State Senate candidates debate at COC
A classic blue versus red, Dem versus Republican, mano-a-mano political debate took place at College of the Canyons Thursday when Democrat Henry Stern and Republican Steve Fazio squared off with each other at the 27th State Senate District Candidates Debate 2016.
Stern – an environmental attorney and a self-described “millennial” who would, by his calculation, become the youngest member of the state if elected – expressed optimism that government done well through regulation does right by the people.
Fazio – a former reserve police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department who devoted 35 years building a business – wants government to stop regulating small business owners out of business.
The hour-long debate hosted by The Signal and moderated by Jason Schaff, vice president and editor of Signal Multimedia, asked the two candidates about job creation, homelessness, firefighting and water.
Stern, who served as senior advisor to state Sen. Fran Pavley, mentioned three times the Southern California Gas Company leak in Porter Ranch as an example of necessary regulation.
“I will not concede that regulation is an impediment to our growth,”
he said. “I go back to the gas company. Look what happened. They skirted regulations.
“We’ve got to be careful at how you cut red tape because you just might cut off an arm.”
Fazio not only represented the classic Republican model – small government, big business – but called for smaller government and a bigger, better un-bothered small business.
“We need some relief for employers,” he said when asked about job creation. “We need small stimulus packages. I can’t find one piece of legislation that does anything to help people in small business.
“The regulated framework has become so onerous.”
Fazio said legislators “don’t know what it’s like to meet a bottom line obligation. They never signed a paycheck.”
Stern, who has drafted legislation for Pavley, remained optimistic and delivered a message for those “fiscally conservative” out there.
“The key to creating jobs through government policy is letting the private sector do that for us,” citing examples of aerospace, entertainment, biotech and energy as “thriving” industries in Southern California.
“These are areas I believe have long-term growth potential and need the right regulatory climate,” he said. “So the answer, as Democrat and as an attorney who has worked with some of the largest most powerful businesses in this country, the answer is not less regulations on safety, not cutting wages.”
On the issue of homelessness, Fazio said: “It’s a failure at all levels of government that we’re still talking about this.”
Stern on the same issue said: “We all know it’s a problem. It’s not easy. People don’t want to build a big
homeless shelter in their backyard and I get that.”
On improving local water resources, Fazio reiterated his stand on overregulation. “I think there’s over-reach,” he said.
“For the regional water quality control board, there really is no incentive to ever, ultimately, give a ‘no further action’ letter or a ‘you’re done’ letter,” he said.
Fazio described the regulatory process imposed on water agencies as: “You pump and test, pump and test, and go round and round in circles.”
“What’s the bureaucrat’s incentive for saying everything is fine? There should be some mechanism when you’ve finally done what you have to do it’s final. That they can be done with a project without the state haranguing them.”
Stern, who helped write the state’s most recent water bond, said he recognized chloride as a “real issue” for the Santa Clarita Valley.