September 23, 2004

District 10 City Council candidates face off in debate

Residents take a closer look at De La Rosa and Pyle

Fight for Assembly District 21 continues its negative trail

Pinard and Maldonado go head to head during election forum

Residents take a closer look at De La Rosa and Pyle

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

District 10 San Jose City Council candidates Rich De La Rosa and Nancy Pyle answer questions during the AVCA election debate. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

Questions about the future sports complex, the possible Winfield Boulevard extension, the art mandate, and the recent Cisco System’s scandal were presented to San Jose District 10 City Council candidates Rich De La Rosa and Nancy Pyle during a public debate sponsored by the Almaden Valley Community Association (AVCA).

The political match, conducted at the Santa Clara Water District headquarters Sept. 15, was moderated by AVCA President Bob Boydston and attracted more than 60 residents.

In an unusual debate format, Boydston often asked the candidates his own questions after they officially responded to interrogations from the audience given to him on white cards. The candidates were caught off guard by the debate style and Boydston skipped each candidate once for answers to formal questions.

Pyle and De La Rosa are headed for a political showdown in the Nov. 2 run-off election.

De La Rosa, 51, an Almaden Valley insurance agent, finished ahead of Pyle in the March 2 primary election, but below a 50 percent and one vote majority needed to win. The seat represents Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, and parts of Santa Teresa.

The winner of the fall election will serve a four-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2005 through December 31, 2008 and make $75,000 annually serving full time to represent his or her constituents.

Pyle, donning a burgundy suit, read a prepared opening statement and used cue cards to help her. She was articulate and responded well to questions. She was accompanied by her new campaign manager, Ana Maria Rosato.

De La Rosa, dressed in a sharp suit, was also eloquent and responded well to questions. He, too, was accompanied by his campaign manager, Nathan Hanning.

After giving their opening statements, candidates were asked their positions on the preservation of more than 500 acres of land adjacent to the IBM Research Facility next to the South Almaden Urban Reserve.

“I believe that we should permanently make that open space,” De La Rosa said. “IBM is ready to talk. The city had an agreement (to preserve the land). There’s documentation. There’s no reason why IBM shouldn’t live up to its bargain. We want that open space... It’s for the benefit of our community and the quality of our life.”

Asked their positions on the possible construction of a sports complex on McKean Road, De La Rosa and Pyle said they supported the proposal wholeheartedly.

“We have a tremendous need for fields for our kids,” said De La Rosa, a former Little League president. “We need to do something about it. We have gone too long without it. Other cities have addressed, but we’ve never addressed it.”

Regarding the Almaden Youth Association’s plan for the project, he said it could go forward but “obviously we’re not going to take someone’s water away from them to build sports fields.”

De La Rosa was referring to project concerns about the inadequate water supply on county land that would be affected by the field’s construction.

Pyle lamented how for about a decade the community has been talking about sports facilities for kids without doing anything about it. “An entire generation of kids has missed out. I’m not very happy with the city hall process because it’s taken a tremendous amount of time to come to a resolution. We’ve have three environmental impact reports. We’ve spent almost $600,000. There has to be an immediate and speedy resolution. This is something that I would put in my first 100 days after coming to city council to resolve.”

She added: “We can’t, in all conscious, cause hardship of any sort to the residents of the urban reserve. We have to work expeditiously on the safety and water issues and at the same time come to a reasonable conclusion for all the kids who play sports.”

Asked their positions on the Winfield Boulevard extension, De La Rosa said he was against it. “Certainly the community is not for that extension. It would be a terrible waste of funds. We have much more important projects to go forward with. I don’t see any real benefit to it,” he said.

Pyle said she didn’t know enough about the community’s feelings to formally take a position on the issue adding that she would like to conduct a poll or survey to have a more accurate assessment of how residents stand on the issue.

“It’s somewhat of a safety issue. We can’t build low-cost housing and then not make an area accessible for people to cross the street. That would be fairly unconscionable. It depends on how great the need is and what the urgency is with the neighbors. I would not be against it if it was considered to be a need.”

The Winfield Boulevard project would expand the thoroughfare to four lanes with a 250-foot bridge joining two road segments to alleviate traffic on Almaden Expressway.

