Candidates say they know it’s the economy

S.J. Cahn

The campaign material was all neatly piled on one table at the Sutton

Place Hotel on Friday morning -- no overflowing mailboxes in sight.

Those reserved stacks of glossy paper defied what have become

spirited campaigns for the 35th District state Senate and 70th

District Assembly seats, but they neatly defined the benign, largely

attack-free forum put on by the Newport Beach and Irvine chambers of

commerce.

The questions asked of the four Senate and six Assembly candidates

attending, not unexpectedly, circled around the state’s economic

climate and what the candidates would do, if elected, to make

California more business-friendly.

But the most illuminating moments came as the candidates were put

on the spot about their positions on the four statewide propositions

that will be on the March 2 ballot along with the primaries for the

two seats.

Among those running for the state Senate seat, there was no

agreement across the board.

There was a trio of “no’s” on Proposition 55, a public education

bond issue, including two of three Republicans, Assemblyman John

Campbell and Dana Point Mayor Joe Snyder, and Libertarian Timothy

Johnson. The third Republican in the March primary, Assemblyman Ken

Maddox, said he supports the bond.

All four concurred that Proposition 56, which would allow the

Legislature to pass taxes and other budgetary bills on a 55% vote

instead of two-thirds, is a bad idea.

Campbell was the sole proponent of Proposition 57, the $15-billion

bond backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He teamed with Maddox in

support of the bond’s companion piece, Proposition 58, which would

require the state to balance its budget. Snyder and Johnson both

oppose that bond.

The candidates for the Assembly seat, now held by Campbell, were

equally scattered in their thinking. Both Newport Beach resident

Marianne Zippi and Irvine’s Don Wagner said they oppose all four

bonds. Carl Mariz, the lone Democrat at the event, supported all

four.

In between were Irvine’s Chuck DeVore, who supports only

Proposition 58, and Corona del Mar resident Cristi Cristich and

Newport Beach resident Long K. Pham, who both oppose propositions 55

and 56 while supporting propositions 57 and 58.

Assembly candidate Chonchol Gupta and state Senate candidate Rita

Siebert did not attend the forum.

The candidates’ thoughts were far more unified on another issue

much in the news: gay marriage. All opposed to one degree or another

San Francisco’s performing such marriages during the past week.

“It’s about respecting the law,” Campbell said, noting that a

California initiative from 2000 defines marriage as between a man and

a woman.

Another issue many of the candidates said the Legislature needs to

address immediately is illegal immigration.

“It affects everything else in the state,” Zippi said, from the

skyrocketing budget to the equally climbing cost of healthcare.

The candidates also said they opposed any expansion of Indian

casinos, an issue that allowed Wagner to put in the most

well-received line of the morning when he talked about the state

lottery being “essentially a tax on people who are bad at math.”