Brief
biography: I received my B.A. in public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and my M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. I have written extensively on the relationships among racial and ethnic groups, and on the governance of American cities. My book Politics in Black and White: Race and Power in Los Angeles (Princeton University Press, 1993) received the 1994 Ralph J. Bunche Award from the American Political Science Association as the best political science book of the year on the subject of racial and ethnic pluralism.
I served as Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles (Appointed) Charter Reform Commission between 1997 and 1999. As a result of the Charter reform process, a new Charter was placed on the June 1999 ballot, and received 60% of the vote, thereby completing the first successful comprehensive reform of the Los Angeles Charter in 75 years. My book, The City at Stake: Secession, Reform, and the Battle for Los Angeles, was published in 2004 by Princeton University Press and in paperback in 2006.
In 1999, I was selected as principal consultant to the City of Pasadena Charter Reform Task Force on School District Governance. In that capacity, I wrote a report calling for major changes in the school district, which was placed on the November 2000 ballot, and received 75% of the vote. I have since served as principal consultant to successful charter reforms in Glendale, Culver City, and Burbank and assisted the City of Riverside Task Force on Neighborhood Governance.
In 2006, I was named Executive Director of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Review Commission to examine the system set up in the 1999 charter. The Commission delivered its recommendations to the City Council in September 2007.
In 2001, I was selected as the second Fellow of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to serve an 18 month term beginning in July, 2001. As the Haynes Fellow, I acted as a liaison between the Foundation and the academic community and helped develop the Foundation’s initiative in the area of governance of the Los Angeles region. In September 2002, I organized a scholarly conference on the reform of Los Angeles government.
In 1997, 2001, and 2005, I served as the political consultant to the election-day Los Angeles Times Poll. I am frequently quoted in local and national media, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, CNN, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and the Washington Post. My monthly column, “The Jewish Vote” in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles was nominated in 2005 for the best editorial by the Los Angeles Press Club. I have also written op-ed columns for the Los Angeles Times and La Opinion. I am a frequent speaker at academic, professional, and community events. I have often been invited to address conferences sponsored by national foundations.
I have received numerous awards, including Best Educator from the CSUF Associated Students and Distinguished Faculty Member from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2005, I was one of four statewide CSU faculty members to receive the $20,000 Wang Family Excellence Award. In 2006, I was named the first winner of the campus wide Carol Barnes Award for Teaching Excellence.
I was recently named one of two co-winners (along with Dowell Myers of USC) of $25,000 awards from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation of the first Haynes Research Impact Awards.
In October 2006, the League of Women Voters published my third book, Los Angeles: Structure of a City Government for distribution throughout the city government, neighborhood councils, the schools, and the public libraries. My recent books led to my inclusion as a panelist/author in the 2007 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
My current research, with CSUF geographer Mark Drayse, and supported by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation, explores the prospects for urban coalitions in an age of immigration. Together we are writing a book on the coalition patterns that emerged in the election of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor of Los Angeles
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