2012 Vote Local Election Guide

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V TE Local ELECTION GUIDE

Santa Monica, CA VOTER INFORMATION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012 Published by the

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Getting out the vote or any democracy to function properly there must be an informed electorate. Simply establishing the machinery for access to decision makers is not enough. But combing through the various measures and candidate statements to make sense of all the advertisements paid for by special interest groups can be difficult as we navigate our already demanding lives.

That’s where the Santa Monica Daily Press comes in. As the fourth estate charged with holding those in power accountable, it is our responsibility and honor to provide accurate, unbiased information on the issues that impact Santa Monicans the most.

With that in mind, we have created the 2012 Vote Local Election Guide.

Mailed to every residence in the city, this comprehensive guide features questionnaires from candidates in all local races; a primer on how to register to vote, locate a polling place and vote by mail; and a concise review of Santa Monica-centric and statewide ballot measures. Everything you need all in one place.

This election is critical. Voters will be tasked with deciding who should lead the country, whether or not to tax ourselves to protect public education and fund mass transit. Californians will have to ask themselves if they want to abolish the death penalty or label genetically-modified foods.

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In Santa Monica, there is the rare opportunity to re-shape the City Council following decisions by one incumbent to step down and another to run for higher office. Residents have expressed concerns about the rate of development and the worsening traffic conditions, the level of homelessness and cost of parking. And then there’s the Santa Monica Airport and the looming legal battle with the FAA in 2015 as residents demand that the facility be shut down or flights dramatically reduced to cut down on noise, pollution and possible accidents.

For the school district, the stakes are high as well. There’s a $385 million bond measure on the ballot, which is intended to modernize classrooms and shore up old campuses, while the school board race could be a bellwether as it features three candidates from Malibu and three incumbents from Santa Monica. There are those in both communities who are fighting to keep the school district together as calls for separation intensify. Candidates from Malibu have supported a parting of the ways. Will a victory, or even a defeat, bring momentum?

Our goal is to make a voter’s responsibility to shape their community easier when they head to the ballot box on Nov. 6. Read, register and exercise your right.

— KEVIN HERRERA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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Council race guaranteed to add new faces to dais T

he City Council is charged with creating laws and making sure they are enforced. They also get to spend a lot of taxpayer money, roughly half-a-billion dollars each year. Seven people, and a whole lot of responsibility. Rarely does the opportunity arise when Santa Monicans can create a new majority on the council.

Bobby Shriver’s decision to retire and Mayor Richard Bloom’s to run for the state Assembly has left the field wide open. It’s difficult to knock out an incumbent, leading some challengers to take a seat and wait it out. This year, there are 15 people running, and only two are currently sitting on the dais.

The 2012 election will be a deciding point in City Hall’s ongoing struggles over the future of the Santa Monica Airport.

The four people elected will comprise a majority of the new council that will sit at the table with the Federal Aviation Administration when 2015 arrives. That’s the year that the 1984 agreement governing the use of the airport expires, which will open up some options for the use of the aviation land that’s there.

Many residents both within and outside of Santa Monica hope that the new

1. Why are you running for City Council, what makes you qualified to lead, and what role do you see yourself playing on the dais if elected?

2. What are Santa Monica’s three major strengths and weaknesses? What will you do to ensure the strengths remain and the weaknesses contained?

3. Homelessness continues to be a significant concern of many residents and business owners.

How would you rate City Hall’s response over the last four years, what will you advocate for and does that mean more or less funding?

4. Where do you stand on the City Council’s decision to increase the campaign contribution limit from $250 to $325?

5. Will you sponsor a local law banning smoking within multi-

City Council members will fight to shut down the airport. They worry about pollution that come out of propeller airplanes and jets, and dislike the noise and fear of airplane crashes. It’s unclear what kind of authority City Hall will have over the airport in 2015, but whoever takes office will undoubtedly have an impact on how that 227-acres evolves in the future.

Development has also been a topic of great concern. Santa Monicans have a love-hate relationship with development.

On the one hand, it could be argued that it was developers’ desire to build coupled with smart public policy that turned Santa Monica from a small beach town into one of Los Angeles’ most desirable places to live, work and play by creating a strong, diversified tax base that supports popular services and strong schools.

On the other side of that coin, overdevelopment leads to traffic, congestion and other environmental problems that residents feel threaten the fabric of their once sleepy beach town.

Whomever is elected will be charged with shaping what is built and where, decide what community benefits will be provided by those building them and

family residential units, i.e. condos and apartments? If not, what would you support?

6. If elected, would you allow medical marijuana dispensaries to set up shop in Santa Monica?

7. What policies will you support that will enable Santa Monica to deal with the increased competition for resources and the need to be sustainable, particularly when it comes to water and power consumption/generation?

whether or not Santa Monica can function with it.

To find out who is qualified, the Daily Press sent questionnaires to all of the council candidates using e-mail addresses they provided to the Santa Monica City Clerk, who helps run local elections, collects nominating papers and keeps track of campaign donations and expenditures.

Candidates were given 1,000 words to answer as many questions as they liked.

Some went over, so we were forced to make edits. We kept the good stuff. You’ll find thoughts on the most important issues like development, the airport, traffic, homelessness and funding public employee pensions.

The questions are below.

prioritize and how would you finance them?

can choose from, or should the council always have complete control in negotiations with developers?

11. City Hall already provides the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District with millions in exchange for access to campuses, mainly athletic fields. Do you believe this deal is good for the city, or should it be revisited and modified? If so, in what ways?

12. If you could ride the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier with three people in history, who would they be and what would you want to talk about?

8. Hobbies 9. What are you reading?

10. The loss of redevelopment agency funds dealt a serious blow to the City Council’s ambitious plans for the Civic Center, Samohi, and the park in front of City Hall, among other projects. If elected, what projects would you

13. Where do you stand on the Santa Monica Airport?

14. Community benefits as part of development agreements: What is your definition of a benefit? When should the City Council demand benefits and to what degree? And should some be part of a checklist that developers

15. What is your definition of overdevelopment and what is your plan to prevent it?

16. The sputtering economy and the rise in pension contribution costs have forced some cities to file for bankruptcy.

Santa Monica is doing better than most, but if nothing is done to trim costs, deficits will become reality. What’s your plan for controlling public employee pension costs?

17. How do you get across town during rush hour? Any tips or shortcuts?

18. What should City Hall’s role be when it comes to the creation of affordable housing?

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

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• Name: Terry O'Day • Age: 39 • Occupation: Director, eVgo, electric-vehicle charging services.

• Neighborhood in which you live: Pico Neighborhood • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married; 2 girls • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Stanford University, bachelor’s in public policy with departmental honors; Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs; UCLA Anderson School of Management, master’s degree in business administration.

1. Why run To continue the work I started on the council two years ago to provide a long-term vision for our city that includes all elements of true sustainability — environmental, economic and equity.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Strengths: My leadership is based on maintaining: 1) Our compassionate, diverse, engaged population.

2) Our diverse business sector and excellent municipal fiscal planning that has maintained our

• Name: John C. Smith • Age: 52 • Occupation: Teacher/producer/journalist • Neighborhood in which you live: Mid-City • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Single • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have?

Univ. of Washington, BA, communications, 1985 1. Why run I’m running for office for some of the same reasons I became a journalist: To inform people about the issues we face and to help people make sense of them in a changing world. But the biggest reason is Santa Monica is in danger of losing its soul. The rush of development does not serve the people who live here.

This “tsunami” is flooding us with more traffic, congestion and parking problems. It’s also being approved by many current council members who take money from the very developers whose projects they approve. Big money is quickly shaping both the character of our city and the council entrusted to act on our behalf. I’m qualified to lead because I’m a journalist who has spent my professional life getting all the facts, listening to all sides, and coming up with real solutions that benefit people. As a council member, I hope to be a voice of

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

improves, we must restore funding to pre-recession levels.

from boogie boarding and baseball to playing Littlest Pet Shop or even painting dad's nails.

4. Campaign contributions $250

5. Smoking ban

O’DAY AAA bond rating.

3) Our exceptional schools, college, hospitals, public safety and Big Blue Bus. Weaknesses: 1) Repercussions from cuts in state funding.

A) I work to partner with local agencies and cut waste.

2) Citywide loss of diversity and achievement gap among students.

A) I work to protect affordable housing and support youth enrichment programs.

3) Some city units lose money.

A) Adopt business plans to reorganize and repurpose some boards and increase council authority to manage operations.

3. Homelessness I support the city's approach to focus on creating housing first to reduce chronic homelessness and to realign service provision — focusing on outcomes and increasing efficiency and effectiveness. As the economy

SMITH reason and common sense — a non-politician who will never let developer dollars get in the way of finding real solutions that help the most people.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Our city’s three major strengths are the engaged and informed people who live here, the natural beauty we are blessed with and our progressive spirit.

Our biggest weaknesses are certain council members who approve development projects that don’t benefit the people who live here, their lack of vision as to how all this growth is affecting our city and their disconnect from the problems this growth is creating. We can bolster our strengths by actively seeking input from the public early on in deciding the future of individual projects.

3. Homelessness The biggest question is how to alleviate the problem without making it worse. The city tends to

I have been firm in protecting the health and dignity of residents in multi-family housing, which protects children with asthma and other respiratory diseases. To protect all renters, I've sponsored laws that designate units as smoking or non-smoking and to disclose the designation to potential new residents in the building.

6. Medical marijuana No.

7. Sustainability I developed and led the city's goal to become water selfsufficient by 2020 and am working on a plan that achieves it: to reduce costs, increase reliability and minimize our impact on environmental resources. We must revisit our goals for energy sustainability as solar power prices have collapsed.

Every new development or substantial remodel must exceed the highest standards for efficiency and local, renewable energy production.

8. Hobbies College football, rock climbing, hiking, languages and whatever my daughters enjoy

focus on the most chronically homeless, by giving them food and a place to sleep. But that may also be a strategy that encourages the homeless to stay here. I think we should also focus on connecting the recently homeless to any family support they may have. We should also make it harder for the homeless with substance abuse problems to buy the alcohol and drugs that make them unable to lead productive lives. We should push the federal government to treat more homeless vets and educate residents and tourists not to give the homeless money (which often only serves to fuel their addictions). We must be compassionate, but firm. Enforce laws. Punish repeat offenders. Try pilot programs. Expand the ones that work and end the ones that don’t. More money alone won’t solve this problem.

13. Santa Monica Airport 9. Reading “Demand” by Adrian Slywotzky “Judy Moody's Double-Rare, Way-Not-Boring Book of Fun Stuff to Do” by Megan McDonald.

10. Redevelopment It is still not clear which funds and projects will continue to be in the city's control, but the outlook is very dire. I'll prioritize the projects based on my values to protect subsidized senior housing, support affordable housing production, joint-use facilities with the schools, and high quality public space, including traffic circulation and integration with the Expo Line. To finance this, we'll have to be creative through public-private partnerships, open space and public safety bonds, and delay or reduce some commitments.

11. Money for schools Absolutely a good deal. It opens access to athletic fields for all residents and increased standards for our facilities for all ages. It has inspired a collaborative relationship that has streamlined services, reduced youth violence, enabled families to be healthier.

Bill Clinton, Frederick

Do I think reasonable people should smoke outside? You bet.

6. Medical marijuana I think medical marijuana is already readily available to anyone who truly needs it. We’d have to look carefully at the impact dispensaries would have in Santa Monica.

14. Community benefits We are using too many development agreements, which is forcing every project into a contentious public negotiation process. I support using development agreements less often and getting our long-term plans and zoning ordinance completed urgently. The standard for community benefit should be clear: a commitment to any of a list of capital investments valued by our residents that exceeds what is required by the zoning for that project. Thus, affordable housing, for example, would only qualify to the extent that the number and quality of units exceeded what is required by code.

I’d start by supporting an ordinance that requires developers to include solar readiness in every medium-to-large project they want to build, to reduce power consumption over the long-term.

8. Hobbies Cycling, golf, tennis, guitar, writing.

9. Reading “President Kennedy: Profile of Power,” by Richard Reeves.

10. Redevelopment I would seek private partners to fund a Civic Center revitalization, which could draw any number of medium-sized entertainment components. A big portion of the $385 million school bond should go to Samohi. A great city park need not cost a great amount of money. People desire open space, not expensive accessories.

11. Money for schools I favor any win-win solution for students and the city. Good schools are a priority for Santa Monica.

Overdevelopment is when public and private investment produces worse outcomes than beforehand. I was a leader in the development of the Land Use and Circulation Element. I've directly negotiated reductions in development agreements. I've voted to increase setbacks from property lines and decrease heights. I've put forward a vision that is pedestrian friendly and protects our residential neighborhood integrity.

16. Pension costs We've renegotiated contracts for every city union in collaboration with our employees.

We've pre-paid our obligations to our pension funds, significantly reducing long-term costs. We moved to a biannual budgeting process to secure pensions and reduce staff time to draft budgets.

17. Traffic shortcuts 1) Try not to.

2) Try a bike.

3) Try a Big Blue Bus and an iPod or book.

4) Root for the Expo Line and vote for county Measure J, which will hasten transit.

18. Affordable housing The city must continue taking the lead to create and protect affordable housing as we still have a severe crisis in housing affordability and a serious job-tohousing imbalance.

15. Overdevelopment

12. Ferris wheel guests I would talk principles and character with Abraham Lincoln.

I’d love to hear President Clinton tell me anything he wanted. But then I would politely ask them to step off so I could spend just 15 more minutes with my dad, who died when I was 11. He’s the greatest man I ever knew.

7. Sustainability

I was against it. I also think council members should recuse themselves from voting on a project when they take money from the developer who wants to build it.

I support laws that enhance public safety. Do I think this law is a priority above our more pressing problems? No. Do I think it would cost millions to actually enforce? Yes. Do I think someone with a child who has asthma has the right to know if the person next door is a chain smoker? Yes.

I support dramatically curtailing the airport's impact on its neighbors, decreasing its pollution and noise and increasing its safety standards. I have a record of solving environmental problems in California and believe that, as we approach 2015, the date when our lease with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) expires, we must address the needs of the community, engage in talks with the FAA, prepare a litigation strategy and seek enhanced authority to act.

12. Ferris wheel guests

4. Campaign contributions

5. Smoking ban

Douglass, my dad and we'd discuss social justice.

13. Santa Monica Airport I respect its historical significance, but everyone in our city deserves health and safety wherever they live. There are too many jets and planes using the airport, they pay too little for the privilege. The airport serves only a fraction of the people who live here, and the city currently subsidizes its operations. It must close or become a limited-use airport. I will vigorously oppose any attempts by developerfriendly forces on the council to build another Playa Vista at the site.

include more open space; conform to existing zoning laws.

15. Overdevelopment When projects are being built and they don’t benefit anyone but the developer. I would insist that developers adhere to zoning laws.

I would build into their contract the full cost of mitigating every traffic impact of their project. I would only allow developments that the city really needs.

16. Pension costs Let’s stop adding more developments that require more services. Why have we added so many public employees and employed so many outside consultants, when our population is just a few thousand more than it was 30 years ago? I value the contributions of our public employees, but in the interest of fiscal responsibility, their pensions must reflect the city’s overall ability to afford them.

17. Traffic shortcuts 14. Community benefits The council should have complete control. They should also exercise it. Development agreement, which is an innocuous term for “exceptions to the rules,” should be the exception, not the rule. The entire project should benefit the community. A developer should pay the full cost of any traffic impact a project will have. A project should have apartments that people who work here, such as firefighters and teachers, can actually afford;

Slowly. I avoid driving Wilshire or Santa Monica boulevards and avoid certain areas at certain times. It all comes down to local knowledge, doesn’t it?

18. Affordable housing I think we should require any housing development to have a much higher percentage of truly affordable housing. People who work here, especially those who protect our city and educate our children, should be able to live here.

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

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• Name: Ted Winterer • Age: 55 • Occupation: Writer/marketing • Neighborhood in which you live: Ocean Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married 15 years, 2 kids age 11 and 6 attending one of our public schools • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Dartmouth College, B.A. 1. Why run I’m running to protect Santa Monica’s future for my kids and for everyone else who’s fortunate to live in our beach town. I have an extensive background in local civic affairs: I’m currently vice chair of our Planning Commission, have been a Recreation and Parks Commissioner, am the former president of the Ocean Park Association and have advocated for our K-12 schools in a variety of ways including serving on the steering committee of Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS). If elected, I will use the skills and knowledge gleaned from this background to advocate for residents and their priorities and concerns.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Santa Monica’s three major strengths are its geography, meaning the ocean breezes, light, and views we all enjoy; its diverse

• Name: Shari Davis • Age: 51 • Occupation: Nonprofit policy advisor • Neighborhood in which you live: NOMA • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married for 22 years; three kids in local public schools • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? USC, B.A., political science and public relations; Harvard University’s Kennedy School, master’s, public policy.

1. Why run?

As a collaborative, innovative problem solver, I will add an important voice to our council. In working with residents in every neighborhood, I have learned how to protect our diverse community and vibrant economy and will use my community involvement, education and professional experience in economic development, homelessness, affordable housing, youth advocacy, environmental issues and municipal finance to do so. I want to ensure that Santa Monica remains a city with the resources to set bold policies that are modeled throughout the country.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Strengths: Commitment to people of all walks of life through progressive policies.

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

that neighboring communities do their fair share.

4. Campaign contributions

9. Reading

13. Santa Monica Airport

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” by Michael Chabon.

Taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidize an operation with such adverse effects on our community.

The four council members we elect in 2012 will be in office when the FAA agreement expires on July 1, 2015 and will have the choice either a) to preserve the status quo at SMO; or b) to severely restrict operations or close the airport. I support our Airport Commission’s recent recommendations to use our proprietary powers to reduce flight operations in the shortterm. In 2015 we should eliminate the flight schools that generate 60 percent of flights and remove the 1949 quitclaim parcel from aviation use, thereby eliminating 2,000 feet of the current 5,000-foot runway. And thereafter seek to close SMO.

No answer provided.

10. Redevelopment 5. Smoking ban I favor reducing and eventually eliminating smoking in multi-family housing but not in a manner that puts existing tenancies at risk.

6. Medical marijuana No answer provided.

WINTERER and resilient economy; and its involved and passionate citizens.

Its weaknesses are traffic caused by too much commercial development; a focus on revenue generation without sufficient regard for quality of life issues; and an inability to tame the forces of gentrification which threaten our socioeconomic diversity. To protect our future we must recognize that as the national economy improves so too will our municipal revenues, so we must be skeptical of short-term fixes which threaten our beach town character, quality of life and the homes of our residents.

3. Homelessness The annual homeless count shows a decrease in those living on our streets even during the worst economy most of us have ever seen. Much of this decrease is due to a housing-first policy: studies have shown that supportive housing to help the less fortunate costs taxpayers much less than providing emergency services to those without a permanent home. We should continue funding services for the homeless but need to insist

7. Sustainability Conservation, better infiltration of runoff into our aquifers and increased usage of recycled water should allow Santa Monica to be 100 percent dependent on its own local water sources by 2020. Energy is another matter that requires greater creativity and focus: every city-owned building should have solar panels on its roof; we should require solar generation on all new multi-family and commercial projects; single family homeowners should be given the option to finance solar electric and thermal projects via their city water bills; any land we can reclaim from aviation use in 2015 should be used for solar energy generation; and our green building standards should be enhanced to require even greater energy efficiencies.

