Mark M. Herd for Los Angeles City Council CD5 in 2022

Mark M. Herd has REAL solutions that

DO NOT

require tax increases.

Herd was endorsed by the California Taxpayers Union in 2018 when he ran for CA State Senate 26.

Los Angeles has a homeless crisis.  Herd has a plan, it's called the Herd Homeless Relief Plan and it includes an immediate opening of all shelters 24/7/365.  Currently many shelters are closed during the summer month's, no more, we have a crisis. Once all shelters are open 24/7/365 we can move to phase 2, temporary/permanent housing solutions using HHH funds which are being wasted on $400,000.00 cots in Venice where few want them located.  Homeowners in Venice are upset.  They spoke out against it but as usual the LA City Council ignored their protestations and forced a boondoggle project, full of waste upon their community.   Mark Herd lived in a lovely Venice home and while there he also  spent several nights doing research while staying in a homeless encampment.  Herd  listened and learned of the hardships people suffer on the streets.  Poverty, drug abuse, mental illness and past military service are all part of the equation.  Herd understands that permanent housing solutions and shelters that don't close 6 month's each year are critical to solving the crisis.  Prefab homes on vacant county land is also a key component of any real solution.  Prefab homes now cost as little as $5k per unit and come with kitchens, bath, bedrooms etc. and there is plenty of county land available near rail.   There is also electric, water and sewage etc. available.    The biggest challenge is simply getting the LA City Council and the LA County Board of Supervisors to work together to provide prefab homes for less than HHH spends on cots.  Getting someone off the streets isn't rocket science but when special interest groups and an inefficient gov't get in the way, little gets done.  Without the will, there is no way so let's elect better leaders with real solutions.

Affordable housing is another challenge for Los Angeles.  Demand is very high and with over 70,000 people on the streets and in cars, affordable housing is in more demand than ever.  By solving the homeless crisis using the Herd Homeless Relief Plan, you reduce demand for affordable housing instantly by the number of people we house in prefab homes on county lands.  The second way to solve affordable housing is to build more housing near public transit.  Double the density, triple the parking is a saying but it holds water.  More housing is needed and that means more traffic too.  But did you know that up to 30% of traffic is from cars looking for parking.  Santa Monica gets an A plus in that catagory because they have more cars and less traffic than anywhere.  Not that Santa Monica doesn't have traffic, but how they deal with it IS impressive.  We can learn from Santa Monica. 

We need more housing but that doesn't mean subsidized housing.   We simply need MORE housing.  This allows housing mobility where well to do tenants move up and poorer tenants can then find more affordable housing options.  Third, we need a robust economy to pull people up from poverty.  This can happen IF the  City of Los Angeles learns to get out of the way of businesses.  Too many regulations, fees and bureaucracy make running a business in Los Angeles very  challenging.  Taxes are high, real estate is expensive and regulations are burdensome.  The City needs  to help businesses thrive instead of regulating and taxing them into the ground.  Lastly, the HHH funds need to be better spent so that a real housing impact is made.  This is a massive waste of taxpayer resources and if used correctly could have housed well over 40,000 desperate and cold individuals in new and clean prefab homes on county lands.

Neighborhood Councils advise the City on countless local community issues.  More City decisions need to be made at the local level and often NC's advises are ignored by the City council.   One issue is NC funding.  The City has cut it over the years and it's time to increase it by 20%.  If elected Herd will propose a pay reduction by every council member of 60k.  No more 180k, now 200k per year paychecks for the LA City Council members, it's time to tighten the belt.  Council members should get paid no more than 140K per year.  The 60k per Council member reduction could go directly to the NC's, thereby increasing their funding (almost 10k per NC) without having to raise taxes. 

Traffic in Los Angeles continues to get worse every year.  Not only are the sidewalks and streets in disrepair but traffic is at an all time high.  How can we fix it? Simple, utilize proven methods.  Parking is a key component to reducing traffic.  When parking isn't available it can increase traffic in the local community by up to 30%.  When developers build buildings like the one in Hollywood that has ZERO parking spots, locals get screwed and parking issues increase.  We must require more parking spaces on all new projects than are currently required.  We must also build more public lots like those in Santa Monica.  The City of L.A. can do this but it must not sweep parking funds and use them for other projects.  In 2009 the City of L.A wasted 1.7 million trying to sell the City parking lots but never did, thank God.  Manual control of major intersections is also necessary to speed up traffic, aka traffic cops.  Signals need to be manually controlled from afar at certain busy intersections as well.  Another challenge to traffic is when developers donate to politicians who provide them the variances that in the end cause more traffic instead of reducing it.  I will stop that.  Vision Zero, a ‘road diet’ fad designed to lower pedestrian deaths, hampers emergency vehicles and often increases fatalities.  Road diets have increased traffic dramatically in Venice where one lane was taken away on Venice Blvd.  Many have complained but zero mitigation has been done since these roads diets were installed against the will of many communities in Los Angeles.  Less road diets mean less traffic.

NON taxpayer revenue streams need to be found by the City to make it more financially stable during future economic downturns.  We need to keep all programs but FREEZE new ones.  We also need to STOP all new tax increases.  Why?  We don't need them, we need NON taxpayer revenue streams moving forward.  For example......... Naming rights on bridges and roads is one way a city can raise revenue without raising taxes.  The City needs to look into more revenue generating streams that don't increase taxes on businesses and individuals.  Stadiums needs sponsors not taxpayers, parks could accept huge donations for simply putting someones name one a red brick or brick wall.  I have a team working on NEW NON taxpayer revenue streams and once completed, those solutions will be posted here.

Development is a serious issue in  Los Angeles.  Often Neighborhood Councils and HOA's will object to massive projects in their neighborhood, especially those that ask for variances.  When an area is zoned for 3 stories and the developer wants 15 stories you have a problem.  When the City Councilman ignores the community and lets the developer build beyond existing entitlements you have a problem.  The problem is money, the money that flows from developer to Councilman in an effort to get variances and other zoning changes.  Herd will not play that game.  Herd was the only candidate in 2017 who stood UP for measure S.  Herd took 43% of the vote in the CD5 HOA debate vs. Paul Koretz and Jesse Creed and will continue to stand up for homeowners.  Herd has served on multiple HOA boards and was elected President of the Park Ashton HOA 4 times from 2004 to 2012.  Herd also served four years on the Westwood NC Land Use committee.  His father, Alan A. Herd is a Fmr. President (2009) and Lifetime Achievement Award winner (2014) of the National Association of Realtors Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles.

Pictured below:  In the 2017 CD5 HOA debate Herd polled at 43% amoung attendees.  Herd also stood up for the communities by taking a politically risky position supporting measure S which would have improved the quality of life in the 5th district by dealing with wreckless over development in a meaningful way.

The Los Angeles City Council accepts far too much special interest money and the four pictured above probablycouldn't get elected without it.  If elected Herd will look into ways to stop special interest and dark money from influencing decision making at City Hall.

Herd served four years on the Westwood Neighborhood Council.  He also served on the Land Use Committee for four years.  In Venice, Herd attended countless VNC meetings, homeless committee meetings and served on the Ocean Front Walk committee when LAMC 42.15 was being formulated.  42.15 was the ordinance that regulates Ocean Front Walk aka. the Venice Boardwalk.  Herd's experience dealing with major issues like homelessness, traffic and public safety has lead him to come up with some simple solutions to some of L.A.'s most challenging issues.  Pictured below are solutions that Herd started crafting over the past 12 years as an active participant in city issues.