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Diverse candidates seek 47th Assembly seat

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The 47th Assembly District represents communities as diverse as South Los Angeles, Culver City, Palms and Koreatown. It is territory with almost equal percentages of European Americans (31 percent) African Americans (29 percent) and Latinos (25 percent).

The district also tends to be more well-to-do than many in urban Los Angeles with fewer single, female-headed households in poverty.
It is also a predominantly Democratic District, and the last two individuals to represent the 47th have gone on to take the top-ranking post in the house–Speaker of the Assembly.

Below find the positions of the candidates on the various issues given in their own words.

Holly J. Mitchell, a mother of one, is the CEO of Crystal Stairs Inc., a childhood development agency. She has worked more than 10 years in Sacramento on health policy issues for the State Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee. She has been recognized by the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute for her work.

Sean P. McGary is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Red Rooster & Sense, a cosmetic/body care company with an open storefront in San Francisco. Ten years ago, McGary began teaching in public schools and is currently teaching high school history and English in the Santa Monica School District. He is married to Alaine Black and has three children, Ellesse, Ricardo and Ramone.

Ed Nicoletti is a partner at EJM Inc. and The Forte Company, which specialize in home design and development. As an entrepreneur and investor, Nicoletti founded “Today’s Future,” a magazine in Boston for high school students. The Westwood resident is an artist, writer, and filmmaker and is avidly supported by his wife Linda and daughter Ellie.

Robert L. Jones is currently president of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy. He also served in the Vietnam War and received the Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He and his wife, Kaidi, and their two sons, Marcus and Kobe reside in Baldwin Vista.

Why do you want to be assemblyperson, and what unique skills, talents and/or knowledge will you bring to the job?

Mitchell: Having led a community-based agency that supports working families since 2001, it has become increasingly clear to me that these families and their children have been disproportionately impacted by the deep cuts to health, social services, and public education in the state budget. I feel deeply that disenfranchised communities must have a voice and advocate in the state legislature; someone who will fight to protect and expand the services that are critical for our state to thrive. I intend to use my extensive policy background and experience, my belief in economic growth and development (focus on bringing jobs into my community), my perspective as an employer, parent and community organizer in the tough battles that lie ahead. I will demand results on behalf of California’s most vulnerable residents.

McGary: I want to become an assemblyman, because I’m tired of our elected officials failing to accomplish basic duties. I know I can do a better job. When my party asked me to run for candidacy, I felt duty bound to serve the citizens of the 47th Assembly District. They deserve to have a viable alternative option come election time. Otherwise, they will be forced to only elect an Assemblyperson who represents the parties that pursue the same failed policies over and over again. Uniquely, I am the only candidate who can bring bi-partisanship to an end. As a third party candidate, my election would change California politics and bring real change to politics as usual.

Nicoletti: I’m tired of Sacramento wasting our tax dollars and leading our state into financial disaster, and I know I can do a better job. I have been a businessman my entire adult life and excel at bringing both sides together, prioritizing, and budgeting.

Jones: Due to term limits, an open seat will be created in the next election cycle. While there will likely be a host of candidates running in this election, I am the only candidate to date, with qualifications combining over 40 years of diverse corporate, legal, political, legislative, governmental policy, civic and military experience. I have a long record of fighting for Democratic values. For nearly 20 years, my family and I have resided in the 47th Assembly District and have been actively working to improve the quality of life in our community.

What are the top three issues in the 47th District, and what is your plan to address them?

Mitchell: I will make economic and job development my top priority: I support incentives for businesses seeking to expand and hire new employees. I will work to attract new companies to our community. I will place a strong focus on encouraging the growth of “green” industries and “green jobs” in the 47th Assembly District. I will work to expand career education opportunities at our community colleges and to help working men and women learn new occupations, trades or professions. I will work with federal, state and local leaders – in government and private sector – to create employment opportunities that can sustain a family in today’s economy. I will work with business and labor to create new jobs.

