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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
Fiscal Choices,
Water,
Education,
Your Priorities
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. How would you prioritize the fiscal choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?
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Answer from Lawrence R. Wiesner:
I believe the single most important tool for addressing budget deficits is to imitate our neighbors in Colorado and pass a Taxpayer Bill of Rights that will rigorously limit government spending to a defined percentage of actual revenues. The Gann Initiative sought to do this very thing, and it did, until the special interests gutted it. It's time to recover this vital lost ground. Let's set up a rainy day fund; scale back the size of state bureaucracies; bring salaries of state employees into line with those of the private sector; reduce extravagant health and pension benefits; set limits on the extension of unemployment benefits; eliminate useless boards, commissions and departments; repeal spending mandates; eliminate waste and extravagance from worthy programs.
Answer from Mike McGuire:
- The state of California needs to continue to reinvest in the issues and policies that make our state great- and that begins with stronger public schools. We need to continue to reinvest in our public schools, including restoring the over $25 billion cut from the State's K-12, Community College, State and University systems. To accomplish this, the state must extend Proposition 30 prior to its sunset, and implement an oil extraction tax. California is the only oil producing state in the nation that does not ask oil companies to pay their fair share. Even Alaska and Texas have implemented this common sense policy.
- As we have done in Sonoma County, we need to also invest in the state's infrastructure and roads. As a county Supervisor, I have led efforts that have invested over $100 million in local county roads. Over the last three years, the County of Sonoma has paved more road miles than in the previous three decades. As a member of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, I recently led the effort to secure $67 million, which will repave 14 miles of highway 101 in northern Sonoma County.
- The State must also reinvest and build up its rainy day fund, which is why I'm supporting Proposition 2. Prop 2 will help pay down our bond debt and make our reserves stronger in the years to come. As a member of the State Senate, I will work collaboratively with state employees to tackle the significant debt that exists in both of the State's two major pension funds, the Public Employee Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, I have helped to lead our historic pension reform efforts- saving taxpayers $170 million over the next ten years.
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2. Given our current drought condition, concern for water rights and usage is an important issue. What solutions would you support to address our water problems?
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Answer from Lawrence R. Wiesner:
We have fallen way behind population needs for water storage facilities in California. We need to seriously consider the construction of new dams, for example the Auburn Dam.
Answer from Mike McGuire:
- I support the water bond, Proposition 1, that will be on the November ballot. It will provide the state with the infrastructure upgrades necessary for long-term success and it will focus on water conservation and habitat restoration initiatives throughout the state.
- I believe + working with the environmental and agricultural communities along with local cities and counties + we must move forward with the raising of the Coyote Dam at Lake Mendocino. This would be one of the most cost effective storage projects in the state and it would double the capacity of the Lake. Our state must also focus on recharging our under ground aquifers.
- As I have done as a County Supervisor, I will continue to fight for funding that would implement water conservation programs. As a Supervisor, I lead the effort that has launched Northern Sonoma County's most aggressive water conservation program which will save over 41 million gallons per year including the installation of 3,800 water efficient toilets and removing ten football fields worth of turf. This total program has a budget of $1.5 million.
- I will continue to fight any proposal that would build the delta tunnels, which would send Northern California's water to Southern California.
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3. California high school students rank lower than many states in student performance. What do you see as the ongoing role of the Legislature in addressing this problem?
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Answer from Mike McGuire:
- First and foremost, we must increase per-pupil funding for K-12 education. It's unacceptable for California to be ranked 49th in the nation for per-pupil funding + we must do better. We need to extend Proposition 30 prior to its sunset, and implement an oil extraction tax.
Members of the legislature need to recognize that a majority of our students will not graduate from a four-year college. As a state, we need to provide strong vocational and technical programs in our schools - preparing our students for the 21st Century work force. As co-founder of the Career Technology Education Fund (CTE Fund), I have helped to lead the way and raise $1 million for career and job skill classes in Sonoma County Public High Schools. The first ten classes + funded by the CTE Fund + rolled out at the beginning of this school year. As a member of the state Senate, I will work to extend the Career Pathways grant for the upcoming school year. Recent legislation has provided one year of funding and will need to be renewed to realize its full potential.