About whether to change Title 22 of the municipal code to lower the 2 percent art mandate on capital improvement projects, Pyle said it’s already been lowered for the costly airport expansion project. “We need to think of any art in our airport as being not only being aesthetically appealing, but also informative and not something that will interfere with the efficiency of the operation of the airport,” she said. “There was a reason for this to be implemented. I wouldn’t want to go backward with it, but we need to be reasonable and look at all sides of the issue.”

De La Rosa said the 2 percent allocation is adequate for small projects, but needs to be “tiered” for larger projects like the airport.

“I think you need to take a look at a project of that size and see how you’re incorporating art into the structure as well as what type of art medium you might have throughout the whole complex. It may not require 2 percent, it may only require 1 percent. We have to make better use of our money.”

As expected De La Rosa was asked his position on eminent domain that threatened the East Side Tropicana Shopping Center where his family has operated De La Rosa Latin American Imports since 1939. De La Rosa represented several store owners who successfully fought the city’s plan to acquire the property to overhaul it.

“It’s a subject dear to my heart,” said De La Rosa. “It should only be used as an absolute last resort, basically when you have property where the public sector is unwilling to change it.”

Pyle said eminent domain was born from a need because without it the city would be prevented from improving dilapidated city areas. “All things have to be handled and worked through with prudence and consideration of all sides of the issue.”

When the city needs to use eminent domain, Pyle said it would be wise to come together and have meaningful dialogue with skilled mediators.

Diving into the alleged violation of ethics laws by District 7 San Jose City Councilman Terry Gregory and the Cisco System’s investigation into the bungled technology contract for the new city hall, the candidates said they supported investigations into the scandals to preserve the city’s reputation.

Pyle said only one side of the story has been told with regard to Gregory and that, “we live in a country where you’re innocent until proven guilty.” By the same token, Pyle said, if there was wrongdoing or conduct unbecoming of an elected official, “it should be monitored. It’s not clear at this point exactly what happened,” she said. “I don’t indulge in speculation before I get the facts.”

About the Cisco Systems investigation, Pyle said if the city gives the impression that it prefers certain businesses over others or that it gives preference to large companies over small companies it’s going to send business away.

“We absolutely need to look into this and determine if this is a sole situation or are there other situations similar to that,” she said.

De La Rosa said it’s not the place of a fellow council member to investigate Gregory, and said a Santa Clara County district attorney’s investigation will either exonerate him or file criminal charges.

De La Rosa said he believed the city was handling the Cisco Systems scandal the right way by appointing an independent investigator to determine if the mayor, city manager, city attorney or any council member acted inappropriately in the botched deal to award the networking giant an $8 million technology contract.

“You need an independent investigation. He may not find anything criminal, but that doesn’t mean that something wasn’t wrong. Certainly the processes that they’ve been reviewing have shown that there have been problems that need to be addressed. The city is on the right road to correct all the problems,” he said.

A question that elicited deep thought from the candidates was one asking if they believed there’s “absolute truth, i.e., principles for living that are universally right or wrong” and if so how they would apply them to issues of political correctness such as abortion and gay marriage.

De La Rosa said a belief in God and doing what’s right are absolute truths and acknowledged that there are diverse lifestyles. “If you’re going to pick activities to do or lifestyles (to live) they should be what’s right for you as long as they don’t hurt someone else. We shouldn’t prejudge anybody.”

Pyle said the founding fathers were wise in separating church and state issues. “These are matters of conscious, but (they’re) also church issues. I think some of this should be handled in the courts and not in a legislative group.

“It’s difficult sometimes for all of us to believe the same way about certain things. There are some issues that should be confined to the privacy of a person’s decision.”

Naming the three things they would like to do for District 10 if elected, Pyle said she would improve the job situation in the valley by working with the Almaden Business Association, creating a District 10 business directory, encourage frequenting district businesses, forming a district brain trust of knowledgeable people to solve problems and improving communication with district voters with a user-friendly Web site. She said she would also like to stop speeding in neighborhoods.

De La Rosa said he would finish the airport renovation project on time and on budget, would work more closely with schools because there’s a “disconnect,” and remove the burdens placed on small businesses as they’re the economic drivers for the city.

