Opponents Offer Similar Visions for 40th District

Speaking to San Fernando Valley executives Thursday, the two Democratic candidates for the 40th Assembly District seat stuck to the topics of education, crime and traffic, and displayed just brief flashes of the sniping that has become a hallmark of the race between two political novices.

Valley natives Lloyd Levine, 32, and Andrei Cherny, 26, repeated stances they have taken in front of other groups and in their campaign literature, and continued to compare endorsements and debate who is more connected to the district.

“You’re not ready to represent this community,” said Cherny, a former White House speech writer and Assembly aide, to Levine, who moved home recently from Sacramento, where he was an aide to an assemblyman from the Inland Empire.

Levine countered that he has “practical, hands-on experience” writing legislation, while his opponent’s work in Washington and for Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) was largely theoretical.

Answering questions posed by The Executives, a networking group that supports the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, Cherny and Levine said, if elected, they would seek to make schools better, streets safer and freeways more fluid--throughout the Valley, not just in the southwestern district.

“If you just cross the street, you’re in a new district with the same problems,” Levine said.

Both men said they oppose breaking the San Fernando Valley away from Los Angeles but favor settling the secession question by ballot.

The 40th District election is in November, but the seat is expected to go to the winner of the Democratic primary March 5. Democrats outnumber GOP voters in the district, which includes Van Nuys, Reseda, Northridge, Canoga Park, North Hills and Woodland Hills. Incumbent Hertzberg must give up the seat because of term limits.

The Republican who will compete in the November general election, West Hills businesswoman Connie Friedman, did not attend Thursday’s forum because she was ill, organizers said.

Thursday’s debate was the Democratic candidates’ second in front of an audience. It will be shown on Time Warner cable. Another interview, taped Wednesday, will be shown on Adelphia cable.