Finally, we need to appropriate funding for the implementation of the Common Core Standards.
Answer from Lawrence R. Wiesner:
The primary responsibility for the education of children lies with their parents. Accordingly, schools exist to serve parents, and should be directly accountable to them. Beneath the light of this common sense principle it is easy to see where California has gone awry. The public school system has fallen into the hands, not of parents and local teachers and administrators, but of federal regulators, state legislators, teachers' unions, and a massive educational bureaucracy that is riddled with waste and special interest pandering. The results are not pretty. Local school districts are no longer free to work with parents to hire and fire teachers, determine salaries, choose textbooks, work up curricula, and address problems as they arise. Instead, they groan under burdensome collective bargaining agreements, crippling regulations, and costly, time-consuming mandates handed down from legislators and bureaucrats.
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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 Mike McGuire:
- The Second Senate District runs from the Golden Gate Bridge up the coast to the Oregon border, comprising 40% of California's total coastline. There will be significant environmental priorities that the senator from this district will need to face, including water and drought related issues, potential fracking and the reopening of our state parks. As state senator, I will introduce legislation to ban fracking, continue to oppose the delta tunnels, and fight to protect our pristine coast, watersheds and open spaces.
- The Second Senate District is home to more state parks than any other district in the entire State of California. These parks + especially in rural communities + help drive the local economy. We must re-open our state parks and get the public back out onto their land.
While we have seen positive gains over the last year, we have a long way to go before we can claim success when it comes to returning California to a thriving economy and a solid financial foundation. The state must be focused on legislation that will help small businesses grow + approximately 85% of all business in our Senate District have 15 employees or less - and invest in infrastructure that will assist with small business expansion in the years to come including the installation of rural broadband which will open up access to high speed internet. During the recession, I united the community around an economic recovery plan that helped make Sonoma County first in job growth in California. In addition, in Sonoma County, we have tackled some of our toughest challenges + such as brining stability to our budget.
Through strategic + though often difficult + reductions, we have been able to deliver responsible budgets and this year, we are cultivating a more than $15 million surplus that will be reinvested in roads, infrastructure and making our rainy day fund stronger (after years of deficits). In addition, I helped to broker historic pension reform agreements that will yield $170 million in savings for taxpayers. In the senate we need to guarantee fiscal stability and deliver responsible budgets. Our state leaders must continue paying down our bond debt, address our pension liabilities, rebuild reserves and strategically reinvest in services and programs.
Here are some of my other focus areas (in no particular order):
As a state Senator, I would also like to continue what I started when it comes to investment in infrastructure. As a Supervisor, I have been hyper-focused on investing record funding into county roads and advancing projects such as the Sonoma County Airport, SMART and Highway 101. Our state senator must be focused on securing funds for Highway 101 throughout the North Bay and North Coast (with a real focus on the
Sonoma-Marin Narrows, Last Chance Grade in Del Norte County, rural roads and partnering with the SMART Board to move the Train north to Cloverdale and south to Larkspur).
The state must deploy rural broadband and enhance rural cell technology. This is an initiative that is long overdue and as a member of the North Bay/North Coast Broadband Consortium, I believe our next State Senator must champion this important issue.
I will also work hard to make sure all Californians have access to affordable health insurance. I believe healthcare for all is a basic human right, which is why as a County Supervisor I have worked to strengthen and expand local health centers and rural health clinics. At the state level, we must begin to restore the billions in cuts to the state's health and human service system that have impacted seniors and families since the start of this recession.
Answer from Lawrence R. Wiesner:
California suffers from higher unemployment than the nation as a whole. We need to become more business friendly in order to retain an expand employment opportunities for our citizens. I would do this by: reducing taxes; reducing burdensome regulations; reducing unnecessary litigation; and placing a fresh emphasis on public works.
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
