Election endorsements

Election endorsements

The Daily Breeze
Article Launched: 11/01/2008 10:00:00 PM PDT

Here are the Daily Breeze's ballot recommendations:

President: Barack Obama.

State measures

Proposition 1A (High-speed rail): No. This is no time to borrow $10 billion on a costly and questionable project.

Proposition 2 (Treatment of farm animals): No, because the main effect would be to shift poultry sales to other states.

Proposition 3 (Children's hospitals): Yes. This is a terrible time to take on more state debt, but it's for a worthy cause.

Proposition 4 (Abortion notification): Yes, for the same reason a nurse has to notify parents before giving a teenage girl an aspirin.

Proposition 5 (Treatment for drug offenders): No, because it is much too lenient in dealing with serious felons.

Proposition 6 (Spending on crime programs): No, because it is too inflexible and much too costly.

Proposition 7 (Clean energy): No, because, as the Sierra Club and others say, it is so vague as to be counterproductive.

Proposition 8 (Bans same-sex marriage): No, because the state is better off not redefining the moral issues related to marriage.

Proposition 9 (Crime victims): No, because it is too costly and redundant.

Proposition 10 (Alternative fuels): No, because it is so self-dealing for some supporters that it would do more harm than good.

Proposition 11 (Redistricting): Yes, it may make just a small difference in breaking politicians' hold on their own re-elections,
but at least it is an improvement.

Proposition 12 (Veterans' mortgages) Yes, this decades-old program has never cost taxpayers a cent.

Local measures

Proposition A (City of Los Angeles parcel tax to fund gang-prevention programs): No, the city must prove the effectiveness of programs administered by the Mayor's Office before asking property owners for more money.

Proposition B (City of Los Angeles update of rules on low-rent housing): Yes, this would remove impediments to obtaining funding from the state and federal government.

Measure J ($3.5 billion bond measure for Los Angeles Community College District): Yes, the district's campuses need more upgrades to expand enrollment and enhance health and safety.

Measure M (El Segundo's $14 million bond measure to improve and repair the high school auditorium and athletic fields): Yes, this measure would not increase current school bond taxation rates, and the repairs are justified.

Measure Q ($7 billion to upgrade aging Los Angeles Unified School District campuses throughout the region): Yes, the maximum school bond tax rate won't rise, and there will be an increased emphasis on smaller learning centers.

Measure R (Half-cent sales tax increase to expand mass transit system countywide and improve highways and roads): Yes, the plan includes help for South Bay commuters by extending the Green Line further south and also to Los Angeles International Airport.

Measure U (Reduces utility users' tax in unincorporated areas from 5 percent to 4.5percent and applies it to new communications technologies): Yes, updated language will ensure that users of all technologies will be treated fairly.

Measure V (Maintains the rate of Hawthorne's communication users' tax at 5percent but updates language to reflect technological advances): Yes, the update will help protect the tax from legal challenges.

Measure Y ($265 million bond measure to upgrade academic facilities in the Torrance Unified School District and improve school safety): Yes, this is probably the school district's final attempt to avoid campus closures.

Measure Z ($90 million Torrance bond measure to improve physical education and athletic facilities, as well as rebuild science labs and music and art classrooms): Yes, the bond would fund facilities that would benefit the entire community.

Measure BB ($67 million school bond measure to replace deteriorating academic facilities at

Manhattan Beach's Mira Costa High School): Yes, the bond would fund needed improvements without increasing current tax rates.

Measure CV ($98 million school bond measure to upgrade Centinela Valley high school campuses): No, a divided school board put this measure on the ballot. It's premature considering the district's financial problems and the Wiseburn School District's secession plans.

Measure DD (Initiative to subject certain land-use changes in Redondo Beach to popular votes): No, it threatens revitalization efforts and runs contrary to representative democracy.

Measure EE (Redondo City Council's alternative to Measure DD): Yes, it offers voters a say over rezoning involving open space, increased building heights in the coastal zone and specified residential changes.

Judicial

Office 72: Hilleri Grossman Merritt, a highly rated criminal trial prosecutor.

Office 82: Thomas Rubinson, a deputy district attorney serving on the Hardcore Gang Division, rated well-qualified by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Office 84: Pat Connolly, a Long Beach gang prosecutor.

Office 94: Michael O'Gara, a criminal prosecutor rated well-qualified by the bar.

Office 154: Michael Jessic, a gang prosecutor noted also for his community work against gang violence, is rated well-qualified by the bar.

South Bay candidates

Second District Supervisor: Bernard Parks.

Water Replenishment District, Division 2: Robert Katherman.

Water Replenishment District, Division 5: Linda Unruh Fuentes.

West Basin Water District, Division 3:
Desi Alvarez.

West Basin Water District, Division 5:
Don Dear.

Gardena City Council special election:
Mina Semenza.

Beach Cities Health Care District Vanessa Poster, Marie Corr and Brian Parker.