8. Hobbies Alpine and telemark skiing, camping, Sunday soccer with Chui Tsang, Graham Wong and the community soccer gang, and hanging with my kids, especially at our beaches and parks.

homeless vets, support OPCC’s comprehensive programs, and strengthen region-wide efforts.

DAVIS

3. Homelessness I believe our city is going in the right direction, but we have more to do. I will use the knowledge I gained as chair of the highly regarded Covenant House California to help Santa Monica’s homeless get into permanent housing and find good jobs. I’ll push the VA to create housing for

11. Money for schools It’s a great deal for the city given that land and capital costs of providing these facilities in another manner would be significant. For instance, I am an AYSO coach and referee and we use district fields. There aren’t enough city fields to meet the demand for youth and adult sports so access to SMMUSD facilities is critical.

12. Ferris wheel guests Sen. John P. Jones, often considered the founder of Santa Monica, to hear what he thought about the changes of the last 100 years. Dorothy Parker, for her take on current society (what would she think about reality TV, for instance?) and because I always enjoy a good laugh. Albert Einstein, since he’d be intrigued by a wheel powered by the sun.

And I could tell him the existence of the Higgs boson has likely been confirmed and then he could explain to me what that meant.

9. Reading

4. Campaign contributions

“Brain Rules” by John Medina; loved “The Glass Castle” this summer.

$325 because it makes it easier to communicate with voters.

10. Redevelopment

5. Smoking ban

Beautiful environment with our beaches and ocean.

Vision, willingness and ability to be innovative.

Weaknesses: Small, limited geographic area.

High volume of cars passing through.

Drastic cuts in funding by the state.

Santa Monica’s reputation as a city with extraordinary civic involvement is the key to our ability to address problems and protect the character of our community. I’ll listen and be guided by the empowered, informed members of our commissions and community, and work locally and regionally to seek creative solutions.

The Palisades Garden Walk and Town Square in front of City Hall are under construction and should be completed. And a new fire station Downtown should be a priority. We should seek grants to finance other projects such as the Colorado Esplanade, Samohi joint use, and the Civic Center and, to the extent additional monies are required, seek voter approval for a general obligation bond to fund them.

I do not support a smoking ban in existing multi-family housing because it might force current residents to move out of their homes.

I would not go as far as banning smoking in people’s homes, out of respect for their privacy rights.

6. Medical marijuana No.

7. Sustainability The Sustainable City Plan provides an excellent framework to address resource and environmental issues. I support the 100 percent water selfsufficiency goal by 2020 by maximizing the use of recycled water in parks and other city facilities for landscape irrigation; pursuing infrastructure work needed to expand purple pipe and a water storage facility; a TCE treatment facility to increase access to water in the aquifer via Santa Monica’s wells, which could also enable expansion of recreational space at Stewart Park; water and energy conservation throughout the city. We must continue to advance green building practices, technology and jobs.

I agree with the priorities the City Council set: continue the Civic Center park projects, the Pico Library, affordable housing support, signal synchronization and preparation for the EXPO Light Rail, while discontinuing the Civic Center Joint Use Project (CCJUP) and the Civic Auditorium for now. I support Measure ES, which will enable much of the CCJUP to move forward. I support public-private partnerships and possibly bonds to seismically upgrade the Civic Auditorium to prevent its permanent shutdown.

11. Money for schools I strongly believe in the collaboration and support between City Hall and SMMUSD. As past co-chair of CEPS, I led the efforts for the $14 million in annual funding that the city provides the local public schools in return for access to school facilities. This strong, positive relationship results in safer, more stable communities and brighter futures for our students.

Maintaining the agreements benefits everyone.

12. Ferris wheel guests Abraham Lincoln, Lucy Stone and John Muir. We’d talk about courage, what they think of the world today and how they persevered.

8. Hobbies Run, ski, hike, paddleboard

13. Santa Monica Airport

14. Community benefits Community benefits are cash, material or operational contributions from a development that exceed those required by code. The city should, per the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), require community benefits from any new Tier 2 or Tier 3 building (basically, anything over 32 feet high). We’re updating our Zoning Ordinance to reflect the LUCE and anticipate that Tier 2 projects will have a menu and points system for providing community benefits, with the potential to include benefits not anticipated by the LUCE. These will be approved by a discretionary permit at the Planning Commission. Tier 3 projects will continue to be authorized by the City Council via development agreements based on input from the Planning

A comprehensive Airport Visioning Process is in progress, and I support protecting neighbors through efforts to reduce air and noise pollution, and increase safety and public uses around SMO. I’d like to see Santa Monica pioneering the changes needed to remove lead from aircraft fuel everywhere, not just in our community. The FAA has made it very clear that it will not allow the city to close Santa Monica Airport, and with the city facing serious budget deficits in the next four years, it does not seem fiscally prudent to me to expend taxpayer dollars on extensive legal fees to battle the FAA when they could be spent on other sustainability priorities. I believe we should begin master planning what would replace the airport in the future when closure is a more realistic possibility.

14. Community benefits Community-identified priority categories of benefits should be included in development agreements for projects wishing to exceed the baseline building heights: “creation of new affordable and workforce housing; participation in rigorous vehicle trip reduction measures, impact fees and shared parking programs; the creation of quality open spaces and green streets; historic preservation; facilities for child care and early education; facilities for youth and seniors as well as for arts and cultural events.” I believe in using creative, openminded approaches, with staff, the Planning Commission, neighbors, and the broader community, to establish development agreements

Commission. What’s critical in both these scenarios is that projects provide significant and enduring benefits based on the value added by allowing extra height and floor area.

15. Overdevelopment Overdevelopment occurs when the character of our town and our quality of life are impacted. To prevent overdevelopment, I would first have the will to reject proposals for projects that don’t work for our community; I believe I’ve proven during my tenure on the Planning Commission that I’m not hesitant to do so. And new development that is approved should be appropriately scaled, provide good jobs and housing for all incomes, and enhance our quality of life. Most importantly, traffic should be used as a metric for gauging the impacts of development: the no-net-trips policy in our LUCE should be a hard and fast rule rather than a soft policy goal, so that we make sure circulation improvements more than offset the new car trips from projects.

16. Pension costs No answer provided.

17. Traffic shortcuts No answer provided.

18. Affordable housing We are required by our own municipal law, approved by voters at the ballot box, to make sure 30 percent of all housing production is affordable. Therefore City Hall should take whatever steps are necessary to comply with this law.

that adequately reflect appropriate types of benefits for the specific project.

15. Overdevelopment Cities create general plans to provide a vision of what they want to be, and I believe no city wants to be overdeveloped, especially Santa Monica. To me, overdeveloped means too many cars, too many buildings and too many people. I believe our plan for creating a sustainable city solves this problem. My decisions as a council member will be guided by LUCE’s “Key Principles of Sustainable Planning.”

16. Pension costs We must find other ways to meet balanced budget goals besides devaluing public employees’ pension or health benefits. I would work collaboratively with [unions] to explore strategies for reducing costs.

17. Traffic shortcuts I try not to. Cycle, carpool or Big Blue Bus.

18. Affordable housing I support the affordable housing obligations defined in the Municipal Code and the goals outlined in the LUCE. Community Corporation is our best option for creating more affordable housing.

I’ll actively work on statewide as well as local strategies (real property transfer tax, developer fees, bonds, revenue anticipation debt, development agreements, etc.) to preserve and enhance existing affordable housing.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

• Name: Gleam Olivia Davis • Age: 56 • Occupation: Attorney • Neighborhood in which you live: North of Montana (although in my 26 years in Santa Monica, I have lived in Ocean Park and Wilshire/Montana neighborhoods as well) • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married with one son, Jackson, age 15 • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Harvard Law School (J.D.); USC (A.B.) 1. Why run?

As a council member, I try to be fair-minded and to listen and be respectful of differing points of view. I have been able to build consensus around important issues such as public safety and education and, in my two years as mayor pro tem, I have improved my leadership skills. I hope to build upon that experience in my next term.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Santa Monica’s strengths are its commitment to maintaining a safe, sustainable, educated and engaged city; its social diversity; and its vibrant local economy. We can preserve them by remaining committed to affordable housing, public safety and environmental measures such as the polystyrene

• Name: Steve Duron • Age: 45 • Occupation: Attorney • Neighborhood in which you live: Ocean Park • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Married/two toddlers • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? UCLA, B.A.; Whittier Law School, J.D. 1. Why run As a father I now see how decisions made by the council today will affect the community my children live in tomorrow.

Too many development projects are getting approved without considering the effects on our quality of life. Over-development brings more traffic, less parking and eats away at our community.

I will make sure that any new development has compelling benefits for us, or I won’t approve it. I will form a commission dedicated to solving our traffic congestion. Children and adults of all ages will enjoy improved playgrounds and parks. I’m running because I love Santa Monica.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Strengths: 1) Location: Santa Monica is a place where people and business want to be. This means that the

resources, every development — residential and commercial — must have sufficient parking. To improve road safety, we must implement the safety strategies in the Bike Action Plan, develop a pedestrian safety plan, and continue to encourage safer driving habits by focusing on unsafe driving behaviors through stepped-up informational and enforcement efforts.

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

7. Sustainability I support Santa Monica’s commitment to become water self-sufficient by 2020 and to increase the city’s use of alternative and renewable fuels.

8. Hobbies Who has time for hobbies? I try and make my son’s football and lacrosse games.

9. Reading

DAVIS food container and plastic bag bans. We must support our outstanding local schools, encourage community input and participation and maintain diverse revenue streams by keeping the city an attractive place to work, visit and do business.

The city’s three weaknesses are traffic, parking and road safety. Traffic is a regional problem and I support regional solutions such as increasing mass transit. To reduce local traffic, the city is completing its signal synchronization program, improving Big Blue Bus routes and adopting a transportation impact fee that will require developers to pay for infrastructure improvements that will reduce traffic and encourage alternate modes of transportation.

Different neighborhoods need different parking solutions. In Downtown, we should build a large pool of centralized parking.

In other areas of the city, where residents must compete with businesses and their employees for scarce street parking

DURON council can be and should be more selective on the development projects it approves.

Unless there are compelling benefits to the community that offset the impacts created by more development, I will not support it.

2) Education: Keeping our public education system strong is one of the most important things we can do for the health of our community. I will work hard to find resources to make improvements to infrastructure. I will push for more after-school programs that focus on academic resources and creativity. And, I will work to ensure equity among students.

3) Diversity: The community provides wonderful opportunities for my children to learn about the world.

Weaknesses: 1) Development: Too many development projects are getting approved without considering the effects on our quality of life.

2) Traffic: Traffic congestion

3. Homelessness I support our housing-first approach that finds shelter for homeless persons and then connects them to services. The HELP program, which pairs the police with social service agencies, also is very successful.

These programs have reduced homelessness and saved money by reducing the number of police and emergency medical calls relating to homeless persons.

The Santa Monica Daily Press of course. I also just started Hilary Mantel’s “Bring Up the Bodies” about Tudor England.

10. Redevelopment

I support it. The $325 remains relatively low, but does account for the increased cost of printing, postage and other campaign expenses.

The City Council already has prioritized senior housing vouchers, the Civic Center parks, the Pico Neighborhood Library, traffic signal synchronization, Expo station enhancements and the Colorado Esplanade (which integrates Expo with Downtown).

The city continues to work with the state to preserve as much money as possible for affordable housing. Without additional funding streams, I could not agree to additional projects.

5. Smoking ban

11. Money for schools

I do not support a smoking ban in existing multi-family housing because it might force current residents to move out of their homes.

Excellent public schools are good for the whole city.

Communities with good schools (including preschool and after school programs) are more civically engaged, safer, healthier and more respectful of the environment. Good schools provide every student, regardless of background or economic resources, the opportunity to

4. Campaign contributions

6. Medical marijuana No. Los Angeles is not enforcing its ban on dispensaries so there is no need for us to act.

makes it very hard and time consuming to run into [local businesses]. I will create a commission dedicated to finding solutions for our traffic congestion. I will require that new development projects include plans to improve roads and infrastructure that will be impacted by the development. I will grant incentives to employers who hire a workforce of Santa Monica residents or who will use public transportation.

3) Economy: The economy has had an effect on everyone.

Whether it is potholes left unrepaired, library services cut, public work projects put on hold or abandoned, our quality of life has diminished. I will engage with the community to assist in prioritizing needs. I will ensure that our fire and police departments have the resources they need to keep our residents and guests safe. And, I will fight to save our social service programs.

3. Homelessness I will support programs that lend a hand to our least fortunate residents, but remain mindful that as a council member, my duty is to serve all the residents of Santa Monica.

4. Campaign contributions I support it. It gives me more time to do what I enjoy most, talking with residents, and a little less time making fundraising calls.

At the same time, the increase was not so significant that it eliminated the need for widespread support, which I think was a concern of those who opposed it.

5. Smoking ban I do not believe an ordinance would pass constitutional law protections. More legal research is required.

6. Medical marijuana No, I would not.

7. Sustainability Because we are by the sea, we have sunshine, wind and waves.

As technology improves in these areas and it becomes less obtrusive, it can create an opportunity for Santa Monica. I foresee a future for Santa Monica where it can not only be self sustainable, it can also become an exporter of energy and power.

8. Hobbies: I am a family man. I spend as much time as I can with my wife and kids. I am a triathlete. I enjoy staying healthy and fit. I am a budding ukulele player.

reach his or her full potential.

12. Ferris wheel guests I would love to ride with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Congressperson Barbara Jordan and discuss how the world would be different if more women held elected office.

13. Santa Monica Airport I support making the airport a better neighbor by reducing operations (particularly jets), airport-related pollution and flight school operations. If the FAA will not agree to these measures, then I think that the city should consider closing the airport in 2015 when its agreement with the FAA expires.

14. Community benefits Community benefits include infrastructure benefits (such as wider sidewalks), local benefits for nearby residents (open space creation or improvement) and community-wide benefits (affordable housing, child care subsidies). Every development should provide some community benefits and larger developments should provide substantial benefit packages that encompass all three types of benefits. I have no problem with creating a list of benefits that can guide developers of smaller projects and add some predictability to the system. For development agreements, the council alone decides if a project provides adequate benefits and whether it should be approved.

10. Redevelopment We would need to take a look

16. Pension costs The city and its employees have negotiated prudent compensation packages that acknowledge the economic challenges the city faces. I believe they will continue to do so. I am proud that, in these difficult times, Santa Monica still offers its employees a good compensation and benefit plan.

17. Traffic shortcuts Because I don’t want to add to our traffic problem, I try to avoid driving at rush hour.

18. Affordable housing Proposition R, adopted by Santa Monica voters in 1990, requires that 30 percent of all new multi-family housing be affordable. We need to meet this goal to maintain our culturally diverse and vibrant community.

With the loss of redevelopment funds, the city will have to look for innovative ways to fund affordable housing.

15. Overdevelopment

at all of the projects in progress and proposed, ask residents what they feel the priorities should be and then execute accordingly.

11. Money for schools Keeping our public education system strong is one of the most important things we can do for the health of our community. A good school system directly correlates to strengthening our community — it raises home values, it creates opportunity for the future and it brings a community together. Budget cuts are chipping away at what makes Santa Monica public schools so great. I will work hard to find resources to make improvements to infrastructure. I will push for more after-school programs that focus on academic resources and creativity. And, I will work to ensure equity among students.

12. Ferris wheel guests Jesus Christ. I would want to hear it from him.

Abraham Lincoln. I want learn about his leadership, dedication and his ideals.

My dad. I would give anything to have five more minutes with my dad.

9. Reading “His Excellency: George Washington,” by Joseph J. Ellis “The Three Musketeers,” by Alexandre Dumas

All development should make our city a better place to live, work and visit. If it doesn’t, we shouldn’t allow it. We must be mindful about development impacts on our community when we adopt the new zoning ordinance, the Bergamot Area Plan and the Downtown Specific Plan. We also need to improve the development process and make sure that every voice is heard.

must be offered to the community or I will not support it.

15. Overdevelopment The biggest issue facing our city is over-development. It is making our city too dense, producing more traffic congestion, which is compounding the greenhouse gases, and it could lead to a decline in property values. I will transform a prodevelopment minded council into one that limits development.

16. Pension costs This is a tough issue for me because I come from a family of public employees. My wife is a public school teacher, my father was a city employee and my mother was a principal’s secretary. I believe the fairest thing to do would be to make changes to new employees and keep the current employees the same. At least nothing would be taken away from people who have worked a lifetime to receive the benefits they expected when they retire and new employees would come into their job with “eyes wide open.”

17. Traffic shortcuts Patience and good music.

13. Santa Monica Airport I will work to close it.

14. Community benefits Any time the community will be impacted by a new development, compelling benefits

18. Affordable housing I will remain mindful that rent control is what led to the diverse, dynamic community we have today. Affordable housing is part of that.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

• Name: Tony Vazquez • Age: 56 • Occupation: Consultant • Neighborhood in which you live: Sunset Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married/two kids • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? USC, B.S., and graduate work in education.

1. Why run As a 30-year resident of Santa Monica, longtime community advocate and former City Council member, I am running once again to serve our interests because of my deep commitment to our city.

I have served our community on a wide variety of committees and commissions and will continue to build consensus for our greater good, work to preserve the character of our individual neighborhoods, and protect our quality of life and schools which make Santa Monica such a great place to live and work. We must work together to ensure all Santa Monicans are represented and our city is positioned for the future.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses The city has been able to maintain a strong budget reserve because of its strong sales tax base; we take care of our seniors, children and citizenry through our social service programs and funding of our public schools; and the natural beauty of our historical pier that has not been over-developed. Our weaknesses are the Santa Monica Airport because it’s the single largest source of toxic air pollution in the city; keeping our beaches clean and free of all the trash that comes from our storm drains; and the jobs-housing imbalance. We have more jobs and not enough housing for our work force in the city.

3. Homelessness I believe the city is doing more

renovation of the high school.

11. Money for schools

RE-ELECT KRONOVET SANTA MONICA RENT BOARD

I believe it’s a good deal for the city, the school district, and the community as a whole because we all win when our schools are the best.

12. Ferris wheel guests

VAZQUEZ than its fair share to take care of the homeless population. When I was on the council I was proactive in trying to get the federal government to develop the VA property in Westwood to house and service the homeless vets. The VA has stepped in but I will continue to put pressure on them so they invest more money for its veterans that will relieve some of the pressure off of Santa Monica.

4. Campaign contributions

Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain and Dolores Huerta, so we could discuss their life experience and how it shaped their ideas and moral compass.

We need to find a way to ban corporate jets as soon as possible and see if there is a way to close the airport down or make it into a true recreational airport when their lease ends in 2015.

14. Community benefits I believe the City Council should have complete control in negotiations with developers.

I support it.

15. Overdevelopment 5. Smoking ban Given the sensitivity of the issue, I believe it needs further evaluation and discussion.

6. Medical marijuana Yes, but with strong guide lines to make sure there is no abuse.

The Water Garden project is a good example of overdevelopment in our city and any new development must have a net positive impact on our city. Also, it cannot overburden the community in terms of traffic and parking and must be sustainable with meaningful community benefits.

