Yaroslavsky: Yes. The district is too big and unresponsive to parents' and students' concerns and should be broken up into at least four manageable districts. There is too much distance between policy-makers and schools, between administrators and teachers, and between the system and the students.
School Attendance
Q. Do your children attend private or public schools?
Lake: I am the product of public education (in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn). Both of my children started out in public school. Unfortunately, the schools did not provide the programs my children require and we enrolled them in a private school when we were unable to get them into magnet schools.
Rosenberg: Private. Besides my requirement that my children get a Jewish as well as a secular education, I think that our public school system is rife with waste. Private school tuitions, with better facilities, half the class size and more teachers cost less than the $5,600 per student cost of our public education.
Yaroslavsky: My 15-year-old daughter attends North Hollywood High School and my 10-year-old son currently attends parochial school and will attend public school when he finishes sixth grade.
Elevated Rail
Q. \o7 Do you support an east-west elevated rail line over the Ventura Freeway, as approved by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission?\f7
Lake: No. I believe that seismic safety dictates underground as the safest mode. I support the subway on the Chandler-Burbank route. Ridership is key to the success of a rapid transit system. I do not believe that the monorail can carry the large numbers of passengers.
Rosenberg: I support a true, modern monorail over the Ventura Freeway and, looking toward the future, I envision a monorail system throughout Southern California, over all of the freeways. We have the rights of way. The system would be cheaper to build, on-line sooner and its visibility would get people out of their cars. Obviously, every effort must be made to mitigate parking and traffic congestion in adjacent neighborhoods. Existing freeways allow travel to virtually any place in Southern California. Monorails above them, combined with shuttle bus connections, would facilitate the same ability, at reasonable cost on a functional mass transit system.
Yaroslavsky: No. Elevated rail above the Ventura Freeway could create serious environmental and community impacts along its route, including noise, visual intrusion, visual blight, the taking of homes and businesses and the elimination of parklands. Subway is the environmentally superior option.
Campaign Financing
Q. \o7 Are you satisfied with public financing of election campaigns?\f7
Lake: No. I do not like switching the rules during the election. I do not think the matching funds should be optional. We must have spending limits. I would like to see the city finance three paid mailings to all voters in the district for candidates.
Rosenberg: In an ideal world, all candidates would have a level playing field and act in an ethical way. We don't have an ideal world. Each candidate must answer for his/her own conduct or misconduct.
Yaroslavsky: No. This year, $8 million in public monies were set aside to finance political campaigns. This sum would be enough to hire 160 police officers full time for a whole year. The public financing program was designed to increase participation in the electoral process. It has not succeeded. The principal beneficiaries of this largess have been the large number of political consultants who have made a great living this year at taxpayers' expense.
