Ara Najarian

What are your priorities in this election?
Well, I think that there’s really 3 main priorities that I have. So let me start, not in any particular order. We do have to continue to focus on the sheriff’s department, to make sure that all the issues and management failures in the past, that I think went from the very top level, all the way down to the Sherriff on the street, need to be resolved. I am looking for huge leadership from Sheriff McDonnell to implement and put into effect a lot of the reforms that he promised. Now if that means that there have to be additional budget allocations, if that means there has to be an additional restructuring of the department, I’m fully in support of that, but I’m not pleased, and I don’t think anyone, both in or outside the department is really happy with the direction it had been going up until nine months ago. Included in that big question are the issues of the jails, the issues of the incarceration of those with mental illness, the issues of rehabilitation for drug addicts and substance abusers. It’s a huge issue but it is all inter-related and we need to focus very closely on how all those pieces work together to best utilize our resources to make the entire county much safer place for the residents and to help those that need help to turn their lives around and not necessarily put them in a jail cell and assume that that’s magically going to solve their problems.
Any specific first steps that county should take on what you just mentioned?
There have been steps already undertaken, part of that was the discussion on the new jail facility. And the discussion recognizes, and I fully support it, that incarceration for someone with mental illness, or incarceration for one with substance abuse does not solve anything. When those folks return to the community they’re often much worse than when they went in. So we have to build and staff and monitor those who can be reformed, who can be helped. And that will free up a lot of our resources, a lot of our deputies, to go after the critical individuals that need to be apprehended and incarcerated. So we sort of have to create a stratosphere of priorities, and of treatment for the very hardcore criminal that needs to be removed from society and slide it all the way up to someone that has mental illness that can be treated with proper therapy, whether its medications or counseling, and all the way up to those that have addictions that can be counseled. If we can start to solve those problems and help those that can be helped, there won’t be recidivism, they won’t be returning to the system that takes so much effort and time and manpower and frustration, on the part of the Sheriffs and their commanders and the community. So I think that’s a
Other Issues?
So the other key issue that I feel very ready to deal with is the transportation issues in LA County, and I sit on the MTA Board, I’ve been chairman of the MTA Board and I’m also on the MetroLink Board. My belief is that we cannot build our way out of freeway congestion; we just can’t keep building new freeways. Studies and the transportation experts, time and time again have shown that the more freeways you build, the more you discourage people from seeking alternative ways to travel. So I’m a very ardent supporter of completing the Foothill Goldline Extension, and I have been a supporter ever since I’ve been on the board to find the funding, they need about another billion dollars, to complete the last segment, if you will, which is going to be from Azusa to Claremont, and I have worked with the Gold Line Construction Authority, with their executive director, I’ve gone to Washington to advocate for additional funding, I fought at the MTA board to bring additional funding to the Gold Line. That is something that I will not stop fighting for, whether or not I’m successful in my campaign for county supervisor, but if elected I think my voice will ring a little bit louder on the board and it’s something that really we should all look forward to doing, it’s such a great concept, it provides economic development, which we’ve seen on the existing segments, wonderful little hubs of housing, retail, restaurants, shops, not to mention the jobs that the construction creates, it will take cars off the road, it’ll improve our air quality, it’s truly something that we should be focused on and although other areas of the county have been successful in their projects, I’m thinking of the expo line, of the subway to the sea, the Crenshaw line, we need to stand up, the representative from this district needs to stand up loudly and firmly and obtain the funding that this region and this district needs for the completion of the Gold Line.
The other issue, I said I had three. The third issue is our healthcare system, it’s a huge challenge that the county faces. The problems are almost insurmountable, in the sense that there are so many indigents, despite the advent of the Affordable Healthcare Act, that are not receiving the appropriate level of healthcare, we’re talking about young children, about the working poor, document or undocumented, and we’re talking about seniors. And our healthcare facilities are not able to keep up with the demand. And so we have to look very hard at how much we’re willing to invest in the healthcare system, and it’s a very large part of the budge currently. Simply put, I think we need to build more healthcare facilities, I don’t believe we should stick to the model of the large hospital/institutional type of facility, I think we need to work more efficiently and more broadly in our communities by creating smaller urgent care facilities and smaller type of, I even hate to use the word hospital but let’s say, smaller care facilities, for not so much urgent, but mid-level care facilities where we can bring it close to those who are in need. We can reduce a lot of just the bureaucratic expenses that typically accompany a large, let’s say King Drew type of hospital and keep it run efficiently and quickly and get the folks the car that they need as soon as they need it. So those problems don’t necessarily become larger problems. And that includes preventive care and healthy lifestyle counseling and it’s a multi-pronged approach to deal with the healthcare system.
What would a “mid-level” care facility would be?
