Six L.A. candidates to debate in Royce Hall

By Steve Christol
Daily Bruin Contributor

The six leading candidates for mayor of Los Angeles will debate
in Royce Hall tonight, two weeks after protesters staged a sit-in
there, canceling the debate originally scheduled for March 14.

The candidates invited to participate in tonight’s final
televised debate before next week’s election will have an
opportunity to express their views on issues including campaign
finance, the energy crisis in California and the secession of San
Fernando Valley from Los Angeles .

The debate is an invitation-only event, but a limited number of
student tickets have been made available.

The student protesters who caused the cancellation of the March
14 debate called for a repeal of SP-1 and SP-2, the UC Board of
Regents’ policies which ended the use of affirmative action
in university admissions and hiring. Three mayoral candidates who
were present at the protest ““ Congressman Xavier Becerra,
former State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilman
Joel Wachs ““ voiced their support of the student protesters
and the repeal of SP-1 and 2.

Becerra, a supporter of affirmative action, may talk about this
issue in his opening or closing remarks of the debate tonight
according to Becerra’s campaign manager, Paige
Richardson.

“It’s not about special treatment, it’s about
leveling the playing field,” Richardson said in reference to
repealing SP-1 and 2.

The debate comes less than a week before a nonpartisan vote
being held next Tuesday. In addition to many other city and county
positions being voted on in next week’s election, there are
15 candidates running for mayor.

The results of next week’s vote will narrow that number to
two candidates unless one candidate wins a clear majority ““
more than 50 percent. As of now, no candidate holds more than 25
percent of the popular vote, according to recent polls. The top two
candidates after next week’s primary will then face off in an
election on June 5.

In recent weeks, Villaraigosa has won the influential
endorsements of political figures and newspaper editorial boards.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif, and Gov. Gray Davis have both thrown
their political weight behind him. Villaraigosa has also been
endorsed by the L.A. Weekly and the city’s leading
Spanish-language newspaper, La Opinión.

Mayoral candidate and L.A. City Attorney Jim Hahn’s
endorsements include those of Ethel Bradley, the wife of the former
L.A. mayor, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Earvin
“Magic” Johnson.

In their official endorsement, the L.A. Times ran a
co-endorsement of both Hahn and Villaraigosa.

Outgoing mayor Richard Riordan announced his support last week
of mayoral candidate Steve Soboroff. Riordan is helping Soboroff
with donations to pay for campaign mailers and has also appeared in
a television ad supporting him for mayor.

Soboroff has since gained ground in the polls and is now in a
dead heat with Villaraigosa. Both candidates still remain slightly
behind Hahn, the current leader in the race.

Both Soboroff and Villaraigosa may have enough momentum in the
polls right now to boost them above Hahn before the election next
week.

In a poll conducted by the L.A. Times, Soboroff has gained 6
percent of the vote since March 1, giving him 18 percent.
Villaraigosa has jumped eight percentage points in the same amount
of time, giving him 20 percent of the popular vote. Hahn’s
numbers have remained steady at 24 percent since March 1.

“We always knew that the race would get closer as we
headed to the finish,” said Julie Wong, spokeswoman for the
Hahn campaign.

“As we get closer to election day, more people are making
up their minds about who they are going to vote for, but the one
thing that remains the same is that Jim is doing very strongly
among voters polled throughout the city,” she continued.

If Soboroff and Villaraigosa continue their momentum through
next week, they could oust Hahn from the race and place themselves
against each other as the two candidates left in the race for
mayor.

Other candidates, namely Xavier Becerra and Kathleen Connell,
both of whom are invited to the debate tonight, have lost
percentage points since the beginning of March. Wachs’ poll
numbers have not changed, holding steady at 11 percent.

An issue that could be a significant one at the debate tonight
is campaign finance. The L.A. City Ethics Commission is looking
into possible abuses of campaign funding in the mayor’s
race.

Three candidates in particular, Soboroff, Hahn and Villaraigosa,
have raised considerably more money for their campaigns than the
other candidates in the mayoral race.

But there is not much that the commission can do to prevent
disproportionate funding in the race because of an initiative past
in California last fall.

Proposition 34 allows candidates to withhold information
concerning money they have received from contributors for
campaigning purposes until after voters go to the polls.

Proposition 34 says that candidates do not have to release
funding information as long as the money is not spent on
“general public advertising such as broadcasting, billboards
and newspaper advertisements.”

Candidates will not have to release information regarding
campaign funding until July 31.

Although the six leading candidates in the race have been
invited and will participate in the debate tonight, nine others
were not asked to attend. Some of those not invited plan on showing
up at the debate to voice their discontent over not being included
in the debate tonight.

LEADING L.A. MAYORAL CANDIDATES The following
are the six candidates invited to participate in tonight’s debate
in Royce Hall. Xavier Becerra A Los Angeles
Congressman since 1993, son of working class immigrant parents, and
the first in his family to graduate from college, Becerra plans to
dedicate himself as mayor to making L.A. the "best place" to live,
work and raise a family by starting at the grassroots level and
putting neighborhoods first. www.becerraformayor.com
Steve Soboroff Former Parks and Recreation
Commissioner of Los Angeles and successful businessman, Soboroff
"will be a citizen mayor who will work for the taxpayer and move
Los Angeles forward." www.soboroffformayor.com
Kathleen Connell California’s State Controller
since 1994 with a strong background in business and finance, and a
former professor at UCLA, Connell hopes as mayor to help prevent
the energy crisis in California from causing any more problems in
the Los Angeles area. www.sco.ca.gov Antonio
Villaraigosa A UCLA alumnus and former State Assembly
Speaker, Villarigosa was once a high school drop-out who overcame
hardships while growing up in East L.A. He hopes to become the
first Latino mayor for Los Angeles since 1872. http://speaker.metroforum.org/
Jim Hahn L.A. City Attorney for the last 16 years,
Hahn plans to make Los Angeles the safest big city in America,
improve educational opportunities for children in L.A., ease the
gridlock on L.A. streets, and continue the economic prosperity of
the city. www.JimHahn.org
Joel Wachs L.A. City Councilman for 29 years and
UCLA honors graduate, Wachs has helped save taxpayers millions of
dollars by preventing taxpayer money to go toward a $150 million
sports arena in downtown L.A. www.wachsformayor.com SOURCE:
Candidates’ campaign Web sites Original graphic by VICTOR
CHEN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by REX LORENZO