Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti, who’s also running to be L.A.’s next mayor, did a Reddit AMA Tuesday . It may not have drawn the numbers and attention of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s AMA earlier in the day, but he offered many long answers giving his thoughts on the local political questions of the day.
But never mind that. Here are his most entertaining answers.
[View the story "Eric Garcetti's 5 most entertaining Reddit AMA answers" on Storify ]Eric Garcetti's 5 most entertaining Reddit AMA answers Los Angeles City Councilmember Eric Garcetti, who’s also running to be L.A.’s next mayor, did a Reddit AMA Tuesday. He answered many serious, important questions about L.A.'s future, but never mind that — here are his most entertaining answers. Storified by 89.3 KPCC · Tue, Jan 15 2013 18:53:43
1. While most of Garcetti's AMA involved long, serious answers, Garcetti did get a few Reddity moments. One user made him this meme referencing "The Wire":
"Mayor Confusion" | quickmeme "Quickmeme
Garcetti responded with his love of "The Wire," appropriate for the candidate who's also appeared as either himself or as a mayor on several TV shows and movies:
Love THe Wire--best part was when folks started wearing "Carcetti for Mayor" t-shirts as The Wire fans a few years ago, I started getting calls congratulating me for running for mayor. It is weird because he came first, so it is life imitating art, not vice-versa...Eric_Garcetti
2. He offered concise agreement when it came to a user arguing for better public transportation:
We need an efficient train system and soon. I know there is no money in protecting our environment, but come on yo, not only will a train reduce traffic, but it will GREATLY cut DUI's. juloxx
Tru dat.Eric_Garcetti
3. When asked for some easy ways for young people to get involved in politics, Garcetti offered some practical advice:
"Don't just vote, donate, volunteer, and talk politics. Politics isn't just about elections every two years--it is about the issues as well that are discussed and voted on between elections. Join a local neighborhood council, start a neighborhood watch, adopt a local school and help them get afterschool programs or a garden. Take a Government 101 course at City Hall (which I pioneered to teach people how City Hall works). Start a political club and interview and endorse candidates with your peers. And best of all, if you are young, consider running for office (I ran when I was 29 years old and was lucky enough to win thanks to my friends who came out and walked precincts and made calls with me)."
4. One user mentioned his break-dancing skills, though "skills" may be a bit too optimistic; you can judge for yourself here:
Garcetti shows off his breakdancing skillslosangeleswave
However, Garcetti playfully responded: "No one really wants to see a guy in a suit break dance, but thanks."
5. Finally, as long as we're talking "entertaining," here's one of Garcetti's more serious answers about what he would do to keep the entertainment industry strong in Los Angeles:
Hey everyone! Great to be with you. Entertainment is a core employer, a signature industry, and an economic multiplier for our economy. I've been working on making LA a more filming-friendly place for the last decade and I will do the following as mayor (some of these things I am working on now as a councilmember): 1) Have a Film Czar in the mayor's office--I would hire a senior person who has extensive experience in the industry to be an advocate and a resource for filming in LA--from helping us pass local and state legislation, to troubleshooting when shoots are going on, or helping bring the industry together to get out in front of the issue. 2) Pass my proposal to make filming pilots free in the city of LA. Three years ago, 80% of one-hour network drama pilots were filmed in LA, two years ago it was 40% and this past year it was just 2 shows! I have introduced an initiative to make it free to film pilots in LA (we will waive our city fees) and if a pilot gets picked up in LA, we will waive the first year of fees, so we can get more shows filming here. 3) Our tax credit is better than other states, in that we don't lose money from it. I agree that many tax credits, especially those that go to "above the line" workers (the stars and producers), can be money-losers for states. But studies have shown (<a href="http://www.headwayproject.org/downloads/Headway_Entertainment_Report.pdf" class="">http://www.headwayproject.org/downloads/Headway_Entertainment_Report.pdf</a>) that ours returns at least a dollar to government for every dollar given out, so we don't lose money plus the multiplier effect of money spent in our state helps lift up our economic situation. As mayor, I will ask Sacramento to lift the cap (right now there is only $100 million each year given in credits) and to expand the categories of filming (to large movies, premium cable, commercials, video gaming, documentaries, etc.) to keep more filming here.Thanks for the question and comments!Eric_Garcetti
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