Alarcon, Katz Pull No Punches in Debate

In the most heated exchange of their state Senate race so far, candidates Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz criticized each other’s legislative records Monday in a face-to-face debate.

The tone of the event indicated that political pundits were correct when they predicted this race will be the San Fernando Valley’s most hotly contested primary campaign of the season.

Also featured at the debate, sponsored by Mission College, were Republican candidate Ollie McCaulley and Libertarian party hopeful Linda Starr. But the focus of the event, attended by about 200 people, was on the apparent front-runners: Katz, a 16-year veteran of the Assembly, and Alarcon, a second-term member of the Los Angeles City Council.

The confrontational tone began almost immediately, after Katz said that during his tenure in the Legislature, he fought to increase funding to provide computers at the Mission College library.

But Alarcon responded that grass-roots activism was the true force behind the college.

“When I think of those who fought for Mission College, I don’t think of politicians,” Alarcon said. “It was the community that rallied to create this college.”

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Indeed, it seemed that Alarcon’s strategy was to keep Katz on the defensive throughout the debate.

Even before the event started, Alarcon’s campaign workers distributed fliers to audience members, suggesting they ask Katz tough questions about campaign contributions he has received in the past.

Later, when Katz vowed to support a 10-point plan to reform health maintenance organizations and give patients more control over their medical treatment, Alarcon responded that HMO reform was needed 15 years ago. It was a veiled suggestion that Katz should have proposed the reforms when he was first elected.

Alarcon and McCaulley both criticized Katz for a bill he supported in 1991 that increased fees for students at community colleges. The criticism hit particularly hard because more than half of the audience was made up of community college students.

Because of the fee increase, Alarcon said, 160,000 students throughout the state dropped out of the community college system. Katz responded angrily, saying that the fee increase was part of a tough budget package that attempted to close a $10-billion deficit and to secure a $100-million commitment to the college system.

“I’m glad we are at a school because I’m about to school Ollie and Richard,” Katz said, explaining the budget package that brought the increase.

Katz then put Alarcon on the spot over a campaign “code of ethics” that Katz had written. None of the other candidates for the state Senate seat signed it.

Alarcon responded that he has always played by the rules. And he said that if a tough code of ethics is needed, it should have been made law years ago.

“If I were there 15 years ago, I would have introduced legislation to do that,” Alarcon said.

The tone of the event was in marked contrast to the first debate last month, which was mostly friendly. Both candidates even expressed great respect for each other on that occasion.

The race began to lose its genial tone last week, when Katz accused Alarcon of distorting Katz’s legislative record.

In an eight-page brochure sent out by his organization, Alarcon focused on several votes that Katz took in the Assembly, and described how he would have voted differently. Katz did not dispute the accuracy of the mailer but said that it failed to provide any background on the legislation and thus misrepresented his position on several issues.

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The two men, who had worked closely in the past, are vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) who is being forced out by term limits. The district includes most of the northeast Valley.

Katz, a former Democratic Assembly leader, was also forced out of office by term limits. His campaign has emphasized his many years of experience in the Legislature.

Alarcon, elected in 1993 as the Valley’s first Latino on the City Council, has tried to focus his campaign on his lifelong connections to the Valley.

The primary is on June 2.