Surprisingly enough, believe it,
Los Angeles, he is not as stiff as you think he is.

David Okarski>> This is the neighborhood where the mayor grew
up.

Eddie Ford>> Oh, yeah, I knew him personally. He used to go
over to the Victory Baptist Church every other Sunday.

David Okarski>> Hahn's middle name is Kenneth, after his late
father, who represented South Los Angeles for forty-five years
as a City Councilman and a ten-term County Supervisor. Kenny
Hahn was revered here for opening County government jobs to
African-Americans and for generally taking care of his
constituents.

Bobby Gantt>> I grew up with him. I have some pictures with
him as a kid.

David Okarski>> James Hahn has benefited from being Kenny's
son.

James Hahn>> When I got into public office, you know, they
said, well, if he's Kenny Hahn's son, we kind of know where he's
coming from.

David Okarski>> Voters' loyalty to his late father helped Hahn
win the 2001 race for mayor, but at the start of his term,
consistent with his commitment to fight crime, he made a
decision that outraged many African-Americans who'd voted for
him.

James Hahn>> When I made the decision that I couldn't support
Bernard Parks' bid for a second five years as police chief, I
knew that was going to cause a lot of problems for me in that
community and I was going to lose a lot of votes.

James Hahn>> "The chief and I have had real differences on
major issues."

James Hahn>> Nevertheless, I felt I had to do what was right
for this city, not necessarily what was in my political
interest, and I think that sets me apart from most of the people
in political life today.

David Okarski>> Few at the barber shop see it that way.

Ann Tolliver Binion>> I took it personal because I gave him my
vote because I thought he had a lot of his father in him. At
least, he had his name.

David Okarski>> The mayor can no longer count on his father's
legacy to win these votes. He's on the same footing as the rest
of the candidates.

Lawrence Tolliver>> You know, they all have their attributes
and I just have to see which one's going to be the best for me.

David Okarski>> Okay, so Hahn is not totally out of the
picture?

Lawrence Tolliver>> Well, he was before he came back. He was
gone, but he's slowly (laughter) raising his hand a little bit
out of the grave. He ain't made it out of the grave yet, but
maybe he will. I don't know (laughter).

David Okarski>> Whether or not Mayor Hahn rises from the dead
at the barber shop, many critics already call him a zombie.
Here may be the harshest and most frequent accusation of all:
that you're boring. How does that make you feel?

James Hahn>> Well, you know, you are who you are.

David Okarski>> Here are the highlights of Hahn's four years as
mayor. He's expanded after-school programs, built low-income
housing, reduced pollution at the Port of Los Angeles and at the
Department of Water and Power. He's expanding Los Angeles
International Airport, he's spearheaded the fight for Prop 1A
which stopped the state from taking money that cities need for
basic services and, of course, he defeated Valley secession, got
a new police chief and there's a significant drop in crime.
David Okarski for Life and Times.

Val> Our next profile? Bob Hertzberg. Hertzberg represented
the Valley in Sacramento where he was also Speaker of the
Assembly before he was termed out. Toni Guinyard has his story.

[Film Clip]

Toni Guinyard>> Robert Hertzberg. He is the man who would be
mayor of the city of Los Angeles. Cross his path and you'll
have a better chance of getting a hug than a handshake.

Robert Hertzberg>> "Oh, my God."

>> "Yeah, things are looking good."

Robert Hertzberg>> "Things are looking good. Hey, Mighty Joe,
how you doing? I'm going to start talking. Hi, young lady."

Toni Guinyard>> At the grand opening of his campaign
headquarters, he leaves behind his calling card, the so-called
Hertzberg hug. It's his way of bonding with people he meets,
embraces given as freely to strangers as to friends. And with
the crowded field of mayoral hopefuls headed into the March
primary, Bob Hertzberg is counting on his friends.

Robert Hertzberg>> People are really sticking their necks out
because I'm running against the Chairman of the Senate Labor
Committee, the Chairman of the Budget for the city of Los
Angeles, the Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the
city of Los Angeles, and the Mayor of the city of Los Angeles,
and Bob Hertzberg, private citizen.

Toni Guinyard>> Hertzberg is a private citizen, but he is not a
political outsider. He was elected to the California State
Assembly in 1996 and served for six years before being termed
out. He represented the San Fernando Valley. This is where
Hertzberg is expected to garner the majority of his support.
Born in Los Angeles and a resident of Sherman Oaks, he's the
political powerful guy next door. Bob Hertzberg is the former
Speaker of the State Assembly.

