[The following is the second of a two-part story.]
The two run-off candidates seeking to represent the 7th District on the Long Beach City Council squared off May 23 in a forum that was noticeably more contentious than a previous one in which they had participated with three other candidates leading up to the April primary election.
During the more recent forum, sponsored by the Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association (LCNA), the two candidates– Jared Milrad, a film-production-company owner and animal-rights advocate, and Roberto Uranga, the incumbent who is completing his first term as councilmember– answered 11 questions on various topics related to the 7th District and the city as a whole.
As reported in the May 25 issue of the Signal Tribune, compared to the relatively mild tone of a March 5 7th-district forum the Wrigley Association had hosted– and which also included then candidates Oscar Delacruz, Chris Sereno and Kevin Shin– the May 23 event at the Long Beach Petroleum Club was characterized by more direct accusations and criticisms between Milrad and Uranga, with the former criticizing the incumbent for missing 260 votes during his first term on the city council and the latter accusing Milrad of inventing facts to support his “narrative.”
In addition to citing what they believe are the most important issues currently facing the 7th District and whether that area is receiving its fair share of resource spending by the City, the candidates answered questions that LCNA President Bob Gill posed on rent control, the airport noise ordinance, homelessness, the 710 Freeway, Measure M, public safety and recreational-marijuana sales.
Gill asked the candidates if they support the rent-control ballot measure currently being circulated for signatures. Milrad, who said he is a proud renter who also works in the 7th District, described himself as a Millennial who, like others in his generation, has faced problems with the student-loan crisis and the recession.
“I want to make sure that every single person in our community can afford to live here,” he said. “That is why I do not support rent control.”
He explained that he would expand the low- and middle-income housing stock but said it is necessary to have “a councilmember who will speak the truth and fight for everyone in our community.”
“We need a councilmember who will actually fight to make sure we use tools like inclusionary zoning, like set-asides, to make sure that developers and nonprofit developers do actually have those affordable units available to folks,” Milrad said. “I also want to fight for things like rent mediation and make sure that folks can have their fair share of the affordable housing and [that] landlords play by the rules.”
He said the problem with rent control is that property owners will either leave the community or raise rent to avoid it.
Uranga then responded by paraphrasing a quote he had recently read that states that everyone is entitled to an opinion but no one is entitled to their own facts.
“And that’s what I heard right now,” the incumbent said of Milrad’s reply. “And that’s what I’ve been hearing from the beginning: creative facts, untrue, and especially statements related to me.”
He said that, as council member, he has had many meetings with housing advocates to discuss just cause, absentee landlords and uninhabitable housing, in addition to having visited some of the decrepit buildings some residents call home.
“I’ve seen what it’s like, and I know that we have to address those issues,” Uranga said. “And I know that these individuals don’t have to live in the deplorable conditions as they do, because we do have issues with apartment owners, we do have issues with absentee landlords, and we do have issues with the fact that there aren’t enough inspections that the City does for these facilities to ensure that they’re kept up to date, that they are clean and that they’re habitable.”
Uranga also explained that when the city council tried to agree on a proactive rental-housing inspection program, it was not able to reach a consensus, and so the issue is now in the hands of voters. He said he is not a rent-control supporter but it is an issue that is for the citizens to decide on.
Gill then asked Milrad and Uranga what they have done– or what they would do– if faced with potential challenges to the airport noise ordinance, and if they think it is possible to modify the ordinance without impacting local residents.
Uranga said that particular issue is one that was discussed four years ago during a similar forum. At that time, according to Uranga, residents said they did not want the noise ordinance to change, and he honored that wish. The only aspect he would change, he said, is to increase the fines for airlines who violate the time restrictions of the ordinance.
Milrad said that, based on discussions he has had with residents, the noise problem is getting worse because JetBlue has repeatedly violated the ordinance. He again emphasized the need for a strong council member– this time for one who will hold JetBlue accountable for paying its fines and who will also oppose airport expansion and “show up to vote on those issues.”
The next question concerned homelessness. Gill asked the candidates what their plans are to help both 7th District residents and Long Beach citizens with the problems associated with that issue.
Referring to homelessness as “fundamentally a human-rights issue” as well as a taxpayer issue, Milrad said the City should do what other cities have done– employ trained advocates to go out into the field and build relationships with those experiencing homelessness to help them get into supportive housing and acquire other assistance they need, such as mental-health services, job training, life skills and substance-abuse treatment.
