Times Endorsements

Here are Times recommendations in statewide and some local contests in today’s general election.

Statewide Offices

Governor: Gray Davis. A moderate, temperate leader, Davis has the ability to forge solutions to major state problems by building consensus. California is wearied by eight years of confrontation and warfare with the Legislature, and of keeping score of political wins and losses. Republican Dan Lungren would be likely to keep California mired in that divisiveness. Democrat Davis offers the best hope of returning the state to the path of excellence it once followed.

Senator: Matt Fong. Sen. Barbara Boxer has been a staunch defender of the handful of issues that drive her, but California needs a senator who can forge new alliances, nationally and internationally, to benefit the state. GOP challenger Fong isn’t yet that leader, but he has the potential to be.

Lieutenant Governor: Cruz Bustamante. Bustamante developed a reputation as a moderate consensus-builder as the speaker of the Assembly during 1997 and early 1998. His quiet style is what California needs.

Secretary of State: Bill Jones. Jones has devoted much of his tenure to pursuit of voter fraud and cleaning up the state’s voter rolls. He deserves a second term.

State Controller: Kathleen Connell. Connell’s fruitful audits of state agencies have disclosed waste and inefficiencies. Republican challenger Ruben Barrales is moderate, smart and personable, but Connell has earned a second term.

Treasurer: Phil Angelides. Angelides’ platform, favoring capital investment, within strict limits, in the states’ roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure elements, is more thoughtful and beneficial than that of his GOP opponent, Curt Pringle.

Attorney General: Bill Lockyer. Democrat Lockyer has a strong record on anti-crime measures during his 25 years in the Legislature, including efforts to strengthen the ban on assault weapons. GOP nominee Dave Stirling opposes the ban, which puts him out of touch with most Californians.

Insurance Commissioner: No endorsement. Incumbent Republican Chuck Quackenbush has been too cozy with the insurance industry, and no real champion of consumers. But his Democratic challenger, Assemblywoman Diane Martinez, lacks the temperament and experience for the job.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Delaine Eastin. Incumbent Eastin has been an advocate of better education, though she was hobbled by political splits with Gov. Pete Wilson. We expect her to show solid progress in improving schools statewide during a second term.

Statewide Propositions

Proposition 1A: Class-size reduction, state school bonds. Yes. This $9.2-billion measure provides funds to improve California schools from kindergarten through college. The bond would replenish state matching funds for building and expanding local schools; long-delayed repairs could be made.

Proposition 1: Property taxes, contaminated property. Yes. A small adjustment of the Proposition 13 rules would let owners clean up contaminated property or buildings without triggering a property tax increase.

Proposition 2: Transportation funding. Yes. Ensures that money borrowed from state transportation funds for other state uses is repaid promptly.

Proposition 3: Partisan presidential primary elections. Yes. Courts have held that parties are entitled to allow only their members to choose delegates for their national presidential nominating conventions. Under this measure, voters could still cast ballots for other candidates in open primaries.

Proposition 4: Animal trapping. No. The obvious emotional appeal of this ban on certain traps and animal poisons doesn’t outweigh the fact that it should be handled in the Legislature, not by ballot.

Proposition 5: Tribal gaming and casinos. Yes. This fight between California Indian tribes and Nevada gambling interests should go to the tribes, as a matter of competitive equity.

Proposition 6: Prohibition of slaughter of horses, sale of horse meat. No. Another sympathy-drawing measure, impossible to enforce. Should not be on the ballot.

Proposition 7: Air quality, diesel vehicles. No. This initiative offers tax credits for engine cleanups. The idea has merit, but it represents an unjustifiably large benefit to the trucking industry at taxpayer expense.

Proposition 8: Public schools, class-size reduction. No. The title is similar to Proposition 1A’s, but unlike the school bond this is a mishmash of unrelated, often redundant and sometimes harmful measures.

Proposition 9: Electric utility assessments, bonds. No. This attempts to undo part of the legislation that deregulated the electric power industry. Proponents argue that consumers got a raw deal, but the law was a balancing of many interests and the initiative process is the wrong way to modify it.

Proposition 10: State/county early childhood development, tobacco tax. Yes. California children are in dire need of expert assistance to get on the path to learning. This measure would help parents and caregivers provide it through a 50-cent tax on cigarettes.

Proposition 11: Municipal revenue sharing. Yes. Allows cities to share revenues, rather than fight over retail taxes. A good public policy.

Courts

State justices: Yes to all. Justices of the California Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are subject to periodic confirmation by a simple majority of voters. They appear unopposed on the ballot; voters are asked only whether the judge should be retained for another term of up to 12 years. Each of the four Supreme Court justices and the 21 Court of Appeals justices on ballots in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties has more than met the criteria of competence for retention.

Orange County Races

Congress-46th District: Loretta Sanchez. Democrat Sanchez’s surprising 984-vote victory over Republican Robert K. Dornan two years ago propelled a political newcomer into the national spotlight. Sanchez has handled the attention well, paid attention to the needs of her constituents and should be reelected.

Assembly--73rd District: Patricia C. Bates. Considering the growth in recent decades, it’s surprising that South County has not been able to get a home-grown representative in the Assembly. Someone from neighboring San Diego County always has won the seat in the 73rd District, which covers parts of both counties. Next month that will change. Both major-party candidates are from South County. Republican Patricia C. Bates’ deep roots in the community should make her a persuasive advocate for South County residents. She also has a good view of Orange County’s overall needs. With this Assembly seat open, she would be a good choice to represent the district.

County Supervisor--2nd District. This covers Costa Mesa, Cypress, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Santa Ana, Seal Beach and Stanton. In the 2nd District, we make no endorsement.

County Supervisor--4th District. This covers Anaheim, Buena Park, La Palma, Orange and Placentia. There is no strong candidate to succeed outgoing Supervisor William G. Steiner. No endorsement.

Assessor: James S. Bone. In this race, for the post now held by outgoing Assessor Bradley J. Jacobs, accountant James S. Bone remains our choice over Webster J. Guillory, managing deputy assessor. Bone, a former member of the Orange County Assessment Appeals Board and an author on real estate assessment in California, has the knowledge, disposition and style to give the office new and open leadership.

Orange County Measures

Measure K: Buena Park bonds. Yes. Buena Park voters should look on the Measure K bond issue as a bargain. It’s the district’s request for a $13.8-million general bond issue. Letting school facilities deteriorate further only would mean more expensive repairs later. And rejection of the bonds would mean a lost of matching state funds that can help make the local dollars buy even more improvements.

Measure H: Westminster fireworks. No. There is a measure on the ballot in Westminster to repeal the city’s ban on the sale and discharge of fireworks. It’s there because residents in 1990 wisely voted to ban them and that restriction cannot be removed without another vote. Nothing really has changed. The reasons residents enacted the restriction are as true today as they were then, and the arguments turned down for allowing the use of so-called safe and sane fireworks still deserve rejection.