By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
In a few weeks, voters in Long Beach’s 6th District will decide who will represent them on the Long Beach City Council. The choice is between two candidates, incumbent Dee Andrews and challenger Ahmed Saafir.
Andrews has been in office less than a year, after he won a special election to replace former 6th District Councilwoman Laura Richardson, who was elected to the California State Assembly and later the U.S. House of Representatives. Recently, the Signal Tribune interviewed Andrews and Saafir, asking each of them the same four questions. Their unedited responses follow:
Signal Tribune: Why are you running for (re)election to the city council?
Andrews: Last May, the residents of the 6th District overwhelmingly said “no” to special-interest groups who think money and influence speak louder than our voice. They said “yes” to me, Dee Andrews, who will continue to have a strong voice for the 6th District. I will keep tackling the issues that are most important to my neighbors. With only a brief time in office I have risen above divisive politics and I continue to champion the real causes that matter to 6th District residents.
Saafir: I am running because I want the best for my community. I have lived in the 6th district of Long Beach for over 40 years. I raised my family there and have deep roots. I have not just had an address in the district–I have provided my time and talent to numerous organizations and have actively supported numerous community initiatives. I feel that at this crucial time, the district needs strong and effective leadership. I know I can provide that leadership.
Signal Tribune: Why do you feel you are the best man for the job?
Saafir: Because I know the district and I know the residents of the district. I am a businessman, and I feel that the key to economic revival of the district is the strengthening of small business and the attraction of new business. I am the best candidate to bring that about. My heart has been–and is with–the district. It is a place where I raised my children, purchased my first home, and invested time, talent and financial resources. I share the hope and embrace the dreams of all district residents for a better community.
Andrews: I am not a businessman–I am a community man. I am working hard every day on the issues and concerns of the residents of the 6th District. I know my community and they elected me because of my passion for the community. Almost all of my opponents’ previous supporters now support me from business groups, businesspersons, community members, political officials and union representatives.
I look forward to continue to work with former 6th District candidates Lillian Parker, Ed Acevedo, Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, all the members of the Long Beach city council and the Mayor. Most important of all I love to help and work with my neighbors and find solutions to their problems and celebrate our successes.
Signal Tribune: What will be your top three priorities on the council if you are reelected?
Andrews: Jobs, jobs, jobs! This is a good example of an area where I am making a real difference. There are many issues facing the 6th District and I am attacking them on all fronts, from infrastructure improvements to public safety, environment, and after-school programs.
It is important that we bring people together to find solutions to our problems. We have many resources, nonprofits, cultural groups, and programs that for the most part work independently from each other.
We need to come together as a community so that together we can make a difference. Through my leadership as a councilman I opened up the Martin Luther King parade and celebration to all cultural groups and volunteers from all over the 6th District. As a result we had the largest attendance and the event was widely recognized as bringing the community together like never before.
What saddens me is how people from outside the community really don’t understand what is needed for the residents. When 48 percent of families in our community are below poverty level and there has been a 13-percent unemployment rate compared to 4.9 percent for the city of Long Beach, something needs to be done.
Much of our community problems come from high unemployment. Even [one of] my opponent’s campaign workers at the Wrigley debate approached me after the debate to ask if he could get in my job program. The 6th district is the highest in terms of density and diversity I have made and will continue to make an impact on the quality of people’s lives.
Saafir: As 6th district city councilman, my top three priorities will be: to implement measures for a safe, healthier community through increasing public safety; providing more quality affordable housing; and developing economic development initiatives that bring resources and dollars to the District.
These three priorities are intrinsically linked. Crime statistics reflect the basic social and economic health of a community. Elimination or significant reduction in crime changes the perception of the district as an unsafe place to live. A community that is perceived as safe attracts homeownership opportunities. Homeowners attract business, business brings jobs, and jobs bring economic and social revitalization. Corridor development is necessary to create new businesses to birth job creation for growth in employment.
Signal Tribune: How will you go about getting those things done?
Saafir: The city’s Redevelopment Agency funds and Community Development block grant funds are designed to assist communities (like the 6th district) with populations having incomes below median. Use of these funds must be re-assessed and channeled to provide meaningful programs and initiatives that actually make a difference in the quality of life in the district.
Investigate and track the uses of the interest monies collected from all accounts and recovery fees. These monies could possibly be earmarked for “social investment” back into the community.
The City of Long Beach has excellent business development programs and an award-winning Business Development Center that provides a variety of innovative business assistance programs and services.
While business attraction is extremely important to the district, we see that as a long-term goal. A more important immediate goal is to strengthen existing businesses.
Business owners and entrepreneurs who have already invested in the community are now experiencing a variety of issues affecting the viability of their businesses. We need to provide them with access to capital, credit and a solid workforce. They need the support of our city.
I propose to use what the city currently has to offer, but make information and access to those resources more available to businesses in the District. The Business Development Center staff operates out of offices on Pine Avenue downtown. A site office in the district, regular workshops and one-on-one sessions with district businesses, and hiring staff that looks like and speaks the languages of district business owners are all proposals that we look to for strengthening the business climate of the district.
One of the most difficult issues in any urban community is public safety. There are some successful models of crime reduction across the country.
A first step would be to request that city staff assess these models for replication in the district. Most of the successful models mobilize the entire community to wage war on crime. We feel that this is absolutely necessary–no one entity can do it alone. Law enforcement, schools, parents, churches, community and youth organizations, and the court system must all come together and work together to effectively address the problem. I call it the new “community circle” with full interagency collaboration and cooperation.
A current problem is that the district has no comprehensive plan for reducing crime. Programs are randomly implemented, often in response to an incident or tragedy, with no meaningful coordination or long-term solutions.
Suppression (crushing one’s desire) can’t be our main means of crime fighting. As 6th district city councilman, I would use the resources available to me to facilitate the development of a specific crime reduction plans for the district, one with clear goals, objectives and milestones. Bring the spirit back to youth to do good and be good.
Andrews: I am already getting the job done! All my colleagues on the council have endorsed me and agree that I am making things happen.
I created the “Pathways to Success” job fair. I opened the 6th District Field office to help bring resources and information to the community. I arranged for the Energy Pathways job interview and information workshop, where over 20 residents are learning how to work on the oil refinery. I hold monthly town hall meetings to help empower citizens with information and access to city services.
I am now walking my district again and meeting new and old friends and neighbors. Residents of the 6th district know that in the short time I have been in office I am already getting the job done. Please vote for me again on April 8th so I can continue to work on finding solutions for the challenges we face.
