3 Debates Underscore Sharp Differences

Republican candidates urged repeal of the state’s 18-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax and congressional contenders clashed over abortion in debates in three key San Fernando Valley races Tuesday.

With less than a month until the Nov. 7 election, college students and teachers heard a spirited exchange between the 43rd Assembly District contenders, Democrat Dario Frommer and Republican Craig Missakian. They were followed by Democrat Carol Liu and Republican Susan Carpenter-McMillan, battling for the 44th Assembly District.

In a heated exchange, Frommer attacked Missakian for taking money from a controversial housing developer, contributions which Missakian later in the day said he had returned.

Earlier Tuesday, in one of the most expensive races ever for the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) engaged in a radio debate with Democratic challenger Adam Schiff, a state senator from Burbank.

At a forum before teachers and students at Glendale Community College, Carpenter-McMillan, a conservative television commentator and Missakian, an attorney, said they favor repeal of the state excise tax on gasoline to help motorists hit by escalating fuel prices.

“They [the prices] are affecting working families,” Missakian said. He proposed that revenue from any portion of the gas tax not repealed should be placed in a “lock box” to be used exclusively for transportation projects.

Carpenter-McMillan urged the tax repeal as a way to help the poor. She also called for more oil drilling off the coast of California, saying, “I do not want to depend on the Middle East for oil resources.”

Liu, a La Canada Flintridge city councilwoman, opposes any new oil drilling and said the gas tax is needed to pay for “much-needed” improvements to California’s transportation system. Liu said that in other states that have reduced gas taxes, “the gasoline companies have made up the difference and so consumers have not received the benefits.”

Instead, Liu said the state should pursue more measures to reduce California’s dependence on foreign oil, including encouraging development and sale of zero-emission vehicles.

Frommer, an attorney and former appointments secretary for Gov. Gray Davis, said he would support a temporary suspension of the gas tax as long as it was accompanied by legislation that held down prices. He also said that in times of crisis, he would favor blending clean-fuel gasoline with less costly fuels.

Frommer and Missakian are vying for a district that includes parts of Glendale, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Los Feliz and Hollywood.

Liu and Carpenter-McMillan are competing for a seat given up by Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena), who is running for the state Senate. The district includes parts of Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada Flintridge, Sunland and Glendale.

The candidates also split along party lines over Proposition 39, which would lower the margin needed to pass school bonds from the current two-thirds majority to 55%.

Democrats Frommer and Liu supported the proposition, with Frommer calling it “a prudent measure to help build new schools when we have a serious overcrowding problem.”

Both Republicans opposed the change, with Missakian calling the proposal “a tax on the next generation.”

Missakian and Carpenter-McMillan also supported tax credits and deductions to help low-income people buy health insurance, while Frommer proposed that funds from the national settlement with tobacco companies go to providing health coverage for working families.

Frommer unleashed his harshest attack on Missakian by pointing to his acceptance of campaign contributions from developer Robert Gregg and relatives. In an intensely controversial development proposal, Gregg has sought to build the Oakmont View V housing project in a pristine area of the Verdugo Mountains.

Frommer said he opposes the unpopular housing development. Missakian said he also opposes the plan, and said later in the day that he had returned $396 in contributions to Gregg and his relatives so there is no confusion over his position.

Also debating Tuesday, albeit a continent apart, were Rogan and Schiff for the 27th Congressional District seat.

The debate was on radio station KPCC-FM (89.3), with the incumbent calling in from Washington, D.C., where Congress is still in session. Rogan and Schiff sparred for an hour, with host Larry Mantle asking the questions.

The two broke little new ground from previous encounters, but the debate served to highlight their differences on a number of key national issues, including health care, gun control and tax relief. And it also gave them another venue for attacking each other’s record--and credibility--and for accusing one another of distorting the other’s views.

Rogan, trying to paint Schiff as a free-spending liberal, told listeners, “The only thing that’s standing between you and your wallet is me on election day.” He said Schiff would “run naked through the Treasury, spending everything he can . . .”

“I didn’t realize I’d be running naked anywhere,” Schiff quipped back, before launching a broadside on Rogan’s conservative voting record. He noted Rogan voted against requiring child-safety locks on guns; a ban on assault rifles; a health-care reform bill favored by senior citizens, consumer and medical groups; and a sweeping campaign finance reform measure sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

But one of the sharpest exchanges of the debate came when Schiff criticized Rogan for remarks he had made in Roll Call, a Washington insider publication, about abortion. In almost three decades since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled abortion was legal, there have been 30 million such procedures, including 12 million on African Americans, Rogan said, adding: “This has become a Holocaust on the African American community . . . The Ku Klux Klan couldn’t do a better job on committing genocide on African Americans.”

The remarks drew harsh criticism from Congress’ Black Caucus and others, and Schiff said in Tuesday’s debate that the remark “demeans those who feel differently on the issue, but it’s also a strong indication he will curtail in any and every way a woman’s right to choose.”

“What a horribly gross distortion, Mr. Schiff,” Rogan shot back. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

Rogan said he would not try to undermine the Supreme Court’s ruling but said he would continue to oppose “late term” abortions and continue to support a requirement that minors get parental permission before having an abortion.

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Deabting the Issues

Major party candidates in hotly contested local races faced off Tuesday:

43rd ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Republican, Craig Missakian

Wants state’s 18-cent-per-gallon gas tax repealed to help motorists.

Democrat, Dario Frommer

Would support suspending gas tax along with legislation to keep prices down.

44th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Republican, Susan Carpenter-McMillan

Favors drilling off California’s coast to reduce reliance on foreign oil.

Democrat, Carol Liu

Instead of cutting taxes, wants state to support development of nonpolluting vehicles.

27th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Republican, James E. Rogan

Opposes late-term abortions; would require minors to have parental consent.

Democrat, Adam Schiff

Strongly supports the right of women to choose abortion.