California State Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Republican candidate Terry Rathbun and Green Party candidate Linda Piera-Avila are vying to represent the 41st District in Tuesday’s election.   Since Brownley took office in November 2006, she has concentrated mainly on education. This past two-year term, the Democrat said she is most proud of two education bills she carried that were passed into law. One bill gives community colleges the option of raising non-resident student fees, while the other helps foster children stay at their home school even when they must move to a different neighborhood.   ’A lot of foster children move a lot and school is their family,’ said Brownley, a Santa Monica resident who served on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board for 12 years and was board president three times.   If elected, Rathbun, an Encino resident who owns a small informational-technology consulting business, said he would focus on school financing. He would like to reform Proposition 98, which passed in 1988 and requires a minimum percentage of the state budget to be spent on K-14 education.   ’There is a lot of corruption, and the money is being misdirected,’ Rathbun said, noting that he thinks the money is being spent on administration rather than in the classroom.   Brownley disagrees, saying, ‘I actually think we are disinvesting in education.’   She doesn’t think that the formula for distributing money established by Proposition 98 needs to be changed, but the system needs to be more transparent, so that it is easier to see how money is distributed and spent at the local districts.   This past term, Brownley carried a bill, AB 8, that would have convened a working group to create a simple, more transparent accountable system, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. She plans to introduce a similar bill and is hopeful that if Jerry Brown is elected governor, he will sign it.   Piera-Avila, a Santa Monica resident and physical therapist, agreed with Brownley that schools are inadequately funded. Fixing the problem, she thinks, calls for changing how the government functions.   ’We need to reboot and start over with a new constitution,’ said Piera-Avila, noting that she would advocate for a constitutional convention. She believes the current constitution is ineffective and the root cause of the state’s budget problems.   The state had to close a budget gap of $24.3 billion in 2008 and $60 billion in 2009. The 2010 budget closes a gap of $19.3 billion by a combination of expenditure reductions, federal funds and other solutions.   All three candidates agree that the two-thirds vote required to pass a budget is ineffective, so they all support Proposition 25, which changes the vote required to a simple majority.   ’Our state legislature is constitutionally mandated to pass a budget on time, yet they have not done that for the last 20-plus years due to the two-thirds majority requirement; we need to fix this problem,’ Rathbun said. Rathbun, who served for nine years in the U.S. Navy and earned his associate’s degree in business from Pierce College, said he thinks one way to help balance the state’s budget is to reform pensions and increase the retirement age of government employees.   ’From a business perspective, when you are low on income, you scale back on spending,’ Rathbun said. ‘In Sacramento, they don’t take that approach.’   Brownley responded that government officials should be responsible and that the government is already working closely with unions to make difficult decisions regarding pensions.    ‘People who work hard and have a full career deserve a pension,’ Brownley said. ‘I believe this should be negotiated locally.’   Piera-Avila, who attended California Lutheran University and Cal State Long Beach, earning degrees in medical technology and physical therapy, respectively, pointed out that healthcare benefits are a huge part of pensions, so she thinks a universal healthcare system would help lower the cost.   ’Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege,’ Piera-Avila said, noting she would advocate for a single-payer healthcare system.   Piera-Avila added that another way to help with the budget crisis would be to establish a state bank, so that loans could be made to businesses and students at a fair interest rate and the interest could be invested in California.   Brownley, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from George Washington University and a master’s degree from American University, has also directed her energies towards environmental conservation. This past term, she attempted to pass legislation that would ban single-use plastic bags. If re-elected, she plans to continue to pursue legislation.   Rathbun, who serves on the L.A. County Republican Central Committee for the 41st District, criticized her efforts, saying he thinks incentive programs are more effective than mandates. In addition, he believes local municipalities should make such decisions.   Plus, ‘it’s going to force more businesses out of the state,’ Rathbun said.   Brownley contends that the legislation would create a market for reusable-bag manufacturers.   ’Critics say it’s a job killer for California, but it’s just the opposite,’ Brownley said. ‘It’s a green-job creator.’   There are three plastic manufacturing companies in California and making plastic bags is a small part of their business, Brownley said. As part of the bill she tried to pass, the companies would have received money to retool so they could make reusable bags.   She also explained that a statewide ban is needed because if each city has different regulations, it would be too confusing for the consumer.   Piera-Avila, a member of the City of Santa Monica’s Urban Forest Master Plan Task Force and the Pico Neighborhood Association, said she supports Brownley’s efforts to ban plastic bags.   ’We need to do more,’ said Piera-Avila, who ran for Santa Monica City Council in 2008. ‘We need to prepare for the time when the availability of oil is over.’

