Westside Reader June 16

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14 • THE Reader
June 2016
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 5
Four among those vying for seat vacated by Mike Antonovich
Kathryn Barger is running
for Supervisor for
Los Angeles County’s
Fifth District on the June 7thprimary
ballot.
Kathryn Barger is the only
candidate for County Supervisor
who was born, raised, and
is a lifelong resident of the
Fifth District. For the past 15
years, Kathryn has been Chief
Deputy Supervisor for Supervisor
Mike Antonovich where
she manages the Supervisor’s
Office and serves as the official
liaison with the community,
local businesses, and
local government. Kathryn is
also an expert on healthcare,
mental health and children’s issues because
of her work with Supervisor Antonovich. He
has encouraged her to run and endorsed her
candidacy for Supervisor.
As Chief Deputy Supervisor, Kathryn
strives to make government more efficient by
reducing burdensome bureaucracy and regulation.
She will continue the tradition of fiscally
responsible county government, holding
down spending and taxes while investing in
critical services like public safety, economic
development, and transportation.
Kathryn is committed to keeping our
neighborhoods and communities safe. She
helped implement Megan’s Law to ensure all
residents have information about sex offenders
in their neighborhoods. The wife of a retired
Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff, her
anti-crime platform, which advocates for
more local patrols and body cameras for officers,
has earned her the endorsement of the
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs,
the Los Angeles County Firefighters and the
support of three former LA District Attorneys
– Gil Garcetti, Steve Cooley and Bob Philibosian.
Kathryn Barger is a recognized problem
solver. Her record of service has won her bipartisan
support from leaders throughout
the Fifth District and Los Angeles County, including
Republican Supervisor Antonovich
and Democratic Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
Kathryn Barger is uniquely prepared to
serve the Fifth District and you.
[The Reader invited the candidates to answer
questions and submit a statement.]
1. Polls show most voters don't think
government works. What would you do to
FIX the underlying structures and systems
that seem to be broken?
It's clear that based on the voter turnout
over the last few years,which has been consistently
low, that people are not engaged in
the electoral process. My campaign has been
centered around engaging communities
throughout the Fifth District and helping
them understand the importance of this election.
Moving forward as County Supervisor, I
will be active in all communities throughout
the Fifth District, not only working with city
and town councils, but also with community
groups in order to receive feedback, but also
to engage organizations and individuals. I believe
that there is a perception that government
does not work, but I want to show the
people that the facts do not support that, understanding
that perception becomes reality
Kathryn Barger
for people. As Chief Deputy
Supervisor, I have worked
with all our local communities
and I know the challenges
facing each
community. The Fifth Supervisoral
District is my home
and has been all my life.
2. Do you think eliminating
obsolete laws, regulations
and bureaucracies
would help to reduce the
County budget by cutting
waste and saving time?
And if so, how would you do
it?
Rules and regulations are
always evolving and you
need to ensure that they are predictable, consistently
applied and reflect the needs of the
community. I recently worked with my colleagues
to merge the departments of Health,
Mental Health, and Public Health into one
agency to streamline services to better serve
the residents of the county. I am also spearheading
the effort to consolidate the departments
of Regional Planning, Public Works,
Fire Prevention, and Environmental Health
into one regional one-stop development center.
Currently, these departments are located
in different cities around the County and applicants
are forced to make multiple trips
when processing development plans or obtaining
permits for a new business or construction.
Collocating these departments will
not only expedite the permit process, but will
increase dialogue between departments involved
in the permit process to further avoid
delays.
3. What do you see as the most important
issue facing the LA County?
It is difficult to choose one issue because
the county oversees so many issues effecting
over ten million residents. For example, there
is a growing homeless population throughout
the County, which is impacting communities
as well as quality of life. My priority is
ensuring that we work with all 88 cities coordinating
our support services, as well as
working to identify affordable housing to
deal with this serious situation. Another priority
of equal importance would be public
safety. With the passing of Proposition 47
(Define prop 47) as well as AB 109 which
transferred prisoners from the state facilities
to the county level as part of a cost saving
measure by the state have created an increase
in crime throughout the district. It is
critical that we provide law enforcement
with the resources necessary to address this
problem.
4. What are your 3 main goals?
1. Integrated Approach to Public Safety,
providing necessary resources to our Sheriffs,
healthcare workers, and social service
providers; drug abuse, mental illness, and
homelessness are contributing to increased
crime;
2. The Environment and water: we must
work hard to reduce the county carbon footprint,
address storm water run-off, and conserve
and store water to county future
Bob coauthored new
laws that helped boost
the Southland economy
by $1 billion, keeping
good middle class film and
TV jobs in our district and
bringing 6,500 new aerospace
related jobs to our
County.