7. Sustainability I will look to develop policies that would require any new development to be sustainable, especially as it pertains to water and power consumption.

16. Pension costs

8. Hobbies

We need to look at putting a cap on it before it breaks our city.

I agree. The state just passed the mandate for a two-tier pension system to help cities keep their cost down.

Golfing and bike riding along the beach bike path.

17. Traffic shortcuts

9. Reading

I avoid driving across town during rush hour and if I have to, I ride my bike.

“Half of the World in Light,”

by Juan Felipe Herrera.

18. Affordable housing 10. Redevelopment Santa Monica High School is the number one priority and that is why I support Measure ES, the school bond which will fund the

“I will continue to protect the rights of tenants citywide”

13. Santa Monica Airport

We need to do what we can to build more affordable housing and require developers to pay for affordable housing projects in the city.

RobertKronovet.com

Kronovet earns the endorsement of: Santa Monica Police Officers Association & Santa Monica Firefighters Local 1109 and City Councilman Robert Holbrook "We are thrilled to have earned the support of our hardworking Santa Monica Police & Firefighters.

Public safety is a corner stone of our city government, Kronovet has been committed to supporting our first responders year in and year out.

As our community grows both in population and complexity, our public safety personnel can be assured that Kronovet will stand with them."

"Councilman Holbrook represents the finest elements of an elected official. For over twenty years Mr. Holbrook has been committed both in dialogue and action for bringing about the best for the citizens of Santa Monica."

"These two hard earned endorsements are the finest a candidate can earn and highlight the belief and support of Re-Elect Kronovet to Rent Board."

KRONOVET FOR RENT BOARD 3019 Pico Blvd # 4 Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-829-9303 | Fax 310-315-1757 FPPC ID# 1290187

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA to get commuters out of their cars. And I’ll fight for policies to encourage more housing and less office development.

• Name: Frank Gruber • Age: 60 • Occupation: Local journalist (also entertainment lawyer)

• Neighborhood in which you live: Ocean Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married, one son • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? University of Chicago, BA 1974; Harvard Law School, J.D. 1978 1. Why run?

I’m running to make Santa Monica a better place, a “healthy city” where residents flourish, the environment is enriched and the city government is healthy, too — well-run and financially stable.

I’ve lived here since 1983 and for 20 years I’ve been actively involved in the city. I’ve served on the Housing and Planning commissions (where you learn to analyze facts and make decisions), the board of a neighborhood association, a school bond oversight committee and for 11 years I wrote a weekly column about what goes on here. On the dais I will examine issues critically, listen to everyone and push for real decisions.

2. City’s strengths/weakness Strengths (there are many more than these three): 1) An active and engaged

• Name: Richard McKInnon • Age: 56 • Occupation: Chairman, Conrad Capital • Neighborhood in which you live: Wilmont • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Married/one son • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Australian National University, B.A. 1. Why run This election is about residents. It is about the quality of life in Santa Monica. The council will either lead on issues or simply follow as others dictate. So there is a critical need for an agenda that reflects the needs of residents and public policy that strengthen the city. As someone heavily involved in our community, our schools, a Recreation and Parks and now Planning commissioner there’s been a lot of involvement on issues that matter to people who live here. You need to know what policies make a difference and how to make them happen.

Getting a comprehensive bike plan in place, or city as arboretum adopted, required policy skill and political leadership. Every Wednesday night voters have been able to assess my performance at the Planning Commission. I have a record of

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

3. Homelessnes

GRUBER populace that loves its city and gets involved.

2) A strong government that closely regulates economic development, but also a vibrant business community.

3) An excellent public school system.

Weaknesses: 1) The city’s inability to control what happens in the surrounding megalopolis.

2) The lack of a transportation system that can meaningfully address our traffic problems.

3) A shortage of housing.

To preserve the strengths I’ll do everything I can to reach out to the public for input; I’ll continue to closely regulate development with the knowledge that the best way to encourage business is create a wonderful city; and I’ll continue the city’s policies of aiding the schools.

To contain the weaknesses, I’ll push for more regional planning to solve issues like traffic and homelessness. I’ll push for the Big Blue Bus to develop alternatives

With the adoption of housing first, the city’s response has vastly improved over the past four years, but I would expand outreach to the chronic homeless. This may require more spending on the short-term, but leads to less spending on the long-term.

4. Campaign contributions I supported it. As an independent candidate, I can say that it’s hard to raise sufficient funds to get your message to Santa Monica’s 50,000 voters.

5. Smoking ban I support the law that was passed and then referred back for more work on second reading; i.e., I do not believe that current tenants who smoke should be evicted, but I support units becoming non-smoking upon vacancy.

6. Medical marijuana Santa Monica voters have shown that they do not consider marijuana use to be a problem. So, yes, I believe that Santa Monicans should be able to fill their prescriptions here. However, state law is so unclear about the legal status of dispensaries that passing an ordinance to allow and regulate them appropriately is not easy.

streets because of homeless is also not fair. Council is trying to tackle the issue. Maybe a B-minus.

4. Campaign contributions

MCKINNON making clear, strong decisions. I would be a powerful voice for residents.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Strengths are Santa Monica’s landscape and environment, the values of people who live here and the overall community that supports so much diversity of opinion.

Our weaknesses are traffic, congestion and ongoing threats to the quality of life.

3. Homelessness It is unfair and outrageous that as a society we can’t get residential accommodation for the homeless. To have thousands wandering our streets looking for food or shelter every night isn’t acceptable. It requires a whole of person and whole of life approach to solve the homeless person needs (which are always complex). But for residents to be scared or shut out of parks and

As a candidate, raising money is tough; $325 is quite a lot to many, not much to some. When corporations and single-issue donors can give large, unregulated amounts to political action committees or independent expenditure committees, the playing field is quite uneven. It is a long, hard grind from many donors matching one big check to the other side.

7. Sustainability I would continue the policies the city has implemented to reduce water consumption and favor renewable energy. Highquality urban development will also reduce our ecological footprint by reducing driving.

6. Medical marijuana Medical marijuana in Santa Monica should be sold through a hospital dispensary or pharmacy to people who have legitimate prescriptions and treated as a medical and health issue. We dispense and sell complex and difficult drugs every day for a range of medical issues; marijuana is another. It’s the street scene that surrounds it that creates the social problems and hospital and clinical settings remove that.

7. Sustainability The city needs to go deep green. We need a powerful plan that sets tough targets and firm dates across the board and then a clear path to implementation for issues as widely diverse as solar

12. Ferris wheel guests Lincoln, Einstein, and Mozart, and I’d let them decide what to talk about.

13. Santa Monica Airport 8. Hobbies None, except to enjoy life.

9. Reading “In Motion: The Experience of Travel,” by Tony Hiss.

10. Redevelopment The city will have to revert back to traditional means for funding capital projects, including voter-approved bond issues, and the city will have to focus on projects that have broad public approval, since bond issues require a two-thirds vote. I foresee that the city may need to go to the voters for funding for new parks at the Fisher Lumber site and on the Civic Auditorium parking lot. Beyond that, it is hard to predict the city’s capital needs after the current round of projects is completed.

11. Money for schools Because Santa Monica is “under parked” this is a good deal for the city. One reason (among many) that I support the new school bond is that it will enable the school district to create more recreational facilities on the Samohi campus, and the city

energy installation, water self sufficiency and zero waste. Santa Monica should be the national and international leader in moving from a carbon economy to a renewable energy economy. It requires political leadership.

8. Hobbies Swimming, riding a bike, going to art galleries.

9. Reading John Updike and Robert Caro.

10. Redevelopment Green space and recreational facilities.

5. Smoking ban Yes.

could then make a win-win deal with the district to share those facilities.

11. Money for schools Schools are the absolute cornerstone of our society. Every great city has great schools and in Santa Monica the connections and networks formed in the public schools provide the foundation of community activity and life. It was a good deal for everyone and provides certainty for schools and city.

12. Ferris wheel guests Picasso, Washington, Julius Caesar.

13. Santa Monica Airport The airport is a relic of the past. It makes no sense on health, safety, environment and economic grounds. It must be closed. The strategy will be three stage.

Immediately remove subsidization, give notice on

The airport needs to be closed after 2014 when the 1984 agreement expires. While any attempt to close the airport will likely lead to litigation, this is a generational opportunity to get back 227 acres of land. The city must do everything it can to make this happen.

14. Community benefits To begin with, the best community benefit is a good project that in itself benefits the community. No amount of community benefits can make a bad project a good one. We need to enact good zoning standards setting forth what kind of development we want, then we should minimize discretionary review so that we can get that development. However, for large developments discretionary review is appropriate, and, as in any negotiation, the city should negotiate for whatever it can obtain.

15. Overdevelopment Overdevelopment is a concept that operates in four dimensions, i.e., including time. Now Santa Monica suffers from

ground leases of termination when the leases expire, cap movements, charge everyone commercial rates for landing and rent; all of which will begin to transform the current “anything goes” airport environment. In 2015, under the agreement, reclaim the western end of the current airport and thus shorten the runway (closing out jets) and from 2015 focus on closing the whole airport. This would be followed by a visioning process for the 200-plus acres.

14. Community benefits Santa Monica is immensely valuable. Therefore the city must have a list of priorities and benefits that are agreed on ahead of time and form a strong compensation to the city and its residents for the value of the development agreements and development in general.

Community benefits must always be present in Tier 3 and Tier 2 developments. Our objective is to ensure that the development produces a wave of public investment that matches the private investment.

15. Overdevelopment Huge buildings that overwhelm city streets, out of balance developments that force too much building on too little a site, canyon-ize of city streets, high-rise in the wrong place, buildings with hundreds of apartments that are 15 feet from

overdevelopment of commercial office; twice the square footage of office contemplated under the 1984 land-use plan was built. At the time, planners believed that with the loss of manufacturing, Santa Monica needed jobs. Now we have too much office and a shortage of housing. Therefore, I support development of the latter and not the former.

16. Pension costs To negotiate with the unions who represent the city’s employees.

17. Traffic shortcuts Well, I like to bike around Santa Monica. I also like the fact that when I need to drive, such as to do big shopping, we have convenient stores in my neighborhood, so I don’t need to drive across town. But if I have to get across town during rush hour, I look at SigAlert, try to give myself plenty of time and plan on listening to good music.

18. Affordable housing Santa Monica voters have approved the building of affordable housing and most residents support preservation of a mixed-income community.

However, the entire funding structure for affordable housing is undergoing drastic change because of the demise of redevelopment; it’s not possible to answer this question without waiting to see how the issue is addressed in Sacramento.

the freeway, buildings with hundreds of tiny apartments.

Tighten and toughen our zoning code, reject inappropriate development agreements, say no often, lay out clear standards and make the scale and balance of our city an overriding concern.

16. Pension costs We need to restrain the number in City Hall, make changes to the way we do business and constrain the cost of running the city by rearranging staffing, becoming more flexible in customer service, use technology to solve residents’ needs. It’s clearly bureaucracy, not service, you want to cut. It’s the staff numbers that create the overall issue.

17. Traffic shortcuts I ride my bike. Everyone should.

18. Affordable housing City Hall needs to be leading.

The state removing redevelopment agencies means less housing. Our new strategy will be based around city budget dollars, forming a foundation and partnership for major pension plan investment and thus a sizable opportunity for new housing. The same approach will be used for workforce accommodation.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

• Name: Jonathan Mann • Age: 67 • Occupation: Teacher • Neighborhood in which you live: Ocean Park • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Divorced/two children • Obama or Romney: Jill Stein • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have?

Cal State Northridge, B.A. in sociology; Completed peace officer, mediator and flight attendant training and teaching credential.

1. Why run I am running because I am fed up with how the city is being run by the council, who allow staff, developers, public agencies and other special interests determine policy.

I am qualified because I oppose all special interests and would only represent the residents. I have no endorsements from special interests. In fact, my only endorsement is the L.A. County Green Party.

If elected I would work toward electing other candidates who would only represent the interests of the residents and work with me to implement a virtual town hall with citywide free WiFi. The technology exists to create an electronic village and direct participatory democracy, so candidates who oppose special interests can campaign for public office from a level playing field. It would enable residents to enforce transparency in municipal government, hold our public officials accountable, expose conflict of interest and incompetence and provide residents with a powerful voice in policy decisions.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Santa Monica is a wealthy city, located on the Pacific Ocean with one of the best climates on the planet.

Its biggest weaknesses are the conflict of interest in governance, the greed, nepotism and cronyism of its council, staff and special interests.

3. Homelessness This city spends an enormous amount of its revenue on creating a bureaucracy that fosters dependency among the homeless.

It creates well-paid positions in that bureaucracy for cronies from the Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights membership and steering committee, past and present members of the council, etc. It should be using those revenues to create jobs and housing for homeless in the city. It gives a man a fish instead of teaching how to fish. Such practices are discouraging residents from enjoying the use of our parks and public facilities.

4. Campaign contributions This is another blatant abuse of governance to increase the chance of incumbents’ re-election and deprive candidates who do

13. Santa Monica Airport

MANN not solicit contributions and endorsements from special interests. The council would like to charge candidates a $250 fee to run for office to further dominate elections. They also reject any kind of campaign reform, including ranked voting and clean money.

5. Smoking ban I have never been a smoker, but these draconian laws are unrealistic, unenforceable and pit neighbor against neighbor. I favor a compromise solution that would allow smokers to kill themselves in smoking-only structures.

I was the first candidate to advocate closing SMO and I lost my AFA/CWA endorsement as a result. I was not taken seriously until the last election when prodevelopment forces realized there was big money to be made. That property should be used in ways that benefit the public, and not special interests. For example, to hold a giant garage sale, flea and Farmers’ Market, stages for performers and free speech corner that was open to the public with free spaces available only to residents of Santa Monica. Space should also be allocated for residents to exhibit and sell their art and I would use the hangars to industrial grow marijuana.

7. Sustainability I support any and all policies that will enable Santa Monica to deal with the sharing of sustainable resources, particularly when it comes to water and power conservation.

8. Hobbies Bicycling, travel, politics, reading, Scrabble, attending science fiction conventions, body surfing and surfing the Internet.

9. Reading “The Unincorporated Future,” “Technologies Without Boundaries,” “Last Words” (George Carlin).

10. Redevelopment It’s too late to stop plans for the Civic Center, and the park in front of City Hall, etc. I would reduce them as much as possible, and implement a moratorium on further projects, such as building another branch library, and divert the savings to invest in our schools.

It is quite obvious that developers cannot be trusted to choose or honor promises made to secure permission to exploit a property for their benefit. I strongly oppose any further development and advocate a moratorium unless it is authorized by and benefits Santa Monica residents.

15. Overdevelopment So-called slow or smart growth are euphemisms for overdevelopment. Santa Monica has already surpassed the optimum level of development, creating a traffic and parking crisis that continually deteriorates, despite election year promises to the contrary. Socalled traffic calming measures make the problem even worse and are an impediment to police and fire department response.

16. Pension costs Pension costs have exploded beyond the future ability of taxpayers to offset without diverting funds to make our city one of the ideal locations on the planet. The worst examples of this are among the greedy civil service and public agency supervisors and administrators, who conspire with the City Council to line the pockets of their cronies and friends. I would implement a whistle-blowing function on the city website and have the budget audited online to expose conflict of interest and waste. I would further forbid all past and present city officials from working for the city, receiving consultant fees, or awarding city contracts to relatives, colleagues or friends.

17. Traffic shortcuts I avoid driving when I can. I bicycle and use the bus as often as possible and allow plenty of time to get where I am going.

11. Money for schools I approve putting educational facilities to public use and other ways of allocating assistance to the school district as long as the money is utilized to improve educational opportunities for students.

12. Ferris wheel guests Jefferson, Christ and Marx to discuss how governments, religious institutions and the news media have perverted their political, philosophical and religious teachings.

M AIN S TREET S ANTA M ONICA - H APPIEST HOUR

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O'Briens 12-8pm M-F, 1130-8pm Sat & Sun

La Vecchia 5-7pm Mon-Sat

The Circle Bar 5-7pm Friday Fish Company 4-7pm M-F, 8-10pm Sun

The Galley 5-7pm Mon-Sat,All day & night Sun

Library Ale House 4-6pm M-F

Brick & Mortar 4-7pm, 7 days a week

Rick's Tavern 4-630pm M-F

31 Ten Lounge 5-7pm Wed-Sat

Areal 4-7pm Everyday, Monday 5-7pm

Basement Tavern 5-8pm M-F,All day Sun

Lula Cocina Mexicana 1-7pm Mon-Fri, 1-6pm Sat & Sun

www.mainstreetsm.com

(Times and specials subject to change)

DRINK RESPONSIBLY, CALL A TAXI,TELL THEM YOU’RE ON MAIN STREET SANTA MONICA.

14. Community benefits

6. Medical marijuana Not only would I allow medical marijuana dispensaries to set up shop, I would encourage laboratory testing of medical marijuana. I would go even further and have the city industrial grow, dispense and tax it, so it could be monitored to prevent abuse, while dramatically increasing revenues and providing jobs.

P O L I T I C S ?

You Need a Happy Hour!

18. Affordable housing The city should be creating affordable housing for low-income workers who have jobs in Santa Monica, and investigate people who are living in HUD and Section 8 housing for which they do not qualify. Santa Monica has become a haven for welfare cheats who are residing in low-income housing that should go to lowincome workers who commute long distances to take jobs that most are too lazy or too proud to accept.

Metro Cab supports the USO

Call this number to book your trip and Metro Cab will donate $1 to the USO

310-807-8851

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

• Name: Armen Melkonians • Age: 41 • Occupation: Civil and environmental engineer • Neighborhood in which you live: Wilmont • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Married • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? UCLA, B.S. in civil and environmental engineering.

1. Why run The next four years will be critical for Santa Monica. The Expo Light Rail is arriving and the future of the airport will be determined. Both of these pivotal events will change the look, feel and livability of Santa Monica for generations to come, and developers are already jockeying for position with the help of City Hall and the Planning Commission. Right now there are 24 development agreements on the Planning Commission case list, including the Miramar “Las Vegas” project and the Village Trailer Park project. Both projects have been proposed by developers as a direct result of the 2010 LUCE, a document with a clear “vision” opposite to the vision of the residents of Santa Monica. It's time to stop the nonsense and the scramble at City Hall and at the Planning Commission. It's time to elect someone with no political

• Name: Jerry Rubin • Age: 68 • Occupation: Peace activist • Neighborhood in which you live: Ocean Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married to my beautiful wife Marissa for nearly 30 years. Two cat children, Sunny and Polly • Obama or Romney: Obama!

• Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? H.S.D. Degree (High School Dropout). Also, two years at Santa Monica College.

1. Why run I’m running to draw attention to community issues and encourage community involvement and activism. My chances are slim, but I do think I would be a good council member.

There are many other good candidates, so if once again not elected, I will still be attending City Council and other important civic meetings.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Major strengths: Great city, dedicated city staff, great people from around the corner and around the world. Major weaknesses: Not enough win-win solutions, not enough trees, too much airport pollution. The question is what will we all do together to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative?

MELKONIANS ties, agendas, or motives, someone with real sustainable solutions, not political ones.