A scarecrow is placed in fields to discourage birds from feeding on crops, but the creative entries in Palisades-Malibu YMCA scarecrow contest were fashioned to scare sea creatures, UCLA and USC fans, and even Dementors (from Harry Potter). Inspired by Pacific Palisades resident Cindy Simon in 2007, the contest asks visitors to the Y’s pumpkin patch at Simon Meadow to vote for their favorite scarecrow. This year’s grand-prize winner was ‘Wolfgang Yuck,’ constructed by Palisadians Kiley (10), Hayden (4) and mom Kim McKay. The werewolf scarecrow came complete with a table, food samplings and a restaurant letter grade of A. The Halloween menu featured ‘whine pairings’ such as Edward Cullen’s 2005 pinot noir to accompany ‘Type O consomm’ with spicy fresh road kill.’ Customers are warned at the bottom of the menu, ‘Please allow 20 minutes for preparation and six to eight weeks for recovery.’ The idea for the scarecrow came from Kiley, who attends Calvary Christian School. ‘I watch the Food Channel and I wanted to have a scary food guy,’ she said. ‘Mariko,’ a beautiful mermaid scarecrow designed by retired Canyon Elementary School teacher Dorothy Miyake, took first place and won the handicraft artistry award. Peter Straus, executive director of Prime Time Sports Camp, accepted the Fairy Tale Award for his K-8 students’ entry ‘Old Skool.’ His students at the Westside Leadership Magnet in Marina del Rey built it during an after-school program. Cub Scouts from Troop 223 (Den 4) constructed an ‘Elvis’ scarecrow, and a ‘Professor Snape’ was the brainchild of Cad, Sophia and Zora Magner. Moritz, Nichoh and Chamonixe Brighton built a ‘Baby Superhero Mickey Mouse’ scarecrow; Chelsea Trotti made ‘Mr. Budget Cuts’ complete with a sign reading ‘What the hay, it’s tough all over,’ and the Reid family constructed a colorful entry titled ‘Ringie Reid the Ringmaster.’ A ‘Tommy Trojan’ scarecrow constructed by FOC (Friends of Cindy) and a ‘Coach Wooden’ scarecrow built by the Trepp family kept the USC/UCLA rivalry alive in the pumpkin patch. ‘It was fun,’ said Palisades Elementary mom Laura Schneider, who created ‘Pegleg Pumpkin Pete’ with her sons Luke (8) and Jake (3). ‘The hardest part was coming up with a creative idea and then figuring out how you get the scarecrow to stand up.’ Cindy Simon emceed the awards ceremony, while fellow organizer Suzanne Trepp snapped photographs. ‘This year we had 15 entries, which is the most we’ve ever had,’ Simon said. Simon and Trepp became friends while working on the YMCA board and co-chaired the kick-off event for the pumpkin patch on October 10. The pair is already planning the winter festival kickoff, which includes the sale of trees and hand-blown glass ornaments, children’s games and arts and crafts. ”We love to find excuses for families to visit Simon Meadow,’ Trepp said.

As a result of the city’s budget crisis, the L.A. Bureau of Street Services has lost 349 staff positions and has fewer working days, which will result in a reduction in services, according to William Robertson, the bureau’s director. In fiscal year 2009-10, the department had 1,155 employees, and it now has 806. In addition, ‘the bureau uses 220 working days as the base for planning operations, which is now reduced by 26 days for mandatory furloughs,’ Robertson told the Pacific Palisades Community Council on October 14. Robertson said he intends to continue to deliver as many services as possible, but his main focus will be on resurfacing and maintaining streets. His department received $94 million for the pavement preservation program, and he plans to make improvements to 735 miles of streets, which includes 235 miles of resurfacing, 400 miles of slurry sealing and 100 miles of crack sealing. L.A. has 6,500 centerline miles and more than 28,000 lane miles. Robertson would like to maintain the street-cleaning program with non-posted residential streets being swept on a four-week frequency and posted routes once per week. However, the department has lost 15 motor-sweeper operators to the city’s early-retirement incentive program. He assured the Council that street sweeping would continue in the Village portion of the Palisades. ‘We are working with the city administrative officer to lift the hard hiring freeze on these positions,’ Robertson later told the Palisadian-Post. ‘Initial impacts from the lost positions have resulted in missed posted route cleaning and an increase in non-posted routes frequencies up to six weeks.’ Robertson plans to use $5 million from the state’s gas tax (paid at the pumps) to pay contract workers to trim about 50,000 trees this fiscal year. He recognizes that this is hardly enough, since there are 700,000 trees (1,000 species) in Los Angeles. ‘We will select the trees based on our prior years’ trim cycles and actual need,’ he said. On October 14, community members asked for repairs to specific streets. Robertson responded that the bureau plans to repave Akron Street between Lachman Lane and Bienveneda Avenue and fix the broken warning rail at 705 Enchanted Way.   He offered to send one of his workers to investigate the street collapse on El Oro Lane and the dead trees in the Highlands around Michael Lane and at the bottom of Palisades Drive. He also said an investigator would look at the camphor trees on Toyopa Drive and the standing-water problem on the 600 block of Radcliffe Avenue near Haverford Avenue.   Residents desiring to trim a tree in front of their home can apply for a permit from the city at no cost, and they can utilize their own contractor to perform the work, Robertson said. Communities may also consider renting a pothole truck, small tree trimming crew or motor sweepers for street cleaning through the department’s personal services program.   ’The work is scheduled for weekends, and we sit down with the community beforehand to identify the work they want done,’ he said. ‘We provide an estimate and the community knows exactly what they get for their money.’   Anyone interested in purchasing such services should e-mail Robertson at william.robertson@lacity.org. For other service requests or inquires, call 311.   ’I receive approximately 175 e-mails a day regarding normal city business,’ Robertson said. ‘I read all my own e-mails and answer them as quickly as possible.’