Alarcon and Katz Lock Horns in Latest Debate

In the latest face-to-face debate of their state Senate race, Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz on Monday sharply criticized each other’s legislative records and locked horns on issues of debt and college tuition.

Alarcon, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, accused Katz, a former state assemblyman, of sitting idly by during his 16 years in Sacramento while crime in the northeast San Fernando Valley increased, businesses closed and neighborhoods deteriorated.

He also took a shot at Katz for voting for a budget package in 1991 that increased fees for students at community colleges.

“What is it about your approach to the state Senate that will be different from your approach in the Assembly while all this was happening?” Alarcon said.

Katz defended his record in the Assembly, saying many of his initiatives were blocked by Republican governors. He also said that he voted to increase the community college fees only because it was part of a budget package that included student loans and increased taxes on higher incomes.

“It’s easy to say ‘Ten years ago I would have done this’,” Katz said. “But in Sacramento, you have to make tough choices and you play by the rules.”

He then fired back at Alarcon, saying that while Alarcon was a member of the City Council for the past five years, the city’s debt increased 400%, from $144 million in 1992 to $587 million last year.

“Why are you mortgaging our future?” Katz asked Alarcon. “Debt is debt and someone has to pay it.”

Alarcon replied that the city’s debt is not jeopardizing the city’s financial standing.

It was the latest volley in the increasingly heated campaign to replace Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who cannot run again because of term limits. The Van Nuys-based district covers most of the northeast Valley.

Alarcon and Katz also exchanged barbs over the problem-plagued Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Katz helped create the MTA through a bill he helped push through the state Legislature, and Alarcon served as an alternate on the authority’s board for two years.

The debate, which was sponsored by the North Hills Community Coordinating Council, attracted about 80 onlookers to the United Methodist Church of Sepulveda in North Hills.

The meeting was the fourth face-to-face debate between the two.

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In previous debates, Alarcon has emphasized that he grew up and raised a family in the northeast San Fernando Valley and that his father has lived in the area for nearly 70 years.

Katz, a former Democratic party leader, has stressed his experience and knowledge of the political machinery in Sacramento. He was forced out of office in 1996 due to term limits, just as the Democrats took control of the Assembly.

Most recently, Katz and Alarcon have accused each other of abusing the perks of their jobs.

After Katz was forced out of office, former Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno) appointed him to the California Medical Assistance Commission, a post that pays $78,000 a year. Alarcon says the salary is too high for a panel that meets only twice a month.

Katz, in turn, accused Alarcon of taking too much money as a city representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and with the South Coast Air Quality Management District. In the past three years, Alarcon has received nearly $17,000 in per-diem fees from the two agencies, according to records.

In the fund-raising race, Katz has the lead, but only because he transferred $130,000 from a previous account to his campaign coffers.

According to the most recent campaign statements, Katz has $202,650 on hand, while Alarcon has $145,387. But Alarcon raised more in the most recent fund-raising period between Jan. 1 and March 17. He collected $168,846, while Katz raised $115,299, according to the statements.

The primary is June 2.

Also running are Republican candidate Ollie McCaulley and Libertarian Party hopeful Linda Starr.