League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA June 5, 2012 Election
	Mike Meza Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 48

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How will you prioritize the budget choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?

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.

2. What types of changes or reforms, if any, do you think are important to make our state government function more effectively?

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

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?

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.

4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address? What are your own priorities?

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.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
SmartVoter Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter

---

Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 1, 2012 02:20
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://www.lwvc.org
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.