The Neighborhood News Online

Council District 10 Candidates Forum 2011

Details

Category: Community News

Published on Thursday, 03 February 2011 00:42

Written by Carla Pineda

The forum is now available for viewing on You Tube in 15 minute segments

Part 1 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 2 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 3 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 4 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 5 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 6 CD10 Candidates Forum

Part 7 CD10 Candidates Forum

Austin Dragon comes out on top in Panel scores. Beats Wesson 227 -211. Chris Brown comes in second after Wesson in raising campaign funds. Andrew Kim comes in third with funding.

The seat that represents Council District 10 on the Los Angeles City Council is up for grabs, giving readers the opportunity to cast a vote on who will lead their region of Los Angeles for the next four years. But who are the candidates of the March 8 election and what do they stand for?

The Neighborhood News hosted the first-ever CD10 Candidates Forum to give stakeholders face time with the six candidates who are vying to represent the needs of Council District 10 at citywide level. Close to 80 attendees and representatives from 7 Neighborhood Councils, received an unprecedented treat at the Jan. 23 event held at Vintage Hollywood Sports Bar and Grill.

The forum was created by TNN Editor Dianne V. Lawrence and community activist Hattie Babb to fulfill TNN’s mission to bring the community together and share information about matters of concern in their neighborhoods.

“These elections typically go unnoticed but The Neighborhood News wants to support community involvement in the issues that affect them,” TNN stated in its invitation to the community.”

Present at the forum were candidates Chris Brown, Austin Dragon, Andrew Kim, Luis Montoya, Althea Rae Shaw – who all paid a $300 nomination filing fee and collected between 500-1,000 signatures of support to qualify to run. Incumbent Herb J. Wesson declined an invitation to appear but after receiving a phone call from an attendant, joined the Q&A for an hour before jumping to another engagement.

Six community activists generated 60 questions for the candidates which they paired down to 5 with audience questions added on at the end. The panel consisted of Candace Rushiddin, Scott McNeely, Jo Schaeffer, Steve Wallis, Gavin Glynn and Mitzi Mogul, all of whom are representatives from various community organizations.

The forum was moderated by Damien Goodmon, a community activist who led opposition to the Expo Line’s at-grade crossings.

The final list of questions best represented the topics of highest priority for the community, such as: the diversity of the community and its needs, economic development and job growth, historic preservation, city government efficiency and community organization involvement. Goodmon posed each question to the candidates and the seven-member question panel rated the answers on a scale of one to 10. Each candidate had two minutes to answer each question and one minute for each follow-up question.

Damien Goodman

For the most part, candidates stuck to their campaign priorities when answering many of the questions.

“I don’t feel safe in my community,” said Rae Shaw, who is running in response to her nephew’s murder. Hewas shot by an undocumented individual who was released from jail the day before. She insisted that the issue of undocumented workers was not being adequately addressed. This generated enthusiastic applause by some members of the audience. www.altheashaw.com

The candidates shared some main concerns such as public safety and frustration with Wesson’s administration.

“We share a common theme of lack of response by the incumbent,” said Kim, an attorney who said he has fought to protect the underrepresented for 25 years and vows to address allow their issues to become part of the solution for CD10. www.kim4cc.com

Montoya, a small business owner and the youngest of the group, agreed.  “Wesson has helped but isn’t addressing problems fast enough,” Montoya said.www.montoya4cc2011.com

Brown vowed to be a leader who “is accessible and respectful,” rather than the incumbent who “won’t pick up the phone.” If elected, he said he is willing to cut his $178,789 councilmember salary by half for at least the first year. He also discussed a plan he had for generating millions of dollars from recycling and is committed to setting a new standard of accessibility and responsiveness to the Council District.  www.voteforchrisbrown.com

Wesson dodged attacks from the candidates sitting beside him by asking for fair identification of his achievements as well. “I’ve delivered more jobs in the last five years than any of my predecessors,” Wesson said. He achieved the highest score of the afternoon pertaining to his experience and position on historic preservation. (no website available)

Dragon, an employment specialist and businessman, scored the highest marks when responding to how he planned to address the many different issues faced by the diverse community; when discussing ideas to strengthen the community’s economy; in his desire to audit city coffers and transform the way revenue is allocated; and in his promise for direct involvement with community groups. If public safety has been a problem for decades, business is fleeing Los Angeles and services are being cut throughout the city, “Where are all of our taxes going?” he asked.          www.austindragon.com

The total tally for all five questions put Dragon as the top-ranking candidate, trailed closely by Wesson and then followed by Kim, Rae Shaw, Brown and Montoya tying.

During the last portion of the forum, audience members enthusiastically dropped a myriad of written inquiries into a box. Several of these questions were drawn at random during a question-and-answer session at the end of the forum. Due to the volume of submissions and time constraints, many questions went unanswered. Wesson tackled the first audience question but left citing he was late to a meeting.

The primary nominating election will be held

TUESDAY MARCH 8

The last day to register to vote by mail ballot is

FEBRUARY 7

and the last day to register to vote is

FEBRUARY 22.

The general municipal election will be held

TUESDAY   MAY 17.

Residents can register to vote at http://www.sos.ca.gov/nvrc/fedform/. Voter registration forms also are available at any public government office such as libraries, post offices and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Share

Tweet

• < Prev
• Next >