The campaign on L.A.’s Westside to replace termed-out Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski is shaping up as the best undercard on the citywide March ballot after the mayoral primary.

Over the past several months, community activist Flora Gil Krisiloff has battled her better-known rival, former cable television host Bill Rosendahl, to a surprising standstill on the fundraising front. Each raised just over $200,000 through Sept. 30, though Krisiloff started with a $25,000 loan to her campaign.

The candidates are also beginning their verbal tussles. Krisiloff recently challenged Rosendahl’s ballot designation as “university professor/journalist,” a claim that Rosendahl dismissed as “somewhere between silly and absurd.”

For the last couple of years, Rosendahl has been a guest lecturer on media and politics at California State University Dominguez Hills, but far better known as the longtime host of Adelphia cable’s public affairs programs, including “Week in Review,” a post he held until last year at the cable network.

Krisiloff, meanwhile, is a former nurse who long has been active on Westside planning issues, including a recent stint as chairwoman of the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission.

In recent weeks, each candidate has tried to one-up the other on what’s emerged as a key issue in the race: the multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul Los Angeles International Airport. Both oppose the compromise plan that was engineered by Miscikowski with the backing of L.A. Mayor James Hahn. The plan calls for $3 billion in “green light” projects and an additional $7 billion in “yellow light” projects.

One unknown looming over the race is Miscikowski’s endorsement. Despite some unease with her airport plan, she is still popular in her Westside district. Her decision to endorse either of the candidates if she does so at all will carry significant weight.

“Cindy’s endorsement may well be the deciding factor in who’s going to win this race,” said political consultant Harvey Englander.

Through a spokesman, Miscikowski said last week that she will make a decision “sometime after the first of the year.”

The candidates themselves seem to agree that Krisiloff is most likely to receive the endorsement. She has worked with Miscikowski on issues and projects over a 20-year period, including preserving the Brentwood Country Mart and opposing an earlier master plan for redevelopment of the Veterans Administration property. “Cindy knows my work and she encouraged me to run for this office,” Krisiloff said.

Rosendahl downplayed the significance of a Miscikowski endorsement, noting that under redistricting, two-thirds of district residents never had the chance to vote for Miscikowski in previous elections.

He stressed endorsements he’s received from two former councilmembers who have represented the area: Ruth Galanter and Marvin Braude.

Another wild card is the impact of two other candidates in the race, Westchester attorney and city transportation commissioner Angela Reddock and Paul Whitehead, an unknown who filed his papers just hours before the filing deadline.

Together, these two could deny Krisiloff or Rosendahl the 50-percent primary vote they would need to avoid a runoff.

Progressives for Business Tax Reform?

What a difference five years makes.

Back in March 1999, a business tax reform plan proposed by then-Mayor Richard Riordan hit the City Council floor and imploded, as eight councilmembers refused to be dragged along.

Last week, the irony was that a City Council whose members pride themselves on being independent and progressive unanimously passed business tax reform, after a two-year effort with a sometimes-reluctant L.A. Mayor James Hahn. The measure, initially championed by councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti, grew to involve a virtually unprecedented business-labor coalition.

“We did our homework,” Greuel said after the vote. “We had a strong coalition and we worked the council very, very hard.”

At last Wednesday’s hearing, councilmembers were tripping over themselves to promise more tax relief for businesses. Garcetti, a self-described progressive, said he wants to bring business tax reform back on the council’s agenda for consideration of an additional 15 percent tax cut. “We are putting together a pro-business package here in Los Angeles, and our work is far from done,” he said.

For Garcetti, such a pro-business stance is a means to an end. But he sounds like a compassionate conservative when he says that with the tax cuts, “we can bring more revenues into this (council) horseshoe to give us the privilege of spending on badly needed things like libraries, parks and public safety.”

State of Taxes

It’s no secret that California is a high-tax state for business, especially compared to surrounding states Nevada, Arizona and Oregon.

But a recent study showed that the gap between these states and California has shrunk a bit in the past year, although it remains wide overall. The Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation’s annual State Business Tax Climate Index ranks California 38th out of the 50 states in its tax burden on business, the same as in 2003. The survey looks at corporation taxes, income taxes, sales taxes, unemployment insurance payroll taxes and the state’s overall fiscal condition.

“The amazing thing about California is that you didn’t get any worse this year, despite that monster deficit you were facing,” said Scott Moody, senior economist with the Tax Foundation. “Because you decided to finance your deficit rather than raise taxes, your standing didn’t get any worse, which is a victory of sorts.”

Of course, the $15 billion deficit financing package Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pushed through earlier this year has only postponed the day of reckoning, Moody said.

Meanwhile, the neighboring states with the lowest tax burdens Nevada, Oregon and Washington all fell in their rankings relative to other states over the past year.

Nevada, which had the second lowest tax burden in the nation back in 2003, dropped four places this year to sixth place. It was one of several states that raised taxes over the last few years. Others include New York and Massachusetts. Moody said that with a generally improving economy, fewer states are now passing tax increases.

Oregon and Washington each fell one spot in their respective rankings, a drop that Moody said was more the result of the movement of other states.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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