The five Democratic candidates participated in a debate last Wednesday hosted by the Malibu Democratic Club.
By Joe Fasbinder / Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu Democratic club voted last Wednesday to support local school board President Julia Brownley for the 41st Assembly District race. The vote came shortly after a forum at the Point Dume Clubhouse with Brownley and the four other Democrats bidding for the seat being vacated by Fran Pavley, who is being termed-out.
Twenty-eight Democratic Club members voted to give the group’s endorsement to Brownley, while Calabasas Mayor Barry Groveman received six votes. Two voters cast ballots for activist Kelly Hayes-Raitt and there was one vote for no endorsement. Candidates Jonathan Levey and Shawn Casey O’Brien received no votes.
Brownley has also been endorsed by four of the five Malibu City Council members. Mayor Ken Kearsley has thrown his support to Groveman.
Several Malibu issues were discussed at the forum, including traffic and the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal.
All the candidates said something should be done to deal with traffic congestion and safety on Pacific Coast Highway. Groveman and Brownley endorsed measures that would put government oversight on the winding, scenic roadway. Hayes-Raitt said the larger issue is that the congestion comes from overloading the nearby 405 and 101 Freeways, making Pacific Coast Highway an attractive option to commuters.
O’Brien called the proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Malibu coast “an ecological nightmare.”
Brownley said as a lawmaker, she would “fundamentally reject” any such construction along California’s coast.
Levey and Groveman also opposed the project. In stating her opposition, Hayes-Raitt went a step further with mentioning her energy solution for “a solar panel on every rooftop in California.”
On the subject of the state budget as it affects the 41st Assembly District, all the candidates said they agreed taxes must be raised, and that cash must be reallocated to help the working people and students of the area.
“I will raise taxes,” said O’Brien, a radio talk-show host and activist on behalf of the disabled. The money that would be raised should be used, primarily, to shore up California’s creaking educational infrastructure.
“First, we have to get rid of Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Brownley, who obliquely confronted the tax issue by saying, “We have to address the revenue side of our budget.”
Several candidates said that changes have to be made to Proposition 13, which Groveman called a plan that gives “windfall profits” to California businesses.
Proposition 13, officially titled the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation,” was a ballot initiative approved by voters in 1978 that limited property taxes, including those for businesses.
Groveman said a long, hard look should be taken at the California Lottery, which he said has not provided schools with promised revenues.
Education was a hot-button issue in the debate. Groveman, as he has done in previous public forums, endorsed the idea of free community colleges for all of California. Hayes-Raitt took pride in mentioning that she had sued the Bush administration, seeking to allow communities to opt out of the No Child Left Behind program for schools without losing federal funds.
Levey called for stronger local support of schools, and endorsed efforts to “treat teachers like professionals,” agreeing with O’Brien that pay for teachers is too low to attract quality educators.
Brownley added, “California must invest in public education.”
Finally, the group addressed the plight of senior citizens in the 41st District. Candidates called for tweaking the social infrastructure to support soon-to-be-retiring Baby Boomers, for universal healthcare in California, for more affordable housing and access to medications from outside the United States.
The 41st District stretches from the San Fernando Valley in the east, to a western portion of Ventura County in the north and winds down through Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. With a large Democratic population, it is expected whoever wins the party’s primary on June 6 will go on to defeat the Republican candidate in November.