{"id":48527,"date":"2014-02-03T16:17:06","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T00:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=48527"},"modified":"2014-02-05T14:52:05","modified_gmt":"2014-02-05T22:52:05","slug":"ervin-opens-campaign-headquarters-with-fox-ledford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/02\/03\/ervin-opens-campaign-headquarters-with-fox-ledford\/","title":{"rendered":"Ervin opens campaign headquarters with Fox, Ledford"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Palmdale<\/a>
Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford (left) said he endorsed Ervin because Ervin was committed to repairing relationships between Lancaster and Palmdale. (Simac Production Studios)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 California State Assemblyman Steve Fox and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford were among the dozens of supporters who gathered at the east Lancaster campaign headquarters of Johnathon Ervin on Saturday for the office’s grand opening.<\/p>\n

Ervin, a 35-year-old engineer and Air Force veteran, is running for Lancaster City Council in the April 8, 2014 election.<\/p>\n

\"Assemblyman<\/a>
Assemblyman Steve Fox also endorsed Ervin for Lancaster City Council. (Simac Production Studios)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think the key thing here is he\u2019s been showing a great deal of leadership in everything he\u2019s touched, and as a result, I think it\u2019s time to use that leadership right here in Lancaster,\u201d Fox said Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ledford said he was supporting Ervin because Ervin could help bridge the gap between Lancaster and Palmdale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly could do better if we cooperate as cities, as jurisdictions, so we want to make sure that we have people that are earnest when they say \u2018we want to cooperate,\u2019 and I think Jonathon represents that,\u201d Ledford said. \u201cI\u2019m asking the voters in Lancaster to let their vote count twice by bullet voting for Jonathon Ervin for Lancaster City Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AV Times sat with Ervin for a brief chat on Saturday. Ervin explained why he is running for city council, his biggest obstacles going into the election, and his plans for office, if elected. Read our conversation below:<\/p>\n

AVT: Why are you running for Lancaster City Council? <\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

ERVIN<\/span><\/strong>: I\u2019ve led several organizations, and I think diversity of thought makes us better. I think we need a voice that can work with Palmdale, work with the County, work with the Feds to bring jobs, lower crime, help our seniors. I\u2019m running because our community has many needs and I think that I can provide some leadership, some teamwork in helping achieve the things that we need.<\/p>\n

AVT: How does it feel to receive endorsements from both Assemblyman Steve Fox and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford in your run for city council?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

ERVIN<\/strong><\/span>: It feels really good to have broad support across the community. I think it proves that I\u2019m going to be able to make good on my promises of helping the communities work together to create jobs, to lower crime. I think these endorsements are evidence that I\u2019m able to be a bridge builder, whether it be between the communities, the county and the state. I think it says a lot about what I stand for. I think people are getting behind it, and the coalition is growing.<\/p>\n

AVT: What is your biggest obstacle in this election, and how will you overcome it?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

ERVIN<\/span><\/strong>: Because the elections are going to be in April, the biggest issue is going to be letting Lancaster citizens know that there is an election and ensuring that they get out to vote. That\u2019s the huge obstacle. I\u2019ve got a lot of support; we just have to ensure that people know that there is an election. Our election really should be in November. I think everybody understands that. I\u2019m not sure how we can sue another city to change their elections when ours is in an off-month and at-large, as well. So obviously, there are some things we need to look at, but the biggest obstacle is having an April election. You really don\u2019t get very high turnout, and we have to work to get the word out. We\u2019re hitting homes and knocking on doors.<\/p>\n

AVT: If elected to the Lancaster City Council on April 8, what are some of the first issues you will address?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

ERVIN<\/span><\/strong>: I think the first thing that needs to be done is to repair our relationship with the municipalities around us, obviously Los Angeles County [and] Palmdale. I\u2019d also like to enhance our relationship with Edwards Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

So day one is shoring up the coalitions for the big fights that we\u2019re going to have in the future. I\u2019d like to challenge the public utilities commission to lower our electricity rates. I\u2019d like to have incentives for both cities to get manufacturing back in this community. I\u2019d like to do some federal lobbying in keeping defense aerospace in this area. So there are a lot of areas where we\u2019re going to require coalitions, and day one is going to be repairing our relationships and building coalitions. I think that will lay the foundation for actually making good on my campaign pledges.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ervin\u2019s campaign headquarters is located in Olympia Plaza at 840 East Avenue K in Lancaster. For more information on Ervin and his campaign, visit www.Ervin2014.com<\/a> or call Ervin directly at 661-429-9572.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 California State Assemblyman Steve Fox and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford were among the dozens of supporters who gathered at the east Lancaster campaign headquarters of Johnathon Ervin on Saturday for the office’s grand opening. Ervin, a 35-year-old engineer and Air Force veteran, is running for Lancaster City Council in the April 8, 2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}