Wake Up and Vote

41ST ASSEMBLY: JONATHAN LEVEY

 

Few sections of California are as ecocentric as the 41st Assembly District, a stretch of Southern California that takes in Santa Monica, Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and other suburbs on each side of the L.A.-Ventura County border — not to mention the Santa Monica Mountains and a good stretch of coastline. Five candidates — four of them waging persuasive campaigns — have stepped forward to fill the seat being vacated by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, an outspoken leader in Sacramento on environmental issues. Pavley and another force in the district, state Senator Sheila Kuehl, have thrown their considerable support behind Julia Brownley, an extremely likable school board member for Santa Monica and Malibu who has promised to make public schools her No. 1 issue. Yet despite her promise to direct more funds into the classroom, Brownley showed a surprisingly limited understanding of education funding issues, particularly the strategies needed to increase per-pupil spending. Attorney Barry Groveman and activist Kelly Hayes-Raitt show an impassioned interest in the environment, yet neither seems entirely suited to the work of getting difficult bills through the state Legislature. Our choice is a relative outsider to the world of politics — college teacher Jonathan Levey, an attorney who shows an understanding of state government and an ability to communicate his progressive ideals to moderate legislators and a doubting business community. We like that Levey speaks with specificity on complex topics, and with candor on the challenges facing the Democratic Party agenda, such as comprehensive health care. We also like that Levey tried to engage voters with a 162-page policy booklet, even one that went a little heavy on the platitudes.

42ND ASSEMBLY: MIKE FEUER

We’ve never been happy with term limits. Since 1996, state lawmakers repeatedly have been shown the door just as they learned to navigate the corridors of the Capitol and advance meaningful legislation. The race for the 42nd — which includes West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks and other well-heeled communities — leaves voters with yet another reason to hate term limits: a nail-biter between two extremely qualified, well-matched potential replacements for departing Assemblyman Paul Koretz. Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer and West Hollywood City Councilwoman Abbe Land easily outshine the other Democrats in this race, offering strong track records on health care, gay rights and the environment. Feuer showed a strong interest in ethics reform during his time at City Hall and would likely place a strong emphasis on clean-air issues. Land, on the other hand, has promised to parlay her work at the Los Angeles Free Clinic into a one-woman campaign for universal health care. While both are strong liberal Democrats, we give a slight edge to Feuer, a thoughtful community advocate who recently gained a strong understanding of the inequities within the state’s education system by helping to negotiate a settlement to a lawsuit over access to education resources. But Feuer must learn to curb his penchant for self-righteous finger-pointing. For someone who calls for restraint on campaign fund raising, he took an awful lot of money during his failed 2001 bid for city attorney from lawyers — whose firms were on the prowl for city contracts. We look forward to a Mike Feuer who persuades, not alienates.

43RD ASSEMBLY: PAUL KREKORIAN

It was not so long ago that the 43rd Assembly District posed an exhausting challenge for California Democrats. In 1996, union activist Scott Wildman broke the GOP’s stranglehold on the Glendale-Burbank–North Hollywood district by scoring the narrowest of upsets. These days, the 43rd is a safe Democratic seat where — like most of the Assembly races in Los Angeles County — the primary election decides who will be sent to Sacramento. When Wildman departed six years ago, the L.A. Weekly backed Democrat Paul Krekorian to fill the seat, and we are equally supportive today. Krekorian is an attorney who works in the entertainment industry — important experience in a state gripped by runaway production — but he also has extensive experience in public schools, having served on the Burbank Unified Board of Education. Krekorian has run into trouble with his absentee ballots, which bother us. But his lone opponent for the Democratic nomination, Glendale Councilman Frank Quintero, also has flaws. Quintero, while promising to focus on vocational education issues in Sacramento, sounded vague and unfocused when discussing his campaign. At one event, he gave the mistaken impression that he supported school vouchers. At another, he admitted that he had not bothered to review a campaign piece with his name on it that was sent to voters. We’re sticking with Krekorian.



44TH ASSEMBLY: DIANA PETERSON-MORE

Four candidates are running to replace termed-out Assemblywoman Carol Liu in this district, which takes in La Cañada–Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena and some well-tended sections of the west San Gabriel Valley. The field of Democrats is, by and large, quite good. And we give especially strong credit to Adam Murray, an attorney and college economics instructor who became the sleeper hit of the campaign by demonstrating a strong understanding of housing issues, poverty and what ails Sacramento. But our candidate this year is Diana Peterson-More, who has the same progressive values as Murray while coming to the race with a more extensive background of activism and advocacy. Six years ago, Peterson-More spoke passionately for statewide preschool education, before it had begun to percolate in the political mainstream. Now, she is willing to take other political risks, by advocating for the restoration of the vehicle license fee as a way to fund K-12 education. The field of candidates also includes La Cañada–Flintridge Councilman Anthony Portantino, who has been a credible voice in his community. But we worry that the small-town issues of his city — from contentious debates over tree removal and the construction of a Sports Chalet — have not fully prepared him for the Capitol. And Brian Center, an aide to Sheriff Leroy Baca, showed himself to be a bit too mired in bureaucratic minutiae to merit statewide office.



45TH ASSEMBLY: ELENA POPP

First, a word about Christine Chavez. Chavez, an organizer with United Farm Workers and the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez, tells us she is a fighter. And on some level, we suppose she must be. But what could have possessed her to avoid eight candidate debates in her run for the 45th Assembly District? Why would she skip one forum sponsored by KPCC-FM, and another broadcast on KPFK? We can only conclude that Chavez is running a stealth campaign, one that is supremely disrespectful of the voters, that trades shamelessly on her family name. We don’t care how many campaign mailers, paperback books, English-Spanish dictionaries or photos of her grandfather that she sends to the voters if she can’t be bothered to engage her opponents. And it’s hard to believe Chavez will, as she says ad nauseam, pose a vigorous challenge to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when she can’t even show up to discuss her political views with the editorial board of the L.A. Weekly. As she does her best to avoid answering difficult questions, we can’t help but be reminded by the childhood photograph Chavez placed on her mailer — the one in which she is tethered to her famous grandfather at a famous point in history, yet looking like a timid little girl.

