Countywide : Candidates Focus on Fixing Economy

Although they often disagreed on the answers, congressional and legislative candidates found common ground Tuesday on the central question vexing California: How do we fix the state’s economy?

“We’re driving business out of California,” Madge L. Schaefer told Oxnard College students at a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Ventura County. “The students here will have a difficult time finding job opportunities.”

Schaefer, a former county supervisor, is one of seven Republican candidates in the 37th Assembly District, covering Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi, also a Republican candidate for the seat, agreed with the idea of curbing business regulations. “Let’s roll out the red carpet (for businesses) and throw out the red tape,” he said. He also blamed the state’s financial straits on welfare abuses and fraudulent workers’ compensation claims.

Anita Perez Ferguson, a Democratic congressional candidate, took a gentler position, outlining her “Human Needs Trust Fund” proposal that would divert savings from the peacetime military budget to domestic needs such as education, health care and housing.

She and other candidates in the 23rd Congressional District race took potshots at a constitutional amendment proposed by incumbent Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) that would bar children of illegal immigrants from becoming U. S. citizens.

Democratic candidate Kevin Sweeney, an environmental activist, said the economic imbalance between Mexico and the United States is at the root of the border problems. “We should have a trade agreement with Mexico,” he said.