Yesterday I tweeted the following:

I’m still waiting for someone to tell me a single policy difference between LA mayoral candidates @ericgarcetti and @wendy_greuel. #DTLA

— Torr Leonard (@torrHL) November 19, 2012

A few hours later Garcetti replied:

@torrhl direct message me your phone number and I’ll call you

— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) November 20, 2012

I gave him my phone number and he called me immediately.

We talked over some issues: Walmart grocery store in Chinatown (I’m in favor, he opposes), height-restrictions in Hollywood, parking minimums in Sacramento. After about 15mins *I* had to go. (We were both calling from a car.)

Garcetti ended with “Well, now you have my cell number. Call me if you have any other questions.”

Your move, Wendy.

People often ask me what I would do if I were king for a day, so I decided to make a list. Items are in no particular order.

• Return to Clinton-era tax rates for ALL income levels.
• Institute a single-payer health care system similar to Canada (not single-provider like in the UK.)
• Dismantle the “submerged state” in order to finance universal higher education.
• Institute publicly financed elections (outlaw PACs & lobbyist-money.)
• Restrict campaigns to a certain length of time.
• Institute compulsory voting.
• End corporate-personhood.
• End oil, gas, and corn subsidies.
• Eliminate federal requirements for ethanol.
• Fund biofuel research - but not corn based.
• End tax breaks for religious groups and the property of their house of worship.
• End corporate-welfare like tax-breaks for entertainment and sports industry.
• Crackdown on corporate-crime
• End the war in Afghanistan.
• Remove defense-contractors from Iraq.
• End covert drone wars in Pakistan, Somali, Yemen, etc
• Guantanamo Bay detention camp
• Close overseas military bases.
• Prosecute those responsible for torture during Bush admin.
  
• End the war on whistleblowers who expose misdeeds of the govt.
• Repeal the Patriot Act.
• “Reset” airport security to pre-9/11.
• Expand environmental protections.
• Institute a carbon-tax.
• Mandate environmental cleanup for energy projects.
• Setup a yearly, percentage-based, rising gasoline tax.
• Double NASA’s budget, but cancel all manned space programs - leave it to private-sector.
• Cancel every military project that is more than 100% over budget.
• Ease the restrictions on workers ability the unionize.
• Institute automatic raise in minimum-wage tied to CPI.
• Institute a financial transactions tax.
• Increase infrastructure spending, focusing on multi-modal transport (high speed rail, light-rail, rapid-bus, bike lanes, etc)
• Abolish the death penalty.
• Institute a legally recognized “Right to Die”.
• Pass The DREAM Act.
• Increase federal funding for science research (embryonic stem cells, etc)
• Increase federal funding for public schools.
• End tax-payer funded “vouchers” for attending private schools.
• End the privatization of prisons.
• Encourage rehabilitation over incarceration.
• End “the war on drugs”.
• Restart the “war on poverty”.
• Institute stricter gun-control regulations.
• Legalize same-sex marriage at the federal level.
• Institute employment-protections and housing-protections for LGB&T.
• End athletics-based scholarships.
• Institute affirmative-action scholarships based on financial background.
• Institute income-proportionate traffic citations.
• Regulate the sale of snacks and sugary drinks in schools.
• Increase support for maternity/paternity-leave, and child care.