National Legislators
National Congressional Districts
United States Representative; District 45 —- AN OPEN CONGRESSIONAL SEAT
Mimi Walters, Republican
Drew E. Leavens, Democratic
Voting FOR Mimi Walters supports:
- A candidate who voted NO on GSR unionization during her term as a CA State Senator.
- A candidate who voted YES on a nonresident tuition exemption for veterans attending the California States and California Community College – and requests the University of California – to grant in-state tuition for all student veterans using the GI Bill.
- A candidate who received an “F” on the 2012 UC Student Association’s higher education report card.
Voting FOR Drew Leavens supports:
- A candidate who founded and currently serves as President of Specialized Training Services (STS), a company that provides training on difficult topics including sexual offender assessment, campus violence prevention, domestic violence, and threat assessment in the workplace. In 2011, STS was contracted by UC Office of the President to provide workplace and campus safety and threat assessment training to each of the ten UC campuses.
- A candidate who advocates for reducing teacher/student ratio, making college more affordable, and reducing student loan rates.
- A candidate who advocates for legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana.
California Judicial
Superior Court Judge; County of Orange; Office 14
The following judges are running against each other fill an empty Superior Court Judge position. These are the top candidates from the spring primary election. They are facing off because no candidate won a majority of votes in the spring.
Kevin Haskins
Haskins is longtime Orange County prosecutor who is endorsed mainly by law enforcement, other prosecutors and some judges. It does not appear he is endorsed by many community groups. He had the second highest number of votes in the primary.
Kenneth C. “Kc” Jones
Jones is currently the California Supervising Deputy Attorney General. Previously, he was a superior court research attorney and spent many years in private practice. He won the greatest number of votes in the spring primary.
[/fusion_accordion]Orange County
Supervisor; County of Orange; Supervisorial District 2
Allan R. Mansoor (Republican)
•Occupation: California Assemblyman
•Costa Mesa City Council, 2002-2010
•OCTA Director 2006-2010
•Deputy Sheriff, Orange County Sheriff Department, 1993-2010
•Former Campus Safety Officer, Orange Coast College
Priorities
•Clean up and reform county’s special districts
•Increase transparency and reform public employee pensions
•Stop toll lanes on the 405
Regarding education
Allan Mansoor believes that too many tax dollars are going to special interest groups before schools, and seeks to cut out special interest programs in order to focus on neighborhood schools. In the past, Mansoor has voted “no” to the following bills:
•a bill that authorizes public universities to consider race, gender, and ethnicity in admissions, provided that no preference is given (SB185 on August 29, 2011),
•a bill authorizing students, including undocumented immigrants, who meet certain criteria to pay in-state tuition at California state universities and community colleges (AB131 on June 1, 2011), and
•a bill that authorizes undocumented immigrants that meet certain requirements to be eligible for non-state financial aid for community and state colleges (AB130 on May 5, 2011)
Michelle Steel (Republican)
•Occupation: Board of Equalization Member (Vice-Chair)
•Served as Commissioner on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans
•Member of California World Trade Commission
•Commissioner of the Los Angeles County Children and Family Services
•Los Angeles Airport and Fire Commissions
Priorities (from June 6, 2006 election)
•Michelle will continue her pledge to never vote to raise taxes
•She will assume all taxpayers are innocent untill proven guilty
•Michelle will be a pro taxpayer vote, ALWAYS
Regarding education
Steel has been an instrumental volunteer for several youth organizations, including Options House (a local emergency shelter helping runaway children) and the Coalition of Brothers and Sisters Unlimited (an African-American after-school program). Steel is committed to preventing tax increases by eliminating wasteful programs.
Supervisor; County of Orange; Supervisorial District 5
Lisa Bartlett (Republican)
•Occupation: Mayor/Businesswoman
•Mayor, City of Dana Point, 2009-2010, 2013-Present
•Council Member, City of Dana Point, 2006-Present
•Chairwoman, Transportation Corridor Agency – Foothill Eastern (TCA), 2012-Present
•Executive Administration Committee Member, Southern California Association of Governments
•Owner, Blue Water Realty & Investments
•B.A. Finance, Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Certified PMP (Project Management Professional)
Priorities
•Public Safety – I believe Public Safety is government’s number one responsibility. A stronger economy goes hand in hand with keeping our streets safe.
•Transportation – Improving transportation and mobility in South Orange County is vitally important to preserving our quality of life.
•Healthcare – I will heavily scrutinize the mandated implementation of Obamacare and advocate for reforms at the state and federal level.
Regarding education
Lisa Bartlett is a strong advocate for school vouchers (a certificate of funding issued by the used for parents to pay for tuition either at a public or private school). She believes that parents should have a choice on the direction on their child’s education (e.g. public or private).