That leaves voters with three substantive choices in the 45th Assembly District, a hive of progressive political activism: renters advocate Elena Popp, political organizer Kevin de León and college teacher Gabriel Buelna. Buelna has been an intriguing candidate, doggedly making his way through the district as he hears constituent complaints about traffic, public safety and other neighborhood-level issues. But his frequent mention of speed bumps, traffic signals and bus routes makes him seem like a better fit for a city council race. De León has an entirely different set of problems. As a seven-year organizer of the California Teachers Association, it’s hard to see how he developed much of a tie to the district, which stretches from Hollywood on the west to El Sereno on the east. De León certainly benefited from an avalanche of money and logistical support pouring in from Sacramento — thanks in part to his childhood friend and political patron, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. But de León has sent few signals that he will be his own man.

The one candidate who offers strong convictions, an extensive record of activism and a degree of independence is Popp, who spent her earliest years in Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish. Popp, who is backed by departing Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, has a keen understanding of the work needed to pass health care legislation, fund public education and protect vulnerable housing units. Popp also has a strong understanding of the district. Our only reservation is whether she is too naive to survive Sacramento. If nothing else, Popp has learned some unpleasant truths during the 2006 campaign, ones we hope she will be able to apply in the Capitol.



48TH ASSEMBLY: ANTHONY WILLOUGHBY

The 48th Assembly District, a rectangular stretch of South Los Angeles that runs along the western flank of the Harbor (110) Freeway, has had a strong advocate in Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, stretching back to his days as a city councilman. With term limits once again forcing him to move on, Ridley-Thomas has thrown his support behind trial attorney Anthony Willoughby, a move we support. Willoughby has built up a strong résumé over the past 20 years, serving in volunteer policy roles on behalf of former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and district attorney Steve Cooley, and developed one of the most extensive coalitions on behalf of his candidacy. He outshines Mike Davis, a longtime aide to Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, and Bishop Edward Turner, an aide to Sheriff Leroy Baca who — while not our choice — is an impassioned voice for his community.



49TH ASSEMBLY: MIKE ENG

It’s not every day that we get enthusiastic about a candidate, particularly one embarking on his first run for state office. Yet Monterey Park Mayor Mike Eng is the type of Democrat who makes term limits seem tolerable. He has a keen intellect, a track record of working with underserved communities and a strong sense of the heavy lifting that comes with civic leadership. Best of all, Eng has an honesty and a disarming sense of humor that, we fear, will be sorely tested by the powerful interests in Sacramento. Eng’s wife, termed-out Assemblywoman Judy Chu, spent the past six years representing the district — which includes Monterey Park, Alhambra, Rosemead and San Gabriel — and is now running for a seat on the Board of Equalization. But Eng is hardly a trophy spouse. He worked in the 1980s to reduce tensions in Monterey Park between newcomers from Taiwan and a panicky Anglo old guard. More recently, he used his seat on the Monterey Park City Council to place a greater emphasis on the environment. Eng still needs to think bigger on such issues as affordable housing and clean air. But he offers more to the voters than his most serious opponent, Alhambra City Councilman Daniel Arguello. Arguello, by the way, can continue to play a pivotal role in his city by questioning the redevelopment decisions of his colleagues.



51ST ASSEMBLY: CURREN PRICE

Nowhere does the nation’s health care crisis show more dire consequences than the 51st Assembly District, which stretches from Westchester and Inglewood on the west to Willowbrook on the east. The district’s residents have suffered through the elimination of the Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center, the threatened closure of Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, the curtailment of services at Daniel Freeman in Inglewood and the closure of the trauma center at the Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. Both candidates seeking the Democratic nomination acknowledge the gravity of the crisis, yet both could have offered a more exhaustive policy prescription. Still, the edge goes to Inglewood Councilman Curren Price, who discussed ways of passing universal health care legislation and postponing some costly state mandates on hospitals. Gardena Councilman Steven Bradford comes to the race with extensive policy experience, particularly in the arena of municipal government. But in an era of term limits, he will likely see another opportunity to serve in Sacramento.



55TH ASSEMBLY: WARREN FURUTANI

With the departure of Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, voters in a district that takes in Carson, Harbor City and the northern portion of Long Beach find themselves with two choices: longtime Democratic pol Warren Furutani, an adviser to Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, and Long Beach Councilwoman Laura Richardson. Furutani, who has served on the L.A. Unified Board of Education and the sprawling Los Angeles Community College District, has promised to focus on higher education once he arrives in Sacramento. Richardson, for her part, rightly points out that both L.A. Unified and the LACCD could perform far better, from test scores to college campus renovations. But this race, we’re going with Furutani. Richardson offered little to chew on, particularly regarding the environmental impacts of the Port of Long Beach. Furutani, by contrast, spelled out a more specific agenda for post-secondary education — from rolling back tuition fees to beefing up vocational training for those who don’t reach college.



STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION: JACK O’CONNELL

As a state legislator, O’Connell was the Legislature’s leading advocate for higher educational standards and greater educational resources. As the nonpartisan Superintendent of Public Instruction for the past four years, he’s been the primary advocate for the high school exit exam and for greater vocational education for high-school-age students. Should Proposition 82 pass, he’d be charged with setting the standards for the state’s preschools and verifying their compliance with them. We think he’s the right man for that job.