Fight for Assembly District 21 continues its negative trail

Democrat Ira Ruskin and Republican Steve Poizner battle it out at AVCA debate

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

Democratic candidate Ira Ruskin debates the issues with Republican contender Steve Poizner during an Almaden Valley Community Association forum last week. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

One accused the other of going into “attack mode.” The other played the partisan card. And almost at the end of the political match, the Republican candidate was honest enough to admit he wanted to physically contend with his Democratic opponent and leave the rhetoric behind.

The ugly face of political campaigns made its appearance last week during a reunion of the candidates vying for Assembly District 21, being vacated by Democratic Assemblyman Joe Simitian who is running for Senate District 11 being vacated by Sen. Byron Sher.

“He’s seen the polls. This (race) is a statistical dead heat,” said wealthy Los Gatos tech entrepreneur Steve Poizner, 47.

Redwood City Councilman Ira Ruskin, 60, said his statements tying his opponent to the White House were fair game because of Poizner’s chastisement of his acceptance of contributions from labor unions, the Democratic Party and political action committees.

“That kind of an assumption about one’s opponent is often divisive and does not reflect the best interest of this campaign or this district,” Ruskin said, banteringly.

“I’d like to take you outside, Ira,” Poizner said, tongue-in-cheek. “I do have a black belt. Check my resume.”

By far, the debate between the two candidates was the most interesting of three matches hosted by the Almaden Valley Community Association at the Santa Clara County Water District headquarters Sept. 15, which attracted a crowd of about 60 people.

Poizner: “He (Ruskin) would love to turn this campaign into a contest between himself and the president.”

Ruskin: “My opponent’s support of the President is not a diversion from the issues, just a necessary reminder to voters.”

The issues
During opening statements, Poizner touted his service on six nonprofit boards to improve education, last year serving as a guest teacher at Mount Pleasant High School in East San Jose to become more familiar with classroom conditions.

Presenting his platform, Poizner promised to improve education, bring more jobs to Silicon Valley and restore integrity to the political process in Sacramento.

“It’s a big mistake for Sacramento to micromanage the public schools through the education code and the funding stream that comes with strings attached,” he said.

Ruskin said he believed his values best represent the Democratic ideology of district 21 and said he supported the Family and Medical Leave Act, universal health care and is against President George Bush and his policies.

Ruskin said his government experience balancing budgets for nine years in Redwood City and introducing the first ever budget reserve policy in the city’s history as well as beginning multi-year budget planning will help him if he’s elected to the Assembly.

Ruskin said he helped develop a pioneering public private partnership between the business community, the city and schools to improve the quality of schools by creating new library media centers at every elementary school in his local district.

“My opponent often says I take money from special interests, but I’m proud to have the support of people like teachers who work with our children and the police who guard our streets and the nurses who care for the ill in hospitals. That’s another reason why I believe I’m the better candidate for state assembly,” Ruskin said.

Accusing Poizner of using demagoguery to divide management and workers, Ruskin said he was proud of his record.

Propositions 42 and 70
The candidates were asked their positions on Proposition 42, passed by 70 percent of voters. The measure dedicated the sales tax on gas to transportation improvements, but because of a constitutional loophole lawmakers have diverted the money to the state’s general fund, an estimated $3.5 billion by next June,
Ruskin said he’s a member of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority and is committed to timely transportation projects and supports the extension of the Measure A sales tax in San Mateo County to create transit and road improvements. “There’s a difficult budget situation in Sacramento and I’ll do my best to create as much funding as possible for needed transportation solutions.”

Poizner said he opposed the state dipping into Proposition 42 dollars. “It’s stealing money out of a fund that voters allocated for transportation infrastructure projects only. It’s wrong.”

About underachieving students, Poizner said he favor’s restructuring the way school districts work by stopping Sacramento from micromanaging their operations.

He suggested eliminating the state’s categorical grants, so that schools can use some of the money as they see fit.

“I want to collapse the number of categoricals from 104 to less than 10 to give a lot more local flexibility so they can optimize their spending to meet local conditions,” he said of the programs that give money to new teachers and counselors and make up between 40 and 50 percent of the funds coming from the state to fund education.

