A h/t to Los Angeles Times blogger Bob Salladay who pointed out that in the most recent batch of Gubernatornial appointees, there is one, Gregory Bell, 21, of Los Angeles, who was appointed to the State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, who sticks out because instead of being listed with his party registration (or DTS), his appointment is annotated with, "Bell is not registered to vote."

Of course, the Governor’s office knew this fact from the get go, as I just reviewed the application form and you are asked whether you are registered to vote as one of the screening questions.  Apparently there is no right or wrong answer to this question, it would seem.
 
I was curious about this, and so I thought, since I report on political news that I would just pick up phone and call Mr. Bell to ask him about this.  I reached him at his place of work, at the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council, where, according to the Governor’s release, "he coordinates and directs resources in LA County and groups to benefit at-risk youth."
 
When I reached Bell, I immediately (after telling him I was awriter with this website) congratulated him on his appointment.  He clearly is very excited and honored to have been appointed.  In fact, he said so… "I’m very appreciate of this opportunity to serve," Bell told me.
 
I then asked him about his voter registration, half expecting him to tell me some principled reason as to why he did not choose to register.  You know, to each their own.  His response, which I will leave it to you to assess, was, "I am so busy.  Busy getting other people to register to vote.  Yeah, I really need to get that done."
 
From my brief conversation with Bell, I think he is really motivated and that he will bring a unique perspective and passion to this state post.  That said, I really hope that he does register to vote soon.  With this appointment, he is now even more of a leader in his community.  His registering, and voting, will set an important example for those who look up to him.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.