Meet The Candidates: Andrew "Andy" Kim, Council District 10

City Council District 10 candidate Andrew "Andy" Kim

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City Council District 10 candidate Andrew "Andy" Kim
To prepare for the upcoming March 8, 2011 elections, LAist has contacted each candidate on the City of L.A.'s Official Candidate List to participate in a Q&A. All candidates received the same set of questions, with the exception of West Hollywood city council candidates, who received a WeHo-specific list of questions. LAist does not endorse political candidates, and responses are posted in the order they are received.In this edition of "Meet the Candidates," we hear from Council District 10 candidate Andrew "Andy" Kim. The district includes Arlington Heights, Jefferson Park, Mid-City, West Adams and parts of Koreatown, Leimert Park and Westlake.

Other candidates in the March 8, 2011 CD10 race are Chris Brown, Austin Dragon, Luis Montoya, Althea Rae Shaw and Councilmember Herb Wesson, Jr. Not sure about your district? See the map to find out if your neighborhood is within district boundaries.

Tell us about your background and what you'll bring to the table in City Hall. What makes you different from the other candidates, and what qualifies you to represent your district?

What I’m bringing to the table is my twenty years of legal experience fighting for the civil rights for senior citizens and the everyday families. Once elected, I will continue to fight for you by maintaining first rate public safety services, reduce our budget deficit, and reform our pension system. Always striving for more, I bring many qualifications to the table:

• B.A. Political Science, Claremont McKenna
• J.D. Pepperdine School of Law
• Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Pro Tem
• Founding member of the Wilshire Center Korea Town Neighborhood Council
• Past President of Los Angeles Chapter of Korean American Christian Businessman’s Committee
• Past President of the West Wilshire Lion’s Club
• Past member of Los Angeles County Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Commission

What are your top priorities for your district? How do you plan on tackling them?

1. Jobs and Unemployment- Los Angeles his full of red tape and fleeing businesses. We need to become business friendly by cutting the business licensing fees, bring about a stream line permit system, and create incentives for new incoming businesses. We need create a promotional campaign to bring out of town dollars to support existing businesses. By helping out new and existing businesses we can set the foundation to start increasing job opportunities here in our district. Once the foundation is set, we can begin to recruit job creating, city revenue-generating business here within district 10!
2. Maintain First Rate Police Services- To continue the down ward trend when it comes to crime, not only do we need to keep our Police Department with up to date resources, but we need to start hiring again. Los Angles has always been on the lower end when it comes to size. We are far below the recommend amount of police officers for every 1,000 citizens. We need to take a new approach and get officers off the desk and on to the street. Once elected to city council I l will advocate and bring about an, ‘Well trained, Well Equipped and Well Paid Police Force to continue to give excellent protection. Also, to help provide security for citizens of Los Angeles, I will work alongside the LAPD to compose and ensure better race relation practices, ensuring that all citizens are treated equally and fairly.
3. Reform our Pension System-Currently the benefits are too costly. With the current downfall of our economy, our pension funds are not making the amount of money that was originally estimated; consequently, making the Tax Payer fund the rest of the bill. In order to fix this problem we need to sit down at the table and discuss vital issues such as; altering benefits for new and old employees, altering the employee contributions, and cap the Tax Payer exposure or liability!

How would you address the city's projected $350 million budget deficit?

We are faced with a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall; I understand that raising taxes is not the best solution. We need to start living in between our means and practice fiscal responsibility. I understand and will be able to make those straight cuts as well as finding other cost cutting options, such as consolidating city departments and services, ultimately saving the city money and cutting a lot of waste. As well as reducing the salary of all elected officials with in Los Angeles.

How do you plan on working with your constituents in addressing their concerns?

Once elected to City Council, I will reach out to the public and bring about open dialogue between residents of District 10, Neighborhood Councils, and Community Organizations. Such communication has been neglected for many years.

Public transportation is an important issue for LAist readers. What role should public transportation have in LA?

Public transportation is an important issue for the majority of LA residents. Thus should be given more importance in regards to the cities agenda. Once elected, I will sit down with all parties to comprise and implement a compressive plan to resolve all issues.

The City Council has had to revisit the medical marijuana ordinance repeatedly. How would you like to see the medical marijuana issue addressed?

I will support a medical marijuana ordinance that ensures the non-selling to minors, brings about a transparent financial disclosure process, and ensure equal protection for both the patient and providers.

What are your priorities for development and planning?

When dealing with development and planning, my number one concern is congestion. We need to implement a new development and planning ordinance that focuses on the reduction of traffic/congestion.

LAist does not endorse political candidates. All candidates from the City of L.A.'s Official Candidate List were contacted to participate and were given the same set of questions, with the exception of West Hollywood candidates, who were sent a WeHo-specific list of questions.