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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Budget,
Government reform,
Higher education,
Major issues
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. How will you prioritize the budget choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?
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Answer from Mike Meza:
Income and spending are not equal components. The latter must be predicated on the former. Like every family in this state income dictates spending. One cannot align spending to income. Taking stock of spending priorities must be given to those most fundamental responsibilites that the private sector should not or cannot do alone or can only be done with government support. Anything else is deferrable to the private sector.
Answer from Joe Gardner:
It is essential that government operates within its budget. Escalating taxation is not the answer. All non-essential spending must be eliminated. The key to improving our economy is to embrace the concept of creating private-sector jobs and develop small businesses to generate revenue. The Legislature must be focused on being fiscally responsible for the greater good of all Californians.
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2. What types of changes or reforms, if any, do you think are important to make our state government function more effectively?
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Answer from Joe Gardner:
Government must restructure its system of taxation and eliminate redundancy and waste to attract business back to the state. That means dismantling job-killing regulations and directing its resources to the more important issues of public safety, improving our infrastructure and education system.
Answer from Mike Meza:
The elimination of duplication, more sunsetting, the creation of a valid budget, the agrressive pursuit of waste and fraud, reasoned decisions, a part time legislalture, age limits of 25 for any city or county elected official, 35 for the assembly and 45 for the senate. A maximum term of 9 years for the assembly and 18 years for the senate. In aggregate all legislatures limited to 18 years. The assembly by popular vote, the senate by all elected officials of each and every governmental entity in the state.
Completely reforming campaign financing, terminating state regulated education and at this juncture allowing each and every individual school district to directly receive their revenue allocation and get on with the business of teaching
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3. Fees for public higher education have gone up dramatically and funding has been cut. Is this a priority concern, and if so, what measures would you propose to address it?
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Answer from Joe Gardner:
We need a skilled workforce for job creation. We must hold administrators of our education systems accountable for proper fiscal management. Funding to them must be spent wisely. Part of funding issues centers around unstable sources of revenue due to a poor economy. Generating opportunity and prosperity for all creates revenue to our schools.
Answer from Mike Meza:
This question is predicated on some undefined base revenue essentiality. But is the fee increase a result of waste, a political ploy to maintain existing inefficiencies or is the fee increase truely the best, last and only alternative to maintaining public education. This question as presented cannot be answered in terms of priority. An analsysis of lost dollars in terms of viable graduation rates, student loans, educational bureauaracy, completion time from date of matriculation, student indecision coupled with their respective desire and capacity to pursue an education must first be performed.
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4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address? What are your own priorities?
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Answer from Joe Gardner:
The state has abdicated its responsibility regarding AB109, "Realignment." It has created public safety concerns and elevations in crime. The state must take responsibility and actions to properly manage and cut costs to prisons to assure justice is served and the people are protected.
Answer from Mike Meza:
The legislature must deliberatively solve the financial crisis the state is in. Any plan to address this will require a multi-year approach. Practical stewardship not politics must prevail. Operating for the sole purpose of retaining power and control only serves to exacerbate the dire consequences that are sure to come.
My first priority is to reduce my salary to a flat $60,000 then developing, procuring or adopting a protocol that will identify fraud as mentioned earlier along with identifying redundant or unnecessary services in the most cost effective and prudent manner.
Other priorities I surmise will be predicated on what is next up with respect to the never ending attention to what I see as issues principal to government; water and water districts, transportation, energy, waste as it pertains to landfills, recycling and creation of new products, waste in government, innovation and integration of services with and in both public and private sectors and lastly excision;that unfortunate government necessity of addressing the malevolent, insidious and the rapacious that seek to infringe upon the happiness of others.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' statements are presented as
submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
