Lomita City Council Election Candidate Wade Kyle

The opinions expressed here are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of the LA Progressive.

Sharon Kyle: I sat down with Wade Kyle to talk about his Lomita City Council Race.  In 2024, Lomita City Council is having a different kind of election.  I asked Wade to explain the difference.

Wade Kyle:  The Lomita City Council Election has historically been conducted as an “at-large” election. By that I mean that the entire city receives the same ballot with the same assortment of city council candidates to choose from as opposed to selecting from candidates that are running for a specific district because they didn’t have districts until this election.

SK: There are 88 incorporated cities in L.A. County, how is Lomita different from the rest of the cities in Los Angeles County?

Wade Kyle: Large cities like Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Pasadena created city council districts decades ago but most smaller cities in Los Angeles County conduct at-large city council elections. However, Lomita is one of a growing number of incorporated cities in Los Angeles County that have chosen to divide their city into council districts. Some say the council districts were created to avoid a lawsuit but today, when Lomita residents open their ballots, only the Lomita residents that live in Lomita City Council District 2 will see the candidates running for Lomita City Council District 2. District 4 residents will have their own District 4 ballot. Lomita City Council Districts 1, 3, and 5 are not up for votes this election season but will be on the 2026 ballot.

SK: As a candidate for Lomita City Council, how has the creation of city council districts impacted you?

Wade Kyle: Frankly, it’s one of the reasons that I’m in this race. I had considered running before the districts were created but when the Lomita City Council moved forward with the idea to implement district-by-district elections, I was all in.

SK: Why did the creation of districts make such a difference to you?

Wade Kyle: You’re right. It’s made a huge difference. Before there were council districts, I was reluctant to jump into a city council race for several reasons; 1) I would have been running against two long term incumbents; 2) at-large races require that the candidates reach out to the entire city as opposed to a single district within the city; 3) name recognition, although I regularly attend Lomita City Council meetings and am a public interest advocate, I don’t have much name recognition in Lomita. All or some of those barriers could be overcome with money but I don’t take corporate money. To sum it up, running in a district race is more doable. I am actually attempting to knock on every single door in my district before election day. That would have been impossible if this were an at-large election.

SK:  You talk about diversity in ways that are different from the typical talking points. Can you tell us what you mean when you talk about diversity.

Wade Kyle: Social scientists have known for a long time, in other words, it's an established fact that diverse teams make better decisions. They've come to that conclusion based on the fact that collective wisdom consisting of different points of view tends to result in better solutions and better problem solving. We need to promote diversity of ideas, diversity of experiences, diversity of age, diversity of race, etc. at all levels of leadership in our government but especially at the city council of a city that is overwhelmingly diverse although you wouldn't know that by looking at the photos of the city council.

SK: The role of a city council member in a small city is somewhat limited. Can you tell me - quickly - a couple of other areas you'd like to focus on.

Wade Kyle: Lomita operates under the Council-Manager form of government. In other words, there is a city manager and the city council serves as the elected legislative and policy-making body of the City. But beyond that, I want to place additional focus on public safety and engaging the community. 

Note from the publisher:  In full disclosure, Wade Kyle is the son of Sharon Kyle and has also been a regular contributor to the LA Progressive.