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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Dist. 2 Candidates Take Safe Positions on Secession

Dist. 2 Candidates Take Safe Positions on Secession On March 5, outgoing state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, 38, D-Mission Hills, will face off against DreamWorks SKG executive Wendy Greuel, 40, in a runoff election to fill the open 2nd District seat on the Los Angeles City Council. The vacancy arose last fall after veteran Councilman Joel Wachs resigned following an unsuccessful run for mayor of Los Angeles. Three candidates ran in the primary with Cardenas and Greuel ending up as the top vote-getters: Cardenas with 47.61 percent and Greuel 42.74 percent. Since December the city council race for the 2nd District, which stretches from Studio City through North Hollywood and into the foothill communities of Sunland-Tujunga, has become one of the most contentious and costly in recent years. The two candidates together were expected to spend nearly $800,000 in the December primary, with much of Greuel’s backing coming from the entertainment industry. After the primary, when DreamWorks announced its plans for a fundraiser for Greuel, Cardenas went after and won support from rival Walt Disney Co., which will host a $500-per-person reception for the assemblyman on Feb 8. Greuel is a Van Nuys resident. She formerly worked as an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley and as an official with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She now handles governmental and community affairs for DreamWorks SKG. Cardenas is a long-time resident of the Northeast Valley who recently moved from Sylmar to a Panorama City residence within the boundaries of the 2nd District, a move heavily criticized by Greuel early on. He has served five years in the Assembly but is being forced out by term limits. Jacqueline Fox, political reporter for the Business Journal, recently met with the two candidates to get their views on several issues concerning the Valley business community, their plans for improving services and where they stand today on the push for a separate Valley city. Question: Now that there is a blueprint for Valley secession on the table that officials agree is viable, where do you stand on the issue? Cardenas: I’m very proud to say that I was one of the legislators who worked out the language needed to get the funding to LAFCO to study a secession, and one of the original drafters of the language for an actual ballot initiative. So, I’m very proud of that. I personally don’t support secession but frankly, as my legislation shows, I think this ought to go to the vote of the people and let the people decide. Greuel: I’ve talked frequently about the fact that these issues for the Valley constituents of the 2nd District and all of Los Angeles are about getting a fair share of services. Secession was born out of years of frustration and, yes, neglect. I do believe that the citizens should have an opportunity to decide the issue but, if asked to vote on it today, I would say that I’m opposed to it. I just think there isn’t enough information out yet about whether this would be viable or not. Q: Aviation firms at the Van Nuys Airport say their plans for development could reap significant revenue for the city and reverse a trend of losses for the airport, which have averaged about $4 million a year. Yet they say they are hamstrung by LAWA and the lack of a master plan for development. What would you do to expedite completion of the master plan for land use there and what’s your vision for the airport’s long-term growth? Cardenas: Whatever land use plan LAWA has, first and foremost, my commitment would be to make sure that they have community meetings discussing the needs and wants of the businesses there. But I think that they also need to discuss the detriments, such as noise and other issues, so they can come up with a plan that takes all of those concerns into account. If we are going to move forward and we are going to grow, we need to do it in a way that’s respectful of the community and that those residents register on the record their concerns and that those be taken into account when drafting the plan. Whenever we have a viable entity that is losing money, it does concern me because it affects the economy. So it is important the businesses are heard, but at the same time so is the relationship we try to develop between the airport and residents. Greuel: Clearly the Van Nuys Airport is a vital part of our economic engine. It’s an important resource and there are many ways in which it could be generating more money for the entire city. I believe we should move forward and get a master plan in place. We need to push LAWA into action, but we also need to find a way to strike a balance with the neighborhoods nearby and their concerns. I’ve talked to businesses there who want badly to operate more efficiently but are at a standstill right now. But I’m also sympathetic to the residents and the concerns they have, so I will make it a priority to push LAWA to deal with all aspects of the issue and come up with a plan that strikes a balance for both sides. Q: The city’s Business Tax Advisory Committee has made some inroads, but the city tax system, many say, is still in need of changes. What more would you do to reverse the impression that the city is not as business-friendly as it could be? Cardenas: I believe that Baltimore may have some examples of how we can better improve our business situation here, or New York, or Salt Lake City. There are blueprints around where other cities have gone through these headaches. Or maybe there are