MOHAMMAD ALAVI Los Angeles City Controller Rick
Tuttle speaks at the Bruin Democrats’ fund-raiser
Thursday.
By Kevin Lee
Daily Bruin Contributor
Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle stressed the importance
of going back to the “grassroots” of winning support
for the Democratic Party, as he spoke during a Bruin Democrats
fund-raiser Thursday.
“UCLA is the best large public university in a major
city,” Tuttle said at the event held in the Kerckhoff Grand
Salon “That makes a Democratic influence on campus all the
more important for L.A.”
For the second consecutive year, the Alumni and Friends
Reception brought together current group members and UCLA graduates
to listen to Bruin alumni discuss the future of the Bruin
Democrats. The event also honored Tuttle, the recipient of the
Contributions to UCLA Award.
In discussing the future of the Democratic Party, State
Controller Kathleen Connell and UC Regent Designate Jeffrey Seymour
described possible challenges for the party in the state,
especially with the energy crisis breathing down the neck of the
Democratic legislature in California.
“Sometimes the state of the party is like something out of
a Casablanca movie script ““ we simply forget about the
past,” Seymour said. “It is so important to go back to
the roots of gaining Democratic support if we are to do well in the
future.”
Speakers at the fund-raiser touched upon the political state of
affairs on the international scene as well.
Diane Watson, former U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia and current
candidate for the 32nd Congressional district for the U.S. House of
Representatives, lamented the United States’ loss of its seat
in the Human Rights Commission.
“The United States is partially at fault for this, since
our country has been inattentive at meetings and too arrogant at
handling our own human rights issues,” Watson said.
Watson also added that building a missile defense system around
the country will not help our relationship with other
countries.
The U.S. still owes $1 billion to the United Nations. Earlier
this month, the U.S. House of Representatives repealed a plan by
the Clinton Administration to pay off $900 million of the debt.
In discussing finances within the U.S., Watson said there is a
flaw in giving taxpayers a $1.3 trillion tax cut when not enough
money has been spent on education, including the UC system.
All of the speakers praised Tuttle.
After spending 16 years as city controller, Tuttle will step
down as he reaches his term limit. Tuttle has always maintained
ties with UCLA after receiving his master’s and doctoral
degrees from the school.
He served as associate dean of students for UCLA and has also
received numerous awards for civil rights work from the NAACP and
the Anti-Defamation League.
As city controller, Tuttle has been recognized for his efforts
to bar Los Angeles from trading with countries that have human
rights violations.
The Bruin Democrats receive no funding from the university since
it is a political organization, according to Melanie Ho, president
of the group.
Bruin Democrats will use the money raised from the fund-raiser
to finance information distribution such as passing out fliers and
paying for speakers. The money may also be used to help send
members to the annual California State Democrat Conventions.
This year, the Bruin Young Democrats won the award for College
Club of the Year at the California State Democratic Convention.