League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 5, 2013 Election
	Mitch O'Farrell Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 13

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What do you think is the single most important issue facing the City of Los Angeles today? As Council Member, what would you do to deal with it?

Our City's structural budget deficit. It serves as both a reason, and - an excuse for not serving our neighborhoods and businesses, or making necessary changes at City Hall.
1. Small business reform. We have 322,000 small businesses that make up 3/4 of all businesses in LA. They are the "backbone of or economy" and yet our system for dealing with them is completely, utterly broken. The city needs to serve businesses that want to open, expand, improve; and not put up roadblock after roadblock to prevent them from thriving and hiring. My plan is contained in my position paper in the Smart Voter Guide.

2. The City Administrative Officer has estimated a $200M budget shortfall for 2013-2014 increasing to $300M in 2015-2016. What steps do you propose to deal with this problem, and how much do you estimate each step would reduce the shortfall?

1. Small business reform now. Help get more businesses to open sooner, and expand sooner. Improves unemployment rate and adds to gross receipts tax. We must be a jobs first government and that means industry and neighborhood serving businesses, not pell mell out of scale development projects that harm our neighborhoods. This will help immensely as our economy slowly recovers. Estimating a reduction in the budget shortfall is extremely difficult but a very rough estimate over 3 years: $25 - $50 million
2. Stop kicking the pension payout problem "can" down the road and negotiate additional reforms. The new hire reforms enacted this year help a little (later retirement age, reduced benefits for new hires). The alternative is bankruptcy. $100 million
3. Keep hiring freeze in place but also freeze wage increases and trim Elected Official salaries. $3 million
4. Put a much better and TEMPORARY tax increase plan on the ballot next year to help plug the remaining budget hole. The one currently being planned for the May ballot is too vague and could become a permanent, regressive tax that harms especially middle and lower income families.

3. Do you support the ballot measure to increase the sales tax in the city?

No, it is vague, regressive, and harms lower and middle income families, and the business community. We need to design a better TEMPORARY tax increase that will definitively expire, only in conjunction with pension reform and wage freezes to get us out of this mess.

4. What role do you feel the City of Los Angeles has to play in addressing climate change? Please explain in terms of what you as a city councilmember would have the power to do.

We can do a whole lot more with feed in tariff solar energy in Los Angeles. The LADWP has set the bar way too low, 3% renewable several years from now? Ridiculous. Also, we have very innovative programs in place right now and are taking advantage of state incentives and grants to become a more sustainable city. That will help. I will continue those efforts and make water conservation (like I have done at the Los Angeles River with bio-filtration efforts), and sustainability a priority while in office.

5. How would you prioritize your local constituency versus the City as a whole when acting as a Council Member?

I am running for Councilmember in the 13th District, not a citywide office. All of my decision making will be based on how it serves residents and stakeholders in the 13th District. I don't see this as either/or - or the District versus the City and I never have. What we do need though, are policies and ordinances that are fair and equitable city-wide and that will help our economy; such as inclusionary zoning and a supportive housing plan that will help take the homeless off our streets. More often than not, what is good for the city as a whole is good for the 13th City Council District and vice-versa. I aim to play my part in helping the city through my work in the 13th Council District in terms of tourism and economic development. I will continue making Hollywood more attractive to world travelers, helping our economy and my work on economic development will help the entire city.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 4, 2013 15:02
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