League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA May 21, 2013 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 9

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, Personnel Costs, Carbon Emissions 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 Ana Cubas: To revive the economy of Los Angeles we need to improve the business environment, attract new revenue and investment to our city, and ensure that those investments reach our most under developed communities. Council District 9 needs more attention and resources, not just at its northern-most point, but throughout the district. The business climate is poor because our workforce is untrained, our infrastructure is failing, and our regulatory process makes it difficult to do business here. We need to make revenue generation a priority. New revenue and a more sustainable business growth environment will provide the means to get back to the basics of city government, like paving our streets. Most importantly, it will enable us to invest in the long term success of our community by investing in Council District 9. South LA has been under invested for far too long. Attracting investment in the future means electing someone who can explain and help minimize the risks of investing in what is a largely open and untested market. My plan for investment starts by creating a public-private partnership with the goal of bringing biomedical research and manufacturing to Council Dristrict 9. There's no reason South LA can't lead the state and the country in this area, but we have to attract the industry and promote educational programs to ensure that people in our community can take the jobs the new industry will create. My experience in creating two successful inner city education institutions will be invaluable toward accomplish this goal. Our district has some of the lowest growth, the lowest employment, the lowest graduation rates, but we also have the highest potential and are an area where investments can make the most impact. I'll fight for those investments and I'll make that impact in our community. We have the tools and the resources, the next step is putting them to use for the people of the 9th District. 2. 85% of the City's General Fund Budget is for personnel costs. If forced to cut costs to balance the budget, would you favor reducing the number of employees or asking existing employees to accept lower wages and/or reduced benefits? Answer from Ana Cubas: First, the City needs to collect on hundreds of thousands of uncollected business taxes. These are taxes owed to the City by major corporations. These funds could be used to reduce the current deficit. The City Council has already implemented hiring freezes, early retirement programs, lay offs and furloughs. The key issue is how to grow the economy and create jobs. 3. Do you support the DWP taking steps to reduce carbon emissions even if that will result in increased bills for ratepayers? Answer from Ana Cubas: I support the DWP taking steps to reduce carbon emissions, but I do not support rate increases. We need to be more aggressive in reducing our carbon footprint and incentivizing our community to be an active part of our environmental solutions. I'm committed to expanding efforts to educate people on the importance of conservation. People should also be rewarded for reducing their consumption of water and energy by getting monetary credits or tax credits energy they conserve. This would incentivize not just individuals and families, but large businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. There should also be a penalty for overusing energy based on a limit set against our goal for reduction of emissions. Even though I support an acceptable use threshold, I also support making it easier to stay below it by increasing access to more efficient energy technologies across users of all sizes. 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.