I am a civil and environmental engineer and I have first-hand experience in designing the communities in which we live and in successfully confronting the challenges presented to us by our built environment. Through my 20-plus years of experience, I have seen what has worked and what has not. I have seen development projects add value to our communities — and those that detract from it. Through my experience, I have developed a new revolutionary sustainable and responsible growth policy — netZAID, which stands for net Zero Adverse Impact Development. If elected, I will make netZAID a reality for Santa Monica.

Twenty years ago, my first project as a civil engineer was to write the infrastructure element for the L.A. Framework Master Plan — L.A.’s equivalent of the Santa Monica 2010 LUCE. Twenty

RUBIN 3. Homelessness Santa Monica is working hard to deal with the difficult issue of homelessness, but more public and private funding would be helpful. The city is much less polarized regarding homelessness than it was just a few years ago.

We need to support more help for homeless veterans. We also need to further accelerate the housingfirst approach. Virtually no one really wants to be homeless, but there are still too many people who wrongly and sadly still hold that misconception. Here’s a sticker slogan to reflect on: “Feed the poor and homeless, not the Pentagon and bomb makers.”

4. Campaign contributions It was a very reasonable increase. Sadly, it is expensive to run a campaign. … I’m not soliciting any campaign contributions, but I am encouraging people to attend the candidate forums, call all the candidates or visit all their websites and seek out your own

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

years later, the L.A. Framework has failed our neighboring city.

L.A.'s City Council and Planning Commission sold the Framework as a “vision” that would work, with targeted growth areas centered around Metro stations, which were then arriving. Twenty years later, traffic has gotten worse and L.A.'s infrastructure continues to operate at above capacity levels — worse than before. Santa Monica is now on the same path with the 2010 LUCE, and again it will not work.

The path can be corrected, but this election is the time, before it's too late.

Santa Monica zoning codes are currently being rewritten by the Planning Commission and will be adopted by our next City Council.

These zoning codes are being written with the “vision" of the 2010 LUCE and we have seen precursors of this "vision" with the proposed Miramar and Village Trailer Park projects.

New developments, which are not subject to rent control, have been approved by City Hall and the Planning Commission and are now being built. The proposed Village Trailer Park project rips the very fabric and foundation of Santa Monica, displacing one of the lowest income groups in our community, while providing giant profits for developers with the aid of City Hall. Proposed luxury condo's at Miramar are planned in order to subsidize the developer’s bad business decisions of buying overpriced real estate and finance

the construction of the revitalization of the hotel while leaving adverse traffic impacts, which cannot be mitigated with any development agreement donation or benefit.

My netZAID policy will replace development agreements, which do not work. Santa Monica is a built-out city and development agreements fail to address this. If our city is a bucket, it is full. We cannot increase the size of our bucket.

We must insure that our bucket doesn’t overflow. This is netZAID. Development agreements defy zoning codes and cause the bucket to overflow — decreasing our quality of life. NetZAID recognizes our bucket is full and enhances our quality of life — the only job of the City Council.

Zoning laws are developed through community input and physical constraints and are meant to preserve our quality of life. The ability of a city to adequately service its residents and businesses through its existing infrastructure (i.e. traffic/congestion, fire, police, schools, sewers, etc.) is not addressed through the development agreement policy.

NetZAID will ensure that all development projects leave a net zero adverse impact on our community, or they will not be built.

answers. Don’t simply rely on the sleekest looking or sounding campaign literature. Be wary of fear mongering and personal attack campaign brochures.

Elections can often be more confusing than clarifying. But you can decide to not be confused. …

People sometimes say I’m not a serious candidate because I’m not soliciting campaign contributions.

By that standard election definition of “serious” they have a point, but I assure you that my involvement in our city and the election campaign process is being done with the most serious of intentions.

bus and other modes of alternative transportation more.

And we should be taking shorter showers, because how over-clean do we really need to get?

support and pass the upcoming local school bond measure. Things can always be modified if necessary, but I think the access deal is a good one.

8. Hobbies

12. Ferris wheel guests

An activist should have hobbies, but I really don’t. I used to collect baseball cards, coins and postage stamps. Now I’m simply collecting fond memories. I know that going to meetings is really not a hobby. Maybe I’ll get a book on hobbies to see what I might be missing. But for the most part, life is good and I’m pretty happy.

Except when I think of all the bad things in the world. Maybe I should take up the hobby of not worrying.

The late Paul Conrad, who created the “Chain Reaction” sculpture. The late Santa Monica Mayor Ken Genser, who voted to approve the iconic public art creation. And Marcia Genser, the late mother of Ken Genser, who always said “Chain Reaction” was her favorite sculpture. We would talk about how the community is going to save “Chain Reaction.”

5. Smoking ban Absolutely yes. I supported steps toward banning smoking in our parks, our beaches, the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier, our bars and clubs, our outdoor dining areas, and our apartment and condo patios and common areas. But when secondhand smoke from your neighbors is coming into your residence and affecting you and your family’s health, then something must be done.

6. Medical marijuana I would, but in a limited manner.

7. Sustainability We should eventually have all our own water. We should be promoting solar energy on more rooftops. We should be doing planting that requires less watering. We should be driving our cars a bit less and taking the

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses No answer provided.

9. Reading I’m still reading the morning papers. Yes, the Santa Monica Daily Press is one of them. Maybe I’ll also get a book on hobbies (see previous answer).

10. Redevelopment I’m still not giving up hope that California will soon come to its senses and re-establish the important funding to some degree. But until that time we should not abandon or neglect our important vision and our important landmarks like the Civic Auditorium, the “Chain Reaction” sculpture and Chez Jay restaurant. Forward! Slowly, perhaps, but surely.

11. Money for schools We must always support and fund our schools. We must

3. Homelessness No answer provided.

4. Campaign contributions I am not raising or accepting any campaign contributions. This speaks for its self.

efforts to unleash the beach. I will personally use my skills as a civil and environmental engineer to mitigate any concerns that Parks and Rec has so that we can have a ribbon chewing ceremony within the next four years. If I am not successful, I will not run for a second term.

5. Smoking ban I support the ordinance banning smoking for new tenants.

11. Money for schools

6. Medical marijuana

12. Ferris wheel guests

Yes.

7. Sustainability I would support the development of the Sustainable Water Master Plan (SWMP) to achieve water self-sufficiency by 2020. I would support the conversion of the airport property to a park with integrated solar and wind power generation facilities.

No answer provided.

My grandmother and grandfather that passed on before I was born. I would ask about what their definition of love and happiness was, and I would listen.

13. Santa Monica Airport Simple, it's time City Hall smells the “avgas” and hears the noise. Close it down.

14. Community benefits No answer provided.

8. Hobbies 15. Overdevelopment

Late night walks with my wife or a friend reflecting on anything and everything.

My netZAID policy (see above).

9. Reading

16. Pension costs

“In Search of Lost Time,” by Marcel Proust

No answer provided.

17. Traffic shortcuts 10. Redevelopment I would work tirelessly to finally get our four-legged community an off-leash dog park at the beach. I do not believe that Fido will pollute the ocean — as has been argued by State Parks and Rec to stop Santa Monica's

13. Santa Monica Airport I would stand far away.

Seriously, I think the time has come to work together to close SMO after the agreement with the FAA expires in 2015. Ongoing toxic pollution. Noise and more noise. Safety threats and aircraft disasters. Why shouldn’t it be closed? Santa Monica could then use that land to benefit our community recreationally, artistically, educationally and economically, with more affordable housing, open space, community gardens, plus trafficdiminishing new connector streets and the community finally rid of the ongoing pollution, noise, and safety threats for good.

Ocean [Avenue] going eastwest, might as well enjoy the view. North-south — Hah!

18. Affordable housing No answer provided.

Community benefits are extremely important. But the tax money the city gets, the jobs that are created, the services and retail offered, and the opportunity for individuals and families — rich and low income — to live in Santa Monica is good reason we should not simply make development the enemy. More benefits for art.

More for trees. More for education, child care and affordable housing.

15. Overdevelopment I don’t want to prevent development. I don’t want skyscrapers, but development that goes a few feet higher and is more workable can benefit the community. I did not support the failed RIFT ballot initiative that would have put a moratorium on development.

16. Pension costs There have been some pension cuts already, but we can’t sell our public employees short. I am not in favor of further cuts.

17. Traffic shortcuts I walk. I take the Big Blue Bus. It’s not really a problem for me since I’m not allowed out of Santa Monica (only kidding). But, I do feel sorry for those people stuck in traffic. We should have had a light rail and subway decades ago.

14. Community benefits

18. Affordable housing

Council and developer negotiations are important, but a broad check list can also be helpful. Flexibility and consistency can go hand in hand.

More affordable housing! The city should always encourage and support development that is helping with the creation of more affordable housing.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

• Name: Terence Later • Age: 59 • Occupation: Entertainment consultant • Neighborhood in which you live: Pico Neighborhood • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Single • Obama or Romney: Yes • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have?

I am a product of Santa Monica schools: Will Rogers Elementary, Pilgrim Lutheran Elementary, John Adams Jr. High, Lincoln Jr. High, Samohi, Olympic High, SMC, and UCLA. 1. Why run Why? I was born and raised in SM and I love this city. What? I’ve been active in many neighborhood organizations on a grass roots level and now it’s time to step up to a larger stage. What?

I see myself as the protector of the cultural heritage of my beloved city.

2. City’s strengths/weaknesses Strengths: 1) We have a larger budget than almost any other city of our size, over $500 million annually.

2) The beauty of our worldfamous seaside community.

3) The caring people that are the backbone of our city, especially the wealth of wisdom contained in our senior community.

Weaknesses: 1) The mismanagement of the city budget.

2) The disrespect to the city’s cultural heritage. Examples: The ban of our 57-year tradition of holiday displays in Palisades Park; the threatened removal of Chez Jay; the pepper spraying of the SMC students; and the shooting of the mountain lion within the city limits.

3) The challenges of the rampant developers seeking a piece of our fair city for their own self-centered purposes.

3. Homelessness During Bobby Shriver’s tenure this challenging issue has been

of $500 million; $247 million covers all city workers, paychecks and pensions. I believe, with Bobby Shriver, that proper management of the remaining funds should be adequate to make the necessary changes to our community. I would begin with Samohi, because education is the foundation of our future. The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, another cultural icon, is second on my list.

LATER addressed head on and I would continue on the course he has set.

The city of Santa Monica currently has more services per capita for the disenfranchised than Los Angeles County.

11. Money for schools This is already a good deal for the city. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

12. Ferris wheel guests Buddha, John Lennon and Bob Marley.

4. Campaign contributions I agreed with the well-funded city staff’s study and recommendation of $400.

5. Smoking ban It’s sad that government has to dictate with laws what should be the result of common sense and human decency. However, no person’s health or safety should be threatened by another’s behavior.

6. Medical marijuana I believe that any one with a legitimate need should have access to medical marijuana.

Surrounding communities provide that access. This “cracking down” is a federal mandated issue that Santa Monica need not address.

13. Santa Monica Airport Upwind (just kidding). Santa Monica airport is an invaluable backup safety resource for any number of possible local or national emergencies. Let’s preserve this very special local feature.

14. Community benefits As stated, my first priority is what enriches the 89,000 citizens of Santa Monica and their experience in living and being educated here.

15. Overdevelopment I see Santa Monica as a precious small community and would like to keep it that way.

16. Pension costs 7. Sustainability My first priority is what enriches the 89,000 citizens of Santa Monica and their experience in living and being educated here. Slow growth and responsible development.

8. Hobbies

Deficits are already a reality. I believe the pensions now existing were negotiated during a period of over-inflated abundance and that they should be re-evaluated with present and future considerations in mind. As citizens we are all tightening our belts. City worker pensioners need to participate in this new financial reality.

Organic gardening, yoga with Steve Ross and Ish Moran, hiking and walking in our beautiful city and on our beaches.

17. Traffic shortcuts

9. Reading

Bicycle, on foot, or Internet.

Everything becomes a short cut.

SMDP, SM Mirror, The Observer, all manner of spiritual literature including, but not limited to, Shakespeare and “The Book of Five Rings.”

10. Redevelopment The city’s budget is in excess

18. Affordable housing We are far ahead of the nation’s curve on affordable housing. I believe we should focus our affordable housing based on the needs of Santa Monica residents.

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Malibu a player in school board election T

he contest for three open spots on the Board of Education has become a tale of two geographic slates, and each will have an uphill battle to prove that they can adequately represent the interests of students in both Santa Monica and Malibu.

Three Santa Monica incumbents — Board President Ben Allen and board members Jose Escarce and Maria LeonVazquez — were endorsed as a slate by Santa Monica’s most powerful political organization, Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights.

Squaring off against them is the self-proclaimed reform slate out of Malibu formed by district parents Seth Jacobson, Craig Foster and Karen Farrer, each backed by a wealth of experience in parent organizations and district committees.

It’s the first time in recent memory that Malibu residents have fielded such an aggressive number of candidates, something that reflects the concerns about representation in the Malibu education community and the

1. Why are you running for the school board and what do you want to accomplish if elected?

2. What do you believe is the role the school board should play?

3. What was your favorite subject in grade school and why?

4. Prop. 30, Prop. 38, or neither?

5. Everyone’s a critic, especially a parent when it comes to their child’s cafeteria. How would you rate the food served in Santa Monica-Malibu public schools?

6. What’s your position on chocolate milk? The school board heard from parents who wanted it banned because of the sugar. The board decided to leave it on the menu and give parents the option of having their kids opt out. How did you vote (incumbents) or how would you have voted if on the dais?

7. What is the right amount of homework for students in middle school and high school?

8. If elected, what would you do to close the achievement gap?

Does it come down to something as simple as more tutoring and after-school help, or something more significant, such as new, culturally-relevant curriculum?

9. Where do you stand on inter-district permits? How many should Santa Monica-Malibu Unified issue each year?

10. Some residents in both Santa Monica and Malibu have called for the break-up of the school district. Would you or would you not support such an effort if elected and why?

11. Hobbies 12. What are you reading?

13. If you could ride the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier with three people in history, who

would they be and what would you want to talk about?

14. What will you do to ensure that our public schools are safe?

15. How can schools cut down on the amount of drop-off, pickup traffic? What would you do to cut down on car trips to and from our schools?

16. What’s the right way to address the parking problems at Samohi?

17. What are your plans to help make the school district more sustainable?

18. Should the school board place another parcel tax on the ballot in 2014 if statewide tax measures fail to pass in November? If they fail, district officials are predicting cuts in the millions. What’s the best way to deal with the potential deficit?

19. Districtwide fundraising is not without controversy. What are

desire of some to split from the district altogether.

Whomever is elected will be responsible for driving student achievement at a time when public education is dramatically underfunded. Expectations are high in both communities and the challenges are many: closing the achievement gap, setting up a districtwide fundraising model for schools, ensuring student test scores improve year after year under No Child Left Behind’s rigid and demanding standards, providing more nutritional food options in cafeterias, and overseeing school construction projects.

With all of that, you have to give credit to those who have chosen to run for office to try and build a better learning environment for our kids.

Below are the questions we sent to the school board candidates via e-mail.

Each was given 1,000 words to respond to as many questions as they liked. Some of the responses have been edited for space.

your thoughts on the decision to move to districtwide fundraising?

Do you support the model or feel there’s one better?

20. What is the appropriate level of discipline for a student who is caught: bullying; with drugs or alcohol on campus; selling drugs; fighting; cheating; or vandalizing school property?

21. What role do you envision playing on the school board?

22. How would you address concerns that there are racial and or gang tensions at Santa Monica High School?

23. What are some things the school board could do to get the business community engaged in fundraising as well as working directly with students?

23. If elected, would you vote to close smaller schools and consolidate to save money?

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

• Name: Ben Allen • Occupation: School Board President/attorney/adjunct professor • Neighborhood in which you live: Wilmont • Own or rent: Own • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Harvard University (BA in History), Cambridge University (Masters in Latin American Studies), UC Berkeley (Law Degree: my research focused on the law and politics of California school finance) 1. Why run?

I care deeply about public education in general, and our school district in particular. My priorities are: 1. Setting high academic expectations and standards 2. Looking out for all students, finding ways to improve outcomes and opportunities for students from every background 3. Preserving the core programs that make our district great: from the arts and athletics to strong academic programs 4. Pushing for environmentally sustainable practices 5. The growth of a robust early childhood system for our community 6. Financial accountability, cost savings, and new revenues for our schools 7. Teacher empowerment, evaluation, support, accountability

2. Role of board The board must oversee the work of the superintendent, act as a public face for the district, listen to and incorporate the views of the community in the governing of the district. We need to be advocates for public education and our public schools, but we must also demand accountability from our school system and always push for excellence and the highest standards for all of our children.

3. Favorite subject History. I’ve always been fascinated by the stories, personalities, and structures that helped to shape the world we live in today.

Monica can help us out more with the subsidized use of their Civic Center parking lots for students and teachers.

17. Sustainability

ALLEN I’ve been supportive of both of those types of programs, in addition to the continuation of a strong summer school program for kids who need the help, a robust early childhood education infrastructure for our community, expanding mentorship and intervention programs, professional development on achievement gap related issues, etc.

9. Permits I think that it’s important that we keep a tight lid on interdistrict permits, but permits can be a very useful tool in tweaking our numbers every year as enrollment goes up and down. We are paid by the state based on the number of students in the system, regardless of where they live, so the offering of permits can be useful in protecting our revenues for programs and teachers when in-district enrollment drops slightly.

I also feel that if we are going to offer inter-district permits to kids, families with tangible connections to the community should get priority — grandchildren of residents, alumni, district and city employees, etc.

10. District break-up We are two different communities with distinct political cultures and ways of doing business, and it has proven hard for Malibu to feel well represented within the district power structure. If we can figure out a way to make it pencil out in a way that does not leave Santa Monica holding the bag, I think it might make a lot of sense.

11. Hobbies Soccer, travel, news, national parks.

12. Reading Answer not provided.

4. Props. 30, 38 I’m voting for both.

5. Quality of food District staff has been working hard to improve the offerings, have ended the sales of sugary sodas, have salad bar options in all of our schools and have been working to make sure that the ingredients that go into the food we serve are healthier. However, there’s still more that needs to be done.

6. Chocolate milk I struggled with this decision but in the end of the day, decided to support the opt-out compromise. I am concerned about the health of our kids, but the chocolate milk that we serve is non-fat, and relatively lowsugar and low-calorie. Chocolate milk is a vitally important source of calcium for many American children, and the American Academy of Sciences strongly recommended against banning chocolate milk for that reason.

7. Homework The right amount of homework for students is the amount it takes for a kid to cement the lessons learned in class during the day and deepen his/her understanding of the concepts taught.

8. Achievement gap

13. Ferris wheel guests I would love to get the chance to chat with one of the nation’s founders to get a better sense of what they would think about their original vision for the U.S. and how it has developed; a biblical figure to get a better sense of life in that time, their sense of history and faith and the sweep of human history; and then for a dose of inspiration, a historical hero who defied the odds to fight for human dignity — King, Mandela, Churchill, Suu Kyi, las Casas, etc.

14. School safety More folks need to be carpooling, taking the bus, walking, and biking, and I hope that we can expand the frequency and service of bus offerings to the campus during peak times. I’m hopeful that the city of Santa Monica can help us out more with the subsidized use of their Civic Center parking lots for students and teachers.

