IN DISTRICT WHERE HISTORIC FILIPINOTOWN IS LOCATED
LOS ANGELES – Candidates for City Council District 13 (CD 13) locked horns in a candidates’ forum on Wednesday night at the St. Garabed Armenian Church, and discussed a wide range of issues that are important to the communities that they are seeking to represent.
More than a hundred community members of CD 13 came out to hear candidates John Choi and Mitch O’Farrell go-head-to-head in a forum that had as much politicking as issues discussed.
Choi and O’Farell emerged as the top two candidates in the primary nominating elections on March 5. The winning candidate among the two in the coming General Municipal Election on May 21 will replace Councilmember Eric Garcetti as representative for CD 13.
Garcetti, who is running for LA City Mayor against City Controller Wendy Greuel, is set to term out as councilmember.
This is the first time that the community will elect a new representative in 12 years.
The candidates’ forum was organized by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) together with other community organizations, including the Thai Community Development Center, Korean Resource Center, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, League of Women Voters, and Hye Votes. Val Zavala of KCET served as moderator for the forum.
APALC Director for the Community Engagement Project An Le said in a statement that the legal center organized the forum so that the stakeholders of CD 13 would have a chance to hear directly from the two candidates on their stand on relevant issues.
The two candidates took up 17 predetermined questions relating ot issues like jobs and livelihood, affordable housing, urban and community redevelopment, accessibility of services, traffic, public safety, roads and pensions. Enumerated below are some of the topics discussed on Wednesday’s forum.
Traffic
O’Farrell said that the solution to traffic is two-pronged – short-term and long-term. For the short-term, he emphasized that the city budget needs to be balanced and that DASH bus lines need to be utilized to their fullest potential in the district. For the long-term, O’Farrell proposed to formation of a regional transportation board that will transform LA into a “world-class transit hub.”
For his part, Choi also highlighted the benefits of the DASH bus lines. He also pointed out that innovative intersections like diagonal cross-walks need to be introduced to the district in order to address the problem of pedestrian traffic, particularly in the densely packed areas of Hollywood Boulevard.
City budget
For the concerns on the city budget, O’Farrell stressed that he stood against Proposition A and called it a ‘regressive sales tax.’ He said that what the city needs to do is to overhaul the system to favor small businesses and reduce the 50 plus steps in establishing small businesses. O’Farrell said that city revenues will be increased by allowing small businesses to flourish.
Meanwhile, Choi said that the district needs to take advantage of the business that Hollywood brings in and grow the tourism and hospitality industries in CD 13. He said that the city can’t cut its way out of the budget deficit, but rather grow these two industries to move forward.
Building heights in Hollywood
Both candidates were asked about their stand on building heights, specifically the Millenium project in Hollywood. Choi said that he opposed the Millenium project because it will bring density that is harmful to the district. Choi said that his stand is in support of the community who will largely be impacted by the project. He said that the district needs a project that “we can live with.”
O’Farrell said that the project is “not acceptable” and that the Millenium project tower is “too tall.” He said that the project is “not bad” but it needs review of the community. O’Farrell also said that he “eagerly embraces” the opportunity to work with the community in developing the district.
Housing costs
For affordable housing, O’Farrell said that the city needs housing plans that will work, housing projects that seniors and working families can afford. He said that community stakeholders must not be “priced out” of the district and that affordable should be given to the homeless.
Choi said that the city needs to build more and retain the existing affordable housing projects. He also said that there needs to be a diverse housing market that caters to all residents, whether high, medium or low-income earners.
Overcoming language barriers in elections
One of the common problems of AAPI voters during the election period is the language barrier. There are Asian and Pacific Islander voters who are limited in their English proficiency.
On Wednesday’s forum, community stakeholders, who have limited proficiency in English, were given headsets where they listened to an in-language translation of the ongoing forum.
“It was great to see that the forum provided translation in multiple languages, which made it possible for limited-English-proficient Korean Americans to actually pose questions to the candidates in their own language,” said Lawrence Joe of the California Participation Project.
“This is important in a city and council district as diverse as Los Angeles and Council District 13, respectively. These are extremely important considerations that can increase turnout in municipal elections,” Joe added.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend May 11-14, 2013 Sec. A pg.7)
