Senate, Assembly Candidates Clash

Candidates battling for two Assembly seats and a state Senate seat faced off at a chamber-sponsored forum here Friday night, butting heads over issues including workers’ compensation fraud, education reform and gun control.

With all three legislative seats open, more than 300 people packed an auditorium at Flintridge Preparatory School for the forums sponsored by the Regional Government Review Coalition, which includes chambers of commerce from Burbank, Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and South Pasadena.

There were early fireworks in the 44th Assembly District contest, in which La Canada Flintridge City Councilwoman Carol Liu, a Democrat, is facing Republican television commentator Susan Carpenter-McMillan of Pasadena.

Liu touted her 30 years as a teacher and her experience as a member of the City Council, saying it has given her the expertise to reform education and balance budgets.

“My background in education gives me the experience to be an effective advocate for changes in public education,” said Liu, who promised to work to increase per-pupil spending and reduce class sizes.

Liu also called for providing greater incentives to attract qualified teachers to the understaffed school systems in the state.

Carpenter-McMillan challenged Liu to limit campaign mailers to no more than three and to provide any excess campaign funds to schools in the Assembly district so that “campaign reform is put into place, not just talked about.”

Carpenter-McMillan also pledged to mandate that 90% of all education dollars collected by Sacramento be spent directly in the classroom. While supporting the concept of school vouchers, she said she does not want to take money away from public schools.

Carpenter-McMillan rose to national prominence last year as the spokeswoman for Paula Jones, whose sexual harassment claims against President Clinton triggered events that led to his impeachment.

The 44th District, which includes parts of Glendale, Sunland-Tujunga, La Crescenta, Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge, is an open seat because Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena) is running for state Senate. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the district by 45% to 37%.

The impeachment issue hung over the forum, which was scheduled to climax with the first face-to-face meeting of Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale), a house prosecutor in the impeachment proceedings, and his challenger, state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank).

While a contingent of national press was there for Rogan-Schiff, the under card also included some hotly contested races, including Scott’s battle for the 21st Senate District against South Pasadena City Councilman Paul Zee, a Republican.

Scott said his four years in the Legislature have allowed him to push for workers’ compensation reform, gun safety--including trigger locks to protect children--and bills to reduce class sizes.

“In the third grade, the math scores went up 16 points. I think that had to do with reducing class size,” he said.

Zee, a business owner, called for more attention to reading, math and computer skills, promising he will bring “broad-based experience and common sense to Sacramento.”

Scott is the favorite to capture the seat in November. Democrats outnumber Republicans 44% to 36% in the district, where incumbent Schiff decided to run for the House of Representatives. The district includes parts of Burbank, Altadena, Glendale, Pasadena, Sun Valley, Sunland-Tujunga and La Canada Flintridge.

Also squaring off Friday, for the second day in a row, were the two candidates for the 43rd Assembly District, Democrat and attorney Dario Frommer of Los Feliz and Republican attorney Craig Missakian of Glendale.

Frommer touted his Sacramento experience, which he said would allow him to hit the ground running if elected. “Unlike my opponent, I support public licensing and training requirements for guns,” Frommer said, “and unlike my opponent I am 100% pro-choice.”

In response, Missakian said his experience as a business attorney and former deputy district attorney will allow him to bring expertise to efforts to improve public safety in California.

“I am a former prosecutor. I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to make our city safe,” Missakian said.

The district includes parts of Glendale, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Los Feliz, and the eastern part of Hollywood. Incumbent Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) gave up the seat to run for state Senate.