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A lot of people stayed home, many, no doubt, in disgust. Those who went to the polls Tuesday in Los Angeles punched in their votes, and punched hard-often against incumbents who typically would have been shoo-ins.
Election business as usual at City Hall uses a simple formula: Longtime politicians raise big money, get big endorsements and waltz back into office without significant opposition. On Tuesday, the less-than 15% who bothered to vote sent a strong message to several local politicians: It's not business as usual. And that's something to hail, because business as usual has not served this city well.
The council has too often served as a club in which unspoken collegial courtesies mattered more than making tough policy decisions. Where not offending a colleague about a controversial project in his or her district was more important than debating whether the city at large would really benefit...