"Mike Bonin's Honesty and Intellectual Dishonesty" by Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - Late Wednesday, embattled LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin announced he would not seek a third and final term on the city's legislative body, citing his life-long battle with a slew of mental health issues.

First and foremost, a standing ovation to Bonin for sharing his struggles. We need more of that because help is available, and people are more inclined to seek it when high profile people like the Councilmember of LA's 11th District say they need help too.

As a recovering addict and alcoholic who has experienced variations of homelessness during his earlier life, these admissions help explain his strong leaning to helping people with similar struggles, albeit to the complete detriment of the rest of his constituents, neighboring Districts and nearby cities like Santa Monica that absorb bleed-over conditions enabled by Bonin. It has also been detrimental to all four million Angelenos, given that he has 1/15th of the vote on issues impacting all of us.

But this column does not buy that this is the only reason for Bonin throwing in the towel and shrugging at four more years with a salary north of $200,000 per year with perks and platforms galore.

Just a few days ago, and for the past several weeks, Bonin sought - and got - high-profile endorsements for that third term and aggressively promoted them on social media.

On January 13, Bonin boasted of his endorsement from recently minted LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell.

On January 19, he shared his endorsement from Congressman Ted Lieu.

On January 21, he did the same with the endorsement of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters.

These endorsements are ubiquitous among LA's political set because they keep one another and their families in jobs with salaries they'd never even sniff in the private sector. So endorsing Mike Bonin for another term was a risk of political capital that his endorsers have now squandered.

Did Bonin disclose to them and other endorsers like LA County Supe Janice Hahn that he was thinking of not running before seeking, getting and promoting their endorsements?

Bonin's personal struggles are real and abundant. But what transpired simultaneously with these endorsements is the inconvenient fact that almost as many people signed the petition to recall Bonin in late 2021 (25,000+) as there were votes to re-elect him in 2017 (31,000+).

Bonin made no mention of this failed-but-close recall in his decision to quit the race, and it simply does not ring true that it didn't factor into his decision. He may want the public to think this is solely a personal mental health issue, but the reality of possibly getting blown out of his job by a newcomer had to have played heavily in his decision to quit.

So here's a lingering question. We applaud Bonin for putting his mental health first and telling the public about it, but if that is the case, why is he sticking around to serve the final year of his current term?

Isn't his wellness the priority compared to the literal and figurative toxicity of City Hall (hello, Spring Street typhus outbreak)? Felipe Fuentes and Mitch Englander ditched City Hall "for better opportunities" (wink, wink) the moment they had one. I can't think of a better reason for Bonin to quit City Hall right now than the better opportunity of finding peace and stability.

Otherwise, how does one square that circle?

Only Mike Bonin knows the truth.

We wish the Councilmember wellness and strength in his life outside of City Hall, starting when he gets around to it in about a year.

Follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport. Feel free to share this widely.

(Daniel Guss, MBA, was runner-up for the 2020 Los Angeles Press Club journalism award for Best Online Political Commentary and was a runner-up in 2021 too. He has contributed to Mayor Sam, CityWatchLA, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News, and The Los Angeles Times in its Sports, Opinion and Entertainment Sections and Sunday Magazine among other publishers.)