Health and medical care can be the most expensive services working families pay for in the 47th Assembly District.

I will work with L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas as he finalizes state and local plans to open a new, privately operated Martin Luther King Hospital in Southeast L.A. County.

I support classroom teachers in their mission to educate our children. I support bond measures to fund upgrades for our neighborhood school infrastructure. I support parcel assessments to help fund cash-strapped school districts that have been hobbled by state budget cuts enacted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The 47th suffers from a lack of light rail and other public transportation options, and is bisected and bordered by two of the most congested freeways in Los Angeles, the 10 and 405. There are two light rail projects in the works, the Expo line and the so-called subway to the sea. I support both light rail projects mentioned above and encourage the continued engagement of community residents impacted by the construction. I support the light rail option for the Crenshaw Transit Corridor.

McGary: Fortunately, the top three issues in my district are the same as the top three issues facing most Americans: Employment, education, and taxation.

Employment–I would like to lower taxation for business thus stimulating job growth. I support legislation for tax credits for business that actually hire permanent employees. Second, I support alternative educational opportunities for students within the district that will provide vocational skills as well as college-bound choices. Vocational jobs such as the trades produce jobs that cannot be outsourced away from the district. Lastly, California is over-regulated; we need to make this state and my district more business friendly.

Education–As a public school educator, I see the damage caused by the state stealing funds they promised to schools. This must stop. I am a big supporter of the local charter schools in the district that provide alternatives choices for parents and students.

Youth need access to vocational education that provide solid job skills and promote businesses staying or moving into the district to take advantage of skilled workers.

Taxation– I want to stop Sacramento stealing local funds from school districts, local entities, because they failed to balance their budgets. This creates an unfair burden on my constituents. Local government has only two choices to pay for local necessary services such as the police, parks, the arts once the local municipalities are robbed — to either cut those services or raise taxes. Look at your bills, phone, utilities, and including sales tax, we are over taxed.

Nicoletti: Education. We need to reduce the size of classrooms, reward good teachers, remove bad ones, and increase the percentage of money that flows directly to the classrooms and not the administration.

Jobs. We need to offer tax incentives to businesses so they can hire more people.

Crime. We need to allocate more resources to law enforcement and have management go after high priority crimes like gangs, robberies, and murder, and not spend so much effort on low priority crimes like marijuana and seat belt usage.

Jones: Many individuals in our community have given up on politicians who promise the world just to get elected. Once in office, they can’t seem to return phone calls or respond to our needs. We need access to resources and information. Our community has real and immediate needs such as jobs, economic development, decent housing, foster and child care, elder and health care, crime prevention and environmental protection.

What is your greatest strength?

Mitchell: I believe I am the best prepared candidate to address the problems our state is facing.

My life and my career have been dedicated to making meaningful change in my community. My parents, both public employees, instilled in me a commitment to community, equity and justice. Throughout my career– from my Coro Foundation fellowship, years of service to the State Legislature, my public interest advocacy with the Western Center for Law and Poverty to expand and implement Health Families, and as the president of the largest non-profit child care service organization in the state– I’ve fought to help bring people out of poverty, increase access to education and social services, and improve the lives of working families. Now, in this time of crisis,  I want to take that fight to the state legislature. I believe my skills and ability to continue to deliver services in tough times, and my ability to build coalitions to address difficult issues head-on will help us get our state back on the right track.

McGary: One of my greatest strengths for this job would be the ability to predict successful public policy. I can tell the difference between legislative ego, sound byte legislation and all the other tricks used by legislators to kill effective bills. I oppose all legislative manipulation and budget gimmicks. In fact, as a freshman legislator I know many good legislation is already written. As an assembly member, I will vote against the bad and vote for the beneficial.

Nicoletti: My greatest strength is my ability to bring both sides to the table and have them both leave feeling fulfilled. We need people in Sacramento that aren’t afraid to cross party lines to achieve results for their community, and I’m one of those people.

