Meet The Candidates: Austin Dragon, Council District 10

City Council District 10 candidate Austin Dragon

()

City Council District 10 candidate Austin Dragon
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 Austin Dragon (Facebook, Twitter). 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 Andrew "Andy" Kim, Chris Brown, 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?

I have over 16 years experience as an employment specialist in the private sector to speak directly to the issues of jobs, small business growth/retention and economic revitalization. I have 20 years as a political activist in all racial, ethnic, religious communities to speak directly to the issues of coalition building and community partnerships. I am well-versed in the issues, understand the grueling nature of real grassroots campaigning, not afraid to aggressively raise funds and feel I would represent the next generation of no-nonsense independent leadership this city needs. I view being a councilman as being a public servant not as an entitlement. Moreover, I am NOT part of any of the special interest groups that have created this City Hall insider machine that is destroying the second largest city in the nation.

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

1. Bring Jobs and Business Back to LA - we must make LA competitive with surrounding cities and states or Los Angeles will continue its net out-migration of small business and jobs. I would aggressively make LA business friendly by eliminating the excessive taxes, fees and over-regulation.
2. Restore LA City’s Fiscal Stability & End the Budget Crisis - Launch a full, city-wide, all-department audit of City Hall done by an outside, independent firm (in other words has not contributed money to any current or former city councilperson).
3. Rebuild LA’s Infrastructure & Services - Right now the City has a 100 year back-log for infrastructure repair and our aging water mains and power grid is 100 years old. Let’s get back to basic services: fix the roads and sidewalks, repair our crumbling infrastructure.
4. Focus on Youth - Our youth are not being educated by our public schools and I would use my City Council office to keep the pressure on LAUSD and the state to ensure this becomes a top priority.

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

We need to fix the budget and know exactly where every dime is going in terms of the City General Fund. A) End the phony city budgeting process by switching to zero-based budgeting and having department chairs justify their entire budget annually, b) End the wasteful spending by reducing/consolidating/eliminating departments - there can be no sacred cows as cost-savings and efficiency must be applied city-wide, and c) Hire the best financial advisors in the nation and listen to that advice (experts in sound municipal financial analysis and planning) to prevent city insolvency!

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

I am strongly in favor of closely working with our neighborhood councils and increasing their involvement in City planning issues. Also, we must never forgot all the other organizations of the community - homeowner associations, condo associations, block clubs, etc. - that must be involved, informed and engaged.

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

Having lived in cities with excellent public transportation (New York and Paris) I believe public transportation can play a huge role her in Los Angeles. However, unlike City Hall, I would focus on massively expanding our busing system.

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

Marijuana dispensaries remain illegal at the federal level and I believe our constitution makes it clear that federal law supersedes the state on this matter.

Personally, I am very strongly anti-drugs remembering vividly the disastrous effect of drugs on inner city children, families and whole neighborhoods as I grew up. I have never made any distinction between marijuana and other harder drugs. They are both sold by the same drug dealers that are a bane to our society.

What are your priorities for development and planning?

This is a very big deal for me because the city has come with all kinds of schemes to keep the public uninformed and unaware of its many “projects”.

1. I would aggressively work to eliminate the blighted areas of the district.
2. I would extend boundaries for public notification and include not just neighborhood councils but homeowner associations, condo associations, block clubs, etc.
3. I would also demand a lot longer than 45 days. The city works with developers in secret over years for their “projects”. Why shouldn’t the community be informed when the process begins not when everything is a done deal and the City Council has the votes in the bag for a project that would be opposed by the community?
4. Any development must have the support of the community (residents and business)

Endorsements:

• L.A. Clean Sweep
• Congressional candidate Phil Jennerjahn

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.