Los Angeles city, county and California state leaders vowed to add their economic leverage to international sanctions aimed at preventing a nuclear Iran and stopping President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rogue regime.
At a press conference convened by the Jewish Federation, City Controller Wendy Greuel, Councilman Paul Koretz, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and State Assemblymen Mike Feuer and Bob Blumenfield collectively vowed to make sure that local pension funds would not invest in Iran.
Ahmadinejad drew intense protest Wednesday in New York when he addressed the UN General Assembly. Widely believed to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program, Ahmadinejad also has denied the Holocaust and vowed to destroy Israel. He continues to violently suppress domestic opposition that erupted after what is widely believed to be a fraudulent presidential election a few months ago.
“There have been many discussions in Washington about military action,” Greuel said at the session Thursday afternoon outside Los Angeles’ City Hall. “Locally, we can work together to flex our economic muscle to put pressure on the Iranian government to bring about change.”
Yaroslavsky noted that Los Angeles has larger pension funds than many states, and California can exercise enormous economic power.
In late July, county supervisors voted to urge the county pension board to divest from any Iranian companies, under a proposal submitted by Yaroslavsky, who in the 1980s led the L.A. city council’s drive to divest from South Africa.
Nearly two years ago, the city council called on its independently run pension board to divest from companies doing business with Iran, but Koretz said the divestment has not been implemented. Greuel vowed that as chief accountant, she would ensure that the pension boards follow through on the council’s recommendations, though it is ultimately the pension boards that control investments.
California, likewise, has a law on the books stating that its pension funds may not invest with companies supporting Iran’s energy or defense sectors. However, the state has been slow to implement that law. Feuer and Blumenfield, along with 42 other state legislators, signed a letter demanding the state pension boards comply with the law. Feuer said the head of California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has assured him it would move forward quickly.
The push for divestment is both economically and morally driven. While the goal is stop what Yaroslavsky called “one of the roguest regimes on the planet,” city, county and state leaders also believe it could harm local economic interest to stay invested in companies that most likely will face economic sanctions for being involved with Iran.
“We have leverage locally and in cities and states all across the country. We can do something. We don’t have to sit powerlessly while this madman does his thing,” Yaroslavsky said.
