League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA March 5, 2013 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 11

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Most Important Issue, Budget Shortfall, Sales Tax, Climate Change, Constituency vs. City Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What do you think is the single most important issue facing the City of Los Angeles today? As Council Member, what would you do to deal with it? Answer from Mike Bonin: There are actually four top priorities for me: If elected, I want to focus on: 1) balancing the budget and focusing on the smart, efficient delivery of core services;2) creating smart jobs and growing the economy; 3) fighting traffic and building mass transit; and 4) combating homelessness. Traffic: I want to see the Expo Line completed to Santa Monica, the Green Line finally get all the way in to LAX, the Subway to the Sea fully funded, a trolley or similar system working and thriving on Lincoln Boulevard, and plans approved for a north-south transit project from LAX, along Sepulveda or the 405, into the Valley. And match those projects with smart transit-oriented development that create housing and good jobs, particularly in the "Silicon Beach" sector. Job Creation: Promote the development of emerging sectors of the Los Angeles economy such as technology, cleantech, entertainment and the creative sector through the implementation of creative policies (e.g., high bandwidth fiber to attract internet companies), partnerships with local universities like LMU, Otis and UCLA (e.g., development of a Westside tech incubator), promotion of special incentives for important LA industries (e.g., state tax credits to stop runaway production), and focus city agencies on job creation (e.g., aggressively pursuing local business preferences for city purchasing). Homelessness: During the past 2 years, Bill and I, working with People Assisting the Homeless and LAHSA, have moved 110 people from the streets into permanent housing or shelter. I want to house at least 500 people. Answer from Tina Hess: Los Angeles faces an increasing budget shortfall. City leaders must prioritize city services and focus on traditional core functions: public safety, emergency preparedness and updating the infrastructure. Departmental inefficiencies and pet projects must be eliminated. The City must implement the CORE Commission's recommendations, as well as recommendations from the current and past City Controller. Answer from Odysseus Bostick: The single most important issue facing the City of Los Angeles is its unsustainable budget. Everyone knows that the current financial structure is pushing our city towards bankruptcy, but our leaders have been unable to address the real and growing problems in our finances. This must, and will, be the most important job for any City Council Member. Answer from Frederick Sutton: Our core services( Public safety, infrastructure) are no longer running smoothly. Due to mismanagement in City Hall, our local issues are no longer being addressed. 1) I will not make promises I cannot keep 2) Introduce a Charter Amendment to "Live Within our Means" 3) Encourage business to come back to LA and expand the tax base 4) Represent the citizens and not special interests 5) R claim our natural rainfall for water needs 2. The City Administrative Officer has estimated a $200M budget shortfall for 2013-2014 increasing to $300M in 2015-2016. What steps do you propose to deal with this problem, and how much do you estimate each step would reduce the shortfall? Answer from Frederick Sutton: 1) We must defined core services (Public safety & infrastructure) and need to make government more efficient and cut waste. 2)Support a "Live Within Our Means Amendment", which will require the city to develop and adhere to a Five Year Financial Plan (the "Plan") for the General Fund, all Special Revenue Funds, and the Budget, excluding the three proprietary departments. The Plan will include detailed information, including, but not limited to, income statements, balance sheets, cash flows, and levels of outstanding debt. The Plan will also incorporate the financial requirements of the Infrastructure Plan, the Pension Funding Plan, and all other phases of the City's operations. 3) Make Los Angeles business friendly to attract business and grow the tax base. 4) Save the pension funds by modifying the defined benefit plans for new hires I believe these steps when analyzed and implemented will balance our budgets and restore our services in the long term. Answer from Odysseus Bostick: The structural deficit emanates from unsustainable pension plans that were designed with unrealistic expectations whose costs will rise from 20% of the general fund today up to 50% of the general fund in 5 years. It is unfair and immoral to allow our city employees to continue working for a pension that will disappear in bankruptcy by the time that person is ready to use it. If we just capped the city's contribution into the pension system at 15% of the general fund, then we would have saved roughly $200,000,000 this past year. Other potential savings exist (such as double-dipping, spiking your final salary by cashing in unused sick/vacation time, calculating the pension only on your final year's salary instead of an average of the last 3 years, etc..), though none of those savings are as large and immediate as capping the city's contribution rate. These efforts do not represent all of the ways to create sustainable pensions, but they are the most frequently discussed. Answer from Mike Bonin: We need to deal with our structural deficit in a comprehensive way and move past the culture of annual "quick fixes" to the budget. That will require both increased revenue and cuts and increased efficiencies. I would be open to considering proposals and suggestions from all parties and sources. Increased Revenues: I would also support trying to generate revenue by taxing billboards, and medical marijuana dispensaries. I would also seek to increase revenue by attracting more business to Los Angeles through targeted tax incentives. I think Los Angeles has tremendous potential to be the capital of the emerging "Silicon Beach" tech sector, and we have room for economic growth in tourism, entertainment and clean technology. Additionally, I would encourage promotion of local procurement and local business preferences. Cuts and Increased Efficiencies: I support implementation of the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Commission on Revenue Efficiency (CORE), including cracking down on rogue parking lot operators, aggressively pursuing money owed to the city, and better money management. I would also ask for a comprehensive review of every recommendation from the past 5 years from the City Controller that recommended ways to save money, and recommend that each recommendation get consideration by the council. I would want to conduct a similar review of recommendations from the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates. Finally, I would propose that the City Council hold an annual "Savings and Efficiency" session + a daylong council session devoted exclusively to proposals to save money. (The council has similar sessions devoted to infrastructure and to revenue.) 