“We can get more money into the classroom by better allocating the money that we spend,” he said. At Mount Pleasant High School, the principal had money to upgrade the lights on the football field, but didn’t have money to clean bathrooms, he said.

Ruskin said while serving on the Redwood City Council for nine years, he’s watched the “state come and mandate and grab money and still not balance the budget.”

He said he wouldn’t support an additional waiver of Proposition 98 funding.

About the gerrymandering of district 21, with a majority of Democratic voters, the candidates said they would work to better draw its geographic lines to be more mainstream.

Poizner said, “The system is rigged…. Ira has a lot of friends in Sacramento that helped design it (the district) this way to make it impossible for a candidate other than the Democratic nominee to even have a prayer.”

Poizner said redistricting reform is needed to allow competition in the political process. “You get incumbents that aren’t responsive to the needs of the people and that alone makes the Legislature impossible to control, impossible to hold them accountable,” he said.

Driver’s licenses for all?
Asked whether to allow illegal citizens to get driver’s licenses, Ruskin said the issue is a practical and moral dilemma.

And if the state allowed them, “There would have to be high hurdles for it so that it couldn’t be misused by people with other motives.”

Poizner said the issue presented no moral dilemma for him. “Driver’s licenses for people who are here illegally are wrong. We shouldn’t be putting any more incentives in place to encourage more people to come here illegally for a whole bunch of reasons including national security reasons.”

He qualified his answer by stressing that he’s not anti immigrant and that his local companies have benefited tremendously by legal immigration.

Affordable housing
To make the housing market in Silicon Valley more affordable for the middle class Poizner said he would encourage the expansion of housing trusts that offer low-interest loans to those wanting to buy a home in the valley, such as teachers. He said he’s also a proponent of smart growth around transportation hubs through Silicon Valley.

Ruskin said regional answers are needed to accommodate infill housing. He said in Redwood City he’s worked to create infill housing for working people.

Economics
Asked to give examples of what they would do to grow jobs in district 21, Ruskin said he would stabilize the state’s higher education system. “I’ve never heard the business community discuss growing jobs without talking about the importance of education,” he said. “We need to have the strongest possible system of education. We need to complete the workers’ compensation reform so that small and medium size businesses can have more profit.”

Poizner said 50 percent of the venture capital coming out of Silicon Valley is being invested outside of the state for the first time and that large employers like Hewlett Packard and Intel have declared California as a no man’s land because of a hostile business climate.

“We need to make this area competitive again,” he said, agreeing that workers’ compensation needs to be reformed.

Proposition 72
Asked their views about Proposition 72, which would uphold a 2003 law requiring employers at large and mid-size companies to provide health insurance for employees, Poizner said it showed the Legislature’s “great intention,” but called it a mistake. “To say we have a problem with the uninsured and make small and medium sized companies pay the bills for it is just wrong. This would be the only state in the country to do so and it will drive more businesses out of here.”

Ruskin said he supports using Proposition 72 to force negotiations for a better universal health care system.

Department of Corrections
Asked what they propose to do about the California State Department of Corrections and the prison guards, Ruskin said he supported the governor’s renegotiations of their labor contracts. “Prison guards do a very difficult job often guarding the worst of the worst. Often a job very few people would want to do.”

Poizner deplored that at the height of the recession, the guards received a 37 percent pay raise because of special interest groups, while the state was laying off teachers and closing down fire stations.

“We need to send people to Sacramento who are independent of special interest groups … who aren’t taking huge amounts of money to finance their campaign from a handful of special interest groups.

“You have to ask the question, ‘Who in the heck will my opponent be representing given that 84 percent of the money he’s using to run his campaign comes from a handful of special interest groups?’”

Ruskin defended himself by pointing out that Poizner campaign contributions are coming from individual CEOs, who can also be considered a special interest group. “I’m very proud of the people who support me. The nurses, the teachers, the university professors, people who are part of the community.”

State budget woes
About the horrendous budget problems in Sacramento, Ruskin said the state needs a budget reserve policy like the one he implemented in Redwood City with multiyear budget planning. He said the state should also begin closing tax loopholes so everybody pays their fair share to the government.

