Speak Up Newport hosts candidates' forums for local state races

State Assembly candidates Diane Dixon, Judie Mancuso, Kim Carr, Janet Nguyen and Scott Baugh.

By Lilly NguyenStaff Writer

Oct. 14, 2022 3:09 PM PT

At one of the final forums for the state races before Election Day, candidates for the 72nd State Assembly District and the 36th State Senate District addressed questions about issues currently impacting Orange County during the Speak Up Newport state candidates’ forum Wednesday night.

The organization invited all six candidates running in the two state districts and the 47th Congressional District. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) was unable to attend. Her opponent, Republican Scott Baugh, participated in the opening remarks but ceded his time to the other candidates.

The forum was moderated by Tony Petros.

Running for the 72nd State Assembly District are Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon, a Republican, and Democrat candidate Judie Mancuso.

That district is currently represented by Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R-Fountain Valley), who is running for election in the 36th state Senate District and was also present Wednesday. She faces Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Kim Carr, her Democratic opponent.

State Assembly candidate Judie Mancuso, right, makes a point.

Both districts have been redrawn. The 72nd State Assembly District now stretches from Sunset Beach south to parts of Laguna Niguel and into Lake Forest. The 36th State Senate District now spans the length of coastal Orange County from Huntington Beach south to San Clemente. It also includes Cerritos and parts of Garden Grove and Fountain Valley.

The 47th Congressional District also includes those same coastal cities up to Laguna Beach, but also stretches inland to Costa Mesa and Irvine.

Candidates were given two minutes to make opening remarks with the exception of Baugh, who was given five minutes.

Baugh spoke at length about the existing national debt, describing the current Congress as “[scratching] every spending itch that they have.”

He noted growing inflation and said he is running on a platform of a balanced budget and countering what he feels is irresponsible spending. He also noted that he wants to secure the border and increase public safety, describing defunding the police as “lacking in common sense altogether.”

State Assembly candidate Diane Dixon answers a question to the audience.

Panelists were asked questions focused on Newport Beach, particularly impacts felt by the loss of local control by cities and other jurisdictions; the regional housing needs assessment numbers; public safety policy; state licensed recovery centers; homelessness and fractional ownership.

Candidates were generally in consensus on some of the issues with Dixon, Mancuso, Carr and Nguyen aligning on the issue of local control. Dixon argued that control was being sucked away from local jurisdictions like Newport Beach and the county, pointing to the housing mandates that require the city to zone for 4,834 housing units over the next decade.

Dixon described Sacramento as “Moscow on the Sacramento River” and said centralized planning does not work in coastal cities like the ones she seeks to represent.

Mancuso countered that the current Democratic supermajority — only 19 state Assembly members are registered as Republicans — did not fall out of the sky and were elected to their positions because they reflected the values of Californians. She said Dixon’s description of Sacramento would not encourage other legislators to work with her.

State assembly candidate Janet Nguyen answers a question to the audience.

Carr took jabs at Nguyen’s voting record while noting that she wanted to be able to have a seat at the table to even talk about the housing mandates. In response, Nguyen noted COVID-19 made her unable to vote on those housing issues and pointed to Carr voting against allowing Huntington Beach City Atty. Michael Gates to continue to challenge the Southern California Assn. of Governments on the housing numbers allocation.

All four candidates agreed that Orange County lacks representation at SCAG, though Mancuso noted she felt that government officials need to make an honest effort at making a plan and seeing how many houses the county can actually support before rejecting the allocations outright.

Mancuso said she is concerned about hate crimes in Orange County while Dixon and Nguyen criticized what they felt were lax crime bills like AB 109, which diverts jurisdiction over felons of less serious offenses to the county as opposed to the state, and AB 1603, which amends 2014’s Proposition 47 — also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act — to reduce the threshold amount for petty theft and shoplifting.

Carr described Proposition 47 as a “hot mess” and in need of reform.

Candidates were likewise in agreement on greater enforcement on state licensed recovery centers. Petros noted a man died in August in Newport Beach after being released from a residential detox center though he told staff that he was hearing and seeing “demons.” The man later broke into a house and was fatally shot by the homeowner.

The issue of homelessness received more mixed responses, while all four candidates were in consensus on the matter of fractional property ownership, noting that it was an issue better taken up by local jurisdictions as opposed to involving Sacramento.