League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Supervisor; County of Los Angeles; District 2

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Qualifications, Health care, 2nd District needs Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. Please provide a brief list of your qualifications in bullet format. (No more than 25 words for this section.) Answer from Bernard C. Parks: Former Chief of Police of the LAPD Member of the Los Angeles City Council More than 40 years of public service Answer from Mark Ridley-Thomas: State Senator Elected and civic leader for over 30 years Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Voting Rights Leader Teacher 2. What measures do you propose to improve health care delivery in the 2nd District? How will the county pay for these services? (No more than 150 words total for questions 2 and 3.) Answer from Bernard C. Parks: The County pays 20% of the total public cost of the health care delivery system and has no way to make up for cuts in state and federal funding. Fundamentally, there is not enough local, state and federal money available to sustain health care services. We must have a national system of universal health care or the system in the County and elsewhere will catastrophically collapse. Answer from Mark Ridley-Thomas: . 3. How do you propose to address the specific needs of 2nd District residents? (No more than 150 words total for questions 2 and 3.) Answer from Bernard C. Parks: Meeting those needs requires a thorough understanding of them, knowledge of how County services can be used to meet them and an appreciation of how the County government works from top to bottom. Addressing those needs in the most effective way also requires that we work to eliminate the "Rule of Five" at the Board level in favor of the Rule of Need when it comes to funding allocations and at the department level we force the integration and collocation of what are now disconnected services. Answer from Mark Ridley-Thomas: . Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Until 5:00 p.m. on September 5, 2008, candidates for Superior Court Judge must limit their answers to 175 words total for all questions so that a paper Voters Guide may be published. Specific word limits are as follows: 25 words for question 1; 150 words total for questions 2 and 3. After 5:00 p.m. on September 5, 2008, word limits will no longer apply. Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League or by Smart Voter, and must comply with California law as stated in California Election Code sections 13307 and 13308. Candidates are restricted to identifying their own qualifications and may not comment on any other candidate’s qualifications, character, or activities. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.