Robert Ming (Republican)
•Occupation: Orange County Businessman/Councilmember
•Laguna Niguel Councilmember and Former Mayor
•Founding President, Association of California Cities
•Founding President, Laguna Niguel Military Support Foundation
•Board Member, Transportation Corridor Agency
•Managing Director & Assoc General Counsel, Jefferies
Priorities
•Integrity – A track record of delivering on promises and fighting for transparency in government
•Fiscal Responsibility- Balanced budgets and staying focused on core services like public safety, infrastructure, traffic and operating efficiently
•Leadership – Solving problems with new ideas that bring people together and improve our quality of life
Regarding education
Robert Ming has previously served as a member of the Laguna Niguel Planning Commission, the Board of Managers of the South Coast YMCA, Saddleback Community College Foundation and on the Board of Directors of The Bonner Institute for the Advancement of Choral Music. Ming is committed to traffic and transportation improvements on I-5, completing the La Pata extension, making sure the new Rancho Mission Viejo communities become financially viable cities that maintain the high quality of life of their neighbors, and many others.
Assessor; County of Orange
Webster J. Guillory (Republican)
•Occupation: Orange County Assessor
•Over 30 years Experience as a Conservative Private and Public Sector Business Manager
•2000 Manager of the Year Award from the Society for the Advancement of Management
•Improved assistance to families of Disabled Veterans
•M.S./Civil Structural Engineering (USC); B.S./Aerospace Engineering (Northrop University)
•Member, Board of Visitors, Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management
•Saved Taxpayers Over 1.6 Billion Dollars During the Market Downturn
Priorities
•Protect Proposition 13 and Safeguard Individual’s Privacy – your number one request again this year
•Continue to provide knowledgeable people to answer the phones when you call
•Provide Property Value Notices in July, will not hide your taxable value until October
Regarding education
Webster J. Guillory serves on boards at UC Irvine (e.g. Center for Research Advisory Board) and Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont, CA. Guillory is an advocate of technological development.
Claude Parrish (Republican)
•Occupation: Taxpayer Advocate/Businessman
•A former member of the State Board of Equalization
•A former member of the Franchise Tax Board
•Admitted to Practice before the Internal Revenue Service
•Accounting Degree – graduated Summa Cum Laude
•California Real Estate Broker, formerly in charge of leasing 48 shopping centers worth $450 million
•Former Los Angeles County Insurance Commissioner
Priorities
•Extend the deadline for tax appeals from September 15th to November 30th, giving taxpayers an additional 75 days to file appeals.
•Create a Taxpayer Advocate Office to assist taxpayers with filing assessment appeals and navigating California’s complex tax laws.
•Establish a south county satellite office in existing county office space, with current local employees, at no additional cost to taxpayers.
Regarding education
In the past, Claude Parrish has voted against taxing schools for items such as bonus star redemption from the Scholastic Book Club and a meals to students provided by independent contractors from the school. His platform mainly involves tax appeals and exemptions.
State Propositions
Prop 1:
“Should the state sell $7.1 billion in additional general obligation bonds — as well as redirect $425 million in unsold general obligation bonds that were previously approved by voters for resource-related uses — to fund various water-related programs?”
Fiscal Impact:
- Increased state bond costs — $360 million annually over the next 40 years
- Local government savings for water-related projects, like averaging a couple hundred million dollars annually over the next few decades.
Vote Meaning:
- A YES vote means:
The state could sell $7.1 billion in additional general obligation funds — as well as redirect $425 million in unsold general obligation bonds that were previously approved by voters for resource-related uses — funding for various water-related programs. Overall, the cost to taxpayers to repay the bonds will be about $360 million annually over the next 40 years — about one-third of a percent of the state’s current General Fund budget.
- A NO vote means:
The state could not sell the $7.1 billion in additional general obligation bonds to fund many water-related programs. However, the $425 million in unsold general obligation bonds would continue to be available for resource-related uses (previously approved by voters).
Prop 2:
“Should the State Constitution be amended to change how the state pays down debt and saves money in reserves?”
Background:
- California’s main account is called the General Fund. This year, the state is planning to spend almost $110 billion from this account — half of this is going to education (schools, community colleges, public universities).
- Personal income tax is the state’s biggest revenue source; tax revenues determine how much money the state has and can spend. When the economy is bad, tax revenues go down — similarly, when the economy is good, tax revenues go up. The State Legislature will take action during a bad economic time to balance the budget — these actions can include spending cuts and tax increases.
- The state has a budget reserve account, BSA (since 2004), where it stores its “Rainy-Day” Reserves when the economy is doing well. This account could protect higher education from a budget cut when the economy is doing poorly.
- With this proposition approval, the state would put money into the BSA until the total reaches a maximum amount of about 10 percent of the General Fund revenue.
Vote Meaning:
- A YES vote means:
Existing debts likely would be paid faster. There would be new rules for state budget reserves. Local school district budget reserves would be capped in some years.
- A NO vote means:
Rules for payment of state debts, state budget reserves, and local school district reserves would not change.
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[/accordions] This guide was compiled by AGS External Committee: Bianca Cung Jen Jones Sara Lone Ryan Lewis Kevin Lerman Veronica Newhart Timothy Ma
For more information, contact Tim at vpexternal@ags.uci.edu