By Katie Clary
News Assistant
Sophomore Greg Martayan doesn’t wear flip-flops. He prefers sports blazers with an American flag pinned to the lapel. He dresses less like the average Pepperdine student and more like a politician.
Rightly so, since Martayan, 20, is running for Los Angeles City Council in 2005.
“The city of Los Angeles is in a crisis and we need a change of guard to secure the future of our children,” he said. Martayan calls himself the guard for the job.
If this Pepperdine political science major succeeds, he will be the youngest councilperson elected in the history of Los Angeles.
“He’s already a politician,” said Alan Rozzi, one of Martayan’s political science professors. “He knows how to work a room.
Rozzi explained that before meeting Martayan, he would have considered a 20-year-old running for public office “pretty unreasonable.” But now he sees differently. “Greg is pretty street smart. I don’t see why not,” Rozzi said.
Los Angeles is divided into 15 different districts, each with an elected non-partisan representative. Martayan is pursuing the seat for District 5, which includes the neighborhoods of Century City, Westwood, Sherman Oaks and his hometown Encino, among others.
Realizing this is no small undertaking, Martayan recognized that Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States with the fifth largest economy. District 5 is itself larger than two or three smaller districts combined.
But his roots run deep in the Valley, he explained. Martayan still lives in Encino and commutes to school as a full-time student. He’s set out on a mission to enter local politics since the fourth grade.
“I set myself up for this,” he said, noting how this campaign was a long-term goal and work-in-progress for him. “It’s not like it came out of nowhere.”
Martayan launched his political career in reverse: he started at the national level and worked backwards from there. In the seventh grade, he served on the National Youth Advisory Council, a committee of 25 students who advise Youth Service America, a national service organization.
In high school, Martayan jumped down to state and then local politics. He was a youth commissioner to former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg when he was 16 years old, and was later appointed as one of 15 L.A. City Commissioners a year and a half ago.
He just resigned from that post two weeks ago, realizing potential conflicts of interest while running his campaign.
Politics keep him busy. Dr. Lee Ann Carroll, who teaches a women’s studies course in which the candidate is enrolled, said Martayan keeps up with his classwork, although occasionally he is absent. “He’s missed class for a couple of events, but they sounded pretty impressive,” she said, describing the meetings in places like Sacramento, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
“He’s very mature for his age,” she said.
Martayan said he holds two maxims. The first, “govern through experience,” may seem ironic to some who look at his 20 years of life experience. But Martayan begs to differ; he has attended political conferences and councils for eight years. What’s more, he said his youth gives him an edge his middle-aged competitors don’t have.
“My age is an advantage, because I bring a fresh new perspective,” Martayan said. “I can deal with the 50 and over crowd, I can deal with the 20 and under crowd.”
Martayan said he sticks to his second maxim, “do what you’re passionate about,” by running for office. “I’m passionate about my district and the city of L.A,” he said.
He described how at a young age he discovered his love for city government and the political makers-and-shakers. Back in fourth grade when he became involved in an urban clean-up program, he realized that as many times as he painted over graffiti, the streets wouldn’t get clean unless politicians started prevention programs.
“Why I’m running for City Council is because that’s where everything happens,” he said. “I can see changes right when I walk out the door.”
Running on a political platform that emphasizes the need for safe neighborhoods, Martayan said his biggest goal is “to wipe out fear.”
“That transcends everything. To be safe at home, safe in school, safe in healthy communities — that’s my goal,” he said.
Almost a year before Election Day, Martayan backs his qualification with unwavering confidence.
“It’s not common for someone of my age and my experience to have done all this, but the facts are there,” Martayan said. “The facts will prove themselves.”
Will he win the bid for the L.A. City Council?
“Yes,” he said, emphatically. Between now and March 8, 2005, Martayan seeks to convince his voters likewise.
Fortunately for this Pepperdine undergraduate, he has at least one vote for sure.
“I think I’m in his district,” Rozzi said. “I’m sure I’ll vote for him in 2005.”
Submitted February 26, 2004