I'm
feeling confident about Luis Lopez, but I figure since I've come this
far I might as well check out the other two candidates for the 51st
assembly. Unfortunately Oscar Gutierrez isn't running any events, and
Arturo Chavez only wants me to help him walk the precincts. I do the
only thing I can do short of calling each candidate directly for an
interview/introduction; I go to the Glassell Park Improvement
Association(GPIA) meeting where all four candidates will be having a
forum.
I
drag my cousin out of her house and take her along for company. She
doesn't have any interest in this process, but I think she should get
out of her house more. We arrive at the Glassell Park Senior And
Community Center a few minutes before the event is set to begin and I
have a cigarette and observe the people walking into the event. I wave
and greet Hans as he drives into the parking lot. Most of the people I
see walking inside are older and whiter. I tell my cousin that she's
likely the youngest person attending this forum.
We
walk into the space and sign in with GPIA. I'm not sure why they need
all of this information from me; it's not like I'm a resident of
Glassell Park or anything. I'm here to hear the candidates and nothing
more. I lead my cousin to a pair of seats in the far corner of the
room. There we settle in and wait for the forum to begin.
Alisa
Smith, GPIA president, begins the evening soliciting donations for a
plaque to commemorate the centennial of a local school. Then another
member of GPIA updates the room on the struggle to turn the old Van De
Kamp site into a Los Angeles Community College(LACC) satellite campus.
They raised the funds to make that happen with bonds, but some evil
charter school has designs on the site for itself. The controversy is
in appeal somewhere I'm sorry to say. Considering the relatively close
proximity of Glendale Community College, Pasadena City College, East Los
Angeles College and even LACC itself, I'm not sure of the marginal
utility of a satellite campus at the Van De Kamp site, but good luck to
you that think otherwise.
After
that Alisa Smith introduces current Assembly Member Anthony Portantino.
I'm not sure if he's my Assembly Member or not, but he seems like a
nice enough guy. He sets the tone for the rest of the evening by
talking about education and the budget cuts that target it. He ends his
short address by noting how he is the only member of the California
Assembly who lists his home phone number in the online directory and
invites anyone with any issues to call him there. I'm not sure how much
influence an exiting Assembly Member might have for residents when
dealing with city, county, or state government; but hey if you're
desperate enough it won't hurt you none to give him a ring.
Alisa
Smith starts the forum off by explaining the format. It's definitely not a debate. After each candidate is
given two minutes to introduce themselves to the room, questions
submitted by attendees will be read by her and each candidate will have
two minutes to answer the question. There's no moderator to make sure
each candidate actually answers the submitted question, but the people
in charge of the timekeeping do have signs to warn the candidates when
they have thirty, ten and no seconds left to speak. I hope someone
eventually organizes a real debate for this election, but that would be
just for me I think. Considering the mess that is the Republican
Primary Season, I'd love a chance to see some Democrats taking shots at
each other for a change.
Introductions
Luis
Lopez begins his introduction and as expected he takes care of
business. He presents himself as well or better than he did when I
first met him on Saturday. About halfway into his introduction he hits
his stride and covers all the important points that set him apart from
his opponents. I won't repeat myself here but if you missed it here's
where you can find My Conversation With Luis Lopez. (PUT A LINK HERE)
Jimmy
Gomez stumbles a little out of the gates, but picks himself up and
dusts himself off then finishes strongly after he finds his rhythm.
Still it surprises me that he shows hesitancy as he introduces himself.
At the coffee I attended(PUT A LINK HERE) he was completely assertive
and dominating. Of course there's a big difference between speaking to a
handful of people in a supporter's home and speaking to a real audience
on neutral ground.
