Council candidates take on the issues

Fran Adelson, (Democrat)

The budget of the City of Long Beach needs to be cut, as it has grown out of control under the Republican administration. The Republican city manager wastefully spends money with a complete disregard to the effect on the community.
One example of bad judgment is his incurring the cost and expense to demolish West End dunes without proper permits from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, potentially putting the citizens of Long Beach at risk, and potentially causing the taxpayers’ money in the form of fines of up to $10,000 per day. Now the city must spend more money to restore the dunes to their original state. The city manager is not affected by this because he doesn't live here.
We need to stop unnecessary spending. The Republican administration has hired numerous outside consultants at the taxpayers’ expense. I would eliminate from the budget hundreds of thousand of dollars spent to determine we have a parking problem, or that our roads need to be fixed. We already know this. Instead I would spend the money to create parking and fix the roads. I will work hard for a responsible budget that meets the needs of our citizens.



Maureen Doherty, (Coalition)

The item that I would add to the budget would be the continuation of this coalition's work in purchasing more lots for ‘resident parking only’ in all areas of Long Beach. The area where I would delete or cut back is overtime, where feasible. Although many citizens would hope I would include the renovation of the boardwalk in a future budget plan, they should be made aware that the city is working on stimulus monies, state funding, and grant applications to pay for this need. In the meantime, Long Beach has built new ramps, entrances, walks, bench areas, and shower facilities along with the reparation of this highly used boardwalk. Funding and grants take time.

Mike Fagen, (Democrat)

The budget needs to be reduced. The starting point will be to eliminate the friends and family hiring practices of the Republican administration. By just eliminating family members of Republican officials from the budget, millions of dollars will be saved.  These positions will not be replaced in many cases, and will never be replaced by family members of the Democrats. The Democratic candidates do not currently have any family working for the city and pledge to not hire their families to work for the city.
Other areas to be addressed include the debacle at the Indiana firehouse. The Republican administration is paying substantially more to rehabilitate the existing firehouse than a new firehouse would have cost. The Republican administration renovated a private garage outside the West End to house the fire trucks, pending work on the West End firehouse and now rents that garage at a cost of $7,500 a month, when a building owned by the city on West Park Avenue, which is closer to the West End, could have been used without paying rent. It is crazy that a city-owned building goes unused while the Republican city officials pay their friends excessive rents for the use of their properties.   

John McLaughlin, (Coalition-Incumbent)

The area that needs to be addressed in the upcoming 2010-11 budget is one which affects nearly every department. That is, the overtime costs which accrue throughout the year.
While overtime is a necessary evil when dealing with the day-to-day management of any municipality, we have to remember that as these costs rise, there is a trickle down effect which also appears in pension payouts to the state, termination payouts and, if contractually permitted, the accrual of compensatory time in lieu of monetary compensation. In my opinion, this opens the door for subtraction through addition. While the sentimental thought may be to leave a position line open and reduce the workforce, history will show that this practice only increases these present and future payouts.
It is far more economical to replace a full-time employee with a newer hire at a lower initial grade, for far less than it would be to replace that person with overtime. Strategic hiring coupled with more stringent departmental management could save the city substantial funds in the future. While our city’s workforce does an outstanding job overall, overtime saps the energy of the workforce and the pockets of our city.

Len Torres, (Democrat)

The budget of the City of Long Beach is too big and needs a great deal of clarification. First of all, how is the CSEA contract going to be paid for? Why is the beach revenue projected at such a high rate? Particularly since in the past few years beach revenue has come in at a much lower rate. Moreover, on what basis is $1.7 million revenue projected for the ice arena?
Instead, what is clear is that, over the past six years, since the Republican-controlled administration first was elected, spending has increased by 40 percent. Last year alone, this administration has added over 200 jobs to the budget. This reckless spending is covered-up by numerous “smoke-screens” throughout the entire budget. This current administration has made it unaffordable for current and future families to live in Long Beach. Again, I would start to change this budget by adding clarity and better administrative judgment. While the Republicans have been adding jobs to the budget, they have been wrongly firing employees and have shown a blatant disregard for the civil service laws. The Republican Council’s actions have cost the city millions of dollars in consultants, attorneys’ fees and awards. In addition to stopping inaccurate budget projections, stopping the illegal acts with regard to hiring and firing practices and removing purely patronage jobs, is where I would start to cut next year’s proposed budget.
  

Marvin Weiss, (Coalition)

On way to keep the budget down would be to review overtime hours for city workers. To keep our budget down I will explore all avenues that will get the city the best possible pricing for necessary purchases. I want to continue to keep our city affordable for our seniors and young adults who want to keep Long Beach their home.