I’m thinking of a smaller bed facility, something in the neighborhood of 10 to 20 beds. As opposed to the several hundred bed facilities that we see at SC, LA County, Harbor, or King Drew. Mega-hospitals with huge staffing. And the problem is the larger you get the staffing, the less manageable the facility becomes. And I’m not saying the healthcare of the doctors is any less but there’s just so much more staffing oversight that’s needed. Its’ very difficult to get a firm control on costs and service levels and the indicators of a successful healthcare facility, in terms of number of patients in and average length of stay, number of patients served, average cost, that sort of thing.
What is it about you on a personal level that suits you to the job of county supervisor? Personality, world view?
I’m very much a concensus builder as I worked on the boards, whether it’s the city council, whether it’s the MTA board, or whether it’s the MetroLink board. In 2010 I was able to bring the MTA board to a unanimous consensus on our long-range transportation plan. Previously, under previous chairs, the board was fractured and just full of in-fighting. When I became chairman it was my goal, and that included working with the five supervisors at the time because they sit on the board as well as the Mayor of LA’s office, to bring the entire group of 13 together to agree on a certain set of projects that we’re all going to push for. We voted unanimously and since that time because of our unanimous consensus we have been able to secure billions of dollars in federal funding, whereas before half the board would go and say, “we want this project,” the other half would say, “we want that project,” and the federal government would say, “you guys are dis-jointed, we’re not going to … tell us when you get your act together.” So it was under my leadership of the MTA board that we unanimously came together, found the points we could agree on and we all agreed to push forward. And since that date, you can look back, since 2010 to now, the success of the MTA has been incredible. And you can just see that by the number of projects we’ve had funded. So swinging back to the original nexus of the question, I think I’m very much a consensus builder, I speak my mind, I advocate strongly for the positions that I feel firmly about. I like to always inject a little bit of humor in my discussions, and I think you can see that if you see me in action at the City Council or at the MTA board. I think those are probably my best assets. I’m an attorney, so I have a legal background that gives me, not a better view, but a different view from the other members of the board of supervisors.
How would you say different exactly?
Let’s talk about Desolis and Mark Ridley Thomas, I think that looking at those two are, well Mark Ridley Thomas, more faith-based, more community activist in his background. I’m a little more cerebral and I’m always looking at the constitutional ramifications of an action, the human rights, the civil rights issues of an action, the equity of an action. We handle a lot of litigation at the board, there’s a lot of lawsuits against the county, I think I’m very well-versed in dealing with those, in resolving the cases that need to be resolved, but yet also in fighting the cases that need to be taken to a trial. So that gives me a bit of a background, I have a degree in economics from Occidental College. So I think I understand pretty well the business development and the accounting sides of the issues.
Can you just fill me in, give me a capsule review of Ari Najarian?
I’m originally from Ohio. Born and raised in northeast Ohio. Outside of Cleveland. Growing up in the Midwest you learn a different set of values. You learn the values of hard work, the values of your word meaning really everything. You’re nothing if you don’t have people trusting you for your words. Modesty, you knew someone was rich in your neighborhood if they drove up in a Buick. That was the way I grew up. And then I moved to Los Angeles. I attended Occidental College in 1980. I was a classmate with Barack Obama. Kind of a funny story. I worked for the local congressman, Carlos Morehead, was the congressman that represented, I believe at that time was Glendale, Pasadena, and parts of Arcadia. So I worked in Washington with Carlos and it was through that experience that I really became aware of the pulse of the region. Then I went to law school at USC and while at USC I worked in the district attorney’s office as a law clerk. And then I started my own practice in Glendale, got married, and I have worked as a judge pro temp in the local courts throughout the region. Married, two kids.
Marital Status?
MY new wife and I have just been married 8 months, she is Palmira Perez. She’s more famous than I am, she’s a news anchor for Mundo Fox, which is a Spanish language news, channel 22. And I’ve been very involved in the transportation world since I got on city council. I’m mayor three times, this is my third term as mayor and I’m very proud of the city of Glendale. I think we’ve done a good job in business development.
When were you first elected to Glendale’s council?
Glendale council 2005, but before that, I sort of skipped over, I was elected to the community college board of trustees in 2003.
Community college board is an elected position. Metro is weird because you’re elected by all the mayors of all the cities in the county. You’re nominated by your district and then you’re voted on by the members. And if you remember I had a little bit of an issue with that a few years back. With Antonovich trying to pull me off the Metro. So I’ve been on the board of Holy Family High School in Glendale and I’ve been a member of the Glendale BAR association and the Armenian BAR Association. I have been chairman of the San Fernando Valley COG, I was chairman for two years. And I still practice law (laughs), that’s the kicker, because all these other things are really not full-time by any means. I was captain of the football team at Occidental College, I’m a competitive swimmer currently. On the Cal-Tech Master’s swim team.
Final thoughts:
We can vote for president, for senator, what kind of difference does that make in our life? Very little, if any. But if some guy doesn’t take care of your potholes or make sure your garbage is picked up on time, you get angry, and that affects you directly. I am 54. I have two sons, one will be a senior at Occidental College, and another son who just graduated from St. Francis High School in La Canada, and is going to be attending Xavier University in Cincinnati in the fall.

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