I
find it odd that Arturo Chavez is running against Jimmy Gomez. As he
touts his many years of experience I have to wonder why anyone would
choose a veterano like him over a young lion like Jimmy Gomez. They're
both products of the same Labor Political Machine just maybe half a
generation apart. Still Chavez, who is a lifelong resident of Northeast
Los Angeles, is a serious candidate with endorsements from Gil Cedillo
and Ed Reyes. Now if I cared about either of those esteemed politicians
I might be persuaded but since neither Ed Reyes nor Gil Cedillo have
been particular responsive to my family's troubles over the last decade
with the city I have to say such endorsements are less than meaningful
to me. At the least I know that Arturo Chavez is well connected. I'm
sure he has a wide network of contacts that he can rely on should he be
sent to Sacramento. He also takes a moment to talk about easing the
noise problems with the Metrolink in Elysian Park. It never hurts to
appeal to the NIMBY elements. His attempt to pass himself off as a
grassroots candidate isn't quite convincing enough for me.
When
Oscar Gutierrez takes his turn I have to wonder what he's up to. I
look at him and wonder if he lost a bet to his fraternity and now has to
run for State Assembly. Sitting in between Jimmy Gomez and Arturo
Chavez the contrasts between the three of them are particularly
striking. It's like one of those kiddie TV things: one of these is not
like the others. But all that is just a first impression before he
speaks. When he does speak he speaks with the indignation of the
fringes on both the Right and the Left. He has the seething resentment
of the Occupy Movement and the fire of the Tea Party. And somehow he's
also channeling the sixties with a Kumbaya plea for the whole state to
unite together to solve our problems. He has a background in broadcast
and media, but I suspect he's not yet ready for primetime. By the end
of his introduction he's worked very hard to cover all of the bases and
be all things to all people all at once. He wants to protect Prop 13
and also protect union pensions. I finally figure things out when he
finishes—he looks exhausted as he flops into his seat—he's the
anti-candidate. He's the anti-Sacramento outsider. I know it's
intellectually lazy to label, but I really don't have the energy nor the
time to spend to figure him out completely. That's supposed to be his
job: he's supposed to figure out what he stands for and then sell that
image to me.
“How will you do things different or better?”
A
journalist would have the exact question word for word as read by Alisa
Smith; I'm not a journalist I don't know any better. Besides this
event isn't a debate so the candidates will answer the question any way
they want to. Thus the actual question is rendered mostly moot.
Luis
Lopez covers the same ground from his introduction, but it's still some
good ground. He has actual practical experience interacting with
residents when dealing with the city. He has projects he can point at
like the parks he's helped bring to under served areas. Doing things
that way in Sacramento really appeals to me.
Arturo
Chavez touts his experience as a local business owner and entrepreneur.
I expect my representatives to have some sort of experience like that;
it gives them a more practical approach to dealing with business
interests. They won't have the kneejerk Frankenstein's monster reaction
to fire: “Corporations bad!” that other progressives without such
experience do. Before he ends his answer he does take a subtle shot at
his opponents. He comments in passing that he is solely focused on
serving his community; he is not distracted by sitting on too many
“boards.” It's not quite a direct hit, but I do find it relatively
entertaining.
When
Oscar Gutierrez steps up to answer I have to give him credit for
staying on message. I'm just not exactly sure what that message is in
particular. I get the sense he's reaching out to be the “business”
candidate as he talks about “creative ways to generate revenue” and “out
of the box” thinking. I'm half expecting him to suggest that his
election to State Assembly will “unlock powerful synergies,” but he
doesn't get quite that far.
Jimmy
Gomez has his “Three levels of public service” ready to go. He makes a
good argument that his experience on those three levels make him the
most qualified candidate to handle issues that can't be taken care of by
any one level alone. If he can actually coordinate the people who
service local residents; the people who work for the city and county;
and those that work on the state level, I would be impressed. I would
be far more impressed if he gave us an actual example, perhaps a project
he worked on, where he achieved this.
Plans to solve the problem of businesses fleeing the state?
Investing
in infrastructure, Luis Lopez asserts, will attract businesses and jobs
to the state. But before we begin to spend precious tax revenue, he
insists that there be a responsible stewardship of tax dollars. I like
the sound of that answer. It’s much better than the usual tax cuts and
tax incentives most pols would say attract businesses and jobs. It’s a
realistic and pragmatic approach to the the problem.
Arturo
Chavez wants to use education to attract jobs. A well educated
workforce will have companies lining up to relocate to California. I do
note how soft spoken his answer is. I think it’s a difficult verbal
technique. Speak too soft and I’ll just ignore him, but if you speak
just right I have to pay more attention to his words. That’s half the
battle of public speaking getting listeners to pay attention to begin
with. I also like how it contrasts with the candidate who follows him.