Robert Hertzberg>> They had the Villaraigosa-Hahn race.
They've already seen it. Been there, done that, seen it, and
there's not real excitement. You would think that people that
are that well-known -- I'm not that well-known, okay? I get it.
I understand. It's okay. Hopefully, a lot of people will watch
this show.

Toni Guinyard>> Hertzberg is counting on airing campaign ads --

Campaign ad>> "The L.A. Unified School District is a failure.
I'll break it up into smaller districts for local control and
better schools."

Toni Guinyard>> -- to deliver his message.

Robert Hertzberg>> Leadership is leadership. Leadership
doesn't say, well, oops, that's not my department. I'm sorry.
Leadership is about the understanding fundamentally what the
problem is and figuring out how to fix it or getting out of the
way, pure and simple, no excuses.

Toni Guinyard>> He focuses on public schools, although his sons
attend private school. He says they deserve the best and adds
so do all students in Los Angeles.

Robert Hertzberg>> So what does it mean? It means that I'm
going to use the bully pulpit and use the power of the mayor's
office, if it means charter changes, if it means leading a
constitutional amendment statewide. The mayor of Los Angeles
has enough political power to do it.

Jaime Regalado>> Bob obviously has fire in the belly. He's a
smart guy. He's an energetic guy.

Robert Hertzberg>> "She really would be a much better mayor of
Los Angeles than I am, but you're going to have to take second
best. But let me tell you something. She is going to be a
great First Lady of the city of Los Angeles."

Toni Guinyard>> His wife, Dr. Cynthia Telles, is no stranger to
the world of politics. Her father, Raymond Telles, was mayor of
El Paso, Texas in the fifties. She's expected to be a strong
presence in her husband's campaign and so is Assemblyman Mervyn
Dymally. Hertzberg began his political career in 1973 as an
intern for then Senator Dymally. Now Hertzberg is the mayoral
candidate who, in rapid fire fashion, lays out his ideas for
running the city.

Robert Hertzberg>> On day number one, I will sign an executive
order and eliminate road construction during rush hour, period.
I have to attack it like just hard and bring everybody in
intersection by intersection, figure out what we've got to do,
just focus like a laser beam. I said and will do in the first
ninety days as mayor convene all the experts, draft the proposal
of what we're going to do about the schools. I'm going to make
the cuts and dedicate the resources to begin to fill up the
academy, to bring the police officers to Los Angeles.

Robert Hertzberg>> You've got to be bold. You've got to get up
every day and fight for this place. There are a lot of things
that I want to do that I can't do from the outside. If I felt I
could, I'd stay on the outside.

Toni Guinyard>> Hertzberg is not one to stand on the outside.
He wants to be inside City Hall and, if the vote goes his way,
he already knows how he's getting there. A 1958 Chevrolet
Apache truck he restored.

Robert Hertzberg>> This is it. If I'm fortunate enough to be
selected, this is what I'm driving to work the first day.

Toni Guinyard>> But to make that drive, he's going to have to
quickly become a familiar face and name to people outside of his
home turf.

>> "Okay, well, are you interested in having just a look
through to see our candidate?"

Toni Guinyard>> As his supporters handing out campaign flyers
discovered, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Robert Hertzberg>> "Just put your seatbelts on when I'm mayor
of Los Angeles and hold on because I'm going, I'm going, and it
ain't stopping until we're in City Hall. Thanks, everybody."

Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times.

Val>> This next candidate will be very familiar to most
Angelenos. He's Bernard Parks, formerly Los Angeles's top cop
and now a City Councilman. Kevin Smith has this report.

[Film Clip]

Kevin Smith>> Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks
presents a study in contrast. He's a former police chief who
represents one of Los Angeles's most crime-ridden districts.
He's a Democrat running on a pro business, law and order
platform.

[Film Clip]

Kevin Smith>> He's a formal and courtly man whose personality
and ramrod straight posture seem at odds with campaign glad-
handing, though he can poke fun at himself.

Bernard Parks>> "Somebody said, well, you believe in free
speech. I said, yeah. He said, well, you're going to give one
(laughter)."

Kevin Smith>> So why is Bernard Parks running for mayor of Los
Angeles?

