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It’s time to make a statement
I learned a lot about candidate statements this week as I combed through election codes after the field for Long Beach’s four City Council races was set Friday. I started doing this because I noticed some portions of some candidate statements were stretching the truth and I wanted to know what rules were in place to prevent this.
For those who don’t already know, candidate statements are short introductions each person running for office files to appear on the ballot and in official election materials.
The rules lay out very specific things that can be included (name, age occupation) and things that can’t be included, like attacks on other candidates’ qualifications or past actions or their affiliations with any groups.
There are even rules for what counts as a word to help candidates keep to the 200- or 400-word limits. If you’re wondering, “city of Long Beach” and a candidate’s full name both count as one word.
However, while there is a process for voters to challenge what candidates have said in their statements if they’re incorrect or lying, there isn’t a hard-and-fast rule about proactive enforcement of the truth from county or city election officials.
State election code requires local election officials to examine ballot designations and statements for any technical errors or things the official knows could mislead voters, but there’s no requirement that a city or county clerk actually research and analyze what is being said in these statements.
That’s why I’m here.
While reading through these statements earlier this week, a few things jumped off the page. One might say, they raised my eyebrows.
Like when Herlinda Chico, a current trustee at Long Beach City College running for City Council, said that she “helped bring in $30 million” for the college. I’m assuming she’s referring to the large sum of money that was gifted to the college by Mackenzie Scott who donated $2.7 billion to various schools and organizations in June 2021.
The college’s announcement about receiving Scott’s donation came a little over six months after Chico was sworn in as a member of the board, and, beyond that, I was told this week that trustees were not told about the potential gift while the school was going through the rigorous vetting that Scott’s team completed before deciding which institutions would benefit from Scott’s philanthropy.
Was Chico on the board when LBCC was awarded the $30 million? Absolutely. Did she “help” bring that money to the college? It doesn’t seem that is the case.
Another candidate statement from incumbent 6th District Councilmember Suely Saro said she’s worked to raise salaries for health care workers and hospitality workers in the city. It’s true that voters will decide in March whether hotel workers in the city should get pay raises, potentially as high as $30 per hour by 2028.
That comes as the result of the City Council putting the issue on the ballot — without an economic analysis of its potential impacts — earlier this year. In September, I wrote about the council’s decision to place the issue on the March ballot rather than wait until November, which would have provided time to complete a market analysis.
As far as health care workers go, the council initially voted to increase their wages through an ordinance that was upended by a referendum financed by hospitals across the state. The issue was set to go before voters next year before the council voted in October to rescind the item from the ballot because of the passage of a state law (Senate Bill 525) that will raise wages for health care workers statewide.
This is not to say that all candidate statements were eyebrow-raising. At least on their face. (You can check them all out here.)
Former Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, who claimed she was “Gerrie-mandered” out of the 5th District, is now running for the 4th District in the same race as Chico and incumbent Councilmember Daryl Supernaw.
Schipske, a vocal critic of City Hall since she left office in 2014, accurately said that she helped stop the “illegally raised water rates,” which led to the city having to pay back the Utilities Department nearly $31 million in 2022.
Yes, Schipske, who is a lawyer, helped sue to stop the transfer of excess utility fees from the Utilities Department to city coffers, but what she didn’t say in her candidate statement was that she previously helped approve water rates (and the illegal transfer of fees) as a member of the council.
I went back and watched the 2013 budget hearing, the last that Schipske would have voted on as a council member and she actually asked about the transfers, which at the time were about $10 million, but offered no pushback. (Check out the 53:30 mark.)
Candidate statements are important because voters who don’t have the time to do deep dives into each person on the ballot will often rely on them to make their decisions. For some, it might be the only research they do before they vote.
As election season begins to hit its stride over the next few weeks, I’ll try my best to provide you with the kind of context that won’t likely exist in candidate statements, mailers or other campaign material you’ll soon receive.
Feel free to ask me any questions.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK:
The City Council was told Tuesday night that the city could be calling for an end to the declared emergency on homelessness by the end of February. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that homelessness in the city will be eradicated over the next two months and change. (It would be great if it were.) But the city’s approach to battling it will be changing. The emergency declaration that the council approved in January allowed the city manager to enter into contracts with higher limits that would normally need council approval and “removed red tape,” according to the city. Ending the emergency could add time to future projects aimed at reducing or preventing homelessness, but the city says it’s hiring a few more employees to help coordinate and execute those future efforts. Whether the number of people living in the city unhoused has grown or declined is expected to be revealed early next year after the city’s annual homeless count.
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT WEEK:
After more than two months of protests, commission meetings and even a clearing of the council chambers by Mayor Rex Richardson because of a raucous crowd, the council on Tuesday is finally going to discuss the idea of supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. It’s unclear what the council will actually vote on since the Equity and Human Relations Commission’s November letter calling for a resolution has since been narrowed to four bullet points. The council is no longer voting on a resolution, but a proclamation, which the City Clerk told me could allow whatever the council votes on Tuesday night to take effect immediately. The Long Beach Post will be there to cover whatever happens.