Clear Differences: State Senate Candidates Antonovich and Portantino Face Each Other in Candidate Forum

In a meeting which clearly highlighted their political differences, District 25 State Senate candidates LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and former State Assemblymember Anthony Portantino squared off in a Town Hall-style candidate forum Tuesday evening at Pasadena City College.

The event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters Pasadena, Pasadena City College, and the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

Portantino emphasized his progressive credentials in a number of areas, while Antonovich highlighted his own conservative philosophies.

Both candidates veered sharply apart in the areas of revenue and taxes for example, with Prop 55, a bill that would help fund education, as a prime example.

Said Portantino, “Prop 30 helped return our schools to 2007 levels, following the recession, and it is expiring, so Prop 55 is an extension of that. Now that California has dropped from the Nation’s ‘Top 5’ to the ‘Bottom 5,’ the measure makes sense. Students deserve better. We need to create ‘21st Century’ students and education,” he said.

Antonovich responded that that he was against the tax, saying that it would cost jobs. The Supervisor also said that he has supported a number of charter schools and is in favor of them, adding, “We need to be cutting the fat and bureaucracy from schools, not adding to it.”

When pressed for a more specific answer, Portantino emphasized that “55% percent of the state’s budget is spent on education, and that we need to bring or schools back to 2007 levels. We need to be pro-active.”

Antonovich said he would return more money to local school districts and encourage more “fiscal discipline.”

On the question of High Speed Rail in Southern California, Antonovich called the plan a “boondoggle,” and said that the cost is now two times what was originally proposed. Antonovich said he would vote against the “E-2” Route which would travel through the Angeles National Forest, and would work instead to improve Metrolink services.

Portantino pointed out that Antonovich himself had proposed the E-2 Route, and said, “It was a bad idea then, and it’s a bad idea now.”

Both candidates also discussed the issue of water in the state, with Portantino saying that as State Senator, he would “protect the Sacramento River delta, create robust conservation efforts, have better land use planning, and maintain stable water supplies.”

Antonovich cited the need for “bipartisan efforts to create water solutions.”

‘We need sensible, reasonable solutions to the water issue,” he said, adding, “We need to cut out the bureaucracy. Our state is buying produce from elsewhere, because our farms can’t produce enough.”

Asked about the movement of goods through Southern California and their districts, the candidates also spoke out on an issue which hits home with Pasadenans—the 710 Freeway Tunnel project.

“I am against the extension of the 710 and the tunnel project,” said Portantino. “We need to stick a fork in it. I have opposed this project every step of the way. It’s a bad project.” Portantino said he would expand truck and light rail service to move goods and would work to improve the Port of Los Angeles.

Antonovich cited his work with the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile railroad express line that connects the port of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the transcontinental rail network east of downtown Los Angeles, and said he would work to expand the corridor even further to the east. With regard to the 710, Antonovich noted that the final Environmental Impact Report for the tunnel has yet to be released, and that it would be “premature to make a decision.”

In his closing statement, Antonovich introduced the problem of foster care and its effects on the State’s children. He proposed changes in the state’s foster care system, especially with emancipated minors, and touted the use of faith-based community mentors, adding “We are only as strong as our youth.”

Portantino touted what he called his “specific” proposals, including more funding of public education, and a new K-14 educational model, saying that our schools “are set up for a economy that doesn’t exist anymore.” Portantino also proposed free community college education, increased gun controls, and said that his voting for Hillary Clinton illustrated the “clear difference” between the two candidates.

Following the forum, Antonovich confirmed that would be be casting his vote for Donald Trump.

Portantino ended his final statement by giving out his home phone number and invited “anyone to call.”

The candidate forum was taped and will be broadcast by Pasadena Media/PCC-TV and available at Charter Channel 96 or ATT-U-verse Channel 99/Pasadena.