WHY VINCE FLAHERTY IS QUALIFIED TO REFORM THE SYSTEM

By Vince Flaherty

It appears most everyone running for office does not have a grasp of the California and the national economy. They talk about creating jobs. Creating jobs from what? Jobs are created by purchasing demand, which is created by people with purchasing power for affordable commodities. But the powers controlling the economy, and the legislators serving them, are ensuring that fewer citizens will be able to maintain the cost of living.

He formerly served as a mounted police officer with the Palm Springs Police Department. He is a past councilmember of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, and credited with saving a 16-acre wooded area, known as The Ocean Woods, from a tract of 23 homes. He served the community as a representative of The Castellammare Mesa Homeowners Association. He is a past president and director of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. In that capacity he assisted with efforts that led the State of California to abandon plans for a large parking lot and recreational vehicle park in legendary Los Liones Canyon, and he helped implement a program of planting indigenous trees, and restoration of the riparian stream bed in the canyon. He is known for his community activism and his newspaper articles as an advocate for restoration and preservation of the California coastline.

No stranger to politics and California issues, he worked as an aide to Congressman Charles Wilson (R), and as an assistant in the office of former Governor Pat Brown (D). He assisted California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown during her campaign to unseat incumbent governor Pete Wilson in the 1994 gubernatorial election. In recent years, he provided his home for meetings of the Pacific Palisades Republican Club. Since then, he has continued to contribute his efforts to the elections of Republican, Democratic and non-partisan candidates.

He consistently donates his efforts toward helping young people, and whenever he has the chance to speak to school students, he jumps on it. He lectures in the Los Angeles Unified School District in his capacity as an authority on California History. He is a long time supporter of the Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club and an Assistant Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 223 in Pacific Palisades. He is also regarded for his efforts with youth athletics, as the coach of youth baseball, soccer and football teams, and was awarded a resolution of the highest commendation from the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles for his outstanding service in representing the people, by guiding the Westside Bruins Youth Football Team to victory at the National Championship Finals. But the vocation he enjoys most is his one as a husband, and father of two sons

Now Vince believes it is time for him to do his part to help change the way our government operates. He believes that our government has truly lost touch with the people, and instead caters first and foremost to the wishes of special interest groups and lobbyists representing large corporations. He believes that Wall Street and the banking industry have hijacked our American government in Washington D.C. and the majority of our legislators have either ignored the conflicts of interest, or been more directly involved. He seeks to change our American government that has shown itself to be a government for the corporation, into a government for the people.

There are lots of so-called experts in the media with lots of ideas. There is a lot of talk about how to solve our country's problems. There is also a lot of misinformation and abusive talk from people who, for their own survival, and for various corporate or subversionary interests, would attempt to confuse or intimidate the citizenry. It's too bad there are people like that in the world. But Vince actually knows what to do. From his perspective, he sees that most everyone else in office or running for office is either faking it, compromised, or does not have the grasp of the California and the national economy that he does.