League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 5, 2013 Election
	Emanuel Alberto Pleitez Answers Questions Candidate for Mayor; City of Los Angeles

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

Questions & Answers

1. What do you think is the single most important issue facing the City of Los Angeles today? As Mayor what would you do to deal with it?

The biggest issue facing our city is the lack of innovation and responsiveness. City Hall needs to be responsive to the needs of the people. What do Angelenos want? They want better city infrastructure, more transportation options, access to critical city services, and economic opportunities here in Los Angeles. Budgeting, education, and economic development are the biggest areas where Los Angeles needs attention and improvement. New and innovative ideas are critical to making a positive change in all of these areas, and that requires a new kind of leader.

I'm already doing what the next mayor needs to do. My team and I have reached out to over 100,000 people face to face or by phone. Having stakeholder meetings, making myself available for phone calls or office visits, and going door to door to talk with Angelenos are just a few of the ways to make sure all voices and concerns are heard. It's what I'm doing now and what I'll continue doing as mayor.

2. The City Administrative Officer has estimated a $200M budget shortfall for 2013-2014 increasing to $300M in 2015-2016. What steps do you propose to deal with this problem, and how much do you estimate each step would reduce the shortfall?

City budget shortfalls are the result of our growing pension crisis. Without reform, the City's pension bill for retirees--including fire, police, and the Department of Water and Power (DWP)--could increase to half the City's budget in 5 years. This would leave little money for public safety, sanitation, or other essential services, and would result in layoffs for city workers. Any solution to the City's budget problems must start with reforming our pension system.

Unfortunately, because of poorly-timed and ill-advised decisions (including a massive 2007 pay increase), we likely won't be able to provide all the benefits we've promised our workers. We must find a way to reform our benefit system for both new hires and current employees. This could be accomplished with increases in the retirement age, adjustments to the benefits formula (such as the COLA), a move towards a 401(k)-like plan, and buyouts.

3. Do you support the ballot measure to increase the sales tax in the city?

A sales tax increase that hurts working people is not the answer to the City's financial problems. It might close our budget gap for a year or two, but before you know it, we'll be looking at other arbitrary tax increases designed not to put us on a sustainable budget path for the future, but cover up our politicians' mistakes.

Instead, we must increase the tax base, which in LA means ensuring that residents are working. There's untapped potential in places like South LA, where people are hungry for work. Unfortunately, due to lack of investment and lack of the right skills, unemployment is high in these areas. With the right investment incentives and skills training that matches the needs of employers, we can put LA back to work and increase revenue.

4. What role do you feel the City of Los Angeles has to play in addressing climate change? What should the City do and how would you implement it?

As the second largest city in the country, Los Angeles is in a unique position to take a leadership role in addressing climate change. Our size also means we have a large number of people, cars, and houses. That means a lot a lot of areas where we can show the rest of the country and the world how to reduce emissions, reduce pollution, and reduce the negative impact we have on the environment.

While managing the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, I helped deliver the recommendation to President Obama for a national initiative to retrofit America's homes for energy efficiency + Home Star. The initiative provided performance-based incentives for homeowners and industry, consumer financing opportunities, and standards and quality training. Not only does this make our homes more energy efficient, it also puts people to work.

We don't need to wait for an energy system redesign. The technology and workforce is available + let's use it. As Mayor, I will implement a local home retrofitting program and other clean technologies citywide. By doing this, we'll be making residents more conscious of environmental issues, why they're so important, and how they can reduce pollution and their carbon footprint.

5. As Mayor, you would sit on the Board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. What would you advocate there in terms of transportation policy?

It's hard to get from place to place in this City. Try getting from Eastside to Century City by bus + it used to take me over three hours to get to and from my job. LA has an undeniable mobility problem that we need to solve.

Subway and rail projects are popular ideas, but we've been talking about them for years, and any rail transit options could take another decade to complete.

In the meantime, we need to find solutions to transit problems that we can implement today. We need to facilitate multiple modes of transportation: buses, taxis, car-share, bike-share, and carpooling. We need to encourage the private sector, and partner with private companies, to provide some of these options. We need to improve the environment for private dollars to invest in our transportation networks.

And we need to make sure development in our city is transit-friendly and transit-oriented. This means that people live near where they work, or near mass transit options. Transit-oriented development will feature prominently in my community development plans. No longer will someone on the Eastside or South LA need to spend three hours commuting to work. I'll make sure they have good transit options, and good jobs where they live.

6. If elected, what role, if any, do you intend to play in K-12 education in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country. Education is a 24-hour job and it should be a 24-hour responsibility of the city. I will implement new programs aimed at keeping students in school, I will increase the number of options for learning outside the classroom, and I will increase training programs for people of all ages who need new skills to be part of the today's workforce.

I will create partnerships with businesses and colleges to ensure Angelenos are able to learn about, train for, and succeed in educational and economic opportunities. This means the creation and expansion of programs that match our students, regardless of age, with businesses and programs looking for potential employees. These programs, coupled with an increased emphasis on training for the most highly demanded skills, creates the potential for our students to learn both inside the classroom and outside through on the job training. I worked on a similar initiative--Skills for America's Future--while with the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

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

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 21, 2013 14:50
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