Poizner said structural changes need to be put in place so the state never again “gets into the financial mess that it’s in. We’re bankrupt. It’s embarrassing and it’s causing major pain for people in this district and throughout the state of California.

He suggested implementing spending caps tied to the health of the economy so the Legislature has an incentive to grow the economy in a healthy way. “We need some spending discipline because they’ve (Sacramento lawmakers) shown a clear cut indication that they can’t stay within their means.”

Pinard and Maldonado go head to head during election forum

Candidates seek Senate District 15 seat being
vacated by Sen. Bruce McPherson

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

Senate District 15 candidates Peg Pinard (above) and Abel Maldonado participated in a debate sponsored by the Almaden Valley Community Association. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

GOP Assemblyman Abel Maldonado and Democrat Peg Pinard flexed their political muscles last week to convince local voters to cast a ballot in their name giving them the coveted Senate District 15 seat being vacated by Sen. Bruce McPherson.

During a candidate forum sponsored by the Almaden Valley Community Association (AVCA) at the Santa Clara County Water District headquarters on Sept. 15, the candidates answered questions ranging from what to do about the nightmarish state budget to whether to give undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses.

Giving their opening statements, Maldonado, who represents assembly District 33, said he came from the town of Santa Maria where his family operates Agro-Jal Farming Enterprises growing broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and celery.

“This country has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to fulfill my father’s dreams,” Maldonado said.

A strong ally of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, he said he became involved in politics when he thought local government wasn’t “providing customer service” to those it was supposed to represent. He recalled getting elected to the city council in Santa Maria and then being elected mayor of Santa Maria until 1998 when he was elected to the California Assembly where he served for six years.

Maldonado said he’s running because he believes he has the business experience needed to run the district, which stretches from Saratoga to Santa Maria and includes a small portion of San Jose.

Maldonado has been endorsed by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, the San Jose Police Association, the California State Firefighters Association, former Congressman Tom Campbell, McPherson and Gov. Schwarzenegger.

“I’ve been an independent in Sacramento for six years. I’ve never worried about who got the credit. I just got the job done for the people I represent. I’ve never looked at an issue as a republican or a democrat, I just do what was right for the district I represent,” he said.

If elected, he promised to work hard to improve the economy, education, health care and the environment. He said he would also work to make Sacramento a part-time legislature, making sure there is fair redistricting in the future and an open primary so voters can choose a candidate not for political party.

“I’ll never forget who put me in office. I’ll never forget where I come from and I’ll never forget whose money government spends—your money,” he said.

Peg Pinard was first elected to the San Luis Obispo City Council in 1987 and was then elected mayor in 1992. She was elected to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in 1996 and was re-elected in 2000 by nearly 70 percent of the vote. She has never lost an election.

It was under Pinard’s leadership that the communities of Avila Beach and Guadalupe were cleaned up from massive contamination left by Unocal.

A licensed teacher who served two years in the Peace Corps in the Philippines as a math instructor after graduating from college, Pinard said if elected she’ll make education one of her top priorities.

One of her main concerns is that California has slipped in behind Wyoming and Idaho in student funding. “We’ve been band-aiding the way we fund education for years and it’s time to rethink the system, re-establish the funding mechanism for education so that we’re not laying them off in May and rehiring them a week before school starts,” she said.

She said she’s running for state senate to stop Sacramento from ransacking local government’s coffers, a problem she experienced while serving as mayor and which she rectified by cutting $3.3 million to balance her city budget. “This has to stop,” she said.

Another area of major concern for Pinard is the lack of health care for 6.5 million uninsured Californians. “There’s got to be another way for the fifth largest economy in the world to take care of its residents and that’s what I’m committed to doing and I’ve already done it,” she said.

A balanced budget
Asked how they would balance the budget without raising taxes and laying off people, Pinard said the state is experiencing the largest gap of confidence and trust in government from voters that’s ever been seen. The current administration has passed a $15 billion bond to pay off the debt. “It was debt to pay off debt. That’s the first time we’ve done that,” she regretted. “They have not addressed the kind of cutbacks that need to occur in duplicating programs and positions that don’t produce anything.

