Furutani for
Assembly
The 55th Assembly District does not include the ports
of Long Beach or Los Angeles, but it is every bit a harbor hub. Cargo entering
and leaving the ports moves by truck and rail through district communities like
Bixby Knolls, Carson, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Lakewood, West Long Beach
and Wilmington.
Residents of the Fightin' 55th breathe foul port air, but many of them also earn their paychecks from jobs tied to the movement of goods. From longshoremen living and sending their kids to school in Long Beach to warehouse workers stacking crates in Carson, logistics and the area's economy are interdependent.
Balancing economic and air quality interests is one of the key issues in Tuesday's special election to replace Laura Richardson, who left the Assembly after a short stint to replace the late Juanita Millender-McDonald in the House of Representatives. (If none of the candidates get a majority of votes Tuesday, the candidate who gets the most votes from each party would compete in a runoff election Feb. 5, the same day as the California presidential primary.)
One of the five candidates seeking her old job, Los Angeles Community College District Boardmember Warren Furutani, would like to form a port caucus in the Legislature that would directly address the issues surrounding the port: transportation, air quality, job creation and employment training.
It's a tall order, but the former Los Angeles Unified school board member from Harbor Gateway expressed an interest in working with state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, and other area legislators in coming up with a plan to address port issues. Like Lowenthal, Furutani supports container fees to pay for road, bridge and environmental programs.
Furutani is reluctant, and we share his perspective, to send L.A.- Long Beach money into the black hole that has replaced what was once Sacramento and wants it collected and managed locally, possibly by the cities' port authorities. His chief opponent in the race, Carson City Councilman Mike Gipson, a fellow Democrat (there was no primary for this special election), also supports keeping and collecting container fees locally.
In fact, the two men, despite their bickering about a couple of stale issues on the campaign trail, share similar perspectives on education, law enforcement and labor and would both be a reliable vote for the Democratic majority in the Assembly.
But Furutani has far more experience in public service and public office and is better connected than Gipson, a labor representative, in Sacramento. Furutani also has his party's endorsement and the backing of Sheriff Lee Baca, a majority of the Long Beach and Lakewood city councils and the county firefighters and sheriff's deputies.
As much as we like the idea of Gipson infusing the slow-moving Legislature with his obvious passion - he is a part-time church pastor and a former police officer who understands public safety - Furutani boasts one of the most powerful Rolodexes (or is it BlackBerries?) in the California Democratic Party.
He has the relationships - he worked for Speaker Fabian Nunez and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (two highly flawed but powerful men) - to get things done for the district. As much as we despise that Sacramento operates on a system of giving and returning favors, Furutani can certainly call in a few from powerful people to help the 55th. Whether he will be a leader or a soloist in the majority party's chorus is an unknown.
The other candidates in the race are armed with good ideas but do not have the experience or connections to move boulders that would solve the district's harrowing problems: gangs and crime, unemployment and inequality, failed schools and ignorance, congestion and pollution.
Keep container fees locally
Powerful connections
The other candidates
Some of candidate Herb Peters' views on eliminating taxes would actually grow businesses and create jobs, but a Libertarian who has never held public office cannot conceivably win in this Democratic stronghold or get an agenda like his past his own desk.
Mervin Leon Evans, another Democrat, is a bit too eager to raise the sales tax by 1.5 percent - even if it is in order to make state college tuition-free. Hurting businesses to help students would solve one economic problem by creating another.
We were unable to meet with another candidate, nurse Charlotte Sadiyah Gibson, and cannot evaluate her qualifications.
Furutani, a former Los Angeles Unified School District trustee, would certainly work well with other area representatives like Lowenthal, Assembly member Betty Karnette and state Sen. Jenny Oropeza. It is his relationships, as well as his obvious intelligence and resume, that will benefit the district. He has our endorsement.
Residents of the Fightin' 55th breathe foul port air, but many of them also earn their paychecks from jobs tied to the movement of goods. From longshoremen living and sending their kids to school in Long Beach to warehouse workers stacking crates in Carson, logistics and the area's economy are interdependent.
Balancing economic and air quality interests is one of the key issues in Tuesday's special election to replace Laura Richardson, who left the Assembly after a short stint to replace the late Juanita Millender-McDonald in the House of Representatives. (If none of the candidates get a majority of votes Tuesday, the candidate who gets the most votes from each party would compete in a runoff election Feb. 5, the same day as the California presidential primary.)
One of the five candidates seeking her old job, Los Angeles Community College District Boardmember Warren Furutani, would like to form a port caucus in the Legislature that would directly address the issues surrounding the port: transportation, air quality, job creation and employment training.
It's a tall order, but the former Los Angeles Unified school board member from Harbor Gateway expressed an interest in working with state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, and other area legislators in coming up with a plan to address port issues. Like Lowenthal, Furutani supports container fees to pay for road, bridge and environmental programs.
Furutani is reluctant, and we share his perspective, to send L.A.- Long Beach money into the black hole that has replaced what was once Sacramento and wants it collected and managed locally, possibly by the cities' port authorities. His chief opponent in the race, Carson City Councilman Mike Gipson, a fellow Democrat (there was no primary for this special election), also supports keeping and collecting container fees locally.
In fact, the two men, despite their bickering about a couple of stale issues on the campaign trail, share similar perspectives on education, law enforcement and labor and would both be a reliable vote for the Democratic majority in the Assembly.
But Furutani has far more experience in public service and public office and is better connected than Gipson, a labor representative, in Sacramento. Furutani also has his party's endorsement and the backing of Sheriff Lee Baca, a majority of the Long Beach and Lakewood city councils and the county firefighters and sheriff's deputies.
As much as we like the idea of Gipson infusing the slow-moving Legislature with his obvious passion - he is a part-time church pastor and a former police officer who understands public safety - Furutani boasts one of the most powerful Rolodexes (or is it BlackBerries?) in the California Democratic Party.
He has the relationships - he worked for Speaker Fabian Nunez and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (two highly flawed but powerful men) - to get things done for the district. As much as we despise that Sacramento operates on a system of giving and returning favors, Furutani can certainly call in a few from powerful people to help the 55th. Whether he will be a leader or a soloist in the majority party's chorus is an unknown.
The other candidates in the race are armed with good ideas but do not have the experience or connections to move boulders that would solve the district's harrowing problems: gangs and crime, unemployment and inequality, failed schools and ignorance, congestion and pollution.
Keep container fees locally
Powerful connections
The other candidates
Some of candidate Herb Peters' views on eliminating taxes would actually grow businesses and create jobs, but a Libertarian who has never held public office cannot conceivably win in this Democratic stronghold or get an agenda like his past his own desk.
Mervin Leon Evans, another Democrat, is a bit too eager to raise the sales tax by 1.5 percent - even if it is in order to make state college tuition-free. Hurting businesses to help students would solve one economic problem by creating another.
We were unable to meet with another candidate, nurse Charlotte Sadiyah Gibson, and cannot evaluate her qualifications.
Furutani, a former Los Angeles Unified School District trustee, would certainly work well with other area representatives like Lowenthal, Assembly member Betty Karnette and state Sen. Jenny Oropeza. It is his relationships, as well as his obvious intelligence and resume, that will benefit the district. He has our endorsement.
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