Updated 9:30pm
Tom LaBonge has garnered 63 percent of the tallied votes so far. O’Grady trails behind with 24 percent, Box with 13 percent.
Current City Councilman Tom LaBonge is running against newcomers Tomas O’Grady and Stephen Box for re-election in District 4. District 4 includes Hollywood and the Koreatown, Los Feliz, and Griffith Park areas.
LaBonge has been on the council for a decade, and in his time as a council member, LaBonge has been one of the most popular council members. He is endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party, L.A. County Federation of Labor and Gov. Jerry Brown.
L.A. City Council candidate Tomas O'Grady talks about his platforms, his willingness to cut his salary, and his opponent Tom LaBonge. (Video by Marcos Saldivar)
In debates this spring, LaBonge has been slammed by Tomas O’Grady and Stephen Box as being a political insider — having been part of the council during years when budget problems grew out of control.
O’Grady is a local businessman who was born in Ireland and has lived in L.A. for 12 years. He has made pledges to cut his own salary by one-half if elected.
“You need to have leader’s walk the walk, who are true about shared sacrifice,” said O’Grady.
O’Grady and his supporters are excited about his campaign (Video by Marcos Salidvar).
O’Grady told ATVN that his main platforms are public education and energy efficiency. He said he wants make the local government “to scale” to the funds it has by using school buildings as park and recreation buildings in the summer time and libraries for tutoring programs. O’Grady also said he wants to put green energy programs into place that cut the city’s expenses while reducing its carbon footprint. O’Grady is endorsed by the L.A. Times.
Box is a a green candidate, a producer and bicycle activist aiming to put more stringent restrictions on developers if elected. He is endorsed by L.A. Weekly and L.A. Daily News
While neither has alleged outright corruption on Tom LaBonge’s part, both candidates have accused LaBonge of pushing special favors for his own political supporters.
