Candidates Forum At The SCNA: State Assembly, District 9

Candidates for Assembly, District 9. Standing from left to right, Roger Dickinson, Kevin McCarty, Lauren Hammond, and Chris Garland. At right, former SCNA President Dan Murphy. Kneeling, Adam Sartain.

Left; Candidate Kevin McCarty answers a question.


Even though I live in the Curtis Park neighborhood, and consider myself to be civically-active, it's unlikely that I would have gone to this Candidate's Forum had not friend, and DMTC performer, Adam Sartain not been a candidate.

Somehow I haven't gotten as worked up as some of my neighbors about the issue that has galvanized so many others in my neighborhood - namely, the disposition of toxic wastes in the local UP railyard, and the development proposal of Paul Petrovich that falls short of what folks in the Sierra-Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA) would prefer. These issues are important, of course, but maybe I'm just more fatalistic than most.

The folks that did turn up, though, were the hard core of neighborhood activists and those really interested in the issues. Many had been involved in local issues for decades. For a novice candidate like Adam, it was a tough crowd.

Adam was encouraged that he got the audience to laugh. His theatrical skills will come into play in his series of radio ads that will come out shortly. Nevertheless, his meandering opening statement needs improvement, particularly when when compared to opening statements by veteran candidates like Lauren Hammond, who looked at everyone in the room, and simply said "You know me!"

There were times, however, when familiarity with the issues didn't necessarily improve one's position. Someone asked what the candidate's positions were on AB32. Adam didn't immediately know what that was (the recently-passed CA greenhouse gas control mandate). Chris Garland pounced, stating that he was intimately-familiar with every aspect of AB32. Nevertheless, his familiarity came off as something closer to zealotry, marking him as perhaps the most ideologically-liberal of the candidates.

Someone asked what the candidate's positions were regarding Proposition 8 (opposition to gay marriage). Everyone opposed Proposition 8, except, surprisingly, Adam, who argued that marriage was a matter of religious belief and that the government should have nothing to do with it at all.

Adam also mentioned that he supports increased taxation, but targeted only a rather small group for increases: landlords who increase rents inordinately (open to interpretation, of course). Not enough to close the state budget deficit, certainly, but it's an exceedingly-touchy subject - who gets the tax increase - and Adam is to be commended for his honesty here.

So, the folks in District 9 have good choices. Adam is my friend, and has my heart, of course. Lauren Hammond has lots of experience on the City Council, though. And the other candidates also have years of experience, and would serve Assembly District 9 well.