15. Traffic around schools No answer provided.

16. Parking at Samohi More folks need to be carpooling, taking the bus, walking, and biking, and I hope that we can expand the frequency and service of bus offerings to the campus during peak times. I’m hopeful that the city of Santa

If Measure ES passes, it will be among the “greenest” bonds in the nation. We’re working on revamping our environmental curriculum and improving our procurement and use procedures from everything from cleaners to paper to furniture. We also need to be pursuing more energy efficiency measures that can save the district money while also helping the environment.

18. Parcel tax Parcel taxes are very hard to pass. We are going to have to look in a lot of different directions for solutions, including cuts, new revenue opportunities with the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu, new fundraising, finding more efficiencies, etc. It is so important that we pass either Proposition 30 or 38.

19. Districtwide fundraising I supported the policy along with the rest of the board, and we need to make sure that it’s successful. It’s not a perfect model, but it was reflective of a broad-based desire by the superintendent, board and PTA leadership that we find a way of ensuring that there are strong support programs at all of our schools regardless of means.

20. Discipline Like with anything, administrators need to look at the context of the student’s misbehavior, whether this is a first-time offense, and try to craft a disciplinary procedure that is rehabilitative. We are in the education business, and the hope always has to be that our disciplinary response makes a student think a little more next time before misbehaving. But we cannot tolerate behavior that seriously threatens campus safety.

21. Your role I hope to continue to be a listener, someone who is thoughtful, weighs the issues carefully, and makes good decisions that are in the best interest of all of our kids.

22. Tensions at Samohi We’re putting in place new programs that are addressing racial tensions, training our teachers and students on racial sensitivity issues, etc. We need to remain ever vigilant, and this involves close cooperation with SMPD, a thoughtful approach to our freshman seminar program, continuing support for programs at Samohi that are helping to address these kinds of concerns. A strong athletic program can be a particularly good way of bringing together young men and women from various backgrounds to work together and cooperate with each other.

23. Reaching out to businesses One great example of business engagement is the Spark Program that Maria Rodriguez and I brought to John Adams Middle School, which involves the creation of enriching work apprenticeships for students who get to go on-site to businesses around town to explore careers and expand their sense of their own possibilities in life. Many businesses are currently supporting our Education Foundation, and we hope that many more will!

24. Closing schools There is more than meets the eye to what seems like a simple cost-saving act: shutting down a school doesn’t necessarily solve our budget problems because it can easily become a charter school that would take additional funds away from the district.

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

• Name: Karen Farrer • Age: 55 • Occupation: Community volunteer • Neighborhood in which you live: Point Dume • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married 29 years/three children.

• If you have children, do they attend local public schools? If yes, which ones?

My two older children attended Malibu schools. My youngest daughter is currently in seventh grade at Malibu High School.

• Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? UCLA, B.A. in sociology 1. Why run?

I do not have political aspirations beyond the improvement of the Santa Monica and Malibu schools. If elected, I would work to pass a motion to “unify” the Malibu schools as quickly as possible. By doing so, we could increase our collective revenues allowing us to hire 20 new teachers in Santa Monica and 10 in Malibu. Lowering class size is a primary goal of mine and of the reform slate. Each community should be able to give its students the best education possible.

2. Role of board The school board needs to admit that it is rife with insider relationships throughout Santa

• Name: Craig Foster • Age: 53 • Occupation: Teacher • Neighborhood in which you live: Malibu • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married/one child • If you have children, do they attend local public schools? If yes, which ones?

Webster Elementary.

• Education: Amherst College, B.A. in economics with honors, and political science; University of Phoenix, B.A.E in elementary education; California Teaching Credential in 2012.

1. Why run?

I am running for school board to rethink and reimagine our district and provide a new perspective on what are clearly two different communities that were forced together and should now be separated.

2. Role of board I believe the board should limit itself to setting and monitoring policy, leaving the implementation of that policy to the superintendent. What we have is a board that micro-manages.

What it should do is set broad, achievable goals and empower the superintendent, staff and the various site leaders to achieve them.

3. Favorite subject History, especially American history!

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

homework.

8. Achievement gap The biggest gap I see is in what parents expect from their kids. Our schools need to do everything possible to help parents understand what is expected and provide the resources to motivate and help students to succeed.

9. Permits

FARRER Monica and serves its Santa Monica constituents to the constant detriment of Malibu.

3. Favorite subject English and American literature. I am intrigued by the interpretation and articulation of the human experience.

4. Props. 30, 38 Both. We must work to improve all of our public schools and public services.

5. Quality of food Not as good as it could or should be.

I am in favor of inter-district permitting to level local enrollment fluctuations. There has been a problem of transparency at the district level with regard to site-by-site permits.

10. District break-up I strongly believe Malibu should separate. The economic advantage for both cities has been acknowledged by the SMMUSD CFO Jan Maez. Aside from that, most of us in Malibu are really tired of our stepchild status.

11. Hobbies Travel, exercise, reading, attending live performing arts events.

and ask their advice on further advancement in the parent-school relationship. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. I think he would be amazed to see California today and I would like him to know that his name has an honored place here, including at one of our Malibu elementary schools.

14. School safety Malibu has a history of natural disasters and resultant lack of access — wildfires, mudslides and road closures. It has no hospital, only a part-time urgent care clinic. Pacific Coast Highway is our only major transportation artery and when it closes or backs up severely, emergency personnel are delayed. The safety issues in Santa Monica are different, but both communities would benefit from increased participation with other civic organizations.

15. Traffic around schools We need more carpooling and more district buses in Malibu.

Biking and walking are not options for most Malibu students.

The distances are often too great and the canyons and PCH are too dangerous.

12. Reading

6. Chocolate milk I believe it should be removed, but the fact that our school board spent as much time as it did on this matter is indicative of its misguided priorities.

7. Homework I believe in appropriate reinforcement and relevant assignments. I do not believe in throwing the entire family out of orbit with too many hours of

FOSTER 4. Props. 30, 38 Both, especially 38.

5. Quality of food The elementary schools have improved their food offerings significantly in recent years. We have to develop a better effort in the middle and high schools.

6. Chocolate milk This is an excellent example of how the board has gone astray in recent years. When class sizes keep rising, when we are laying off teachers, we should not be debating about chocolate milk.

7. Homework It’s not how much homework, but whether they are learning. In support of increased student success, the superintendent and her staff, working collectively with the teachers and administrators, need to review our policies and implement best practices.

8. Achievement gap We know that programs like quality pre-kindergarten and after-school mentoring and

“The Social Animal,” by David Brooks.

16. Parking at Samohi Carpooling, biking, walking and staggered start times.

13. Ferris wheel guests Benjamin Franklin for many reasons, among them his opinions and advice regarding education and colonial unity. Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Alice McLellan Birney, the founders of the Parent Teacher Association. I would love for them to see the progress of their seminal work

tutoring can help level the playing field for children who are falling behind. We know that smaller classes make it possible for every child to get more individual attention from their teacher, we know that a punitive approach to testing will not help the children who are struggling in school and, most importantly, we need to look at the community issues and build a support network for all the schools so children get the attention they need and the support that is best drawn from every element of the community.

9. Permits It is impossible to get to grips with many crucial issues because there is simply no available data upon which to have thoughtful debate.

17. Sustainability The district needs to stop being penny-wise and poundfoolish. The Point Dume School solar panel project is a perfect example of how not to handle things. What could have been a comprehensive alternative power source model was watered down

Roosevelt and Aaron Sorkin.

We would explore the four days Roosevelt and Muir spent together in Yosemite in 1903.

Their time together lead to both the creation of the National Park system and the president’s epic Grand Canyon speech on May 6 of that year. Sorkin is there to capture the meeting of these two giants and the breathtaking gifts they gave to American conservationism, as only he can.

We need to increase community participation in schools. Getting the community to better support each school helps facilitate a safer environment and brings parents back onto campuses for assistance.

Separation will bring muchneeded funds to each independent district resulting in as many as 20 new teachers in Santa Monica and 10 more in a new Malibu district.

It would also result in better fiscal balance, increased innovation, clearer focus, more unity of purpose, and greater academic advancement in both districts.

11. Hobbies Watching old movies. Playing board games. Reading. Listening to music. Hiking.

12. Reading Malcolm Gladwell, “Blink” Larry Niven, “Ringworld” Dacher Keltner, “Born to Be Good” Susan Wise Bauer, “Story of the World, Vol. 3”

The district should support city efforts to improve local transportation programs. I support the initiatives in place to increase the convenience and safety of bicycle travel. Creating a geographic database of students could facilitate car pooling while building community.

16. Parking at Samohi The carpool and bicycle ideas above would reduce demand for parking. I like solutions that expand the possibilities, so looking at parking best practices might help; solutions like better traffic management IP and/or stacked parking. In a worst case, a parking lottery would eliminate the problems of congestion and encourage the car pooling behavior suggested above.

Again, bifurcating our district along city lines would bring much needed revenue to both sides. The placement of any future parcel tax measures must include all stakeholders, unlike the process which just took place in the decision to put Measure ES on the November ballot.

19. Districtwide fundraising I was, and am, against districtwide fundraising. Many of us in both Santa Monica and Malibu advised against it in numerous Board of Education meetings but it became evident that the board’s and the superintendent’s decision was predetermined. I later served on the Superintendent’s Advisory Group and my opinions — and those of many others in both Santa Monica and Malibu — were ignored. Furthermore, it was exasperating to hear the paid consultants give point-by-point the recommendations that many of us had stated repeatedly for free. The plan cannot commence until and unless the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation finds alternative funding.

20. Discipline I do not believe in one strike and you’re out. Even a model student may make a mistake and I would work to draft policy to help students learn from mistakes,

solar power, solar water heating, and green building design can all be significant cost reducers. In particular, we should be using capital money to buy or pre-pay leases on solar panels at all our sites. By doing so, we would reduce or eliminate our use of coal and nuclear generated electricity while we simultaneous eliminate electricity costs from our operating expenses.

Rather than proposing a $385 million bond for largely unspecified uses, we should have had a comprehensive effort to find broad-spectrum solutions to the financial woes of the district. The solutions should include: 1) A careful examination of Measures 30 and, especially, 38.

These measures, if successful, would eliminate the need for an additional and difficult parcel tax campaign.

2) Efforts to reduce the district administrative costs, possibly including outsourcing some parts of some services such as finance and site maintenance.

3) Creating an independent Malibu Unified School District, with the corresponding $4 million or more increase in revenues.

John Muir, Theodore

Implementing sustainability best practices like grey water,

21. Your role I would serve to make student achievement the primary goal.

22. Tensions at Samohi Community involvement is the only way to address this concern: Greater parental involvement, increased education of parents and guardians and the ability of children to have a sense of hopefulness about their future and themselves. Bringing peer-topeer programs to Samohi along with increased efforts by the board to encourage site-based councils that can help direct this type of activity. There is no better group than the school’s parents to assist in finding a solution to this vexing problem.

23. Reaching out to businesses Again, I believe our schools would be better served if separated. Community identity is key to both Santa Monica and Malibu, especially in the business community. Only then would each entity have the necessary motivation to partner with local schools. Certainly in the area of naming rights this would make a significant difference.

24. Closing schools Absolutely not. Savings can be found in the bloated bureaucracy at 1651 16th St. SMMUSD spends double in administrative costs what some similar-size districts in our area do, such as Oak Park Unified School District in the Conejo County.

mentioned represent very different learning challenges for the students involved. No single response or consequence will be appropriate for all. Instead, the guiding principle should be to do what best supports the life outcomes of the students.

21. Your role Make significant change to a board that has grown too fond of politics of education over the practice of education.

22. Tensions at Samohi Community involvement is the only way to address this concern: greater parental involvement, increased education of parents and guardians, and the ability of children to have a sense of hopefulness about their future and themselves. This has to be a community effort, not merely an issue of increasing security or teacher education.

23. Reaching out to businesses True engagement between our schools, our students, and the business community would make for a wonderfully enriched community and a more fertile environment for fundraising.

19. Districtwide fundraising

24. Closing schools

The board’s conduct was a textbook example of how not to conduct policy. With its predetermined conclusion and widespread use of intimidation, the school board fractured the district and created animosities and scars which will outlast the tenure of the board members involved.

The decision to close schools requires serious strategic consideration. Closed schools become easy targets for charter takeovers, which have profound implications for district efficacy.

The only way to explore such action is slowly, openly, and in full communication with all affected parties.

17. Sustainability 13. Ferris wheel guests

make reparations if necessary and continue to move forward.

18. Parcel tax

18. Parcel tax 14. School safety

15. Traffic around schools 10. District break-up

to the point of being almost meaningless — not to mention delayed — by many years by our then-superintendent and administration.

20. Discipline Each one of the infractions

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

• Name: Seth Jacobson • Age: 55 • Occupation: Public policy advisor/education activist • Neighborhood in which you live: Malibu • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married/three children • If you have children, do they attend local public schools? Juan Cabrillo, second and fifth grade; Malibu High School, 12th grade • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? New York University 1. Why run?

We are running for school board to demonstrate that there needs to be an effort made to rethink and reimagine our school district. We believe that the district must move beyond the politics of neighborhood vs. neighborhood and to instead focus on each and every student's educational success, on eliminating the waste and redundancy in the district organization, and on essential class size reductions.

2. Role of board I believe the board should limit itself to setting and monitoring policy, leaving the implementation of that policy to the superintendent. What I have seen is a board that micromanages the school district when it should set broad, achievable goals and act to empower the superintendent, staff, and the various site leaders.

3. Favorite subject Science and American history, particularly the Revolutionary War, where taxation without representation was the most important issue and one that is particularly appropriate in this campaign.

4. Props. 30, 38 Both, especially 38.

5. Quality of food The elementary schools have improved their food offerings significantly in recent years. We have to develop a better effort in the middle and high schools.

6. Chocolate milk The board should empower the superintendent and her staff to make the best decision for the children of the district. The board needs to keep very tight focus on the first order challenges of supporting and improving academic outcomes.

7. Homework It’s important that children find a balance in their lives. It’s not how much homework, but whether they are learning.

8. Achievement gap Programs like quality prekindergarten and after school mentoring and tutoring can help level the playing field for children who are falling behind. Smaller classes make it possible for every child to get more individual attention from their teacher.

Increasing both the number of teachers and their training and compensation will increase their ability to create the conditions each child needs to prosper. A

17. Sustainability Sustainability and fiscal prudence often travel hand in hand. Implementing sustainability best practices like gray water, solar power, solar water heating, and green building design can all be significant cost reducers. In particular, we should be using capital money to buy or pre-pay leases on solar panels at all our sites.

JACOBSON punitive approach to testing will not help the children who are struggling in school. Most importantly, we need to look at the community issues and build a support network for all the schools, so children get the attention they need and the support that is best drawn from every element of the community.

18. Parcel tax Rather than proposing a $385 million bond for largely unspecified uses, we should have had a comprehensive effort to find broad-spectrum solutions to the financial woes of the district. The solutions should include creating an independent Malibu Unified School District, efforts to reduce existing administrative costs and a careful examination of Propositions 30 and 38.

9. Permits It is impossible to get to grips with many crucial issues because there is simply no available data upon which to have thoughtful debate. Until that data is available, any statements about permits would be made without supporting facts. However, the controlling question of any discussion should be “What policy is best for the residents and children of our two towns?”

10. District break-up This is a fundamental element of our campaign for the Board of Education. The separation of the two districts will bring much needed funds to each independent district resulting in better fiscal balance, increased innovation, clearer focus and greater advancement in both districts.

11. Hobbies Thinking about ways to overcome the entrenched political machine in Santa Monica that wields unchecked control over how our schools are managed.

12. Reading Steve Jobs’ biography.

13. Ferris wheel guests Martin Luther King; ways to let go of my frustration at the unwillingness of the Santa Monica political machine to see that there is another valid perspective on how to build a world-class school district. Michelle Rhee; discuss new and creative ways to improve school site performance while embracing the needs of our teachers. Niccolò Machiavelli; help in understanding how our current school board operates.

14. School safety We need to increase community engagement in school sites. Parent monitoring, school site governance programs, local involvement of faith-based organizations, after-school program enhancements, mentoring and getting the local community to better support each school helps facilitate a safer environment and brings parents back onto the campuses for assistance.

19. Districtwide fundraising The board’s conduct was a textbook example of how not to conduct policy. With its predetermined conclusion and widespread use of intimidation, the school board fractured the district and created animosities and scars which will outlast the tenure of the board members involved. As part of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, I worked to find a compromise that worked for all the schools in the district. I supported the consultants’ recommendation that no program should be introduced until the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation has in place a fundraising mechanism that will allow it to raise the necessary funds. Secondly, no program should compromise any schools site’s basic programs.

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20. Discipline These are all different learning challenges for the students involved. The guiding principle should be what best supports the life outcomes of the students. Our job is to support each child’s success. Punitive behavior for its own sake is completely inappropriate in a pedagogical environment.

21. Your role Placing the main focus of the board and the administration on students’ success and shaking up the status quo.

22. Tensions at Samohi Community involvement is the only way to address this concern. Bringing peer-to-peer programs to Samohi along with increased efforts by the board to encourage site-based councils can help direct this type of activity.

There is no better group than the parents to assist in finding a solution to this problem.

23. Reaching out to businesses

Improve local transportation programs.

Naming rights for the schools, the sports programs, and key programs. More importantly, true engagement between our schools, our students, and the business community would make for an enriched community and a more fertile environment for fundraising.

16. Parking at Samohi

24. Closing schools

Change the scheduling at the school to allow for staggered school starts, allow parking in the city lots and encourage ride sharing.

Decisions on closing schools would be put off until the two districts are separated and an analysis of needs for each district is done.

15. Traffic around schools

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

• Name: Maria Leon-Vazquez • Age: 56 • Occupation: College administrator, Santa Monica College • Neighborhood in which you live: Sunset Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married/two children •If you have children, do they attend local public schools? They attended SMMUSD schools.

• Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Santa Monica College, A.A. in social studies; U.C. San Diego, B.A., history/Chicano studies; U.C. Hastings College of Law, J.D. 1. Why run?

Bridging the gap: Putting into play my philosophy that all children irrespective of socioeconomic, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc. will have the same opportunities at SMMUSD and choices as a senior in high school.

Budget/districtwide fundraising: Working collaboratively with all stakeholders in our district and the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation in order to stabilize our budget locally.

Strongly move forward districtwide fundraising and expanding our quest for out-ofdistrict support.

Creating a culture of inclusion and trust among all our families in the district, especially in our

• Name: José Escarce • Age: 59 • Occupation: Professor, UCLA School of Medicine • Neighborhood in which you live: North of Montana • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/children: Married 30 years/three children • If you have children, do they attend local public schools? Two children graduated from Samohi in 2006 and 2010; our youngest is a junior at Samohi.

• Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? B.A. Princeton, M.A. Harvard, M.D. and Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania.

1. Why run?

I am running for re-election to provide the vision, experience, and continuity in board leadership that our district needs at this crucial moment for public education in California. During my time on the board, I have stood for academic excellence and equality of opportunity for all students. However, there is more work to do. If I am re-elected, my priorities will be: 1) Maintain academic and arts programs while balancing the budget in difficult economic times.

2) Improve instruction by promoting teachers’ and administrators’ professional development.

3) Create welcoming and responsive school environments.