3. Do you support the ballot measure to increase the sales tax in the city? Answer from Frederick Sutton: No. It is regressive and does not solve the long term problems. Answer from Mike Bonin: While I generally dislike sales tax increases as regressive and potentially harmful to the local economy, in this instance I am going to hold my nose and vote for it. While I would prefer to raise revenue through other means, this is the only proposal on the ballot, and failing to pass it will continue our structural deficit, and lead to further cuts in vital city services, including fire protection and even police protection. I refuse to put people's lives at risk. Answer from Odysseus Bostick: I do not support the sales tax increase. It unfairly targets the working poor, will not keep pace with the growing structural deficits in our pension systems, and allows the city council to avoid fixing the problem for one more year. 4. What role do you feel the City of Los Angeles has to play in addressing climate change? Please explain in terms of what you as a city councilmember would have the power to do. Answer from Mike Bonin: I am proud to have the endorsement of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters and almost every major environmental leader in Los Angeles. Like them, I care about climate change and have a plan to fight it. The UCLA Vision 2021 environmental report states that by midcentury, the number of extreme temperature days above 95 degrees is predicted to triple in downtown Los Angeles, quadruple in parts of the San Fernando Valley, and jump five times in other parts of Los Angeles County. In District 11, this could increase the risk of wildfires and floods. The City of LA must avert this problem by decreasing the use of fossil fuels. We can do that by incentivizing and promoting cool roofs and cool paving, increasing tree canopies, increasing the use of solar power, and increasing both energy and water conservation efforts. Answer from Odysseus Bostick: Of the many challenges we face due to climate change, the most precarious is rooted in water security. With scant natural sources in our region and a population growth of over 1 million in LA County this decade, we must focus on water conservation efforts centered on capturing water before it escapes into the ocean, increasing permeable surfaces in the city, and smart water meter systems to increase more efficient consumer usage. Over the long term, we should investigate the potential use of solar desalination plants as cost-benefit analyses prove more advantageous. Answer from Frederick Sutton: Encourage reclamation of our natural rainfall to fill our aquifers. We can use this water to support over 20% of our needs, will reduce our reliance on pumping water from other parts of the state, clean our oceans and help make our City more environmentally sustainable. 5. How would you prioritize your local constituency versus the City as a whole when acting as a Council Member? Answer from Mike Bonin: I have spent 17 years fighting for Westside residents and for our neighborhoods. I like to solve problems and get things done. I've fought for public safety, bringing more cops to this district and helping keep our streets safe. I've helped build new parks, libraries, senior centers and community centers. I've shaped environmental programs that have cleaned our beaches and helped improve the water in Santa Monica Bay. I've championed a government that uses technology so that it can more efficiently deliver city services. I've helped cut taxes for Internet firms, keeping good and smart jobs here in Los Angeles. And I've worked to make government open and transparent so that neighborhoods have a voice in development decisions. I intend to stay close to the concerns of my constituents by holding regular, rotating office hours, evenings and weekends, in local neighborhoods and at farmers markets. I will hold neighborhood "coffee" meetings in people's living rooms, and will periodically go door to door, asking residents about the concerns and dreams for their neighborhoods. Answer from Odysseus Bostick: It starts with a more responsive city council office in district 11 that will return phone calls, emails, tweets, and facebook messages within 48 hours as a rule of practice. We already have a council office that regularly attends neighborhood council meetings, but we need to expand that access to include monthly town halls rotating through each neighborhood in addition to expanding office hours to allow for working families to interact with the office at their convenience. Finally, we must look at the efficacy of our council districts. Los Angeles has 4 million residents with 15 council members making $178,000 each. New York has 9 million residents with 51 council members making $110,000 each. I would advocate for doubling the number of council districts in LA while lowering their pay to match New York's. Answer from Frederick Sutton: I have spent my whole life in district 11. I went to elementary school and high school in the district. The city has been so mismanaged that local constituent issues have been put on the back burner. That is why I have run. I want to restore opportunity to the city and everyday I am not in council chambers I will be hands on in the community. We need a representative who is responsive to all the constituents. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.