League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Alameda County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Oakland; Council District 2

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Oakland and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Economy, Prostitution, Pension Obligations, Crime Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. While most of the Bay Area has the lowest unemployment rate in the state, Oakland is still in trouble. How do you plan to stimulate the economy in Oakland? Answer from Abel J Guillen: There are several issues that prevent Oakland's economy from achieving the full potential that it can. First, Oakland must do more to attract business to our city. This needs to be done through making Oakland a more attractive place for new business through incentives and crime reduction. Next, we must work to remove the "red tape" that prevent new businesses from opening shop. The permitting, building, and other business processes should be streamlined and not an impediment. Finally, we must partner with our local schools at OUSD and our community colleges to ensure that our youth are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. Having a well trained, educated and skilled workforce is key to a healthy and thriving economy. Answer from Andrew Park: Meeting the challenge of struggling employment rates means your City Council member cannot disappear into City Hall once elected. I am committed bringing City resources back to the community when it comes to employment. Here's how: Oakland is uniquely situated to attract medium to large businesses, technology hubs, green energy businesses and others. We are a bargain for businesses looking to start, grow or relocate to the Bay Area. We have a talented workforce able to meet the needs and strong college training grounds to prepare future workers. But any effort or incentive offered by the City must include opportunities for Oakland youth and working families to land jobs and contribute to making Oakland an economic power. The City must be viewed as a government willing to work with businesses to grow the economy and the job base. It doesn't mean that the City becomes a pushover for businesses with lots of incentives and few opportunities for working families and families struggling to find work. My work at Trybe has in part focused on finding economic and job training opportunities for neighborhood youth. Trybe has also focused on educational advancement to increase such opportunities. We work in partnership with other non-profits to provide our youth and young adults with economic opportunities. There are many locally based non-profit organizations dedicated to helping Oakland residents enter and re-enter the workforce and the City should partner with these organizations. I am committing to bringing city resources to 2. There is an increase in sex trafficking and teenage prostitution in Oakland. What can be done? Answer from Abel J Guillen: We must stop criminalizing the victims of sex trafficking and teenage prostitution. Instead we should increase the resources in the neighborhoods where this exists, criminalize the individuals that pay for sex on the streets, and remove organized sex trafficking operations from the city. Increasing educational resources and outreach to newly arrived immigrant populations is also a key way to help reduce sex trafficking and sex work in Oakland. Youth development and youth programs that educate our youth and keep them off the streets is also critical. Answer from Andrew Park: Where there is a will, there is a way. Teenage prostitution is increasing while everyday residents are overwhelmed by the degrading nature of it all. Sex trafficking is a classic example of a problem that cannot be fixed by the community alone or City Hall alone. It will take a combined effort, between the City and the community, with leaders from both, to implement a holistic plan to come up with long-term solutions. Specifically, I will champion this issue by organizing residents, supporting groups already involved with the issue such as merchants and non-profits like EBAYC, and bringing city resources to the affected areas between the police, neighborhood law corps, parks and rec, public schools, etc. This problem will never go away until we develop the will to make it go away for the long-term. 3. The city's retirement funds are facing severe shortfalls that will impact the budget over the next few years. What will you do to meet Oakland's pension obligations? Answer from Abel J Guillen: The reality is that we must meet our pension obligations, we must ensure that employees who have earned their pension get it. At the same time we must make sure that we can continue to adequately maintain essential city services. We cannot continue to accept that City revenues cannot support needed local services. I will work to grow Oakland's economy to increase City revenues. Oakland's sales tax revenue is much lower than similar size cities because our retail base is so small. We must attract more businesses to Oakland to increase our tax base so that we have the revenue needed to support local services, including public safety. A. I would re-negotiate medical premiums with HMOs and explore other pooling options to save money. Peralta Colleges which is smaller than the City of Oakland currently pays a lower rate than the City for Single Coverage given similar benefit levels. It seems like we should be able to get better rates or at least minimize cost increases. The City should also consider looking at a entering into a JPA with neighboring cities to better negotiate benefits in a larger pool with CalPERS. Savings: $5 million B. Deferred Capital Liabilities + Most of the projected budget shortfalls are due needed capital investments that have been differed. Once capital improvements have been made in one year, they do not have to be carried over into the next year. I would pursue looking at a General Obligation Bond Program to fund deferred capital needs with the caveat that the City must provide maintenance funds that would be funded out of the general fund. An assessment of $12 per $100,000 of assed value could generate over $80,000,000 to fund long term capital needs. This will go to fund sewers, streets, pavement and other pressing infrastructure issues that the City has neglected. C. As we get these spikes in excessive Real Estate Transfer Taxes, I would set aside half of those funds to pay off pension liabilities. If it is not possible to make the payments and a refinancing is necessary, I would alone support such a move if we in fact made payments on an ongoing basis. It is expected that the last member of this system will expire in 2024. Answer from Andrew Park: Oaklanders deserve a City Council member who understands budgets, bargaining agreements, and who is not afraid of seeking the truth. We must meet these obligations- they are promises already made, but as we move forward we must consider adjustments and changes in spending priorities and the adoption of policies that serve to avoid this dynamic in years to come. The pension obligations may be met with restructuring budget priorities and shared sacrifice when city leadership and community members have transparent access to where money comes from and goes to once in the city coffers, true understanding of the current budget process, and the willingness to work together in support of a long term vision of a better Oakland and getting there together. What meeting Oakland's pensions obligations should not include is breaking past promises arrived at via lawful negotiation, cutting city staff and department resources until the city's functions are effectively hobbled, or kicking the can of this issue down the road with the use of unfair, immoral financial tools like SWAPS, over borrowing, and unhealthy debt to income longhorn bond solutions. As a Public University Administrator, I've managed a multi million dollar budget and had to make the tough decisions that come with managing a budget in an era of waning resources- without kicking the problem down the road. 4. How would you address the continuing high crime rate in Oakland? Answer from Abel J Guillen: I'm honored to be endorsed by District 2 Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council and Business Improvement District leaders, and Oakland's Firefighters. Safer streets and rapid 911 emergency response are concerns for us all. I'll expand walking, beat and bike patrols and equip our firefighters and police officers with the tools they need to save lives. Adequate lighting and speed bumps also affect our safety. Answer from Andrew Park: Addressing the crime rate in Oakland effectively means citizens, city leadership, and police must work together. I have already done the real work of creating relationships between the police and my community. As co-chair of Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council 17, we have a well-recognized record of bringing residents together to work to make our neighborhood safer and encourage victims and friends/families of homicide victims to come forward and work to help solve crimes. Earning trust takes commitment, dedication and compassion. Neither the community nor the OPD can do it alone, we have to work together. From holding neighborhood meetings, to organizing Peace Walks, to hosting a Thank You OPD community picnic, I have worked with community members to address specific crime problems, to connect victims with the OPD and to encourage victims to come forward. This process works. OPD has brought charges too many perpetrators of homicides in our community. As well, avoiding the negative fiscal byproduct of laying off police officers and achieving the number of officers required to restore beat walking officers is critical to ebbing the crime rate in Oakland and contributing to a flourishing, small business driven economy. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. References to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.