Uranga called homelessness a growing problem and said he has worked with local and state agencies to address problems associated with encampments, as well as having worked with the Villages at Cabrillo affordable-housing complex to add 80 beds for homeless veterans.
During a forum sponsored by the Los Cerritos Neighborhood Association last week, the two 7th-district run-off candidates– Jared Milrad, a film-production company owner and animal-rights advocate, and Roberto Uranga, the incumbent who is completing his first term as councilmember– answered questions on topics such as rent control, the airport noise ordinance, city resources, homelessness, Measure M and recreational marijuana.
Uranga, who chairs the City’s I-710 Committee, challenged Milrad’s earlier assertion that the incumbent supports expanding the 710. Uranga said he has worked with various transportation agencies to create a dedicated freeway lane for trucks that are near or at zero emissions.
Milrad responded by saying he would likewise work for a dedicated truck lane on the freeway, but also for a raised barrier between the 710 and the west side of the city and alternative corridors for those trucks.
Gill then asked about Measure M, which will be on the June ballot asking voters to allow for the transferring of money from City-owned utilities to the City’s General Fund to be used for any purpose. The funds would be generated by utility rates charged above the needs of the utility. Gill asked the candidates to share their opinions of Measure M?
Milrad said there has been a pattern in recent years of the City asking for more money from taxpayers without those funds benefiting the communities, especially District 7.
However, he said he supports the measure but that the district needs a council member who will ensure those funds return to support the district.
Uranga said Measure M would not increase taxes or do anything similar.
“What it does is basically put into the municipal code that we are able to transfer those funds to create and to sustain the services that we have,” he said. “It doesn’t change anything.”
Gill also asked the candidates to share their opinions on current cannabis operations in Long Beach and what they would like to see regarding possible recreational-marijuana sales.
Uranga said the use of medical and recreational cannabis is a decision about which he has no control, since it was California and Long Beach voters who chose to approve its use and sale. He said he supports having the City tax it to get its fair share of the sales of both categories of marijuana, to cover costs of enforcement and educational programs for kids.
Milrad said he supports both medicinal and recreational marijuana but wants to make sure city officials indeed make smart decisions that grow the tax base in the community, as well as ensuring a diversity in the kinds of businesses, not just cannabis stores.
The final question related directly to the Los Cerritos neighborhood. Gill asked the candidates for their opinions regarding how council redistricting in 2010 resulted in that neighborhood’s being split apart by Bixby Road, with the south side being in the 7th District and the north side being included in the 8th, considering that redistricting will again occur after the 2020 census.
Milrad’s response focused on the needs of residents.
“I think any redistricting that takes place needs to involve the community, and the community needs to feel heard,” he said. “And that is something that, quite evidently, did not happen in the past, because folks have said, ‘Look, we’re south of Bixby– we’re SOBs.’ ‘We’re north of Bixby– NOBs.’ Right? And folks have said they feel that experience because, in our district, we’re not getting the services we need. So, literally, we’ve had neighbors on Pacific Avenue who can look across the street at District 8 and see better maintained infrastructure. […] So, I want to make sure we’re not artificially separating our community and we actually have a redistricting process that engages the community.”
Uranga said redistricting is about demographics, populations, neighborhoods and communities of interest. He added that when redistricting split up sections of Bixby Knolls and Wrigley, it was a shame.
“But I’ve been working with our council member from the 8th District– Al Austin,” he said. “We work together to address the issues of the Los Cerritos neighbhorhood. We’ve been working together to make sure the parade happens every year on the 4th of July. We’ve been making sure that we get our municipal band concerts at the Los Cerritos neighborhood. In fact, we’ve added concerts into the 7th District, at Somerset and Silverado [parks]. So, I’ve been working with our neighborhood council member to ensure that all the interests of the 7th District– whether it’s north of Bixby or south of Bixby, it makes no difference– we’re one community. And, when it comes down to redistricting in 2020– actually in 2021, because the census comes out in 2020– we’re going to look at communities of interest. We’re going to look at keeping those together.”
Long Beach’s 7th District voters will decide between Milrad and Uranga as the run-off candidates on the June 5 ballot.
