Senate: 22nd District

Questionnaires were distributed to candidates this month. Answers have been edited to fit the available space.

Family Sick Leave

Q. Gov. Deukmejian recently vetoed legislation that would have granted workers as much as four months of unpaid leave every two years to care for sick children, spouses and other family members without fear of losing their jobs. Do you favor this type of legislation?

Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: Yes.

Teacher Salaries

Q. The Legislature approved a 4.7% cost-of-living raise for school employees, and Gov. Deukmejian reduced it to 3%, placing the difference in an account for special education programs. Should this money be used for salaries?

Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No. The account for special education programs should be just that--special education. However, administration, materials, teaching assistants’ and special educators’ salaries may be included.

Hinds: Yes. Teachers and teaching assistants are the most important and essential part of education. So, that education means money for salaries.

Big Green

Q. Proposition 128, the so-called “Big Green” initiative on the November ballot, seeks to eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals by the year 2000, phase out pesticides known to cause cancer and require that trees be planted in all new developments. Do you support this initiative? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No. While the idea is good, and necessary, you cannot correct 200 years of damage with the passing of a single initiative. I must ask why the Assembly and state Senate have turned down seven separate anti-pollution bills in the eight years.

Hinds: Yes. We need to stop greedy, corporate polluters. We need clean air for ourselves and our children.

Tree-Cutting

Q. Proposition 130 on the November ballot would restrict clear-cutting of forests, allow the sale of $710 million in bonds to preserve ancient redwood forests and provide $32 million to retrain unemployed loggers. Do you support this initiative? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: I have not read the text, but I do support a restriction of clear-cutting forests.

Hinds: Yes.

Limited Terms

Q. Proposition 131 on the November ballot, authored by Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and Common Cause, would limit most statewide elected officials to eight consecutive years in office, and senators and Assembly members to 12 years. Proposition 140, sponsored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, is more stringent, limiting lifetime service to eight years in the Senate and six in the Assembly. Do you support limiting the number of terms state legislators can serve? If yes, how long should the limits be? Rosenthal: No.

Schrager: Yes. Limiting the number of consecutive terms in a given office will cause an increase in government efficiency and responsiveness. I support Proposition 140.

Hinds: No. Two terms for state Senate and three terms for Assembly.

Sales Tax

Q. Proposition 133 on the November ballot would raise state sales and use taxes by 0.5% for four years to raise $7.5 billion for drug enforcement and treatment, anti-drug education, and prison and jail construction and operation. Do you support this initiative?

Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: No. No more jails. No more regressive taxes on workers and the poor.

Liquor Tax

Q. Proposition 134 on the November ballot would substantially raise taxes on beer, wine and liquor, and dedicate the revenue from the tax hike to programs for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. Do you support this initiative? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: Yes.

Inmate Laborers

Q. Proposition 139 on the November ballot would allow private companies to hire state prison and county jail inmates as laborers. Do you support this initiative? Rosenthal: No.

Schrager: Yes.

Hinds: No.

Death Penalty

Q. Do you support capital punishment? If so, do you think it should be imposed on those convicted of importing or selling drugs? Rosenthal: No.

Schrager: Yes, I support the death penalty.

Hinds: No. Almost everyone on death row are blacks and Latinos and illiterates. No rich person receives the death penalty.

Handgun Controls

Q. Do you support additional limits on handgun purchase or possession in California? Rosenthal: Yes. People purchasing handguns should be required to take a safety and proficiency course.

Schrager: No. With proper registration, waiting period and background check, we should have enough restrictions. Getting handguns off the black market is another matter.

Hinds: No.

Abortion Rights

Q. Do you support a woman’s right to unrestricted abortions within the first three months of pregnancy? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: Yes, except for gender selection or as a method of birth control.

Hinds: Yes.

Abortion Funding

Q. Do you support government funding of abortions for women who cannot afford them? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: Yes.

Day-Care Services

Q. Do you believe the state should require private employers to subsidize day-care services for employees who request them? Rosenthal: Yes. Access to day-care means more productive employees, less absenteeism and, most important, provides a safe environment for children who would otherwise be left unattended.

Schrager: No. If left to business, they will provide this service as a perk.

Hinds: Yes. We face a lack of child care for working parents, and corporations are in the best position to solve this immediate problem.

War on Drugs

Q. Do you believe our present strategy of criminal prosecution, interdiction of supplies and imprisonment of users and dealers will ever significantly reduce the level of drug use in the United States? If no, what should be done? Rosenthal: No. We need more aggressive drug education programs in the schools and more community outreach and intervention programs in concert with the above.

Schrager: No. We are dealing with a product whose supply seems to be endless. Education at all levels must increase.

Hinds: No. We need to end the war economy in the United States and start a program of socialized medicine, mass public housing, more money for public education and more well-paying jobs.

Drug Decriminalization

Q. Would you consider supporting the decriminalization of drug use? Rosenthal: No.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: Yes.

Oil Exploration

Q. Do you think the present Mideast crisis justifies opening up additional parts of the California coastline to oil exploration? Rosenthal: No. We must shift our focus from oil dependency to expanding the use of alternative, cleaner fuels.

Schrager: Yes, for exploration. No, for drilling. We should always be aware of where our resources are. However, we have seen in Houston what dependence on oil development can do to the local economy.

Hinds: No. Our beaches are the favorite recreation of poor and working people in California. We cannot take a chance of spoiling that with oil drilling. We need oil conservation, not drilling.

Parkland Exchange

Q. Should the National Park Service exchange 50 acres in Cheeseboro Canyon in southeastern Ventura County for about 1,100 acres of the neighboring Jordan Ranch owned by entertainer Bob Hope, permitting park agencies to buy another 4,600 acres of Hope’s land in the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains for $10 million? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: Yes.

Hinds: No answer.

Mandatory Ride-Sharing

Q. Do you favor mandatory ride-sharing in an effort to meet government air pollution standards? Rosenthal: I can foresee a time in the future when such action could become necessary.

Schrager: No. For some offices, mandatory ride-sharing would work. However, a system of rewards as is in place in Los Angeles is better. The answer is to provide public transportation that works.

Hinds: Yes.

Political Funding

Q. Do you support full or partial public funding of political campaigns? Rosenthal: No. Taxpayers would have no control over which candidate received their money. Extremists like members of the Ku Klux Klan would be eligible for funding.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: Yes, so candidates are not beholden to established economic interests, as we have now.

Income Disclosure

Q. Are you willing to publicly release your income tax returns and those of your spouse prior to the November election? Rosenthal: Yes.

Schrager: Yes. In addition, when elected, I will release all Senate office expenses, votes and authored legislation text.

Hinds: Yes.

Porter Ranch

Q. Do you support development of the massive Porter Ranch project in the hills north of Chatsworth as presently configured? Rosenthal: No.

Schrager: No.

Hinds: No. Most residents in that area are opposed. We need to decrease pollution and congestion.

CONTENDERS Herschel Rosenthal, 72, a Democrat, has represented the 22nd District in the state Senate since 1982. Previously, he served eight years as the assemblyman in the 45th District.

Michael Schrager, 35, of Santa Monica, a Republican, is a businessman who is making his first

attempt at running for an elected public office.

Margery Hinds, of Los Angeles, is the Peace and Freedom Party candidate. She is a medical assistant.