Bernard Parks>> When I grew up, there were certain dreams I had
and I was able to fulfill some of them. I don't see families
today having those dreams. I don't know many families that
actually believe that they can own a house in the city of Los
Angeles or that their kids can.

Kevin Smith>> Parks grew up in Los Angeles. His father was in
law enforcement, so Parks became a Los Angeles police officer in
1965 after graduating from the police academy. Parks achieved
his dream when former mayor, Richard Riordan, tapped him as
police chief in 1997, but his tenure was controversial. He had
a running battle with the police union over issues like
discipline.

Bernard Parks>> It was more important to me that people didn't
get abused, that officers that we had were honest, that we
didn't have officers that were lying in court.

Kevin Smith>> But critics claim that Parks did not fully
cooperate with investigations into the Rampart scandal and was
too quick to defend officers in other cases where police were
accused of brutality or corruption. As his term ended, Parks
sought reappointment, but James Hahn had become mayor and
stunned Parks with this announcement.

James Hahn>> "I do not support Chief Parks' reappointment as
Chief of Police."

Kevin Smith>> Parks denies his campaign for mayor is payback,
though he has no love for Hahn.

Bernard Parks>> He made commitments of what he was going to do.
He completely forgot those commitments to certain communities,
so that's why there are people that are in an upheaval about it,
issues I've gone on.

[Film Clip]

Kevin Smith>> What Parks went on to is the City Council after
thirty-eight years with the LAPD. He was elected to the Eighth
District council seat in 2003 with little opposition. On his
key campaign issue of public safety, Parks has pledged to
abolish the agreement between Hahn and the police union that
officers work three days a week in twelve-hour shifts.

>> "How do they put three days a week?"

Bernard Parks>> "That's because, when they look in their back
pocket, they pull out the mayor (laughter)."

>> "There you go."

Bernard Parks>> When you and I work five days a week, criminals
work seven, and our police officers only work three. I lost in
my community, the Eighth District, two hundred young people to
homicides in twenty-four months.

Kevin Smith>> Parks also criticizes Hahn for giving police big
pay raises.

Bernard Parks>> When we had an opportunity to hire more
officers, he chose to give an eighty million dollar pay raise.
Eighty million dollars to pay for eight hundred officers.

[Film Clip]

Kevin Smith>> Running as a pro business candidate, Parks
advocates greater incentives for businesses to operate and
remain in Los Angeles.

Bernard Parks>> "We're going to have to bring in new businesses
as opposed to taxing old businesses. The reason I'm working so
hard to bring football to Los Angeles is that's a multi-billion
dollar enterprise coming in to bring in revenue."

Kevin Smith>> Parks also vows to tackle Los Angeles's
entrenched traffic problems, citing his opposition to the
approved plan to modernize LAX airport.

Bernard Parks>> "When we see such plans as the airport all
choke our city to the point that we won't be able to drive the
405 or Sepulveda."

Kevin Smith>> Although certainly not new to public life,
Bernard Parks is a relative novice as a politician. After
thirty-eights years on the police force, he's only been on the
City Council for two years and, running against opponents with
far more political experience, the Parks campaign has had its
share of challenges. Some critics deride the campaign as a mom
and pop operation staffed heavily by family members led by wife,
Bobby. Several outside professional staffers have quit.

Bernard Parks>> This was not going to be a campaign run by
consultants and spin doctors. We're going to run a campaign
that resonates with the community.

Kevin Smith>> But only one black candidate, the legendary Tom
Bradley, has ever become mayor of Los Angeles.

Kevin Smith>> Most analysts predict that none of the five
candidates will win fifty percent of the vote in the March 8
primary and Parks has made finishing among the top two his chief
goal. I'm Kevin Smith for Life and Times.

Val>> Finally, a look at Antonio Villaraigosa. Villaraigosa is
an East Los Angeles boy who became Speaker of the State
Assembly. He ran against James Hahn four years ago and lost.
Hena Cuevas has his story.

Hena Cuevas>> Four years ago, Antonio Villaraigosa was the man
who almost became mayor.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> "Tonight's going to be a long night and
we expect that it's going to be a good night."

Hena Cuevas>> But it didn't turn out to be such a good night
after all. Villaraigosa lost the election to James Hahn by
seven percentage points. Why do you think you lost last time?

Antonio Villaraigosa>> I don't think a whole lot about it
frankly. I say to people that I'm not nostalgic about four
years ago. It is what it is.