A
different approach is needed Oscar Gutierrez loudly exclaims. He wants
to lobby and negotiate with industries. He wants to examine state
regulations and see how they inhibit the business environment. He wants
to make sure everyone can hear every word that comes out of his mouth.
And by every word I mean every word he speaks because he goes to time
for every answer.
How will you balance the budget in a timely fashion?
Luis Lopez will set his priorities and look to help create an efficient and effective budget.
Lobbyists
and special interests will have to seek help elsewhere because Arturo
Chavez won’t be influenced by them. He wants a good budget and won’t
let himself be pressured by the clock either.
Oscar
Gutierrez takes a short ride on Chavez’s coattails agreeing with him
before reasserting his position on “creative ways to generate revenue.”
At least this time he provides an example. He wants to generate
revenue by selling advertising on state websites. Imagine going to the
DMV and seeing Google banner ads there. He claims this will unlock a
billion dollars of revenue. I’d love to see those numbers, but I’d also
love to see the reaction my fellow Californians will have if that
should ever happen. I’ll give the guy this much: that is some “out of
the box” thinking.
Transportation?
This question was about high speed rail, but each candidate took the general topic of transportation for a spin instead.
At
first Luis Lopez appears somewhat out of his depth before he asserts
that he will prioritize essential transportation projects. He
questions, much like I do, the necessity of high speed rail when this
district has enough problems funding rapid transit like buses and light
rail.
Arturo
Chavez wants careful planning of high speed rail projects. He wants
the process to slow down and be studied in depth. I’m not sure if this
is his way of subtly rejecting the idea of high speed rail but it a very
well balanced position.
The
problem is with the process, Oscar Gutierrez claims. He wants to
negotiate from the bottom up with 3rd party contractors. I myself am
getting a little bit tired of high speed rail that never materializes.
Perhaps a different approach is what is needed to get the state to get
the project started or just reject the project altogether. He
associates high speed rail to the long moribund 710 extension. He’s
tired of the state owned apartments that line the route of the projected
extension. I’ve never been sure of just why the 710 project has never
been completed, but I know there is vocal opposition to it. Maybe if I
lived in the path of it I’d be vocal too, but I don’t so I’m just a
little bit confused as to why the project hasn’t been given the thumbs
up or thumbs down yet.
Raising taxes on the rich?
Three
candidates answer with a resounding yes. While Oscar Gutierrez vows to
catch the scofflaws who evade paying their state taxes be they
corporations or individuals. That much is true there are loopholes and
lobbying, and scofflaws get away with a lot more than they should.
Scofflaws incorporate in other states. Scofflaws keep their money in
tax exempt trusts. Oscar Gutierrez really likes saying the word
scofflaws.
A Brief Conclusion.
I
would have liked to stick around for the rest of the forum, but I had
to get to Frye’s before it closed. Still, I think I have just about
enough to come to some conclusions. If you’re happy with the status quo
and you fully support Big Labor then Jimmy Gomez is your guy. If
you’re happy with the status quo and you fully support Big Labor but
you’d like a candidate that reflects your age--that is if you’re in your
fifties or older--then Arturo Chavez is the one for you. If you are
very much unhappy with the status quo and do not support Big Labor--that
is to say you want to send someone to Sacramento who simply will not
fit in--then Oscar Gutierrez should represent you.
And
then there’s Luis Lopez. I don’t think I’ve been very subtle about my
support for him. I do insist that he’s won my favor just by being a
different kind of candidate than his opponents. I had no previous
affiliation with him or Hans before before I met them in Echo Park.
There are quite a few issues I’m absolutely certain we disagree upon,
but he has my support because he comes from a more authentic political
tradition than his opponents do. He certainly could have followed the
Big Labor path to political success--he does have UTLA’s
endorsement--but he’s worked as an advocate for his fellow citizens
instead. That sort of commitment to public service should be encouraged
and rewarded. You’ve worked hard for us here Luis. Let’s see you work
twice as hard for us in Sacramento.
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