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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Fiscal Choices,
Water,
Education,
Your Priorities
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. How would you prioritize the fiscal choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending?
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Answer from Barry Chang:
It is simple, -- WE CANNOT SPEND THE MONEY WE DON'T HAVE. I will focus on job creation, transportation infrastructure for long term economic growth and maintain education excellence of our state. These are the key elements to improve our economy and ensure we can provide the essential services.
On the spending side I support creating the rainy day fund to provide safety net services and job-retraining in lean years. We will respect existing contracts but cut windfall. We will reform entitlement programs. We will also consider employing technology to improve efficiency of our services.
Personally I'm never afraid to be the lone "NO" vote on projects that do not make financial sense for taxpayers. I have done so in the past and will continue.
Answer from Chuck Page:
As your Assembly Representative, I will address the wall of debt while easing the over-regulation burden of businesses to create new job opportunities. A huge portion of the wall of debt has been created by promising government retirees huge pensions and health benefits, all paid for by the taxpayers. We must honor those contracts for current retirees, but open up negotiations to compassionately provide our current government employees and teachers with pensions and benefits that they share in the cost of. We must eliminate the spiking of pensions by not including accumulated sick and vacation pay in the base pay calculation. I will focus my energies on the duplication of efforts in the healthcare system and other government agencies, providing additional funds for needed programs.
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2. Given our current drought condition, concern for water rights and usage is an important issue. What solutions would you support to address our water problems?
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Answer from Barry Chang:
I will study storage and recycle solutions. We have better technology and incentive in places to store, conserve and recycle water. We can utilize market forces to address the lawn watering issue. Past experience showed that, by tweaking with prices and using smart meters, we can achieve better water utility.
Answer from Chuck Page:
As Chair of the League of California's Environmental Policy Committee, we convened a state-wide task force to address this issue. The two biggest issues are storage and conveyance. If a bond measure (or two) are on the November ballot, funding must be used to create storage facilities and facilities to transport water to where it needs to be. I will fight for expansion of recycled water conveyance systems. More than 60% of the fresh water used in urban & suburban areas is used to water lawns. This is wrong and could be alleviated through the use of recycled water, which is created in abundance at every wastewater treatment plan in the state.
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3. California high school students rank lower than many states in student performance. What do you see as the ongoing role of the Legislature in addressing this problem?
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Answer from Barry Chang:
When I was President and Member of Board of Trustee for Cupertino Union School District, I visited each classroom at least twice each year to ensure teachers are empowered but also held accountable. I insisted money be spent in learning rather than fancy administrative buildings. I preserved the school sites so that we have room to relieve crowding as population grew. As a result, Cupertino public schools ranks among the tops in the states, while receiving below average per pupil funding.
As a state legislator, I will continue to demand excellence in schools with efficient use of limited funds. We will create incentives and solutions for the poor performing schools and neighborhoods. While others, supported by special interests, are looking for unproven alternative solutions, I will work with experts, educators and parents to find the root cause of under-performance and fix our schools. I will ensure that we have the funds and the efficiency needed to succeed.
Answer from Chuck Page:
While in the Assembly, I will focus on holding schools accountable. Every student in this state MUST have the opportunity for a high-quality public education. I am an advocate of Charter Schools as a way to create competition for students, encouraging lower performing schools to step up the quality of education and the subsequent achievements of the students
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4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address? What are your own priorities?
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Answer from Chuck Page:
The first thing I will do as your Assembly representative is push for legislation that expels any member of the State Legislature who violates the public trust and is convicted. Furthermore, those individuals will be ineligible for retiree healthcare or pension benefits beyond what they earned prior to their discretions.
I will seek to eliminate the waste and duplication in our current State sponsored healthcare programs, while ensuring that more people actually receive heath insurance & care. As your assembly representative, I will seek job retraining and drug abuse programs for those incarcerated at county jails - these are not hardened criminals, and can be rehabilitated.
As your Assembly representative, I will seek to answer the question, "When is a city built out?" We must ensure that higher density housing is built near where people work and have access to public transit. Forcing cities that are already built out and have no access to public transit to add housing is only going to add to our greenhouse gas problems. This must be done with cities having local control of their own neighborhoods, not with regional mandates that do not take into consideration the resultant effects of increased traffic, greenhouse gas emissions or other detrimental affects.
Answer from Barry Chang:
I already talked about the job creations, transportation infrastructure for long term economic growth and insisting on education excellence.
I want to bring COMMON SENSE back to our state legislature. I will continue to be the lone "NO" vote on projects that do not make financial sense for taxpayers. I will support entitlement program reform where money is wasted on "feel good" programs without real life results.
I will demand the COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS for local and state transportation problems. Transportation infrastructure projects, if done correctly,will lay the ground for the long term growth of our local and state economy. However we cannot allow the current high speed rail project, going from nowhere to nowhere, with little expected ridership, bleeding our taxpayer's money year after year with no return.
I have been fighting polluter and special interests. We will preserve and improve California, our land and our home.
As a small business owner for 30 years, I also understand the vitality of small business and entrepreneurship and its critical importance to our economy.
Lastly I'm against any discrimination to any race, gender and ethnicity. I have championed equal rights for all. I will ensure that everyone receive their equal protection and encourage everyone to work together to face the many challenges of today and the future!
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' statements are presented as
submitted. References to opponents are not permitted.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
