Candidate Paul Koretz: 5th District, L.A. City Council

With the March 3 primary election drawing near, The Times asked all candidates for the 5th District Los Angeles City Council seat to respond to questions about key issues facing the nation’s second-largest city. Here are the responses from candidate Paul Koretz:

1) What distinguishes you from the other candidates in the race?

All of the candidates say they will fight to protect our neighborhoods. I have a proven record of effective leadership for our community. I served as deputy to council members Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky, where I worked with residents to solve problems with city government. I was mayor and council member in West Hollywood, helping to transform a neglected community with no local government into a thriving city that involves and respects its residents. As a member of the state Assembly I took on the gun lobby, tobacco companies and corporate polluters to protect California families. I have the experience and proven commitment to give the families of the 5th Council District an effective voice at City Hall.

2) Los Angeles likely will face a deficit of $400 million to $500 million in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, as well as steep shortfalls in the years that follow. If elected, how would you balance the city budget? Specifically, what programs or services would you cut, what taxes or fees would you increase, and what other measures would you take?

I have had to balance local government budgets during a severe recession. In West Hollywood we successfully balanced the budget by going through programs one by one to eliminate waste and duplication, while preserving vital services. I also helped the city accumulate a budgetary surplus which has allowed West Hollywood to weather downturns without having to reduce services. In Los Angeles we can enact a hiring freeze and reduce the payroll through attrition and voluntary early retirements. City employee unions should be asked to come up with voluntary plans to help save money as well. City managers should take a temporary 10% pay reduction, and as council member I will lead by example in taking a 10% pay cut.

Controller [ Laura] Chick has made many good suggestions over the years stemming from her audits of city departments which have, unfortunately, been largely ignored by the council. We need to move beyond petty personal politics and begin to examine and implement them now.

We need to make sure that we are collecting the taxes that we are due. In Anaheim, the city recently won a $60-million settlement with hotel wholesalers who were evading paying hotel taxes on rooms purchased at a wholesale rate which were then rented at retail. Los Angeles could do the same and recoup even more.

Los Angeles is also one of the few cities that subsidizes development by not requiring developers to pay the full cost of the application and approval process. This needs to change.

3) To cut costs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is considering layoffs or offering early retirement to city employees. Do you support either or both of those alternatives? Given the increased need for government assistance in these bad economic times, is now the right time to reduce the number of city employees or cut hours at libraries and city parks?

I support offering early retirement and would hope that a successful program would eliminate the need for layoffs.

4) In June, the city’s contracts with police and firefighters unions will expire. Should police officers and firefighters be given raises or increased benefits? If so, how would you pay for those, given the city’s current financial condition?

I certainly believe that firefighters and police officers should be fairly compensated and that the city should be paying competitive salaries to allow us to attract and retain highly trained public safety employees. Given the current economic situation I would ask the unions representing police and firefighters to work with the city to develop plans that would allow us to live within our budgetary constraints. If given the opportunity to participate and have meaningful input, I know city employees will be constructive and responsible.

5) Assess outgoing District 5 Councilman Jack Weiss’ effectiveness on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score. What parts of Weiss’ leadership will you emulate? Are there areas where Weiss could have performed better?

Overall, I would give council member Weiss a 3. Council member Weiss has not been as accessible or engaged in community outreach as he should have been. Residents of the 5th Council District feel ignored and that large policy decisions impacting their neighborhoods have been sprung on them with little or no consultation. He has also allowed too much out-of-scale development without adequate infrastructure. Areas where council member Weiss has been better are public safety and gun violence. Council member Weiss has been good on billboard blight issues, although I would mark him down some for failing to fight hard and early against advertising-covered street furniture being sited disproportionately in the 5th District.