Bob’s efforts to improve
the local jobs climate earned
him 100% ratings from the
California Manufacturers and
Technology Association and
the National Federation of Independent
Business.
Bob’s efforts to keep taxes Bob Huff
down on working families
and small businesses earned him 100% legislative
vote ratings from the California Taxpayers
Association and the Howard Jarvis
Taxpayers Association.
In the Senate, Bob helped kick three corrupt
officials out of office and supports prosecuting
them to the full extent of the law.
He led efforts to forge a bipartisan coalition
that passed a statewide water bond that
will ensure more reliable water supplies and
clean up polluted ground water in Los Angeles
County.
He also was part of a bipartisan coalition
that increased funding for Santa Clarita Valley
Schools.
Bob wrote the nationally recognized “Parent
Trigger Act,” expanded school choice for
parents and students and provided more
funding for public charter schools.
Huff also provided critical leadership in
protecting seniors, disabled and our most
vulnerable from health care cuts and worked
across party lines to increase funding for Los
Angeles County schools.
To keep families safe, Bob led successful efforts
to keep 10,000 dangerous felons in
prison and out of our neighborhoods.
As Supervisor, Bob will:
• Oppose all tax increases not directly approved
by Los Angeles County voters.
• Continue leading efforts to find longterm
solutions to our water crisis.
• Reduce traffic congestion and commute
times by using transportation dollars more
wisely.
• Use performance based budgeting to cut
fraud waste and abuse.
• Put more deputies on patrol to keep
neighborhoods safe.
Above all, Bob will keep an open door and
always remember that county government is
here to serve the people. He will work hard
to get more from our tax dollars because he
believes the people of Santa Clarita deserve
better service and more value from what we
are already paying.
For additional information, please visit:
www.supervisorbobhuff.com.
[The Reader invited the candidates to answer
questions and submit a statement.]
1. Polls show most voters don't think
government works. What would you do to
FIX the underlying structures and systems
that seem to be broken?
I have received thousands of complaints
regarding challenges that constituents were
having with DMV or the Employment Devel-
opment Department or some
other state agency and it was
my job to work to help them
achieve a resolution.
Even at the local level, many
voters have negative experiences
when they have to interact
with local government
agencies. Often, these agencies
can develop a bureaucratic
mindset that can lead to a culture
of poor customer service
or they may function under
policies and procedures that
fail to serve the public well.
As Supervisor, I will work to
establish and maintain a high
level of customer service and
responsiveness by articulating
clear standards and expectations to department
leadership, staff and then follow up to
ensure compliance.
According to the County of Los Angeles’
Strategic Plan on the first page under the
heading of Strategic Plan Goals they list, “Operational
Effectiveness/Fiscal Sustainability:”
which articulates the stated goal to:
“Maximize the effectiveness of processes,
structure, operations, and strong fiscal management
to support timely delivery of customer-oriented
and efficient public service.
The Strategic Plan also expresses that one of
the County’s key values is: “Customer Orientation
— We place the highest priority on
meeting our customers’ needs with accessible,
responsive quality services, and treating
them with respect and dignity.” These represent
good stated standards, but they must
be rigorously reinforced throughout county
operations. Policies and procedures that fail
to meet the highest quality of customer service
standards must be identified and reworked.
2. Do you think eliminating obsolete
laws, regulations and bureaucracies
would help to reduce the County budget by
cutting waste and saving time? And if so,
how would you do it?
Obsolete laws, regulations and dysfunctional
bureaucracies are a major impediment
to effectively serving the public and absolutely
represent a waste of taxpayer dollars.
As Supervisor, I will continue to listed to
residents and incorporate their feedback,
both positive and negative, to make the
county run more efficiently. I’ll save tax dollars
by reinstating immigration control enforcement
in county jails to more easily
deport violent criminals who are here illegally.
I’ll use performance based budgeting
to make government more accountable and I
will advocate for regular audits of agencies
and procedures to ensure that we are getting
the most for our taxpayers.
3. What do you see as the most important
issue facing the LA County?
I believe the most important issue facing
LA County presently is the need to significantly
improve transportation infrastructure.
Traffic congestion and commute times significantly
impact quality of life and they also
have a direct and negative impact on eco-
See Barger, page 19 See Huff, page 19