Roxanne Beckford Hoge, one of the candidates for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 3 race, rightly dubbed it, “Outsiders vs. Insiders.” The current District 3 member, Sheila Kuehl (D-Cruel), has decided she doesn’t want to run for a final, four-year term.

The Insiders: State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, West Hollywood City Council member Lindsey Horvath, and State Sen. Henry Stern, the usual suspects–once termed out in one area of local or state government–decide another vacant seat is their ticket to staying alive.

Then you have the Outsiders: Business owners and community activists Craig Brill, Jeffi Girgenti, and Roxanne Beckford Hoge.

Despite the fact that these grassroots candidates have some excellent plans for how to save Los Angeles County from the mismanagement suffered under the five divas currently holding Board of Supervisors seats, and have connected in unique ways with District 3 constituents, they have been tacitly ignored by “official” candidate forums, and aggressively maligned by the major legacy media publications like the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. (emphasis mine)

On Roxanne Hoge: “Hoge called herself a reluctant candidate who is “carrying the banner of common sense.” She has not been vaccinated and was not in favor of shutting down schools to control the spread of the coronavirus. She’s endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association PAC.”

Not a word on Hoge’s policy points or vision. According to the L.A. Daily News, anti-vaxxers and conservative taxers should not be running for public office.

In the Los Angeles Times endorsement of West Hollywood City Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath, after detailing why Bob Hertzberg and Henry Stern’s policies and leadership failed to compare to Horvath’s, they dismissed all three grassroots candidates in one sentence, as if they were dandruff on a shoulder:

Nor do the other three candidates: Craig Brill, Jeffi Girgenti and Roxanne Beckford Hoge, all of whom would respond to the county’s current challenges with backward-looking policies.

The candidates had much to say on that “backward-looking policies” line when I interviewed them. At least you’ll get to hear these policies on this platform, so you can decide for yourself.

Jeffi Girgenti

Jeffi Girgenti has a huge, white notebook filled with policy, talking points, and opposition research against the insiders Horvath, Stern, and Hertzberg. Her 2020 campaign for Assembly helped to hone those skills, and she is not lacking in energy or vision.

Girgenti says she has put out over 500 yard signs in the District, and it has been effective. She is getting phone calls from people who have seen her ballot statement, and the yard signs are drawing people to the website. As a small business owner and product creator and marketer, Girgenti has learned the power of negotiation, and she wants to parlay that knowledge into negotiating better outcomes for the people of District 3.

“‘No,’ is not something I do well with, so I always like to find a solution. Because, No, shouldn’t be a solid answer. There should be a solution beyond, No. And so, I want to be the person that creates a solution for you.”

Here is more of what Girgenti had to say:

Roxanne Beckford Hoge

Roxanne Beckford Hoge and I are friends, which might explain this more free association-style of interview with her. (My bad internet connection didn’t help that either).

Like Girgenti, Hoge is not lacking energy or vision. She is the “Supermom for Supervisor,” jetting around Los Angeles County, attending events, meeting constituents, and never turning a media opportunity down to speak about her race for District 3, and her ideas on how to make Los Angeles County work again.

Hoge’s acting background and her previous experience running for Assembly has sharpened her ability to deliver an idea or a policy point with precision–making her effective and solid ideas even more weighty and effective.

“Oh no, they [the Board of Supervisors] deemed themselves essential enough to get their paychecks for two years, but not for people to address them. They did have a ‘Zoom ability.’ They’re back in person now in a new, multimillion dollar renovation of their offices.

“People are still not allowed to attend in person. If you’ve ever gone to a meeting before, they don’t listen to public comment at all. It’s all performative. And they are really, I mean, I think all of us: Jeffi, Craig, myself, Kevin Dalton, and Brian Smith for the other seat [District 1]. As I say, the outsiders all have committed to being completely transparent in office.”

Hear more of what Hoge had to say here:

Craig Brill

Craig Brill’s biggest policy initiative is combatting the homelessness. His own loss of a dear friend by a homeless person is what activated him to run for the District 3 seat. Brill saw firsthand the lack of compassion shown by Los Angeles County toward not only the people who are harmed by the homeless, but the homeless themselves.

“I realized that the government failed two people that day. They failed Gabriel, who should be alive. Police had three encounters with Enid Connors, the individual who stabbed Gabe that day, for trespassing onto people’s properties and basically told our neighbors that there’s nothing we can do. He’s mentally ill and he’s homeless.

“I looked at how the government failed Enid Connors that day as well.

“Here was a guy who had been in and out of jail with mental illness, known to have mental illness. There was no support. There was no treatment for him. There was no continuum of care for him, and with our laws and the ACLU, they give people with mental illness the right not to take treatment.

“And so, these people are left because there’s nothing the medical community can do for them. They’re left to the streets.”

In his campaign, Brill is quite proud of his grassroots mantle.

“I’ve been doing Farmers Markets all across the county. I go with 1,500 to 2,000 flyers. I did Studio City, and I ran out before the Farmers Market was even over. I get about 400 clicks to my website every week of new people coming in. It’s just been tremendous, the requests for signs I get every day. I’m driving around handing out signs by myself; it is a grassroots campaign and most of my supporters are business owners, people who work during the day. You know, I don’t have a Union local to send workers out and campaign for me, so it is a grassroots efforts.

“It’s two people telling two friends and you know, I call it sort of the Wella Balsam campaign because we remember that commercial really well: You tell two friends, then they tell two friends, and that’s how it’s getting out.”

Hear more about Craig Brill’s campaign and initiatives here:

I have covered other pivotal races through interviews with Kevin Dalton for L.A. County Board of Supervisors District 1, and Riverside County 63rd Assembly District candidate Bill Essayli.

The California Primary Election is Tuesday, June 7, just over five days away. This is an opportunity to think different, act different, and vote different.

Editor’s note: Candidate Roxanne Beckford Hoge is the wife of RedState contributor Bob Hoge.