Candidates & Issues : ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 36

The district includes all of Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Ventura, Moorpark and Port Hueneme, parts of Oxnard and a sliver of Simi Valley in Ventura County.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock, 32, a Thousand Oaks Republican, was first elected in 1982 at the age of 26. He is vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He is a former newspaper columnist and administrative assistant to state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia). An outspoken conservative, he has hosted both Robert Bork and Oliver North at campaign fund-ra1769170290Huizenga in November, 1987.

George Webb II, 39, a Moorpark Democrat, is an attorney who specializes in immigration law. He has been active in Democratic politics since 1982, and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1982 and a position on the Conejo Valley school board in 1985. He graduated from the Glendale School of Law. He and his wife, Gail, have two daughters.

H. Bruce Driscoll, a Thousand Oaks Libertarian, is also in the race.

SUMMARY: McClintock is stressing his bill to give additional revenue to communities, and his role on local transportation and education matters. Webb is espousing reforms in education, anti-drug efforts and insurance.

THEIR VIEWS

Questionnaires were distributed to candidates in September and were returned in October. Answers have been edited to fit the available space. Webb did not respond.

Q. Do you favor additional limits on campaign contributions to make officeholders less beholden to special-interest groups?

McClintock: Yes. Favors a ban on contributions from political action committees, corporations and unions.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Would you support a ban on speaking fees for legislators from special-interest groups?

McClintock: Supported Proposition 73, passed in June, which limits speaking fees.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Who is your first choice for Assembly Speaker? McClintock: “Will support the elected Republican leader.”

Driscoll: Self.

Q. Briefly, what, if anything, should the state do to ease traffic congestion? McClintock: More and expanded freeways. Redirect existing revenues from gasoline tax to state highway account.

Driscoll: Privatize highways.

Q. Do you favor an increase in the gasoline tax to pay for road improvements and construction? McClintock: Not until we havecontained costs and redirected existing revenues from gas tax.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Should the state offer tax incentives to encourage private industry to institute staggered hours, car-pooling and other measures to reduce traffic? McClintock: Yes, but opposes mandating such action.

Driscoll: “I favor any tax reduction for any reason.”

Q. Do you believe that the state should try to contain the cost of automobile insurance? If so, how? McClintock: Yes. Limit “astronomical pain-and-suffering awards” and “outrageous lawyer contingency fees.”

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you support a “no-fault” automobile insurance system, under which a driver would be compensated for damages by his or her own insurance company regardless of who caused an accident?

McClintock: Supports a limited no-fault system, such as Proposition 104.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you favor a mandatory reduction of insurance rates for all drivers and homeowners unless an insurance company can show that this would threaten its solvency? McClintock: No. Favors widest publication of competing rates.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you support imposing a limit on the percentage of an insurance settlement that a lawyer may accept as a fee? McClintock: Yes. Supports Proposition 106, which would do this.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Should the state raise the spending limits imposed by the Gann Initiative on state and local governments to make more money available for health, education, transportation and other programs? McClintock: No.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you believe that the Legislature should take urgent action to improve the performance of public schools? If so, what? (Money for lower class size? Higher pay for teachers? Testing to insure teachers’ competency? More demanding graduation requirements?) McClintock: Yes. Reduce the bureaucracy and pursue efforts such as Hueneme School District’s SmartClassroom, which uses educational technology to provide individualized instruction.

Driscoll: No.

Q. If it can be done legally, should the state help parents pay to send their children to private schools? McClintock: Yes. Would provide up to $1,000 in tax credits for private school costs.

Driscoll: Only through tax credits.

Q. Do you support significantly greater state funding for AIDS research, counseling, testing and treatment? McClintock: “AIDS research, counseling and treatment are important, but our top priority must be in preventing the spread of the disease.”

Driscoll: No.

Q. Should public health officials trace the sexual contacts of anyone with AIDS or the AIDS virus? McClintock: Yes.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you support more state funding to aid the homeless?

McClintock: Not as direct subsidies. Create enterprise zones in depressed areas and loan surplus state land to the private sector to provide housing for the homeless mentally ill.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you support the death penalty for any crimes? If so, which? McClintock: Yes. First-degree murder and treason.

Driscoll: No.

Q. With the state’s prisons at capacity, should the state build more prisons, shorten sentences or punish nonviolent criminals in other ways? McClintock: Build more prisons.

Driscoll: “Decriminalize drugs, gambling and prostitution.”

Q. Do you think that a woman should have the unrestricted right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy? McClintock: No.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Do you believe that the state should impose additional restrictions on the right to own a handgun? If so, what? McClintock: No. Instead, lengthen sentences for the use of a gun in a crime.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Should motorcyclists be required to wear helmets?

McClintock: No.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Should the state re-establish Cal/OSHA, the state’s worker safety agency that Gov. George Deukmejian eliminated? McClintock: No.

Driscoll: No.

Q. Would you support a bill to automatically extend developers’ building permits for 6 months when cities pass slow-growth measures? McClintock: No.

Driscoll: Yes.