Hena Cuevas>> But political analysts have thought about it.
Many attribute his loss to an eleventh hour negative ad from the
Hahn campaign. The ad accused Villaraigosa of asking the
President to pardon a convicted drug dealer. Although many
declared the ad unfair, Villaraigosa's poll numbers plummeted.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> When people don't know you very well,
those kinds of smear campaigns work. When they know you better,
they don't. That's why I think, this time around, we're going
to have a different result. People know me. They've seen me.

Hena Cuevas>> So he's decided to try again this year, joining
the race almost five months after some of the other candidates.
Why the late entry? Villaraigosa is currently a city
councilman. He promised his constituents he would serve out his
term, but if he wins the mayoral race, he'll have to leave his
council seat early.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> One of the reasons why I got into this
race so late was that I talked it over with my constituents,
with friends and, most importantly, with my family. I didn't
want to run just to run. I wanted to run because it made sense
and, over time, it made sense.

Hena Cuevas>> Villaraigosa was born fifty-two years ago in the
Boyle Heights area. His name then was Antonio Villar.
Villaraigosa is a combination of his name and his wife's maiden
name, Raigosa. He was the oldest of four children raised by a
single mother and in a lot of ways, he says, his upbringing was
similar to others growing up in East Los Angeles in the 1960's.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> I lived in a home of domestic violence.
I didn't have a father. I was an angry young man for a long
time. It was my mother who said to me, you know, you can make
excuses all your life or you can just take responsibility for
your life, and I decided to take that road.

Hena Cuevas>> His first job in government came in 1991 when he
became a member of the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, MTA. Three years later, he won a seat in the State
Assembly where he quickly moved up through the ranks until he
was sworn in as Speaker in 1994.

>> "Congratulations, Mr. Speaker."

Hena Cuevas>> One of the issues following Villaraigosa is that
of race. He is one of two Hispanic candidates running for mayor
and, even though Los Angeles has a very large Latino population,
there hasn't been an Hispanic mayor here in over a hundred
thirty years. The last Hispanic to serve was Christobal Aquilar
in 1872. It's an issue Villaraigosa is downplaying this time
around.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> Well, if you notice, people aren't
talking about that as much anymore and I'm glad they're not
because I said, look, don't vote for me for those reasons. Vote
for me because I have a record.

Hena Cuevas>> His website lays out his vision for Los Angeles.
To fight crime, he plans to raise thirty million dollars to hire
three hundred new police officers. His transportation plan to
help reduce Los Angeles's gridlock traffic includes
synchronizing traffic lights and expanding the city's rail and
bus systems. He opposes Hahn's proposal to expand LAX, favoring
instead an increase in the use of regional airports like the one
in Ontario.

But can he accomplish all this without one of his traditional
supporters? Unlike four years ago, Villaraigosa doesn't have
the backing of organized labor. Do you think you'll be able to
win without the support of the labor unions?

Antonio Villaraigosa>> Jim Hahn won without the support of the
labor unions and I believe that I can win as well.

Hena Cuevas>> But this time around, Villaraigosa says he has an
advantage. Voters will be judging four years of the Hahn
administration.

Antonio Villaraigosa>> This election will be about what has
happened in the last four years or what hasn't happened in the
last four years. It's going to be about whether or not people
think it's time for a change.

Hena Cuevas>> What happens if you lose?

Antonio Villaraigosa>> I don't expect to lose.

Hena Cuevas>> Haven't thought that far in advance?

Antonio Villaraigosa>> I have thought that far in advance. I
don't expect to lose. I'm feeling really good about where we
are today.

Hena Cuevas>> With that positive attitude, Villaraigosa is
looking forward to an election night that, unlike four years
ago, will turn out to be a good one after all. I'm Hena Cuevas
for Life and Times.

Val>> The two top vote-getters from tomorrow's election will
face off on May 27. In the meantime, if you'd like more
information on each of the candidates, you can go to the KCET
website where we have links to all five candidates' websites.
Thanks for joining us for this Life and Times election special.
I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, we'll see you
next time.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
4401 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90027

You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or
contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times --

In a lot of ways, they're a lot like us, but should great apes
have the same rights as humans?

>> We look at people in Congress. You don't need to be six
foot five to be a successful politician. You just need to be
socially, politically, really shrewd and it's exactly the same
for chimps.

Val>> That's tomorrow on Life and Times.