The Neighborhood News Online

Andrew Westall Ends Candidacy to State Assembly

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Category: Community News

Published on Tuesday, 16 February 2010 16:21

Written by Dianne Lawrence

February 16, 2010

To my family, friends, colleagues, and opponents:

Due to the unforeseen and tragic circumstances that began ten days ago and ended in the untimely passing of my immediate supervisor and great friend Charmette Bonpua who served as our Chief of Staff in the Office Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb J. Wesson, Jr., I have made the decision to end my candidacy for the State Assembly and return to service in my capacity as Senior Deputy in that office. This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life, and I make it without reservation, regret, or purpose of evasion.

Half of my life has been dedicated to the noble cause of public service, and I have worked untold hours to come to a place where I was a viable candidate and front-runner in this race. I am proud of the work I have accomplished in my career, and I would have taken great pride in utilizing those skills and experience to help fix the State of California and get us back on the right track had I been elected. But life, and fate as it seems, had different ideas.

There are many qualities, values, and principles I admire most in people and try to live up to in my life: honor, dignity, responsibility, hard work, truth, candidness; and among those are loyalty and friendship. To understand me best would be to read 2 Timothy 2 of the New Testament. This is my favorite part of the bible, and while not a deeply religious man, I am a man of faith.

My mom would say that I am loyal to my friends to a fault, but personally I believe loyalty to be a virtue. In this life, if we are lucky, we get to work on the issues we care about with people we really care about. Because we spend so much time together, we value and respect our work together and our friendships. For nearly five years, this had been the relationship and friendship I have had with the staff members of the Office Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb J. Wesson, Jr., and in particular Herb Wesson and Charmette Bonpua.

While I have worked for several elected officials in my life, it was truly Herb who had the faith in my abilities that allowed me to become an expert on a variety of policy and funding issues. And it was my friend and office matriarch Charmette that believed in me and ensured that at the end of the workday, we did everything we could to protect and promote our friend Herb, the residents of Council District 10, and our city of angels.

This is why I must return to Los Angeles City Hall at this time. To be true to who I am, to the values and principles I uphold, I must fulfill the decision that I made even before I realized it.

There are those political gadflies that will say my campaign has been floundering and I did not have the will to stay in this race. This could not be further from the truth. As a former high school wrestler and football player, those who know me know that my tenacity, determination, and focus are second-to-none.

My campaign was going extremely well with only eight weeks left before the first election, and I was looking forward to the possibility of winning as poll results revealed. However, we were only able to survey a little more than half the sample before I shut it down. This is why we did not publish the results, although I will be happy to give anyone a copy after June 8th to know what I say is true.

On the campaign trail, I have gotten to know two of my Democratic opponents very well over the last several weeks. I now have a better understanding of the type of people they are, what their values and principles are, and why they decided to run for the State Assembly. During this time, one Democratic candidate has stood out as someone who shares similar values, principles, and concerns as me. That person is Nayiri Nahabedian, a fellow Democrat and member of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education. She is the only candidate in this race that I trust to represent the people of the 43rd District, and she has my full confidence and support. I hope that as you analyze the candidates in this race, you will come to the same conclusion.

To my supporters, endorsers, campaign volunteers, and campaign staff, I am sincerely grateful and I truly hope you can understand how difficult these past days have been for all of us. I will become a candidate again one day in the future, when the time is right. Until then, I look forward to working with the residents of the 10th Council District and my students at Pasadena City College and building a brighter future for us all.

Your Friend,

Andrew Westall
Adjunct Professor, Pasadena City College
Senior Deputy, Office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb J. Wesson,

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