“We need to pay attention to what we’re doing and live within our means,” she said. “That’s what I’m committed to do.”

Maldonado said he’s voted for the elimination of boards and commissions and cut the bureaucracy in Sacramento. He said the most important thing is to fix the economy and fix workers’ compensation.

Leadership
Speaking about their leadership abilities, Maldonado said his strength as a leader lies in the fact that, “At the end of the day, I don’t worry about who gets the credit. We just get the job done for the people we represent. I don’t look at issues as a republican or democrat. I look at it as people issues and bringing both parties together.”

Pinard said: “I have fully participated at every stage in making the decisions and getting the answers…It’s important to be there when votes are counted.

“I’ve managed to bring people together… you would never imagine would come together... I stand up and I speak up and bring things to resolution. That’s what my background is about.”

About the gerrymandering of senate District 15, Pinard said she’s fought against being divided into geographic areas to include voting districts that give an unfair advantage to one party in the elections.

“I’ve stood up and spoke up to people and made sure that we brought the lines where they made sense,” she said. “The question that really needs to be asked is why was this allowed to happen this time and where was the energy to say, ‘No, gerrymandering is not OK.’”

Maldonado said one of the problems the state has today is that Sacramento is lopsided because the democratic party controls both houses. “You should have seen the (redistricting) plans put forward before this plan was actually voted on. They were horrible,” he said.

Although he doesn’t like the initiative process, he suggested dividing the district’s geographic area by independent judges.

Driver’s licenses for all?
Asked whether to allow illegal citizens to get driver’s licenses, Maldonado said definitely, but said Gov. Schwarzenegger should veto Sen. Gill Cedillo’s current bill because like the governor, he believes the licenses should different from regular ones.

Pinard said having immigrants licensed would be better than sharing the road with people who don’t know traffic rules.

“We have homeland security issues…I want to be sure that everyone is accounted for... Either we deal with that situation or continue to live in a vacuum where people may be hurt driving on the roads without any accountability,” she said.

Maldonado said the state needs a guest worker program like the one that allowed his father to reside legally in the country after immigrating from Mexico in 1964 without a penny in his pocket.

Department of Corrections
Asked what they propose to do about the California State Department of Corrections and the prison guards, Maldonado said the Legislature would conduct hearings to further discern what’s happening in the beleaguered system. “These folks walk the toughest beat in America… I hope…we get to the bottom of it and come up with a solution to fix it. I hope we can come from a bipartisan way to fix the crisis that we have,” he said.

Pinard said every worker deserves to be treated and paid fairly and that the state needs to run a prison system within a budget that is allowable. “It can’t be an endless trough that the taxpayers support. We need to look at what’s efficient in the system and what works. Things need to be accounted for. There were a lot of surprises in the budget about what came out of the prison system. There shouldn’t be any surprises.”

Jobs, workers’ compensation
Asked to give examples of what they would do to grow jobs in District 15, Pinard said the greatest job creation is the expansion of existing businesses. “Our small local businesses are the strongest backbone of our economy.

They weather recession better than any large corporation, especially in communities where we have that diversity.”

She said while working in San Luis Obispo she gave people incentives to develop in areas with existing infrastructure.

Maldonado said businesses are the economic stability of the state. He was the author of the workers’ compensation bill for the governor as he tries to deal with the state charging employers the highest premiums in the nation to buy mandatory workers’ comp insurance.

The money pays some of the country’s highest medical, legal and administrative expenses per claim. Yet those who are left partially disabled by their injuries get salary-replacement rates that are among the lowest in the country, critics say.

Schwarzenegger has vowed to enact reform that would bring the state’s costs in line with the national average.
“We have to get back to workers’ compensation. If we don’t fix that immediately more jobs will continue to leave,” he said.

Affordable housing
To make the housing market in Silicon Valley more affordable Maldonado said the state needs to fix workers’ compensation, which will lower home prices.

