For the first time in 20 years, a seat representing UCLA and Westwood on the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors will be up for election this November.
The five-member board for the 3rd District oversees a budget of about $26 billion and governs a county of about 10 million residents, a population size similar to that of Michigan. Board members, often called the “five little kings,” can influence how the county’s law enforcement agencies, medical systems and childcare systems operate, among other powers.
UCLA alumnus Zev Yaroslavsky has served on the board representing the 3rd District for the past two decades, but because of term limits, he is stepping down from office this year.
Last week, Daily Bruin assistant news editor Jeong Park talked with the two candidates competing for the position to learn about their stances on topics concerning the district.
Sheila Kuehl
Sheila Kuehl served in the California State Legislature for 14 years – eight as a state senator and six as a state assemblywoman. She left the Legislature in 2008 and became the founding director of the Public Policy Institute at Santa Monica College.
Kuehl, a UCLA alumna, also worked as an associate dean of students at UCLA during the 1960s and 1970s and as the UCLA regents’ professor of public policy for the spring quarter of 2012.
Daily Bruin: Can you explain your plan to bring economic development – especially jobs – to the district?
Sheila Kuehl: The county has an economic development commission that has tried to coordinate its efforts with the cities – especially the city of L.A. – to attract more of the good, middle-class technology jobs. But it has been one startup or another that might employ two to three people, and generally (those jobs) are not advertised to a lot of people.
So my plan is to beef up the economic development commission in the county to truly develop a way of coordinating with our cities and provide incentives for businesses to decide to locate or remain in L.A. County.
DB: If elected, you will serve as a member of the Metro Board of Directors, which shapes the county’s transportation policy. If elected, what will be your plans for Westwood transportation?
SK: The way to alleviate the traffic can be (building) a train that goes under Sepulveda Boulevard, as well as a toll lane alongside the train. There is a very early proposal that could be a way to build the tunnel with public (and) private combined money, so whoever helps to build the tunnel can keep the toll. I think that’s probably 20 years off.
DB: If elected, you will also oversee the county’s jail system. Because of the Public Safety Realignment plan, which called for state prisons to lower its prison population to address overcrowding in their facilities, many prisoners will be housed at county jails instead of state prisons. How do you plan to address the potential overcrowding of county jails?
SK: The county jail is designed for non-serious felons and misdemeanors.
Our solution is more diversion for low-level offenders and mental health patients, because the jail doesn’t help at all (for them). You are going to come out of a jail in the same way you came in or even worse. … The diversion makes sense to me.
DB: You have emphasized how your experience as a state senator and with managing the state’s budget will help you manage the county better. Can you elaborate on that?
SK: It’s the matter of scale. The county budget is about a quarter of the state budget. Much of that money is the state money that flows to the county, which I dealt with as a state senator.
This is not an entry-level position. You have to know how to manage (a) complex system that affects lives.
Bobby Shriver
Bobby Shriver served as the mayor of Santa Monica in 2010 and as a member of the Santa Monica City Council from 2004 to 2012. He is a cofounder and chairman of (PRODUCT) RED, a brand that uses revenue from popular product sales to fund research and treatment for AIDS.
Shriver also served as a member in the California State Park and Recreation Commission from 2001 to 2008.
Daily Bruin: You have been calling for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide some of its land in its West L.A. campus for housing homeless veterans. Why are you pushing for this, and do you think any action should be taken regarding the Jackie Robinson Stadium, which is on the VA property?
BS: I have not called for the VA to stop leasing the land. The VA has done none of the right things and all of the wrong things. Personally, it doesn’t matter if UCLA has a stadium there if the VA has homeless housing there.
DB: You have talked about developing L.A. business in the tech industry and creating more tech industry jobs. What are your ideas for connecting newly developed technology jobs to students at UCLA?
BS: Students at UCLA are already connected to the jobs. People I know in the tech industry are already looking for students. Those technology jobs are hunting for students in UCLA.
DB: There are a couple of transportation projects happening around Westwood, such as the Metro Purple Line and the Metro Express. Besides those projects, what can be done to improve transportation in Westwood?
BS: In the near (future), the only thing you can do is add more express buses. The express bus is (currently) not enough.
DB: You said you want to create a free Metro pass for students. UCLA is already subsidizing half of the cost for a quarterly Metro pass for students. Why are you advocating for the free Metro pass, and how can the program be implemented?
BS: We did the program in Santa Monica, where Santa Monica College students can get a Big Blue Bus ride for free, and it put a lot of students on the Big Blue Bus. This is the way to get students on the transit.
It can be implemented by showing a student ID to take the Metro. This takes the complexity out of students having to get a pass.
DB: How do you think your experience working as the mayor of Santa Monica, among other positions, will help you in this job?
BS: I think this is a local job. … Since I have local experience, my experience is going to help me to do the job. Zev Yaroslavsky was a local official and so was his predecessor.
I also think my work in Washington, D.C. – fighting for the Republican administration to (provide) money to fight AIDS – will be helpful in getting transit money. I know how to lobby Congress and build coalitions.
Compiled by Jeong Park, Bruin senior staff.