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Mostly Cloudy Democrats, Republicans vie for City Council seats
Candidates take on the issues
Leading up to the Nov. 8 election, The Herald sat down with Long Beach City Council candidates, who spoke about what they consider to be the most important issues and challenges facing the city.
This year's candidates--City Council President Thomas Sofield,Jr.,Council Vice President Mona Goodman, Marvin Weiss,Councilman Len Torres, Fran Adelson and Scott Mandel--are vying for three seats on the council.
Herald: How do you plan to hold the line on property taxes and cut spending?
Torres: We would start by eliminating patronage positions, giving promotions and raises strictly on merit, reducing outside lawyers and contractors and managing the process better. The Democratic City Council candidates do not have any family members working for the city and we have agreed that we would not hire any. The city cannot be run as a family business.
Adelson: Promotions and pay raises must be based solely on merit. We will work with the unions to curtail overtime. We will also sit down with the unions and negotiate with them to curtail costly arbitration fees paid by the city. We will look to reinvest in our city to avoid costly repairs. We will look to create a commercial tax base, and look for ways to bring more streams of revenue into our city.
Mandel: First and foremost, patronage positions must be eliminated. Promotions and raises must be done strictly on merit. We must reduce fees and costs from such areas as outside lawyers and contractors and, overall, managing the process better. The Democratic council candidates do not have, and will not have, any family members working for the City. Both financially, and ethically, our city cannot and should not be run as a family business.
Sofield: By continuing to follow our sound fiscal practices. We have cut or frozen taxes five of the last six years, without any reduction in services. During this time, Moody’s has raised the city’s bond rating to its highest rating in the city’s history. We have worked closely with the city’s department heads to find savings.
