Candidate Closeup: Jan Perry

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There are two narratives about City Councilmember Jan Perry. In one, she’s a crusader for poor communities in South LA—the woman who invested on Figueroa and reaped the benefits for Main Street. But in the other, she’s the union-busting pragmatist who shut down the push for a Fresh & Easy on Central and Adams.

"I think the greatest source of my passion is my desire, my very strong desire, to help people move forward," Perry said. "It’s obvious that I’m a woman, I'm a woman of color; I happen to be a woman who is not only black, but I’m also Jewish and I communicate in Spanish. I think I step in the shoes of most people, and I  feel what they feel because I go through it myself."

Perry has represented Council District 9 since 2001. During her tenure, she tightened restrictions on fast food restaurants, installed the Central Avenue Farmers Market and directed millions of dollars into parks and affordable housing. She also championed the Central Avenue Jazz Festival and won awards for restoring her district’s wetlands.

"Over the last twelve years, when we had the redevelopment agency, I leveraged tax increment and took it south to develop more housing, to bring in more neighborhood retail, to basically create a climate that was far more receptive to business. I will continue to leverage construction of housing and retail," Perry said.

Dorsay Dujon has worked in Downtown Los Angeles for seven years. In less than a decade, she has watched the neighborhood evolve into a popular,

"Jan has done incredible things Downtown. I've seen the growth in Downtown. A lot has happened," Dujon said. She was a member of the Central City Association that began visualizing the revitalized neighborhood decades ago. "I wouldn't have beleived it could be the way it is now."

Perry's advocacy has won her a devoted base among black voters in South LA, like Dujon (who now lives in Eagle Rock). CD 9 has historically been represented by an African-American, but in the past few decades, it's become about 80 percent Latino. 

Mark Gory, a South LA preacher, noticed her history of engagement at a recent mayoral forum. "The voice of the communities is very, very important on what happens in this city. This is a very large city... and each community needs to have their issues addressed individually," he said.

On the other hand, there’s the Perry who installed LA Live and advocated for USC’s Village project. City politics writer Ron Kaye says those put her at the beck and call of developers like AEG.

"Jan has done everything she can that the Central City association wants, that downtown developers want, certainly that AEG wants," Kaye said. "She represents downtown, the city has poured most of his wealth over the last 30 years into downtown, and so she has done everything she can, because that's where the money was, certainly, for her campaign."

Perry is decidedly pro-business. That’s helped cull support among fiscal conservatives in the San Fernando Valley who might have leaned toward Kevin James or Wendy Greuel. Garcetti and Greuel, who lead in the polls, have also gathered union support. Perry has not.

"She's always... not against unions, but questioned," Kaye said. "In her own way, Jan is stronger than, as a personality, Greuel or Garcetti, and is more capable of fighting, at least on some of the issues."

Most public employee unions have lined up behind Greuel, Perry says that binds Greuel to them, which limits her flexibility on pension reform, one of this year's leading issues.

"They haven't spoken about getting employees back to the table on giving back on their healthcare and pension costs, because that is the absolute hardest thing to do -- particularly if you're a candidate who's been heavily endorsed by some of the more powerful public employee unions," Perry said. "A campaign who has received the benefit of that kind of money will not say that your employees need to create salary parity. They will not say that your employees need to give back on their healthcare costs and pension costs."

Perry is a Democrat who agrees with Greuel and Garcetti on most issues. All three oppose the half-cent sales tax increase on March’s ballot, for example. And she says her years of experience have taught her how to use Council’s resources, and that would make her a well-prepared mayor.

Sherita Herring, a South LA entrepreneur running for the ninth district seat appreciate the work Perry did in city government. But she worries that Perry’s cozy relationship with downtown developers threatens her ability to really advocate for poor Angelenos.

"Right now, the Staples Center, when there's a game there, every game generates three million dollars. Every single game. How much of that is impacting these surrounding communities, who are going to be impacted when the stadium comes here, and there's more traffic? What is the trickle-down?" Herring asked. "In government, you've got people who don't care, because their home isn't here on 41st and Broadway."

Perry’s goal, though, is to maintain that political tightrope until March 5, and she’s counting on crowds on both sides to keep her balance.