Candidate for mayor speaks about local issues

  MIKE CHIEN Los Angeles mayoral candidate Xavier
Becerra speaks with voters at the Westside Pavilion in
Westwood Monday evening.

By Laurie Zabala
Daily Bruin Contributor

Congressman and mayor-hopeful Xavier Becerra came out to address
the concerns of Los Angeles residents, including UCLA students,
Monday night at the Westside Pavilion in Westwood.

“How do you know what a community is unless you go out to
talk to them?” Becerra, D-Los Angeles, told a crowd of about
30. “As mayor, I will make it an effort to go out into the
various neighborhoods of L.A. … it’s important that every
community has its own say.”

Becerra entered the race after eight years as a member of the
U.S. House of Representatives. He is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes,
a professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Part of Becerra’s campaign for mayor is devoting time to
reaching out to the many communities that comprise Los Angeles. In
his program, “Neighborhoods First,” he hopes to address
each community’s concerns ““ something he hopes to
continue if elected.

Becerra proposed ways to improve UCLA campus safety by
increasing patrolling in the Westwood area, ensuring that laws and
orders against individuals that commit domestic violence are
vigorously enforced, and working with the community.

Also, since the cost of living in Westwood has been rising,
Becerra said he is open to the possibility of working with UCLA on
issues of student housing and off-campus living.

“We have a lot of our future leaders coming out of
UCLA,” Becerra said. “UCLA will continue to be one of
the anchors for the city of Los Angeles.”

Among residents’ major concerns were public transportation
and the state of the police force.

“The buses are the backbone of our transportation
system,” Becerra said. “We have to get more incentives
for people to use our public transportation.”

As mayor, Becerra proposes to work with business communities and
employers to try to revise work schedules in order to alleviate
rush hour traffic. He also said he is willing to provide subsidies
for public transit.

In light of the recent Rampart scandal, in which police
corruption led to the overturning of numerous convictions, another
major concern of residents was the efficiency of the police
force.

Becerra pointed out that a serious problem within the police
force is the major divide that exists between the leading and
lower-ranked officers. He also spoke of the lack of morale within
the police force.

“We need to have a police chief who’s willing to
talk and work with the rank and file,” Becerra said.

He also proposed giving incentives such as low-cost housing for
police officers to get them to live in the communities they serve.
Becerra said he hopes this will help relations between community
members and police, and improve the community’s sense of
safety.

In addition to police, he also advocated similar incentives to
teachers and fire fighters.

Becerra closed the meeting by urging voters to get more involved
politically by coming out to vote on April 10 for the mayoral
election.

Those in attendance seemed to be impressed and pleased by the
congressman’s attempt to address their issues in a personal
way.

“It was splendid, excellent. He gave detailed answers
without being too technical,” said Barbara Rico an English
professor at Loyola Marymount University. “He showed sincere
concern for people.”