examples for better systems coming from professors at UCLA, for example, that offer better ways of dealing with our business system and some of the egregious taxes that people are complaining about. I think it may be a good idea to look at alternatives. But fortunately and unfortunately, when it comes to taxes, it’s kind of a push and pull, and that’s what I experienced in Sacramento. So that’s what I bring to the table of the city of Los Angeles: to make sure we have a balance of services when it comes to businesses and when it comes to services. Greuel: We clearly need to do all we can to change that perception. We need to make sure that BTAC’s recommendations are all implemented and done so quickly. My family owns a business right here in the Valley, so I understand the concerns of the small business owners very well. I think we need to go back to the basics because time is money, and especially for small businesses because they are driving the economic engine here. We need to look at our business tax structure and I intend to sit down with BTAC and others to talk about how to best answer the questions these companies have, get those who haven’t been complying with the tax laws to come in line, and talk about ways to make it more fair for small companies. But I also think it’s important to discuss ways to come up with a better structure that entices larger corporations to come here. Q: Funding is on the way for some Valley transit projects, but coming slowly. What’s your strategy for getting more congestion-relief projects up and running in the Valley? Cardenas: I’m just as frustrated as anybody, but the city of Los Angeles does have a formal voice on the MTA, and I want to make sure that I’m either that formal voice or that I help those who are. At the state level, we’ve been able to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation funding to the Valley, but it’s frustrating because some of those projects aren’t underway and now the MTA needs to be responsible enough to make sure they expedite those projects and do their job. As a city council member, I’m going to make sure that I’m working with the MTA to push them as hard as I can. Greuel: I think the issue of developing a Valley transit zone is critical. We need to look at adding more buses and I think the idea of an East-West Valley Busway is also an excellent idea. But one of the concerns I have is that we don’t have enough control at the local level over the decisions that are made concerning transit projects and state funding. For instance, we have the Valley Transit Strike Force, which I think is wonderful, but I’m concerned about the fact that these guys had to go to Sacramento to fight for us because the support at the local level wasn’t coming fast enough. We shouldn’t have to do that. I’m also concerned about state budget cuts and I think we need true leadership in the city council to address some of these issues. Q: Some have described the idea of neighborhood councils as a quick fix with little lasting impact. Do you think they offer a solid alternative to a separate Valley government? Cardenas: I don’t look at them as an alternative. I look at them as a responsible action by the city and I personally respect neighborhood councils and have already pledged my support for them. As a councilman my job will be to make sure my door is open, that we help our constituents with resources, that we are their eyes and ears, that we listen to them and that we attend those meetings and work with them. Because I think the neighborhood councils are closer to our community than our current government is, they will allow our community to be able to voice their concerns more specifically. Greuel: I view neighborhood councils as an exciting opportunity, but we need to provide the resources to make them effective. I think it’s an evolving process and it’s certainly coming slowly. But I support the idea of neighborhood councils and I’m going to push my constituents for their involvement in them. I’ve got a lot of ideas for how to improve things at City Hall, but it’s also about listening and getting closer to the community, and I think the councils are an exciting and effective way of doing so. And if you are a good councilperson, the plan should be to make them an integral part of government. Q: If you are elected, what would you do to improve services in the Valley? Cardenas: Where do we start? For example, the issues that the constituents tell me about all the time are issues of public safety. They want to make sure our roads are clean and maintained properly. One of the ways I plan on doing that is making sure I get every department head in the city of Los Angeles this is no joke I want to get every department head to walk the streets of my district and meet some of our constituents and look at some of the real tangible problems that they need to take care of. As a councilman, my job is going to be to make sure that our city, paid for by our tax dollars, responds to our community and gives us a fair share of resources and, on top of that, gives us the kind of respect that our taxpayer dollars deserve. Greuel: When I go out and knock on people’s doors, it’s about the streets, the potholes, the police and fire response time, and we need to focus on these concerns. What can we do? I think one of the things we need is offices right in the district, and I plan to re-open the district office in Sunland-Tujunga, where people are feeling very shut off and very disenfranchised. I intend to be an advocate and a fighter for my district to make sure that we do more to improve the fairness of the delivery of these services.

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