Votivator – Jim Burklo – 5/18/22
My voting suggestions for the June 2022 primary in California
National:
Senate: Alex Padilla, incumbent Democrat -- vote for him twice! He's got to be voted in to finish out Kamala Harris' term, and then he must be voted in to complete his first full term.
US Congress, 24th district: Salud Carbajal, incumbent Democrat
State:
Governor: Gavin Newsom. Let’s stay the course with Newsom! He is a practical progressive…
Lieutenant Governor: Eleni Kounalakis, incumbent Democrat
Secretary of State: Shirley Weber, incumbent Democrat
Controller: Steve Glazer, Democrat. My pick is based on this LA times endorsement article: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-04-21/endorsement-lanhee-chen-for-california-controller . The article endorses Chen, but says that Glazer is the most independent-minded of the Democrats. The article says that Chen acknowledges that Biden won the presidential election. Duh! But Chen refuses to say for whom he voted for in that election. He can’t play it both ways. The Republican Party is the party of Trump – Trump owns it. The only honorable thing for an honorable Republican politician to do is to quit the party.
Treasurer: Fiona Ma, incumbent Democrat
Attorney General: Rob Bonta, incumbent Democrat
Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara, incumbent Democrat
Board of Equalization, Dist. 2: Michela Alioto-Pier – this editorial in the San Jose Mercury persuaded me to vote for her, and also to hope for the day when this useless board is eliminated: https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/05/10/editorial-eliminate-the-wasteful-california-board-of-equalization/
State Assembly, Dist. 38: Steve Bennett, incumbent Democrat
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond, incumbent (Democrat)
Local:
Los Angeles:
I no longer live in LA, but I work for USC right downtown – so I still care a lot about what happens in our fair city!
Mayor: Karen Bass. I had the privilege of hosting her annually as a guest speaker in the public policy class I used to teach at the USC Social Work grad school: every time, she blew away my students with her passion, her commitment to public service, and her thoughtfulness. She’s kind and joyful - and practical. She knows what is do-able, and how to make it happen. Rick Caruso is good at curating fake “towns” like The Grove or The Americana, but he has neither the experience nor the mind-set needed to lead The Los Angeles – a real city with real problems that won’t be fixed with sound-bites. He makes a big deal about how he turned USC around. Baloney. He was on the USC Board of Trustees for years, asleep at the wheel while scandalous stuff was going on – some of which I observed myself, and complained about, to no good end - and he only took action after it hit the front pages of the LA Times.
County Sheriff: Robert Luna, highly respected former chief of police in Long Beach. This is a very important race. Alex Villanueva, the current Sheriff, has mired his term in scandal and incompetence – turning a blind eye to gangsterism among his deputies, resisting needed reforms in policing.
Other LA races: I don’t follow it completely, but I take the endorsement list of the LA Times very seriously.
Ventura County:
I live in Ojai now – so here are my picks for Ventura County:
Sheriff: Bill Ayub, incumbent. Seems the better of two unimpressive candidates. I believe that a major issue in CA is how cops and firefighters are paid. I’m not all-in for “defunding” the police. But l am in for shifting resources in the direction of crime prevention, using social workers, etc, to deal with common situations that don’t really need cops to address. I’m also in for sensible compensation for public safety workers. The outrageous overtime pay they get, their ability to “spike” their pensions by getting raises at the end of their (short) careers, pensions which they can draw at an age that is inconceivable to people who don't work for the government… these are real problems. Ayub faces a re-election challenge because he tried to reduce pension spiking in his department, raising the ire of his deputies, who are now supporting Fryhoff, who would make spiking, etc, easier. Fryhoff’s candidacy is an example of workers choosing their boss: an endemic problem in police and fire agencies everywhere. So without particular enthusiasm, I’m voting for Ayub. https://www.toacorn.com/articles/stance-of-rank-and-file-officers-weighs-heavy-on-sheriff-race/?fbclid=IwAR3U5f8xttU1FI-dk2-VS2AaDQtGjTfA9rUDbmXqNwmVVmF1p5Rmxzz5Alw
Superintendent of Schools: Cesar Morales, incumbent, unopposed
Assessor: Keith Taylor, deputy assessor
Auditor-Controller: Jeff Burgh, unopposed
County Clerk-Recorder: Michelle Ascencion, assistant clerk-recorder
District Attorney: Erik Nasarenko, incumbent (Democrat). I happen to be friendly with his mother and father, Mira and Walter, members of the Woodland Hills UCC Church – they were WW2 refugees from the Ukraine. Hence the blue and white campaign signs for their son Erik!
Treasurer-Tax Collector: Sue Horgan, assistant treasurer
Measures A and B: Yes. This would correct antiquated oil leases that were issued long ago with no process for environmental review. https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2022/05/22/oil-drilling-measures-june-primary-ventura-county/7168753001/ This editorial suggests that this would have only marginal impact both on the environment and on oil drilling in Ventura County, despite the huge amount of money the oil industry has poured into fighting against the measures....