Westside Today, under the umbrella of Mirror Media Group (publisher of Westside Today, Brentwood News, Century City News, Santa Monica Mirror, and Yo! Venice!), held an election forum Sunday, Oct. 12 at University Synagogue in Brentwood.
In the race for the 33rd Congressional District, Brentwood News editor Jeff Hall moderated a debate between Democrat candidate Ted Lieu and Republican candidate Elan Carr.
The 33rd District (currently held by Congressman Henry Waxman who is retiring) includes Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Agoura Hills, Venice, Mar Vista, and the South Bay.
Lieu said he had no doubt that if he were to be elected he would try to work on a bipartisan basis to fix problems.
“But there are some very clear differences,” Lieu said. “If I was to be elected I would vote for (Democratic) leader (Nancy) Pelosi and caucus with Democrats. Mr Carr would vote for (Republican) Speaker (John) Boehner and caucus with Republicans. There are just differences in how the parties think, how parties approach issues. Within this race there are a lot of differences and I’m going to run through some them.”
Lieu said he supported a minimum wage increase, supported a ban on fracking, supported America being a leader on climate change, and supported federal funding for abortions.
“Now having said that, I’ve had history working in a bipartisan manner to fix problems and to move California forward,” Lieu said. “That’s something I would do as a member of Congress and because of that I’ve been honored to be endorsed by both Democrats and Republicans such as Congressman Henry Waxman and Senator Dianne Feinstein (both Democrats), as well as (L.A. County) Supervisor Don Knabe and former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan (both Republicans) and very honored to have gotten the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times, and I’d be honored to have your endorsement and your vote.”
Carr acknowledged there were differences between Lieu and himself.
“I think you just heard one of those differences laid out,” Carr said. “The first thing that Mr. Lieu said was that ‘I’m a Democrat and I’m going to caucus with the Democrats.’ You know what, my campaign isn’t about party and it isn’t about labels. It’s about people and it’s about the future. We have to get away from the high bipartisanship that got us into this mess in the first place. Everyone seems to fall into the same trap and it’s the same business as usual that we can’t seem to break free from.”
Carr then elaborated and offered an example.
“The New York Times interviewed me, and they were baiting me on this,” Carr said. “They said you’re a Republican and you’re running in this West L.A. District, (asking) ‘well are you running against the President?’ I said the President is not a candidate in my race. They said ‘no, you know what we mean. Are you running against President Obama?’ I said let me tell you something, and this is what I said: There is plenty of blame to go around for the mess that we’re in. Plenty of blame. I don’t care, I don’t want to focus on blame, I don’t want to focus on finger pointing. I want to focus on the future because we’re all in this together and we need to build our future together and for the sake of a better America that our kids deserve.”
Carr said he didn’t just pay lip service.
“When a national media venue wrote a piece about me, the Weekly Standard, they said he doesn’t just talk the talk, they looked me up and did some research and the said boy, the two political donations reported that Elan Carr made, one is to a Republican and one is to a Democrat,” Carr said. “I don’t think we should evaluate labels and that we should put people in categories; I think we should look at solutions.”
In regards to caucusing with the Republicans, Carr said he would fight for the best issues that work for the American people.
“And if that bucks the party leadership, so then be it,” Carr said. “I’m not interested in running for office so I can do anyone’s bidding except the people’s bidding and that’s what going to happen. I’m going to fight for what’s right in Washington, D.C. otherwise why would I be running for this office at all.
“I became a gang prosecutor to protect people, I joined the Army to protect people, and I’m running for Congress to protect people.”
Mirror Media Group executive editor Brenton Garen moderated the second segment of Sunday’s forum between 26th District State Senate candidates Sandra Fluke and Ben Allen, both Democrats.
The pair are locked in battle to represent much of the area currently served by State Senator Ted Lieu.
The 26th District includes Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Hollywood, and the South Bay.
Allen said he was someone who had deep local roots.
“I’m from this district, I grew up here, and I came back to my hometown to give back,” Allen said. “I’m someone who has worked in the private sector and have the experience of working and understanding business challenges and private sector challenges.”
Allen said he was also someone who had done some of the same advocacy work as his rival Sandra Fluke had been able to do, but he was also someone who had been able to work from within government to make it work.
“[I’ve] spent time working as a staffer at Capitol Hill and seeing the legislative process from that perspective,” Allen said. “I’m someone who served in the state level at the University of California’s board of regents and getting two pretty important measures passed through the board – a board that was dominated by people far wealthier, far older, far more powerful than me.”
As a current two-term elected board member for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Allen said he had been able to give back locally to the community.
“[I’ve] helped to steer our district through some very difficult times, helping to protect our budget, helping to preserve and protect some of those core programs that make such a difference for kids: the arts, summer schools, P.E., libraries, nursing etc that have been so decimated by school districts and we were able to preserve and protect in our district,” Allen said. “I’m someone who cares deeply about this district, I’m someone who cares deeply about this community, I really want to give back, and I’m really excited about the opportunity to go to Sacramento and be able to work on some of these critical issues like environmental protection, improving our educational system. It’s the reason why I’ve been endorsed by a really wide range of people.”
Allen said he had received endorsements from Congressman Henry Waxman, outgoing L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, 27th District State Senator Fran Pavley, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, and L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe.
“I’ve been endorsed by about 150 different local current or former elected officials – most of the mayors in the district, most of the city council members, and I think it’s because they know that I’m someone who understands what it’s like to make government works, to take tough votes, and to make tough decisions,” Allen said. “I’ve now perseverated the balancing of seven separate budgets and I’m going to take that experience, I’m going to take that homegrown knowledge to Sacramento to represent this district.”
Fluke said her career had been devoted primarily at the state level to working on legislation and policy across a wide range of issues.
“I think that’s really important experience for a State Senator who will need to work on not just education, but health care access, poverty issues, environmental concerns, and job creation, all areas I have devoted time and energy to,” Fluke said. “I’m proud to say I’ve helped passed legislation in those areas.”
In addition to her work representing individuals one-on-one as their attorney, Fluke said she was unified by her goals spending her career trying to figure out ways to amplify the voices of community members who were “too often silenced in the government process.”
“For me, that’s what I’m taking to Sacramento,” Fluke said. “How do I open the doors? How do I bring all of you further into the process? That’s what I’ve done for years and months but I want to be committed to doing it there. I’ve run my campaign in a way that you can trust that you all are the ones who will have influence over my decisions and who I will be accountable to. I’m committed to working on the issues that matter to you, things like educational investment and affordability as well as environmental protection and progress, and above all, campaign finance reform and good government – opening up Sacramento away from special interests and toward our community. That’s what’s most important in this process for me.”
Fluke said voters could trust she was running to work in Sacramento to get things done.
“You’ve actually seen how I make my decision in the public spotlight: that I don’t shy away from taking a tough stand and that I don’t change depending on the political winds, but instead I stand strong and fight for the community and I’ll continue to do that in Sacramento,” Fluke said. “For me, this is not about figuring out how to advance my political career, if it were then I would have run for Congress. I’m going to Sacramento to get things done for both of us.”
The final segment of Sunday’s forum was for L.A. County Supervisor Third District, which comprises of communities like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades and Malibu, as well as much of the San Fernando Valley.
Candidate Bobby Shriver spoke for about 10 minutes on his campaign and issues while his rival Sheila Kuehl, who couldn’t attend on the day, appeared via a 10-minute pre-recorded video.
The entire two-hour forum can be viewed online in three different segments at westsidetoday.wpengine.com.
