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.”
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