League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA March 3, 2015 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 8

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, Your District 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 Marqueece Harris-Dawson: Civic participation is at an all-time low, and in the upcoming municipal elections we anticipate approximately 15% turnout. I have a 20-year track record as a community organizer in getting people engaged in city government, and winning tangible victories for communities with great needs. I intend to prioritize getting residents involved in resolving the city budget deficit, local planning issues, job creation, and making city hall accessible for the residents of South Los Angeles. Answer from Robert L. Cole, Jr.: I think economic development is the single most important issues facing the City of Los Angeles. The City has to figure out ways to jump start the economy to increase the number of small business owners, to increase the number of jobs for all levels of workers, to generate additional revenues from tourism and conventions so the City can have additional income to offset the deficit. Answer from Forescee Hogan-Rowles: I think the single most important issue facing the City is Balancing the Budget and the budget shortfall. As a Council Member, I would first seek to meet with City Management including General Managers, Commission Members, Union Leaders, Local Citizens and Nonprofit Leaders to determine their best recommendations on eliminating waste, improving usage of funds available for budgeting and better oversight and implementation. I would also work with State and Federal leadership to identify new dollars to fund necessary programs to supplement the City Budget. Answer from Bobbie Jean "Bobbie Jean" Anderson: Economic recovery is the single most important issue facing the City of Los Angeles. As a Councilmember, I will work with the Mayor, Councilmembers and agency heads to face the issue head on. I will work to ensure that we do not balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable of our residents. These are tough and challenging times but where there is challenge, there is also opportunity. We need long-term, effective solutions. With reserves on the rise, we must work to ensure that we restore critical city services that will make our communities stronger, cleaner, and safer; the hallmark of my campaign. We must build an economy that is attractive to businesses, that stimulates job growth, makes our communities more livable, that pays fair wages and that lifts our citizens out of poverty. It is important that we ensure federal support of our efforts to build the economy, local industry and our workforce. It is also important to continue to strengthen our infrastructure e.g. streets, sidewalks, trees, sewers etc. as these improvements increase our city's opportunity to attract development. 2. The City Administrative Officer has estimated a $300 million budget shortfall for 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 Bobbie Jean "Bobbie Jean" Anderson: The Mayor's 2014-2015 Budget offers several solutions that I support. The Mayor's Budget reports and incorporates higher than anticipated growth in City revenue sources such as Property Tax, Documentary Transfer Tax, and Transient Occupancy Tax and projected savings in pensions and benefit costs due to higher than anticipated investment earnings in the pension funds and lower than projected costs for human resources benefits. In addition, we will need to continue to study and implement revenue generation ideas proposed by the CORE Commission, led by Ron Galperin prior to election as Los Angeles City Controller. To address the $300M shortfall we must have continued efforts to contain the cost of the major contributor to the deficit, personnel cost e.g. Salary, pensions, worker comp, and medical costs. If elected, I propose that the Council work closely with the Mayor to find common ground so that we continue to grow the City's economy. I will be pushing to ensure that the 8th Council District gets its fair share of resources, however, I believe a focus on building a fiscally strong local economy will strengthen the City overall. Answer from Robert L. Cole, Jr.: The current estimated $300 million budget shortfall is the result of years of increased spending and will take several years to resolve. The first step would be to implement more cost control methods that serve to remedy the ongoing escalation of City expenses. This could be accomplished by determining what financial obligations could be reduced through negotiations and collective bargaining agreements. Additionally, identifying additional revenues to supplement the City's current financial obligations would be one of the main ways to do this. As Councilman, I would work to attract more businesses to the City of Los Angeles by eliminating the gross receipts tax. Working to reduce the current and ongoing financial obligations, increasing income and revenue for the City by luring more businesses back to the City and look at ways to reduce spending on supplies and equipment would all be ways to reduce the City's shortfall. Answer from Marqueece Harris-Dawson: The city's budget and deficit are incredibly complex. The City of L.A. is larger than some states, and most sitting council members are grappling with this problem. If elected I am ready to immerse myself in truly understanding the range of possibilities for increasing revenues, as well as managing expenditures while making the city attractive to business and replacing crucial city services that had been cut in the recent past. The city, like our nation's economy, is undergoing massive changes in the wake of the Great Recession. We have to consider reform of our basic tax structure and revenue streams, as well as considerable obligations such a pensions for city workers. Answer from Forescee Hogan-Rowles: I would work with City Management including General Managers, Commission Members, Union Leaders, Local Citizens and Nonprofit Leaders to fully confirm the details of the shortfall, and in partnership define solutions that would not only address the short term short fall, but develop long term solutions to end deficits. I would push for setting goals to reduce the shortfall by 10-20% every 4-6 months, thereby reducing the shortfall within 18 months. The strategy would also include implementing the long term solutions simultaneously for future balanced budgets. 3. What is the single most important issue facing your Council District today, and how would you deal with it? Answer from Marqueece Harris-Dawson: The 8th Council District is in South Los Angeles, which has historically had some of the highest unemployment rates in the city. However even with the current city budget deficit there are opportunities to address this. Massive construction projects such as the Crenshaw Light Rail Line, and the $1B redevelopment USC University Village offer area residents thousands of employment opportunities and will significantly improve the local economy. The City is also projected to lose upwards of 30% of it's workforce in the next five years due to attrition. I am committed to ensuring the city prioritizes hiring for jobs that impact the quality of life in local neighborhoods, and that residents of the 8th District are prepared to be competitive for these jobs. Answer from Bobbie Jean "Bobbie Jean" Anderson: The newly-redistricted 8th Council District is home to many of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the economic downturn in Los Angeles. With the Los Angeles County Unemployment rate hovering around 8%, while the national rate is significantly lower, the 8th Council District has unacceptable levels of poverty and significant living wage disparities. My number one priority will be to identify ways to develop short and long-term solutions that focus on job creation, livable wages, safer and more attractive neighborhoods in the district. One strategy will include the development of a public/private partnership task force to focus on attracting businesses to the 8th Council District who have demonstrated a commitment to train and hire district residents in emerging occupations. Another strategy might include converting the abandoned properties that are a blight to our communities into innovative development facilities that offer employment, affordable housing, public transportation and open space to create livable communities within the district. I will work with our federal representatives to identify and advocate for funding to target our neighborhoods for revitalization. The Crenshaw Line will invest over $2 billion dollars to south Los Angeles including the 8th Council District. The public transportation project has a concentration on the creation of both transit oriented housing and commercial construction along the route of the line with particular emphasis on train stops at Leimert Park, Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Blvd. The project is bringing significant local hires to the area during construction while current and new business development will increase during and after the construction phase. It is my belief that many of the other issues facing the 8th Council District related to poverty, joblessness, crime and homelessness can be addressed through comprehensive investment in developing our local economy and offering alternatives to our most vulnerable residents. Answer from Robert L. Cole, Jr.: The single most important issue facing the 8th District is unemployment. The District has the fewest number of jobs, limited growth in the workforce and one of the highest unemployment rates in the City. As the next city councilman, my top priority will be job creation and strongly opposing ideology that is counter-productive to business and job stability. Answer from Forescee Hogan-Rowles: Unemployment, Council District 8 has the highest unemployment in the City and the least number of operating businesses. I will focus on a variety of approaches for job creation including entrepreneurship via micro finance and small business development and expansion, partner with WorkSource Centers, the US Small Business Administration and Department of Trade and Commerce to define new skills development and cutting edge strategies for living wage employment, contracting and investment opportunities. Recruiting new businesses into the District to bring in both entry level, management and executive level positions. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' answers are presented as submitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.