Zev Yaroslavsky

Infobox_Politician


imagesize = 150px
name = Zev Yaroslavsky
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birth_date = Dec 21, 1948
birth_place =
death_date =
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office = Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
from District 3
term_start = 1994
term_end =
predecessor = Edmund D. Edelman
successor = Incumbent
party = Democratic
religion =
spouse = Barbara Yaroslavsky
children = Mina, David
website = http://zev.lacounty.gov

Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D. Edelman.

Yaroslavsky represents the Third Supervisorial District of Los Angeles County, which encompasses the cities of Malibu, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Calabasas, as well as most of the western San Fernando Valley and other portions of the City of Los Angeles. [ [http://zev.lacounty.gov/3rd%20District%20Map.pdf Los Angeles County District Map] ]

Background

He graduated from the UCLA in 1971 with a double major in History and Economics, and obtained a Master's Degree in British Imperial History in 1972 from the same school. [ [http://zev.lacounty.gov/scripts/zevbio.htm Zev Yaroslavsky official biography] ] He is a graduate of Fairfax High School in the City of Los Angeles.

Yaroslavsky won his first term on the Los Angeles Board of Superviors when Edmund D. Edelman did not seek re-election in 1996. His most recent re-election was in 2006 in a race against David Hernandez, a Republican and retired insurance adjuster who campaigned to keep the cross on the Los Angeles County Seal, and Randy Springer. [Troy Anderson, "Two Hopefuls Take Aim at Supervisor Yaroslavsky," Los Angeles Daily News, June 4, 2006] Yaroslavsky won the election, receiving 70.49% of the vote in the primary. [ [http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/06061275/rr1275pq.html-ssi Los Angeles County Recorder election results] ]

Controversy

Yaroslavsky has taken controversial stances on transportation issues in Los Angeles County. He wrote and sponsored the MTA Reform and Accountability Act of 1998 (Los Angeles County Proposition A), which banned the use of county sales tax revenue for the planning or building of subways, [ [http://zev.lacounty.gov/scripts/lacounty.htm Zev Yaroslavsky official website] ] a law which is a significant barrier to the construction of the Metro Purple Line subway extension to the Westside. [Todd Purdum, " Los Angeles Subway Reaches End of the Line," New York Times, June 23, 2000] However, he has championed bus rapid transit investment in general and the Metro Orange Line busway in the San Fernando Valley in particular. [ [http://www.metroinvestmentreport.com/mir/?module=displaystory&story_id=427&format=html Metro Investment Report (June 2007)] ]

Yaroslavsky was also an early proponent of easing Westside traffic by converting Pico and Olympic Boulevards into complementary one-way thoroughfares. [Alan Mittlesteadt, "Antonio's to-do list," Los Angeles City Beat, December 12, 2007]

Personal

Yaroslavsky and his wife Barbara have two children named Mina and David. [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/856/000100556/ NNDB profile] ]

He grew up in Boyle Heights with his sister Shimona and is the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. [Amy Klein, "Aliyah Prespectives," Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, May 9, 2003] His father was a founder of the Hebrew Teachers Union in Los Angeles. [Marc Ballon, "Jewish Support for Strikers Mixed," Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, October 31, 2003]

While at UCLA, Yaroslavky was a leading activist in the international movement to free Soviet Jews (Refuseniks). [Susan King, "Zev Yaroslavsky and the documentary 'Refusenik'", Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2008.]

External links

* [http://zev.lacounty.gov/ Official Web Site]
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/856/000100556/ NNDB Profile]
* [http://www.newsmeat.com/campaign_contributions_to_politicians/donor_list.php?candidate_id=H2CA27024 Newsmeat Congressional Campaign Contributors List]

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References