League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 3, 2015 Election
	Bobbie Jean "Bobbie Jean" Anderson Answers Questions Candidate for 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.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

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?

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?

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.

3. What is the single most important issue facing your Council District today, and how would you deal with it?

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.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' answers are presented as submitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 9, 2015 18:04
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