4) Strengthen intervention and

milk, which in the whole picture does not add those calories that will cause obesity in district children.

7. Homework

LEON-VAZQUEZ two cities.

2. Role of board To look at the district as a whole picture and set policies that will meet the district’s mission and vision. These statements say it very well.

3. Favorite subject My favorite subject was mathematics because I was always intrigued by the unknown and trying various ways of solving the problem.

4. Props. 30, 38 I support both. At this point in the campaign, we can’t use negativity in opposing either because voters will not vote for either.

Students need to have homework only to review new work and to reinforce what they were taught. Most students have five to six subjects plus PE so teachers should not give more than about 30 minutes per subject and teachers should coordinate so that the students don’t have more than two tests or projects occurring and due at the same time.

“Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools,” by Pedro Noguera.

9. Permits

10. District break-up

6. Chocolate milk I supported leaving non-fat, low-sugar chocolate milk on our menu with the option for parents to opt out of that choice.

7. Homework In middle school, our 10 minutes per grade policy is a good one. In high school, however, students choose very different course loads. I support allowing high school students to choose their own academic paths, provided they are aware of the implications.

ESCARCE 2. Role of board With community input, the board develops the district vision, direction and goals and holds the superintendent accountable for achieving them. The board also is responsible for developing and updating district policies.

3. Favorite subject Mathematics. I enjoyed applying its abstract concepts to real-world problems.

4. Props. 30, 38 I support both Prop. 30 and Prop. 38 to prevent additional catastrophic reductions to K-12 budgets.

5. Quality of food The goal of our meal program is to provide healthy, balanced and tasty meals to our students.

Accordingly, the food we serve complies with our district wellness policy and meets or exceeds state and federal nutritional standards. I am proud that we offer an award-winning Farmers’ Market salad bar program that gives children a choice of fresh fruit and vegetables every day.

Swimming and taking bike rides along the beach path.

I have been on the board for almost 12 years, and that is the issue that SMMUSD has tackled and tried many ways to close the gap through concerted support programs in math and language arts, tutoring and community programs. The difference is making sure all the adults in the district take a strong role in believing, caring, academically supporting and loving all our kids.

If our students feel the love and the personal connection to this district, those traditionally underperforming groups will rise to the occasion.

I voted to keep the chocolate milk. We serve non-fat chocolate

honors programs.

11. Hobbies

12. Reading

6. Chocolate milk

I’ve actually eaten at our cafeterias. For cafeteria food, it is pretty good, especially the salad bar, which has fresh produce from the local farmers. Also the hamburgers at Samohi are great.

I do not support the separation of the school district. I have stated this publicly in the couple of discussions the board has had. I believe strongly that SMMUSD, even before my time on the board, has taken care of all its students and there has never been a point where any of the two cities can say that the students have been short-changed. Malibu parents have never given the district concrete facts to support the break-up.

8. Achievement gap

Inter-district permits should be given to allow our employees in the district and both cities’ children to attend our district schools. Preference, of course, should be to our residents of Santa Monica and Malibu and resident children should not be displaced from their home school.

5. Quality of food

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

8. Achievement gap The achievement gap is a complex problem that requires a multifaceted approach, from support for low-income families with small children, to pre-school programs, top-notch instruction and high expectations in school, after-school and intervention programs and relevant curricula.

It is also essential that we build on students’ strengths and realize the importance of a school climate that respects and fosters success for all students.

9. Permits Thanks to a change in our permit policy that I helped craft, permit students fell from 2,750 in 2002 to about 1,400 in 2008, as total enrollment dropped from 12,800 to 11,500. When state budget cuts began, however, we could no longer afford declining enrollment, and we modified our policy to maintain a stable enrollment and its associated revenues. I have strongly supported the approach we have taken to relieve overcrowding in our schools while coping with state budget cuts.

10. District break-up I support investigating the feasibility of creating separate school districts but will not take a

16. Parking at Samohi

20. Discipline

Continue to dialogue with the city of Santa Monica and asking their assistance when we need to use the city lots for backup parking. Also, work with the city to assist us in setting up a carpooling system amongst our Santa Monica families.

Our present school policies support a progressive form of discipline. The discipline policy in certain arenas was vetted with community input and we are always reviewing policies and making changes or additions where necessary.

17. Sustainability

21. Your role

As we begin to upgrade our buildings, making sure that the improvements are sustainable.

Work with the city to improve our recyclable methods so we can save money and energy. Use an environmental emphasis in our curriculum that would educate students and their families to make lifelong changes in preserving the environment.

I will continue to bring a lot of personal history, knowledge and vision as a person of color where education gave me a choice to go to SMC but open many doors to higher education.

18. Parcel tax 13. Ferris wheel guests Dolores Huerta, Jose Martí and Abraham Lincoln; their life experiences that led them to be the great persons that they became in history and how to close the achievement gap.

14. School safety Involve our city agencies, SMC and our stakeholders to work with SMMUSD collaboratively as we review and establish safety measures for our district, then publicize safety as a community concern for all.

15. Traffic around schools Continue the education efforts to use public transportation, carpooling, biking, walking and working with both city governments to assist in traffic control at our schools during morning drop-off of students.

position on separation until all the details are known. I would support separation if the analyses reveal that separate districts could provide an excellent education to their students and if the majority of residents prefer separation.

11. Hobbies Getting together with friends, walks with my wife, learning Turkish.

12. Reading “The Price of Inequality,” by Joseph Stiglitz, and “Istanbul,” by Orhan Pamuk.

I will move the board forward with a parcel tax, accelerate negotiations with our three unions regarding work furloughs, delay the sale of any bonds until our operational needs are brought to some level of safety and raise hell with all the other school and college districts that will be in bankruptcy to bring some relief from Sacramento.

19. Districtwide fundraising I supported districtwide fundraising from the beginning. I will continue to support the issue and use my influence to make sure that as a district we move forward as planned and support the Education Foundation as the entity that will carry out the work for the district. I do believe that as a district we will be able to raise more funds than as individual schools.

14. School safety I support our comprehensive approach to safety in our schools and will promote continuous review of our procedures and policies. Each school has a safety plan and our staff is trained to identify and deal with potentially unsafe situations. Our secondary campuses have safety personnel, and we have outstanding relationships with local law enforcement, which provide school resource officers. We provide counseling and referrals to students involved in unsafe behaviors or situations, and many of our policies address safety as well.

15. Traffic around schools We educate our students and their families about alternative ways to get to and from school including public transportation, and we strongly promote carpooling.

Parking at Samohi has been a long-standing concern for the board and district staff alike. We are addressing it in our modernization plan for the

23. Reaching out to businesses We need to continue educating the businesses that we need their support via monies and internships for our students. With Career Technical Education developing support in our district, I will bring SMC and the business community to the table for more dialogue and to expose them to our many arts, athletic and academic events.

24. Closing schools No. I would look at ramping up districtwide fundraising and other sources of securing finances and preserve our neighborhood schools.

be more severe for older than for younger children, for repeat than for first violations and for serious than for minor infractions.

17. Sustainability

21. Your role

I strongly support our district’s efforts to enhance sustainability. Our construction projects under Measure BB exceed sustainability standards.

Additionally, we have installed energy-efficient lighting and several schools will soon have solar panels. Our schools recycle and use non-toxic products, and many of our buses run on natural gas.

As one of the two most senior members of the board, I have a key role in providing experience and continuity in board leadership. Additionally, I will continue to advocate passionately for excellence and equity, keep the board focused on work that is critical to our mission, interpret information on the performance of our students and programs for the board and bridge disagreements among board members and between board and staff.

18. Parcel tax If both statewide measures fail, the board will have to work with staff to plan for the drastic cuts that will be required by an additional loss of $5 million in operating revenues. The only option open to school boards in California for raising operating revenues is a parcel tax. However, I will also work with community leaders to determine whether alternative local approaches are feasible and will continue to advocate for state-level solutions to this problem.

19. Districtwide fundraising I wholeheartedly support centralized fundraising. The challenge now for the board, administration and school community is to ensure that the policy succeeds in bringing in more resources and that the resources are used to maximize learning opportunities for all children.

20. Discipline 16. Parking at Samohi

The discussions have to be had in the community where historically the racial and gang tensions persist, i.e. Pico Neighborhood. The discussions have been taken up by the community of Santa Monica atlarge and those community people in Pico are not participating.

campus. We also continue to work with the city of Santa Monica to provide parking for our staff in city facilities.

13. Ferris wheel guest No answer provided.

22. Tensions at Samohi

Consequences for disciplinary violations in schools should include not only punishment, but also education/counseling and opportunities for restitution.

Additionally, consequences should

22. Tensions at Samohi We take racial relations on our school campuses extremely seriously as a key factor in school climate and student safety and well-being. In the past year, we have redoubled our efforts to promote interracial understanding in our schools through professional development to enhance cultural competence, development of student leadership groups, reinvigoration of programs specifically aimed at improving racial relations and reconstitution of the Intercultural District Advisory Committee.

23. Reaching out to businesses No answer provided.

24. Closing schools Closing a school is traumatic to a community and can cause long-lasting damage. I would not vote to close a school simply to get through a temporary budget crisis.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Santa Monica: Home to renters T

he Rent Control Board’s basic duties are to determine how much more in rent landlords can charge each year, guard against tenant harassment and unfair evictions, and be the judge of disputes that arise between property owners and renters living in one of the nearly 28,000 units subject to rent control in Santa Monica.

The rent control law was adopted by voters in April 1979 in response to rapidly rising rents as property values soared.

People were afraid of losing their homes and looked for a way to keep rents stable and predictable. As part of the law, the board was formed to determine how much landlords could charge tenants each year in rent. Those who have lived in their apartments for a decade or more enjoy shockingly low rents compared to some of their neighbors, who could be paying double. The discrepancy can lead to abuse.

The board is expected to guard against that and offer landlords a fair return on their investments.

But many landlords don’t feel that way given the makeup of the board and its formula for calculating the annual rent increase. There is a measure on the ballot that will create a new way of determining how much more landlords can demand in

1. Why are you running for the Rent Control Board and what would you like to accomplish if elected?

2. What is your definition of a “fair return” for landlords and do you believe the current formula for calculating annual rent increases or adjustments provides a fair return?

3. Should the annual rent adjustment or increase be based on real costs (such as registration fees, bonds, parcel taxes) and the consumer price index or on a percentage of CPI as has been proposed by the current board?

4. Hobbies 5. Should rent control be based on a person’s income instead of length of tenancy? If so, do you think that will ever happen or is rent control pretty much set in stone?

6. As more apartments are rented at market rate, is the board’s role being diminished?

7. What is your plan to trim the Rent Control Board’s budget?

The board recently approved a

rent. It is billed as being easier to understand and more aligned with real changes in cost, which could appease some property owners.

However, when it comes to the composition of the board, landlords may find themselves without a voice. Currently the five-member board is dominated by those supported by Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, the city’s most influential political group and one that has clashed with property owners in the past. Only one commissioner, Robert Kronovet, a real estate manager and landlord, is not — and he was the first to win without SMRR. He barely captured his seat on the board in 2008 and could be in jeopardy of losing it as he faces off against an incumbent and a tough-talking challenger who are backed

by SMRR, which has cash and volunteers to help get out the vote.

While not the most important race, it certainly has implications for property owners and the tens of thousands of people whose only way of living in Santa Monica is by renting.

The three candidates for two seats on the Rent Control Board were each given 700 words each to answer the following questions below.

See page 22 for their answers.

budget that is over $360,000 in the red.

8. What is a fair amount landlords should be able to ask for when collecting a security deposit?

9. What are you reading?

10. There are stories of wealthy people holding onto their rent-controlled apartments in Santa Monica so they can use them as summer houses when they actually live in another city or state. How often should a person be sleeping at their rentcontrolled apartment to maintain it? Should these tenants be evicted?

11. If you could ride the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier with three people in history, who would they be and what would you want to talk about?

12. The Rent Control Board must give its approval for the owner of the Village Trailer Park to close up shop and build a mixed-use housing development.

Will you vote in favor of closure or not?

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

• Name: Christopher D. Walton • Age: 53 • Occupation: Attorney • Neighborhood in which you live: The Shores (Ocean Park/Main Street area) • Own or rent: Rent • Marital status/kids: Married/no children • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? Santa Monica College; Midwestern State University, B.A.; Loyola Marymount University, M.B.A.; Southwestern University, J.D.; Oxford University 1. Why run?

1) To unseat and defeat any anti-tenant candidates. This is my number one priority.

2) To protect, strengthen and

• Name: Robert Kronovet • Age: 55 • Occupation: Real estate broker, TV and film DP/director • Neighborhood in which you live: Sunset Park • Own or rent: Own • Marital status/kids: Married/three kids, all Samohi grads • Obama or Romney: Romney, because the current unemployment numbers are unacceptable • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? B.S., Ohio University 1. Why run?

To promote better policy.

Over the last four years as your Rent Control Board commissioner I have promoted a superior level of performance, now it’s time to

• Name: Ilse Rosenstein • Age: • Occupation: Retired teacher • Neighborhood in which you live: Mid-City • Own or rent: Not provided • Marital status/kids: Two daughters • Obama or Romney: Obama • Education: Where did you attend and what degrees do you have? B.B.A. from CCNY at the City University of New York; teaching credential, Mount St. Mary’s; bilingual certificate, USC

WALTON improve rent control for myself, family, neighbors and community.

3) To help balance the board’s budget while saving the financial reserve for a truly rainy day. No organization should be permitted to operate with a deficit budget.

Difficult decisions must be carefully considered including: increasing registration fees, passing all or some of the increases through to property owners, sharing fee increases between tenants and landlords, and making painful budget cuts.

Nothing should be beyond consideration. I’ve studied the current, approved, unbalanced budget and there is not much fat to cut. Hence, revenue increases are of paramount importance to restoring fiscal health to the board. My education and experience in finance and accounting will facilitate these difficult decisions. Balancing the budget is one of my top priorities.

4) To ensure that all five seats on the board are held by commissioners who are zealously dedicated to protect and enhance renter’s rights.

5) To continue my tradition of public service, in a more visible manner.

No. The current formula is junk science designed to frustrate

“Catching Fire,” by Suzanne Collins, and “Arctic Drift” by Clive Cussler.

10. Non-resident renters

6. Diminishing role for board

9. Reading

Yes, of course. The board’s purpose must be to provide true resident benefit programs.

Currently the rent board mostly provides 25 staff jobs and a fortune in retiree benefits.

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

4. Hobbies Golf, skiing, traveling, motorcycles, cooking

5. Rent control based on income Yes, but every time I have proposed an income threshold it has died due to receiving no second from my colleagues. Rent control is currently part of the City Charter. It can only be unlocked by a vote of the people, or outlawed on the state level or

4. Hobbies

The current formula provides a fair return, as shown by its correlation with the CPI. The new formula proposed on the ballot as Charter Amendment GA also correlates with the CPI. However, the results will be determined

9. Reading

up to three months rent as security deposit

Both methods produce similar results. The board chose the simpler, clearer method.

2. Fair returns for landlords

One month’s rent seems fair.

found un-constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Percentage of CPI.

3. Rent adjustment

rent control law so that tenants can continue to live in affordable, well-maintained homes and landlords can receive a fair return on their investment.

8. Security deposits

our housing providers and cripple tenants. A fair return is based on a 100 percent of CPI, just like the annual salary increases Santa Monica city employees receive every year.

3. Rent adjustment

more easily under the new formula, so that there will be substantial savings in staff time.

ROSENSTEIN

We lost true rent control when the vacancy decontrol bill was passed some years ago.

Current rent control is not really based on length of tenancy. Most renters enjoy the benefits of rent control, albeit at the new market rate of rent. Longtime tenants do still enjoy true rent control. I would prefer to go back to the days of real rent control and affordable housing, back to the days before vacancy decontrol.

Perhaps income should be one of several factors in crafting fair, affordable rental rates. All ideas merit consideration in the market place of ideas.

Increase revenues by zealous collection efforts and small increase in registration fees.

Cutting any fat in the budget, although there does not appear to be much obvious fat.

7. Trimming the board's

A fair return is keeping up with the rate of inflation. The new formula will provide a fair return.

KRONOVET

2. Fair returns for landlords

5. Rent control based on income

budget

4. Hobbies

2. Fair returns for landlords

The annual rent adjustment should be based on 100 percent of CPI. This will save us staff expense and allow a mature, predictable rent increase. step it up. When re-elected I pledge to make our parking problems my priority. We will introduce the following: All Preferential Parking Zone stickers that allow you access to on-street parking throughout the city, as well as discount parking in all municipal parking and beach lots throughout Santa Monica.

Reading, motorcycles and playing with my dog.

Below market-rate rentals should be occupied by their tenants and not be used strictly as vacation homes for people who live in other cities or states. I don’t like the “how many nights do you sleep there?” as the sole test for determining residency. All factors should be considered such as legal domicile, voter registration, driver’s license, how often you sleep there, real property ownership, etc. I want to

3. Rent adjustment

1. Why run?

Rent control helps to maintain diversity in our city and contributes to the stability of the population. I am running to ensure that rent control remains a positive force in our community.

By serving on the board, I hope to help enforce the provisions of the

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Tennis, bridge, classes at Emeritus College, volunteer work as a reading tutor and delivering Meals on Wheels.

6. Diminishing role for board The board’s statutory missions have not changed. The work of the board is essential to our city.

7. Trimming the board's budget 1) Fire the lobbies in Sacramento.

2) Stop fighting and losing unwinnable court cases.

3) Tie the annual CPI at 100 percent level to rent increases, thereby saving a least one to two staff positions.

4) Enact a hiring freeze.

8. Security deposits Per state law: Unfurnished rentals have a set limit that cannot exceed two months worth of rent. Furnished property allows

evictions and ensuring proper maintenance of their unit.

7. Trimming the board's budget If Charter Amendment GA passes, it will not be necessary to calculate the various slices of the pie. Over the years, the pie method produced results similar to the CPI. Therefore, there will be considerable savings in staff time. In addition, staff is being reduced through retirement and consolidation of positions.

5. Rent control based on income

8. Security deposits

Income is not a component of the rent control law. I believe a means test is not desirable. It might lead to additional problems for landlords.

California law limits the amount to two months rent for unfurnished apartments and to three months rent for furnished apartments.

6. Diminishing role for board

9. Reading

Although tenants are paying market rate rents, they still have the protection of the rent control regulations against unjust

“Interpreter of Maladies,” short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.

“La Vida Breve,” by Juan Carlos Onetti.

10. Non-resident renters Simple: If it is not their primary residence they should either pay market rate or move.

11. Ferris wheel guests John Adams; private property rights and freedoms we hold sacred. Nehemiah, the man who jumped in to see if it was safe for Moses and the Jewish people to enter the splitting of the sea; summoning courage. My great grandfather Samuel Kronovet; about coming to America as a child in 1875 and the hopes and dreams he and his wife Sara had for their new life and those of their future children.

12. Village Trailer Park

10. Non-resident renters Regulation 3304 allows landlords to petition the board for a determination that the tenant is a “tenant not in occupancy.” If the evidence supports this, the landlord may increase the rent to market rate and the tenant may choose to move out.