Pinard said when building in new areas, developers could be required to pay an in-loop fee for an affordable housing component. While working in the town of Avila Beach, Pinard said she secured a one per five affordable housing standard, instead of one per 10. She also bargained with Unocal to get two acres for 33 worker houses in perpetuity. “Where some people may say that they would like to do it, I’ve actually done it,” she said. “I’ve done it in models that can be imitated in other communities. We showed that it works. We took the fear out of it and made it a reality.”

Schools
Asked about their views on home schooling, Pinard said parents have the right to home school their children, but she stressed the classroom is its own learning environment. She said there needs to be standards to make sure the children are getting a comparable education in the home.

Maldonado said parents should be free to home school their children, but believes in the public school system. As a member of the assembly he said he’s worked hard to improve education by fighting to reduce class sizes and receive more funding for schools.

Asked about underachieving students, Maldonado said the state needs more accountability in public schools and better teacher training.

Pinard said a problem in education today is that money is not getting into the classroom. “We need to look at why some great teachers are leaving. What does it take to make sure we have qualified teachers in the classroom?”

Propositions 42 and 72
About Proposition 42, passed by 70 percent of voters, which dedicated the sales tax on gas to transportation improvements, but because of a constitutional loophole has allowed lawmakers to divert the money to the general fund, an estimated $3.5 billion by next June, Pinard championed mass transit.

As mayor, Pinard said she changed the city’s general plan to make the city more pedestrian friendly to encourage people to use alternative transportation systems. She said a local newspaper called it the best enticement to making alternative transit work.

Pinard served on the LOSSAN (Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency) Board.

Maldonado said he supported Prop. 42 and said Pinard was against it.

Asked their views about Proposition 72, which would uphold a 2003 law requiring employers at large and mid-size companies to provide health insurance for employees, Maldonado said he voted against it in the assembly and will vote against it November. “I’m not opposed to more health care for the people of California. I’m just opposed to mandating it on small businesses that have 51 employees that are finally getting over the energy crisis… It doesn’t make sense. The timing is wrong. It’s bad,” he said.

Pinard said 95 percent of state businesses already contribute to their employees’ health care programs. She said one of the major types of non-contributors is Wal-Mart. “You have here a major employer with not just 51, but thousands of employees and they cost taxpayers. They make money at the taxpayers’ expense. We’re subsidizing the companies that don’t contribute to the employees who work for them. They come in the most expensive manner. They come to emergency rooms, which cost us a lot more than if we had preventative health care,” she said.

Pinard suggested a cooperative effort between the state and employers to make sure employees don’t fall through the cracks. “They’re your and my children. I don’t believe anyone should be working and not have health care coverage,” she said.

Tax code loophole debate
At the end of the debate, Maldonado pressed Pinard for an answer as to how she would have voted on a bill closing the loophole in the tax code to require boat owners to pay sales tax on their vehicles resulting in an additional $54.6 million in sales taxes collected.

Pinard said the bill should have been separated into two issues—taxes for yacht owners and school supplies.

“What you need to do is stop this kind of hiding behind ‘oh I would have had to take a book out of child to save the tax for the yacht.’ That’s the kind of thinking that people don’t want in Sacramento. They want clarity. We need to clearly state the item we’re voting on and then go from there, but mixing one and another… it’s the kind of thing that’s created a lot of disillusionment on people on how their money is being spent.”

Maldonado told Pinard, “The majority party in the senate that you want to be a part of does it every single day. I’m asking you what would you do in that case if that bill came before you as a state senator.”

Pinard replied that lawmakers couldn’t assume the other party doesn’t exist and doesn’t have the ability to stand up and say it wants clarity and needs to separate a bill. “I’m not going to try and defend what other people have done,” she said.

Pinard struck back by pointing that while Maldonado takes credit for the workers’ comp bill as a major victory, “the reality is that the money didn’t get back to the workers, didn’t get back to the providers and it’s still stuck as a non solution. Yes, it needed revamping. Yes, it needed revision. So what we have is not anything that has all the answers.”

Maldonado countered back saying politicians funding Pinard’s campaign put bills forward with two issues in place. “I voted no because I couldn’t cut $200 million from teachers.”

Pinard ended by saying she’s always been there for the votes and made the tough decisions. “If you look at my opponent’s record you’ll see that there’s a lot of gaps,” she concluded.