Jones: My professional, educational, military and community experience, combined with my passion to serve, uniquely qualifies me to represent the citizens of the 47th Assembly District. For the last 12 years, I have been a partner and Chief Arbitrator with Jones & Parker, P.C., a business arbitration and mediation firm. Resolving disputes for individuals and agencies such as the Better Business Bureau, provides me with insights into balance, fairness and due process.

Appointed by Governor Gray Davis, and re-appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, I am currently president of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, which oversees the administration of $40 million earmarked for the restoration and expansion of Kenneth Hahn Park. Former California Assembly Speaker, Herb J. Wesson, Jr., appointed me to serve in Sacramento on the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors which regulates the practice of engineering in the state of California.

As a very active Democrat, I am co-chair of the Los Angeles Democratic Central Legislative Committee, and member of the Rules and Law, Judicial Appointments and Resolutions Committees.


People have watched the budget fiasco for the last few years and been disturbed by the apparent lack of urgency among legislators to meet the June 30 deadline. What do you think should be done to insure that this deadline is met in the future? What penalties should lawmakers face, if they miss the mark?

Mitchell: Not only must we have a timely budget (state employees and vendors deserve an on-time budget and timely payments!) but, more importantly, a fair budget. In many instances, the budget delays have been a consequence of heated battles over the state’s spending plan. Our state’s over-dependence on a widely varied funding base (like capital gains taxes, for example) have made it difficult to accurately predict what the state’s revenue will be from year to year or month to month. In short, the Legislature must plan according to more conservative revenue estimates in January so that the April 15 income tax receipts and the May Revise numbers aren’t drastically different. Also, the Legislature must begin to develop priority areas for funding, acknowledging that new revenue sources must be identified to increase the general fund. They cannot continue (year after year) to “balance” the state’s deficit through cuts alone.

McGary: First, I’m going to end bi-partisanship, because I’m not a Democratic or Republican. To help insure lawmakers get the budget done on time, we should adopt a two-year budget policy. This in turn would help other government entities plan better. Budget deadlock is a partisan tool to end it voters must stop electing the parties that grow government and increase taxes then blame each other for the mess. They take no reasonability for the fiasco.

Nicoletti: Fine them individually. Every day the budget is late will result in X-amount coming directly from their own pockets.

With term limits, there is not much time for a Freshman legislator to get into office and get something done before election time is rolling around again. What three key pieces of legislation will you initially introduce, why and what will you do to make sure they get passed?

Mitchell: Reinstate funding for several critical programs that disproportionately impact the African American community statewide–Denti-Cal (dental services for people on Medi-Cal), the Black Infant Health Program and the Office of AIDS. These are just a few examples of critical preventive health services that have been eliminated by the current administration over the last year. By closing even a few of the most egregious corporate tax loopholes, the state could more than afford to continue these life-saving services to our most vulnerable population.

Foster Care- system review, reform and accountability.

Jobs package-I’d carry a package of legislation that would work to (1) prepare/train Californians  in K-14 and adult education for the emerging green economy, (2) expand incentives to protect and expand the current job market in the district.

McGary: Again, there is already plenty of legislation ready to be introduced … good and bad. There is little being ignored currently. Before I introduce any legislation, I would like to fix the systematic problems that produce budget problems for California. My constituents begged my to remove at least one law for every law I introduce. Personally, I would like to write a law that puts into place a review of the closures chosen by the MPLA process. I would pay for this by using the fees already charged to the people who purchase a fishing license, who rights have been violated.

Nicoletti: Lower the two-thirds majority to a simple majority. This should be easy considering everyone I speak with is in favor of it. Reduce the amount of money spent on prisons and cap some of the extravagant salaries being wasted there. Lower state pension plans for new employees.  This will be difficult, but is in the best interest of the state long term.

Jones: I am a candidate for the 47th Assembly District because government needs to put people first. As an aggressive policymaker, and with your support, we can ensure that every resident of the district, from the minimum wage earner to the business owner, is heard and represented equally.

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