All three candidates were invited and participated: Laurie Angel, who works as business manager of Academic Technology Services at Cal State Long Beach and has served on various advisory and community boards and organizations throughout the city; Al Austin, the incumbent who serves as a Council 57 business agent for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2620 and has served on several boards of local community organizations; and Wesley Turnbow, a small-business owner and president of the Metal Finishing Assocation of California.
According to information the candidates provided about themselves to the Signal Tribune: Angel has been a Long Beach resident and 8th District resident for 27 years; Austin has resided in Long Beach for over 20 years and in the district for 15; and Turnbow has lived in the city and district for 30 years.
LCNA President Bob Gill led the one-hour forum and asked questions that had been prepared in advance. In some cases, only two candidates were asked to respond; with other questions, all three were invited to provide their replies.
One question Gill posed concerned senior citizens, and it was presented to Angel and Austin to answer: “Currently, we have a senior citizens program at the Expo Arts building. How important is this program in your budget priorities? Since there are other areas in the 8th District that need similar programs, what are your thoughts on continuing this particular program in Bixby Knolls?”
Angel responded first.
“All I can say is that since the program started, it has been very, very popular,” she said. “It has to be continued, no matter what.”
Angel said that considering the high number of volunteers who are participating and the fact that everyone ages, the program is a necessity and it can continue at nominal cost.
Austin began his reply by mentioning that, about a year and a half ago, he convened a Senior Advisory Committee to fill a void of the senior population not being serviced, and the aforementioned program is a result of that group.
“It is fabulous,” he said. “It is a group of seniors who come together, who enjoy one another, who are learning. We have great guest speakers. And no, it hasn’t cost the City anything at this point.”
He said he is being creative to continue funding the program.
The next question concerned code enforcement, and it was directed to Turnbow and Austin: “There are various code-enforcement issues in the 8th District. Sometimes, there are individual properties that are abandoned and/or seemingly left as forgotten. For example, the large white, two-story house at 430 West San Antonio Dr. The property has become an eyesore, a spot for transients [and] pest infected, and [it] affects values of the surrounding properties. What will you do to keep these types of code-enforcement issues from becoming public nuisances for the entire neighborhood?”
Turnbow said he is very familiar with the home and that his kids walk by it on their way to school and back home. He added that he has called code enforcement about the house as well.
He said a fundamental problem is that city staff and councilmembers are not going into neighborhoods enough to become familiar with such problems as the home on San Antonio Drive.
“What happened previously is you’d have the staff of councilmembers show up at neighborhood-watch meetings, at townhall meetings, at different places, and that would put pressure on them,” Turnbow said. “You wouldn’t just have staff involved. You’d have code-enforcement, some of the police, and they would see these things and hear that, and you better believe things would change all of a sudden if they’re hearing from a group like this (referring to those assembled a the forum).”
Austin said code enforcement is a huge problem.
“More and more, we put more and more on our code-enforcement officers,” Austin said. “We have cut over 700 positions in the City in the last 10 years. Code enforcement is part of that, unfortunately.”
Austin explained that, unlike with the private sector, someone from code enforcement cannot be sent out immediately to address the problem. However, he added, property owners have rights and there needs to be a balance in how code-enforcement violations are handled.
Angel used a rebuttal chit to respond.
She said the main reason she is running is that there is a lack of community engagement, and the fact that Turnbow brought it up is because it is a real issue.
“People have not been engaged,” she said. “The community has not been coming together. And there are things that can be done with code enforcement, and it takes aggressive behavior on the part of the city council, their staff working with the city staff to ensure that things move along.”
She said she too has called code enforcement about the house, not only because it is an eyesore but also because it seems dangerous.
Austin also used a rebuttal chit to address the “community-engagement issue” that the other candidates had mentioned. He said that every time the LCNA has asked him to attend a function, he has indeed shown up, but he hasn’t seen either of his challengers at those gatherings, even though one of them lives in that neighborhood. He added that his office sends out an emailed newsletter that announces upcoming community events and that he has seen Angel at many of them, to her credit.
“How do you think she’s found out about those meetings?” he asked. “Through my newsletter, right? So, in terms of transparency and bringing the community together, I’ve probably been one of the most successful city councilmembers you’ve ever had. So, I take great exception to this issue that we have not been engaged, [that] the community has not been together. I brought in over 250 dads this morning at Los Cerritos [Elementary] School to Dads and Doughnuts. It’s something I’ve done the last six years. Our PTA is active. Our neighborhood associations are more active than ever.”
The discussion then moved on to the issue of sales tax, with a three-part question posed to Turnbow and Angel: “In June, a one-percent increase in the sales tax will be on our ballot, pushing our sales tax rate in Long Beach to 10 percent. The purpose is stated to be for infrastructure needs and improved police and fire services. The tax funds would go into the General Fund. Do you support or oppose this measure, and why? If it passes, how would you work to ensure the resulting General Fund revenue is spent only on the stated purposes? If it does not pass, how would infrastructure funding be found?”
Turnbow, who characterized himself as “a guy who took a lot of economics courses,” stated he is against the sales-tax increase for several reasons: it is inherently short-sighted; it will push away businesses that may want to move to Long Beach; and it will make things difficult for businesses that are already in the city. He said a better alternative is to “grow a community.”
“We go to the ‘big boxes’ in Signal Hill,” he said. “We go to the mall in Lakewood. We don’t have the great companies and great businesses and great jobs that a city this great should have.”
He cited the port, the airport and Cal State Long Beach as entities that should draw more business but do not.
He said that an increased sales tax would indeed generate a “bump” but then, after time, fewer businesses would be attracted to the city.
Angel acknowledged that she and Turnbow are “pretty much on the same page” on the issue and added that she is against the increase because of a lack of accountability in the measure.
“If you read the measure, the ordinance basically says it may be used for infrastructure [and] it may be used for police services,” Angel said. “It’s wide open. There are no guarantees the money will be spent according to what’s being proposed.”
She added that it would be a burden on local business and that Long Beach would lose businesses.
“I don’t know what type of analysis went into deciding that we’re going to be making $48-million revenue on this measure,” Angel said. “I don’t know if they considered that we’d be losing sales-tax revenue. I’m just concerned that it’s not the right thing to do.”
Angel mentioned that she works in the financial accounting world and suggested that a sub-fund be set up specifically for the items that have been earmarked instead of raising the sales tax.
Other topics discussed during the candidate forum were the low staffing levels in the police department and balancing the interests of 8th District constituents against citywide issues.
