Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti and former Aerospace Corporation CEO Wanda Austin both recently published books. Garcetti’s book, his eighth, is a $250, limited edition collection of photographs he took in Japan. Austin’s book, her first, is “Making Space: Strategic Leadership for a Complex World.” Austin’s paperback sells for $7.99 on Amazon.
The contrast between their books was reflected in the talks they gave last Tuesday at the South Bay Business Leaders Summit, hosted by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce at the Manhattan Beach Marriott.
Garcetti summed up his message by observing that most people spend the better part of their lives doing what they are paid to do. Only late in life do they begin to do what they are “made to do.”
Austin, though she retired from Aerospace Corporation last year, was not ready to let members of the audience retire.
“You are leaders, so lead,” the El Segundo resident told them.
“Leadership is not a birthright. It is a skill. Leaders can come from anywhere and in any form,” the Bronx, New York native writes in her book.
Garcetti spent 30 years as a Los Angeles County prosecutor, eight of them as the elected district attorney. Though much of his talk was devoted to his photography, he could not escape talking about the 1995 OJ Simpson double murder trial. Simpson’s acquittal almost cost Garcetti reelection in 1996.
Garcetti said that prior to the verdicts, he prepared statements for a conviction and for a hung jury. But he did not prepare a statement to issue in response to an acquittal.
His blindness to the possibility of an acquittal, he said, even though his parents were from Mexico and he grew up in South Central, stemmed from his failure to understand what he called the “Black mind.” Nine of the 12 jurors were black.
Garcetti said that shortly after Simpson’s arrest, a black celebrity, whom he didn’t identify, told him at a dinner party that Simpson would be acquitted as payback for the acquittals of the police who beat Rodney King and the years of black oppression that preceded the Rodney King riots.
Garcetti said his interest in photography began during the Simpson trial when he took to carrying a camera when he walked around downtown.
One of his early subjects was the ironworkers building the Walt Disney Concert Hall just a few blocks from the criminal courts building.
First the ironworkers asked him for copies of the photos, then Disney Hall asked for the photos. Then, one day, Hasselblad contacted him and offered him one of their cameras and three of their lenses to work with. Two books about Disney Hall followed. The first titled “Iron” is a photographic account of the ironworkers. The second, “Frozen Music,” captures architect Frank Gehry’s completed concert hall.
Garcetti’s subsequent photography book subjects include President Barack Obama’s inauguration, a water program in Africa and Cuban dancers.
Economist Somjita Mitra of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, told the audience that the South Bay, with its influx of Silicon Beach companies and its rebounding aerospace industry may be Los Angeles County’s strongest economic region.
During her comments on real estate, Mitra advised buying sooner rather than later.
“The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgages fell to an all-time low in November 2012, at just 3.31 percent, But as the Fed raises its key interest rate, the cost of a home loan is moving higher as well. By the end of 2018, look for mortgage rates as high as 5.5 percent,” Mitra explained.
“Meanwhile, home prices are expected to rise 4.6 percent in 2017. This means new homebuyers could be hit by a double whammy of higher home prices and higher borrowing rates,” Mitra said.
Other speakers at the day long summit included Keller Williams Realtor Michelle Brown, “Dreambuilder Coach” Judith Hersch, non-profit consultant Elizabeth Bailey, business consultant Rebecca Bergin and Manhattan Beach councilman Steve Napolitano. ER