11. Ferris wheel guests Thomas Jefferson; concepts of the role of government and the role of religion. Abraham Lincoln; relations with members of his cabinet and with the generals during the war. Eleanor Roosevelt; her role as confidante and adviser to her husband and her independent activities in areas she considered important.

12. Village Trailer Park future My vote depends on the plans submitted to the board.

protect tenants, not evict them. If someone is using their belowmarket rental strictly as a vacation home, perhaps it would be fair to increase their rent.

11. Ferris wheel guests President Clinton, President Obama and the Dalai Lama. I would discuss economics and government with the presidents.

With the Dalai Lama I would discuss how best to walk the path that leads to wisdom, compassion and enlightenment.

12. Village Trailer Park future It is not appropriate to say how I would vote on any particular issue facing the board. I would consider the law and all available reports and arguments and make a just decision. I would put aside my personal views and vote based upon the rule of law.

That said, I am personally in favor of keeping the Village Trailer Park open.

future Yes, I’m in favor of closure. It is a fair deal for those tenants being displaced, due to the new housing they will move into and the cash relocation payments they will receive. The development should be small in nature and not impact traffic, parking or adversely affect the quality of life of the neighborhood.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

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Beyond Santa Monica: County and state issues fill ballot County measures Measure A: Assessor selection This measure was placed on the ballot to gauge the public’s interest in changing the California Constitution and the Los Angeles County Charter to make the position of county assessor an appointed one instead of an elected one. By voting yes, you are supporting having county supervisors find a sponsor in the state legislature to sponsor a constitutional amendment for a future ballot measure. Voting no means you are OK with the status quo.

The assessor is an important and powerful position, in charge of locating all taxable property in the county and identifying who owns it and how, most importantly, much they should pay in taxes on it.

Supporters say: With so much money at stake, the office of the assessor is ripe for corruption. Value can be found in paying off an elected official in exchange for lowering a person’s tax liability.

That’s what Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez is suspected of doing in exchange for campaign contributions.

Noguez is currently on leave from his office as investigators look into the actions of a former employee who was arrested for allegedly falsifying records and lowering property values to the tune of $172 million.

By appointing instead of electing the assessor, the chances of corruption, while always present in politics, will be reduced.

Besides, how many voters even know who their assessor is?

With so much information to comb through during election season, why not appoint the assessor and leave it up to supervisors who are entrusted with making the touch decisions.

The Los Angeles Daily News has endorsed the measure.

Opponents say: Appointing the assessor will not guard against corruption, as it will still leave the decision up to elected officials who rely on contributions to remain in power. The only way to guard against poor policy and manipulation for financial gain is to have the power of oversight and accountability. Don’t take the decision out of the hands of voters.

The Los Angeles Times has come out against Measure A.

Measure B: Condoms in porn If approved, this measure would require actors in adult films engaging in anal or vaginal sex to wear condoms. Not doing so will result in civil and or criminal charges. It requires a majority vote for passage.

Supporters say: Voting yes means safeguarding public health and increasing workplace protections for those working in the porn industry. Condoms are currently rarely used despite recommendations from the American Medical Association and other public health officials to help prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases. Those who contact HIV are treated at an immense cost to taxpayers and the threat of spreading the virus is too great.

Opponents say: Actors are already tested frequently enough to guard against the spread of disease. Measure B is a waste of tax money and would drive film productions underground, where there is not testing or industry guidelines, making the environment less safe. It could also drive production out of the state, killing thousands of jobs.

Measure J: Transit tax This measure would extend a sales tax increase of .5 percent voters approved in 2008 for 30 years to fund mass transit projects. The tax wouldn’t expire until 2069. Money is used for construction and to provide reduced fares to seniors, the disabled and students. The measure requires a two-thirds vote to pass.

Supporters say: Projects funded will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and provide much-needed relief for those moving on the region’s congested streets and freeways. Light rail and subway

projects will be completed sooner than currently scheduled.

Funds can only be used for transportation improvement projects and services with independent audits and full public review.

Opponents say: The money will only help if matching grants are given by a cash-strapped state and federal government. Without that, many projects have been put on hold, providing no relief. Taxpayers in smaller, neighboring cities will be paying for Los Angeles’ pet projects. Some will be paying the higher tax for decades and so no direct investment in their communities.

Statewide propositions Proposition 30: Temporary taxes for education Prop 30 would raise the personal income tax rate on those making more than $250,000 a year for the next seven years. It would also raise the state sales tax by a quarter cent for the next four years. Both tax increases are temporary.

The money would be used to help balance the state budget and fund education by placing cash into a special account, with 89 percent of money raised going to K-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges.

Prop 30 also includes several constitutional amendments that would ensure the state continues to pay for certain public safety programs it handed over to local governments last year, including the incarceration of some prisoners, the supervision of parolees and substance abuse treatment.

Supporters say: Voting yes would prevent $6 billion in cuts to schools and help balance the state budget. The money goes into a special account that lawmakers can’t touch and there are mandatory, independent audits to ensure funds are spent only for schools and public safety.

Opponents say: There’s no guarantee that if Prop 30 passes legislators won’t take existing money from schools and use it for other purposes, replacing it with money from Prop 30, effectively resulting in no new money for education. It’s just giving the folks in Sacramento more money to mess around with without any real reforms to prevent future deficits. Cutting wasteful spending should be done first.

Proposition 31: Government performance and accountability Prop 31 would do a number of things. First, it would give local governments greater say in how they coordinate public services. Counties, cities, schools, and other entities could create their own plans for implementing state-funded programs, for instance, and they would be able to use a portion of state sales and property taxes to pay for them. The legislature would have an opportunity to veto any changes to state-funded programs.

Second, it would limit the Legislature's ability to pass certain bills that would increase spending or decrease revenues by more than $25 million in a fiscal year. Legislators would have to show how that shift would be accounted for either by raising revenues or by reducing expenditures, respectively.

Third, it would allow the governor to unilaterally cut spending during fiscal emergencies.

Fourth, it would require budgets be drawn for two years out rather than one and require performance reviews of all state-funded programs every five years.

Supporters say: Prop 31 would force legislators to justify new programs so that they live within their means. It would also improve the budget process, forcing legislators to reach long-term solutions to fiscal problems.

Opponents say: It would shift $200 million from the state to counties, limit fiscal flexibility in times of surplus and create more bureaucracy.

It’s poorly written and contradictory, creating more problems than solutions.

Proposition 32: Ban on payroll deductions Being billed as a way to stop special interest money from taking over elections, Prop 32 would ban the use of employee payroll deductions for political purposes, including campaign contributions, independent expenditures and other spending to influence elections. That portion of the measure appears to have the greatest impact on unions, since, according to the state’s legislative analyst, few corporations finance their political activities that way.

Prop 32 would also forbid corporations and unions from making direct contributions to state and local candidates or the committees that fund them. A similar rule already exists at the federal level.

Third, the measure would make it illegal for government contractors to contribute to elected officials who have a hand in awarding them a contract, at least while that contract is under consideration or is in effect.

Supporters say: The measure brings real reform, prevents politicians from giving government contracts to their donors and helps reduce the influence of special interests. Those who are behind it include the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Federation of Independent Business — California.

Opponents say: Prop 32 will not take money out of politics since it does nothing to control the amount of money spent by political action committees, which have grown stronger in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives the same rights to corporations that are granted to people when it comes to political expression and support. It unfairly targets unions, since hardly any corporations use payroll deductions for political contributions. Corporate interests will reign while unions’ influence will be diminished. Those against include the California Teachers Association and California Professional Firefighters.

Proposition 33: Car insurance discount It would allow auto insurers to offer a continuous coverage discount to new customers who have had coverage for at least five years. Currently, companies are not allowed to use such a discount to attract new customers.

Supporters say: Prop 33 will create more competition amongst insurance companies, allowing drivers to shop around for better deals. It will also encourage people to get insured because it will be easier for them to get the continuous coverage discount, and therefore make roads safer.

Opponents say: It will make it more expensive for those who don’t qualify for the discount since insurance companies will charge more to make up for the loss in revenues caused by more people taking advantage of it. Increased costs could drive more people to drop coverage or not seek it at all. Nonprofit Consumer Watchdog is the primary opponent.

Proposition 34: Death penalty repeal If a majority of voters say yes, Prop 34 would eliminate the death penalty in California. It would apply to those currently sentenced to death, currently 725 people on death row, as well as future convictions. These inmates would be put to work with earnings going to victims or to pay for fines. Additionally, a one-time $100-million fund will help law enforcement agencies solve more homicide and rape cases. If the prop succeeds, it will become effective the day after the election.

Supporters say: Former law enforcement officials have come out in support of the measure because they say it will save tens of millions of dollars each year and guard against killing innocent people who have been exonerated in large part because of advancements in DNA technology.

SEE ISSUES PAGE 24

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Staking out new ground in the Assembly newly-formed 50th Assembly District, which stretches from Santa Monica to Agoura Hills, Malibu to Hancock Park, was created earlier this year by the new citizens commission on redistricting as is meant to better represent the values of residents living within its boundaries and make the race to lead it more challenging.

And it has, but not in the way the designers may have thought. Instead of a Republican challenger rising in the liberal bastion, two strong Democrats emerged: Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom and current Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, who is losing her old seat because her home in Marina del Rey is located just outside of the district’s recently redrawn boundaries.

Both candidates have a strong record of protecting the environment, supporting education and protecting civil rights. Both said they will stand by residents in their effort to reduce the number of flights at Santa Monica

A

ISSUES FROM PAGE 23 Opponents says: The problem isn’t the law, but rather the appeals process.

Streamline it and you can cut costs without doing away with a punishment that fits the crime. It also diverts $100 million from the state’s General Fund, which is used to fund education and other critical services at a time when the state is already struggling with budget deficits.

Proposition 35: Human trafficking penalties It would expand the definition of human trafficking to include the production or distribution of child pornography. It would also increase the penalties for all types of human trafficking. The maximum prison sentence for labor trafficking would increase from the current 5 or 8 years (depending on whether a minor is involved) to 12 years. For sex trafficking, it would increase from 5 or 8 years to a maximum of 20 years for adults or life in prison if a minor is involved. Those convicted could be fined up to $1.5 million.

Prop: 35 would also protect victims. First, a person could not be prosecuted for criminal sexual conduct, such as prostitution, if he or she committed the crime while a victim of human trafficking. Nor could a person's sexual conduct be used to discredit them in court proceedings.

Finally, Prop 35 would require that all registered sex offenders provide information about their Internet service provider and their online identities.

Supporters say: It will protect children from sexual exploitation and hold human traffickers accountable.

Opponents say: The measure is too vague in its definition of human trafficking and the punishments are too severe. It would also punish those who are indirectly involved, include the children of a sex worker who receive financial support.

Proposition 36: Three strikes reform Prop 36 would essentially shorten the sentences for third strike offenders if the crime is not serious or violent. So under the new rule, if a person has two or more serious or violent felonies on record, then sentencing for the third strike would depend on the nature of the crime. If the third strike is a serious or violent crime, then the person will still receive life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. If it is a certain drug-, sex-, or gun-related crime, then the person will still receive life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years; a non-serious or nonviolent crime, then the person will receive twice the normal sentence (just like a "second striker").

In addition, anyone with even a single conviction involving rape, murder, child molestation, and other particularly heinous crimes will face the stiffer punishment even if the third strike is relatively minor.

Prop 36 would also allow some "third strikers" already facing life in prison to apply for a reduced sentence using the new rules. Re-sentenced inmates would still be required to serve twice the usual term for their most recent offense.

Airport. Bloom’s work on the council is commendable, as has been Butler’s with the League of Conservation Voters and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Where they differ most seems to be in endorsements, with Butler being supported by key leaders in the party, including Assembly Speaker John Perez, while Bloom has former Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who used to be Santa Monica’s point person on homelessness.

The candidate to come out on top will not have an easy row to hoe. They’ll be faced with crippling deficits and a sputtering economy, pension and prison reform, demands to lower taxes while still maintaining services, whether or not to build high-speed rail and maintain key infrastructure projects like reservoirs and roads.

The Daily Press reached out to Bloom and Butler early in the campaign to learn how they would vote on key issues.

See page 25 for their answers.

Supporters say: LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley back it, along with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

They say life sentences should not be handed out for nonviolent offenses and Prop 36 would save the state more than $100 million a year while still punishing dangerous felons.

Opponents say: The change is not needed as judges already have some leeway in how they administer three strikes. They believe that dangerous felons will be released early and that money saved will be used to fight crime from those released.

Proposition 37: Labeling genetically-modified foods Prop 37 would provide people with more information about what they are eating by requiring a label on geneticallymodified foods like corn and soy. Prop 37 would take the added step of prohibiting such products from being labeled “natural.”

The text of the proposed law does include several exemptions, including foods that are certified organic, contain only small amounts of genetically engineered material, or are sold for immediate consumption (as in, at a restaurant). These exemptions are the source of complaints that Prop 37 serves certain special interests.

Supporters say: It provides consumers with information they need to make proper choices when it comes to their diet. They say manufacturers should be able to include the information easily on their labels and at little cost to them as it gives time to phase in the new labels or change their products.

Opponents say: Companies like PepsiCo and Kellogg are funding the campaign against the measure, along with the Grocery Manufacturers Association. They say the measure is a product of special interests including the dairy, alcohol and meat industries. It will increase costs by billions as farmers and food companies are forced to move to more expensive, nongenetically engineered foods. That cost will be passed on to consumers. There is no proof that genetically-modified foods pose a risk to consumers.

Proposition 38: Tax increase for education This may feel like a case of deja vu for voters reading this guide as Prop 30 claims to do the same thing. But there are significant differences between the two measures. Prop 38 would raise the income tax rate on most Californians, where Prop 30 targets only those who make more than $250,000 a year.

The amount of the increase would depend on the individual's tax bracket. Only those making less than $7,316 would be spared. Money raised would go into a fund that would pay for schools (60 percent), early care and education programs (10 percent) and to pay down state debts (30 percent). That would shift in 2017, with 85 percent going to schools.

The measure that receives the most votes (Prop 30 or 38) would go into effect, while the other would die. People are allowed to cast votes for both measures.

Supporters say: This is education funding that cannot be raided by

legislators. It restores much-needed funding for education, funding which will be spent according to the wishes of locals, with school officials reporting back on how the money is spent.

Money cannot be used to increase salaries or cover pensions.

Opponents say: Middle-class families and small businesses will be hit hard by this tax increase, sponsored by billionaire Molly Munger, without any guarantee that student performance will improve. It creates more bureaucracy and can’t be changed for 12 years, even if there is evidence of fraud and abuse.

Proposition 39: Tax treatment for multistate businesses Currently, multi-state businesses have two options for calculating their tax liability in California, and they can choose whichever is cheaper. Prop 39 would require them to use the "single sales factor method," in which their liability is based solely on their amount of sales in the state. They would no longer be allowed to use the other option, known as the "threefactor method," which bases tax liability on a combination of the sales, property, and number of employees a business has in the state.

Half of the revenues raised by requiring the single sales factor, with a maximum of $550 million a year, would go into a newly created fund to support projects that improve energy efficiency and expand the use of alternative energy.

Supporters say: Prop 39 eliminates a loophole that costs California $1 billion a year in lost revenues. Energy efficiency could lead to reductions in costs, freeing up money for essential services.

More money would be directed to education.

Opponents say: It will result in job losses by costing companies more and will create more bureaucracy.

Proposition 40: Referendum on redistricting Prop 40 is a referendum on California's recently redrawn state Senate districts. Every 10 years, following the decennial Census, the state redraws its political boundaries to account for changing demographics. This was the first year the boundaries were set by an independent citizens commission rather than the state legislature.

Members of the Republican Party initially challenged the new maps, but the original backers of Prop 40 have since dropped their campaign efforts and are no longer seeking to get it passed.

If approved, the new districts will remain. Voting no means you want to redraw the districts.

Supporters say: Californians have voted three times in the past four years to have district maps drawn by an independent commission instead of politicians.

Opponents say: Due to the state Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the districts, opponents have since suspended their campaign.

— SOURCES: LOS ANGELES COUNTY REGISTRAR’S OFFICE, LEGISLATIVE ANALYST’S OFFICE, SECRETARY OF STATE, SANTA MONICA CITY CLERK, L.A. COUNTY COUNSEL, AND KCET.

YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA - VOTE Local

2012 ELECTION GUIDE

Name: Richard Bloom Age: 58 Occupation: Mayor, City of Santa Monica; attorney City/neighborhood where you live: Santa Monica (Sunset Park) Own or rent: Own Political party: Democrat What kind of car do you drive?

Toyota Prius • Will you support Santa Monicans’ effort to create a dog beach pilot program?

Yes

• Should SMC and other community colleges be allowed to offer two-tiers of classes, with some being offered at full cost to students?

No

• Do you support the death penalty?

Yes

• Do you support same sex marriage?

Yes

• Will you vote in favor of Gov. Brown’s tax increases on the November ballot?

Undecided

• Do you support legalizing marijuana for those 21 and over?

Yes

• Should smoking tobacco be banned within multi-unit apartment buildings?

Yes

BLOOM • Should local governments be allowed to dictate salary/benefits for employees of a private business?

Under Santa Monica’s best practice development rules, all developers must offer significant benefits to the community if they wish to develop beyond a very limited baseline.

In the context of hotel development, the Santa Monica City Council recently required one such developer to provide living wage requirements for its workers in exchange for the right to develop a hotel project. I supported this outcome.

• Single-use bans like the one on plastic bags: Where do you stand?

I helped lead Santa Monica’s widely praised adoption and successful implementation of bans on both plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers. My work in Santa Monica and on the California Coastal Commission, Santa

• Do you support the death penalty?

No

• Do you support same sex marriage?

Yes

• Will you vote in favor of Gov. Brown’s tax increases on the November ballot?

Yes

• Do you support legalizing marijuana for those 21 and over?

No

• Should smoking tobacco be banned within multi-unit apartment buildings?

Yes

• What three areas of government spending are untouchable and where would you cut to keep those programs/services intact?

Improving the economic success of our state will help produce more revenue. Predictable and independent revenue streams should be identified for all levels of education.

Funding for public safety, education and baseline infrastructure must be preserved.

There is little left that can be cut elsewhere — critical budgets are being eviscerated. Two examples that are not getting the attention they deserve are dramatic cuts to our courts and to programs for the disabled. Cuts to courts will affect access to the justice system for low- and middle-income Californians. Cuts to programs for the disabled will further isolate and marginalize these individuals. There is much talk about tax measures. But, we cannot tax our way out of our current budget crisis.

California must find ways to foster more economic activity that will lead to greater revenue for programs. That is what is working in places like Santa Monica where our policies bring both progress and prosperity.

• What are your thoughts on the initiative process? Should there be a change in how measures make it to the ballot? And what is the role of elected officials in a state that has such an element of direct democracy?

I support reform of the initiative process.

Poorly conceived initiatives have led to too many instances of “ballot box budgeting” from which the people of the state now suffer the consequences.

The bar for qualifying initiatives is too low and can be paid for by anyone with the

This question gets to the heart of the incredibly painful budget conversations we are having in the capitol today. In the last four years, we have cut $56 billion and we now know we need to continue to cut. As the updated budget numbers have been illuminated in the last couple of weekends, I believe we need to prioritize services of human health, safety, and welfare, above all others.

Yes

No

resources. That does not serve the interests of our democratic institutions.

• What three areas of government spending are untouchable and where would you cut to keep those programs/services intact?

• Will you support Santa Monicans’ effort to create a dog beach pilot program?

• Should SMC and other community colleges be allowed to offer two-tiers of classes, with some being offered at full cost to students?

Monica Bay Restoration Commission and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has helped advance a broad range of environmental initiatives.

governor signed my bill banning BPA into law in 2011.

Name: Betsy Butler Age: 48 Occupation: California State Assemblymember City/neighborhood where you live: Beverly Hills Own or rent: Rent Political party: Democrat What kind of car do you drive?

2005 Cadillac

BUTLER • Should local governments be allowed to dictate salary/benefits for employees of a private business?

I believe everyone in the United States should be paid a living wage. As a women’s activist for over 30 years and having spent a number of years fighting along side Lilly Ledbetter for equal pay for equal work, we still have a lot of work to do to make sure everyone is paid a fair and equitable wage.

• Single-use bans like the one on plastic bags: Where do you stand?

One of the most significant moments in my election in 2010 was when I learned that the plastic bag ban, the BPA ban and the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) were killed in the legislature by big money special interests. I decided then, that if elected, I would tackle one or more of these bills in my first year in office. I am very proud to say that the

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• What are your thoughts on the initiative process? Should there be a change in how measures make it to the ballot? And what is the role of elected officials in a state that has such an element of direct democracy?

The initiative process has grown out of balance and away from its original intent, which was to ensure that citizens, “the people,” had a mechanism to use their voice in state government. At present, any person or organization with a million dollars can put an initiative on the ballot. I don’t believe the constant election chaos of initiative democracy is what our state forefathers imagined would happen.

• How do you propose keeping college tuition down?

I am a key supporter of the Assembly Democrats’ Middle Class Scholarship program, funded by closing a $1 billion tax loophole for out-of-state corporations. I am also a supporter of the governor’s revenue initiative, which will

• How do you propose keeping college tuition down?

• What are your thoughts on the districtwide fundraising model for public schools? (SMMUSD in November approved such a model.)

I support the SMMUSD’s plan to make sure that all students benefit from fundraising. I have been a champion for our local schools and have led our efforts to increase school funding ($14.4 million projected for this year) and providing a broad range of programs for our youth.

• Santa Monica Airport: Where do you stand? Will you work to close the airport completely, limit operations (flights and flight schools) or maintain the status quo?

The status quo at our airport is not acceptable. As a member of the City Council, I have spent 13 years working for reform on the complex issue at the airport. Under my leadership, the city has increased fines and penalties for noise violators and fought with the FAA for runway safety areas. The city lost that battle because the FAA retains enormous power. We must proceed with caution and intelligence to limit the impact of airport operations on the community. If we cannot achieve reasonable results for our residents than we will have to try closure — in spite of the very significant risks.

temporarily raise taxes on the wealthiest among us to help support education and public safety. I also believe implementing an oil extraction fee would go a long way in balancing our budget and ensuring higher education is properly funded.

• What are your thoughts on the districtwide fundraising model for public schools? (SMMUSD in November approved such a model.)

I will support whatever the community decides and if legislation is necessary to codify or clarify the community’s desire and agreement, I would be honored to carry the necessary legislation. One of the advantages of allowing local communities to make decisions before we impose statewide standards is that it gives us all a chance to see how things work.

Over the years, many good ideas didn’t work.

And there have been just as many local ideas that became statewide models. San Francisco’s bold local decision to recognize same-sex marriage contributed to a state and now national discussion about marriage equality.

• Santa Monica Airport: Where do you stand? Will you work to close the airport completely, limit operations (flights and flight schools) or maintain the status quo?

While the federal government oversees the airport, I do believe there is too much flight traffic and we must, at the very least, limit the operations of the flights and flight schools and the size and number of planes landing each day. I will do whatever I can in my capacity as a state Assemblymember to limit operations and work with the federal government and community to explore an airport closure.

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2012 ELECTION GUIDE

33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Bloomfield’s independent streak B

ill Bloomfield has a big job ahead of him.

Between now and Nov. 6, he has to convince Westside and South Bay voters why they should choose him, a retired businessman, over 38-year veteran Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Santa Monica) for the 33rd Congressional seat.

In Bloomfield’s eyes, the choice is simple — the partisan politics that has resulted in only gridlock or him, an Independent with a vision to fundamentally change how Washington, D.C. does business.

The choice to run boiled down to a fairly simple decision as well.

“I could run for congress or I could sit back and continue the status quo,” Bloomfield told the Daily Press.

THE DAILY PRESS MET WITH BLOOMFIELD

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MAN WITH A PLAN TO END THE STRANGLEHOLD OF HYPERPARTISANSHIP IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL. (Responses and questions are edited for clarity and length)

Daily Press: What inspired you to run for office?

Bill Bloomfield: I’m running because I’m very concerned about our country. We have a Congress locked up in hyper-partisan gridlock

and not working on any of the serious problems that threaten our future, starting with the budget deficit, our very very weak economic recovery, our school systems which are all too dysfunctional on the inner cities and an energy policy only terrorists love. I could go on and on.

DP: If you’re elected, you’ll be one man in a House of Representatives with over 400 members. How do you propose to end the gridlock?

BB: It’s easier to identify that Republicans are more conservative than they used to be and the Democrats more liberal. But look — I remember, the Reagan administration sadly like it was yesterday and (Thomas) O’Neill was Speaker of the House for six of the eight years, the Democrats controlled the entire house for eight years. But (Thomas) and Reagan forged a really good relationship. They worked together and an awful lot happened during the Reagan administration because the two of them put their politics aside and worked on solving our nation’s problems. That’s simply not happening today and it needs to happen.

DP: Make the case for someone on the Westside to put you in office over Rep. Waxman, who has 38 years of experience and the influence that comes with it.

BB: No disrespect to the post office of Santa Monica — and I do hope Waxman by the way is able to cause the post office to keep it where

it is — it’s not why I’m running. It’s country first. I care about the economy in Casper, Wyo. as much as I care about the economy in Santa Monica.

This is going to sound like I’m blasting the guy, and I don’t mean to, but if he has so much power, how come when I go on a tour of the Veteran’s Administration a few weeks ago it looks exactly like it looked when I was 5 years old? How come the place looks the same except that a lot of the housing is boarded up?

One of the nicest things they have there is a brand new soccer field and it’s padlocked because the people who live there can’t use it.

It’s been leased to one of the private schools or the AYSO or the community so their child can use it.

Tell me a priority that’s more important than our veterans, with wars we’ve been in since (Waxman’s) been in power? I mean, come on. Seriously.

DP: What’s your take on the Santa Monica Airport?

BB: Full disclosure, I used to fly. I got my license when I was in high school and I’ve flown out of Santa Monica many many times.

The central issue for me, the immediate issue, is safety. Santa Monica Airport’s runway is 5,000 feet. It is smack dab in the middle of an urban center. Van Nuys is not that far away, it has an 8,000 foot runway. One of the things I want to look at when I get in office is this decision on how big the jets can be landing in

BLOOMFIELD Santa Monica.

I think the city of Santa Monica should be able to say what happens with that land. It should be up to them if they want an airport or not. Simple as that.

DP: What is your stance on gay marriage?

BB: I voted no on Proposition 8. I’m in favor of the state of California allowing same-sex marriage. As far as the federal government, they should recognize same-sex marriage in states that have legalized it so I would vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. I am against a constitutional amendment shall we say requiring that the state of Mississippi recongnize gay marriage. That may be appropriate some day, but I’m not in favor of it.

By Ashley Archibald

33RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Waxman faces tough test R

ep. Henry Waxman (D-Santa Monica) has represented the Westside in Congress since 1975.

In that time, he’s racked up influence points as ranking member and — in 2009 and 2010 — chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where he oversaw legislation relating to public health, telecommunications and interstate commerce, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform where he participated in investigations meant to root out waste and abuse in government contracting as well as corporate wrongdoing.

Despite his track record, Waxman is looking toward the November election with a bit of trepidation.

IN A SIT DOWN CONVERSATION WITH THE DAILY PRESS, WAXMAN DISCUSSED HIS PAST, PRESENT AND WHAT HE HOPES WILL BE HIS

SANTA MONICA AND THE WESTSIDE IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS. FUTURE REPRESENTING

(The responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

Daily Press: What inspired you initially to go into politics?

Henry Waxman: I always thought I would be in politics. I was interested in the issues.

The issues in those days were different than

the ones now in some ways but they’re ongoing questions of fairness and justice.

DP: On the issue of the Santa Monica Airport, you’ve called for a “meaningful solution.” What would that look like?

DP: You’ve been in office for over three decades. Why run for re-election? What do you want to do?

HW: There are a number of concerns at the airport, and the first one has to be safety. …

This is an airport located right in the middle of a residential area. I don’t think the runways offer enough safety protection. The (Federal Aviation Administration) was supposed to work on that issue and I don’t think their solution was adequate. I think there are problems with the fuel used in the airplanes, which still has a lot of lead in it. We banned leaded fuel for automobiles which caused a dramatic drop in some of the harm that’s done from lead exposure. Lead exposure to children is particularly harmful, but lead exposure to adults is not particularly conducive for good health, either.

HW: I’m proud of the accomplishments I’ve had over the years … But there are things I still want to do. I think it’s important that we develop an energy policy that lowers green house gas emissions and fights climate change.

I want to work with President (Barack) Obama to get our economy moving again and to lower our deficit in a way that’s fair. I want to reform our tax system and work with the president in doing that, and I want to work with him on comprehensive immigration reform. So there are things that we need to do.

DP: Switching to more Santa Monicaspecific subjects, you’ve expressed support for keeping the historic post office on Fifth Street. What is the best course of action for the Postal Service on that issue?

HW: I don’t think they have to close a historical building like we have in Santa Monica. I’ve argued to the Postal Service that they shouldn’t close that particular post office.

I haven’t given up on this fight to save the post office in Santa Monica, and I’m still actively involved with people at the Postal Service to try to get them to change their minds. I’m hopeful.

DP: Housing for homeless veterans at the Veterans Affairs campus in West Los Angeles has been an ongoing issue. Why is this dragging on and on?

HW: I’m very frustrated that there hasn’t been more movement on that. I met with General (Eric) Shinseki, the head of the VA. He agreed that we needed housing for the homeless, agreed he’d take a couple of the buildings that are there and do that so they can be a place for residential homeless vets. Yet they still haven’t figured out how to do that.

Maybe we should have started from scratch and torn the buildings down and built something from the beginning.

WAXMAN DP: Is there ever a vote that you regretted?

HW: Yes. I regret voting for the power of George W. Bush to go to war in Iraq. I did that based on the lies we were told by the administration that Iraq had a nuclear weapon, and this of course is the most feared of the weapons of mass destruction. We had briefings from people on the intelligence that turned out to be wrong and I was so concerned about Iraq having a nuclear weapon I voted for a proposal that said if we couldn’t get the United Nations to act together and force Iraq to open up for inspections to stop any potential nuclear weapon the president had the authority to take military action unilaterally. I regret that vote, I think I was misled in to casting it. Most Democrats didn’t vote for it, and I’m sorry I did.

By Ashley Archibald EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KEVIN HERRERA CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PIECE.

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2012 ELECTION GUIDE

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Santa Monica-centric ballot measures Measure GA — Charter amendment: The way the Santa Monica Rent Control Board calculates the amount of rent a landlord can charge tenants each year who are living under the rent control law has been criticized by nearly everyone involved for being more complicated than it needs to be and not accurately reflecting the real costs property owners have to pay to maintain their buildings.

The formula that the board currently utilizes to compute the general adjustment is known as the “component ratio to gross rent” formula. It is intended, in part, to yield a general adjustment reflecting changes in landlords’ actual costs; and the formula has the advantage of capturing some of those changes.

However, the formula is complex; and the results it yields are consequently difficult to predict.

Moreover, the results may not accurately reflect changes in landlords’ actual costs since reliable data about some cost categories is unavailable. Additionally, the board’s authority to make adjustments by category and to postpone the effective date both increase the difficulty of making accurate predictions about the general adjustment.

To make the rent adjustment easier to understand and cut down on the cost of figuring it out, the Rent Control Board has proposed an amendment to the City Charter to allow for the rent adjustment to be based on 75 percent of the Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in the cost of goods and services in the Los Angeles area.

In addition, the board would be able to limit the adjustment between 0 and 6 percent, and

be allowed to impose a dollar limit or ceiling within that range.

Supporters say: Measure GA is good for tenants. It would simplify the calculation of the annual rent increase for controlled rental units and most likely result in a slightly lower adjustment than those calculated over the past 30 years of rent control.

Measure GA will increase protections for renters by limiting the maximum possible adjustment for future annual rent increases. If approved, the maximum possible adjustment of 6 percent would be reached only if the annual inflation rate for the Los Angeles area is 8 percent or higher. If inflation increased to 8 percent or above, the adjustment would be limited to 6 percent.

The measure is supported by Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, Santa Monica’s leading political party, as well as former Mayor Denny Zane and City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor.

Opponents say: There was no argument against the measure filed with the City Clerk’s Office, although some landlords have complained that the measure doesn’t go far enough and would like to see the rent adjustment be based on 100 percent of CPI, not 75 percent.

Measure ES — Public school bond: To improve academic instruction and school safety by modernizing high school classrooms and campuses, repairing aging elementary

schools, ensuring every school meets current earthquake and fire safety standards to protect students, and constructing, acquiring, modernizing, and/or repairing classrooms, sites, facilities, equipment, computers, and learning technology to raise student achievement, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is asking voters in both cities to approve $385 million in bonds.

If approved by 55 percent of voters, Malibu would be guaranteed at least 20 percent of the money for construction projects in that city.

The average homeowner would be responsible for $185 per year for up to 30 years, and possibly more for Malibu. Renters could expect to see an increase in rent of $16 a year.

Funds received from the sale of the bonds could only be used for specific purposes like replacing roofs and electrical systems or upgrading technology for the classroom, including new computers and software. No funds can be used for teacher and administrator salaries or other operating expenses.

Independent performance and financial audits will be performed annually to ensure that bond proceeds are expended only for the projects listed in the Bond Project List. The school board shall appoint an Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee no later than 60 days after the board enters the election results in its minutes.

Supporters say: With some classrooms up to 100 years old, an investment must be made to meet 21st century academic and safety needs. State money isn’t available so the only way it is

going to get done is if voters in Santa Monica and Malibu decide to pay for it.

The result will be safer buildings and new technology that will help teachers do their jobs better and give students more tools to succeed. SMMUSD teachers are outstanding and the schools are some of the best in the country. It’s time that aging facilities catch up.

The argument in favor of ES was signed by former State Sen. Sheila Kuehl as well as Wendy Sidley, a commissioner with Malibu’s Public Works Commission, among others.

Opponents say: Charging residents more at a time when many are already struggling financially isn’t a smart move. There is no urgent need to approve the bond. Waiting until 2014 will give time for the economy to recover and for the school’s to present a detailed report on exactly what their needs are so that money will be spent effectively. The school board rushed it, with one member, Ralph Mechur saying publicly that there were too many unanswered questions to move forward with a bond.

There are also some disgruntled people in Malibu who feel that even with the 20 percent funding guarantee, they would still be paying more than 30 percent of the bond because of their higher property values. They question whether or not its worth it.

The argument against ES was signed by Clara Benrey, a school teacher, as well as Douglas O’Brien, a homeowner in Malibu.

Don’t sit on the sidelines o be able to vote in the Nov. 6, 2012 election, there are several steps you must take to register and find your polling place.

But first, you must find out if you are eligible.

Here are the qualifications to register to vote in California, which must be done by Oct. 22 to vote in the November contest.

T

You must be: • A U.S. citizen; • A resident of California; • 18 years of age or older on Election Day; • Not in prison or in county jail (serving a state prison sentence or serving a term of more than one year in jail for a defined “low-level” felony), or on parole, post release community supervision, or postsentencing probation for a felony conviction; • Not found by a court to be mentally incompetent.

Now that you know if you are eligible, it’s time to register. To do so, one must fill out a voter registration form. These forms are available either online at www.sos.ca.gov under “Fill Out A Voter Registration Form Now” or at your county elections office (12400 Imperial Hwy., Norwalk, Calif., 90650), local library or U.S. post office.

After filling out all of the information and signing it, mail the form directly to the county elections office address that is pre-printed on the form at least 15 days before the election.

If snail mail isn’t your thing, a new state law allows people to fill out and submit a form online through the Secretary of State’s website or at www.registertovote.ca.gov.

The application, which will include date of birth and the last four digits of your Social Security number, will be checked against the applicant’s driver’s license or the state identification card kept by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

If the information matches, an electronic image of the applicant’s DMV signature will be added to the application at the end of the process.

If no signature is on file with the DMV, applicants will have to print out the form and mail the completed version to their county elections office.

That essentially is the same process in place now.

Supporters of the new law say it will help more than 6 million Californians who are qualified but have not yet registered. Those opposed said the law could lead to voter fraud and additional costs.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen called the new process “great news for democracy.”

As of May, 17.1 million of California’s 23.7 million eligible voters — or 72 percent — were registered to vote.

You must re-register to vote when you move to a new permanent residence, change your name or your political party choice.

After registering to vote, you will receive your poll location in the mail 30 to 40 days before the election. You can also find your polling place by visiting www.sos.ca.gov. If you are not sure what county you live in, you can enter your zip code with the U.S. Census Bureau (link available online) or call the Voter Assistance Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE. Those who can’t make it to the polls on Election Day can request and absentee or vote-by-mail ballot.

To request an absentee ballot, either visit www.sos.ca.gov and click “Apply to Vote By Mail” or

“Permanent Vote-By-Mail Voting” or pick up an application at your county elections office, local library or U.S. post office. Read the instructions, type your information directly into the application, print, sign and mail it to the county elections office address printed on the form.

The deadline to apply for vote-by-mail is Oct. 30, meaning that your application must be received no later than seven days prior to the election.

Otherwise, you will need to apply in person.

Once your application is processed by your county elections official, your ballot will be sent to you. After you have voted, insert your ballot in the envelope provided, making sure you complete all required information on the envelope.

You may return your completed vote-by-mail ballot by mailing it to your county elections official; returning it in person to a polling place or the elections office in your county on Election Day; or authorizing a relative or person living in the same household as you to return the ballot on your behalf.

Regardless of how the ballot is returned, it must be received by the county elections office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots will not be counted.

When your vote-by-mail ballot is received by your county elections official, your signature on the return envelope will be compared to the signature on your voter registration card to ensure they match. To preserve the secrecy of your ballot, the ballot will then be separated from the envelope, and then it will be tallied.

Vote-by-mail applications are available in Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

Online resources: • California Secretary of State www.sos.ca.gov (800) 345-VOTE (8683) or (916) 653-6814 • County of Los Angeles: RegistrarRecorder/County Clerk www.lavote.net (562) 466-1310 or (800) 815-2666 voterInfo@rrcc.lacounty.gov • City Clerk of Santa Monica www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/index.htm (310) 458-8211 clerk@smgov.net

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VOTE Local - YOUR COMPLETE VOTER GUIDE FOR SANTA MONICA

2012 ELECTION GUIDE