Today on AirTalk, we'll discuss yesterday's local elections and the upcoming run-off elections for city leadership positions. We'll also consider the TSA's new regulations for carry-on items, which may include small knives, gold clubs, and other large items. Later, we'll address Newport Beach's fire ring protocol, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death, and whether 20-somethings are the new 30-somethings.
Election results and analyzing exit poll results
Redux is one word to sum up yesterday’s primary election. The mayoral race between City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel will head to a May 21 runoff, with Garcetti getting 33 percent and Greuel locking in 29 percent of the vote.
Voter turnout for the mayoral primary was pretty dismal. Just 16 percent of registered voters showed up at the polls, lower than four years ago. The battles for the city attorney and city controller posts, as well as multiple seats on the LAUSD, will also be decided again in May. Los Angeles voters weren’t too hot on Measure A, the half-cent sales tax increase to ease the city’s budget deficit, which got voted down 55 percent to 45 percent.
The extra money would have gone toward 911 emergency response services, senior services, after-school gang and drug prevention programs, among other things. We will look at the election results and what the city is going to do to try to fix its budget problem now that Measure A is off the table.
Guests:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC Reporter
Fernando Guerra, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University
Miguel Santana, City Administrative Officer at City of Los Angeles
Is allowing small knives and golf clubs on commercial planes a good idea?
The events of September 11, 2001, changed everything about air travel. Since that day, flyers have endured sometimes obvious and other times mystifying restrictions on the kinds of items allowed on flights. Yesterday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) made the surprising announcement that starting April 25th domestic flights will conform to international rules and allow certain small knives and items like hockey sticks, golf clubs and pool cues be permitted carry-on items.
Boy Scouts and passengers intent on bringing their favorite 9-iron on vacation may breathe a sigh of relief at the soon-to-be relaxed regulations, but coalitions and unions that represent flight attendants aren’t so pleased. “While we agree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golf club or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked in the cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flight attendants in the passenger cabin,” said Stacy Martin, president of the Transportation Workers Union that represents flight attendants for Southwest Airlines.
Do you think small knives and certain sporting equipment should be allowed on commercial airplanes? Are these items security risks? Will this give TSA more time to screen for explosives?
Guests:
Kelly Skyles, National Safety and Security Coordinator for Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and representing the flight attendants of American Airlines; has been a flight attendant with American Airlines for 26 years.
Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy at Reason Foundation; author of the study “Toward a Risk-Based Aviation Security Policy”
Are Newport Beach's fire pits a public good or a nuisance?
If you grew up in or around the beach cities of Orange County, it’s likely you spent a long, fun evening with family and friends huddled around a fire in a fire pit near the Balboa Pier, or across the mouth of the Newport Harbor in Corona Del Mar. One of the last vestiges of the pre-litigious days of post-World War II beach culture, the eight-inch high concrete pits have been a cheap, popular way to spend summer and fall evenings for more than half a century, but they could be in danger of removal.
The city counsel of Newport Beach has voted to get rid of the pits, and the California Coastal Commission is reviewing the city’s request for a permit to remove them in San Diego today.
Newport Beach city councilwoman Nancy Gardner said on AirTalk that health concerns are the primary motive at play, citing a recent South Coast Air Quality Management District rule that imposed a ban on wood-burning fireplaces in newly constructed homes.
"Their study showed that the particulate matter was harmful to people's health," said Gardner, a claim she says was verified by the director of pulmonary services at Hoag Hospital in Irvine, Calif.
While the counsel argues the fires can contribute to health problems of beach-goers and local residents alike, many of those with fond memories of the pits are opposed to their removal. Those opposed claim that beachfront residents are using health risks as a scapegoat to conceal their concerns about beach-crowding and rowdy behavior. Gardner refuted such suggestions of ulterior motive.
"We still have lots of visitors that never use the fire rings and they still come to our beaches," she said.
Jack Wu, a Newport Beach resident and columnist for the Orange County Register, is opposed to the rings' removal. He says that the Coastal Commission can only refer to anecdotal stories about reduced air quality in the areas surrounding the fire pits, and that no empirical data exists to prove residents' claims that the beach fixtures pose a health hazard.
"The city has not actually measured the air quality on or around the beaches," Wu said. Gardner believes that such measurements would be redundant.
"We don't need to do a study to see that the smoke is affecting the residents there," she said. "Until a few years ago, we didn't know that this was a health hazard -- not just a nuisance that you didn't want to sniff."
Should the city be permitted to remove the pits to protect the interests of people who bought a home near these beaches, or are the good times the pits provide from residents all over the county a greater good?
Guests:
Nancy Gardner, Newport Beach city councilwoman
Jack Wu, Newport Beach resident and columnist for the Orange County Register
The complicated legacy of Hugo Chavez
Venezuelans are stocking up on goods fearing destabilization in the country. The death of longtime leader Hugo Chavez yesterday may have left a leadership vacuum.
Chavez was one of the most powerful figures in South American history. He was famous and infamous for nationalizing Venezuela's vast oil wealth. He used those profits to improve life for many of the country's poor. Nevertheless, he failed to manage its ballooning profits. The global price of a barrel of oil sky-rocketed during his presidency, but Venezuelans became increasingly reliant on the export. Most notable in this country was Chavez's outspoken criticism of America's influence on the South America. He called then President George W. Bush a donkey and the devil. Chavez also closely allied with now deceased Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The future of both Cuba and Venezuela is uncertain today. The vice president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is ready to succeed Chavez, despite the constitution specifying that the interim presidency should be assumed by the speaker of the National Assembly. Things could already be off to a shaky start as Chavez's body lies in state.
How severely could Venezuela change after Chavez? Why was he such a polarizing figure? What type of relationship should the U.S. have with Venezuela?
Guest:
Miguel Tinker Salas, Professor of Latin American History and Chicano Latino Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He is also the author of “The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Society in Venezuela.”
Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and founder and editor-in-chief of the hemispheric policy magazine Americas Quarterly (AQ)
Why your twenties are not a throwaway decade
During TED 2013, clinical psychologist Dr. Meg Jay determined to inspire young adults to realize one thing—make your twenties count. In her talk she speaks about this "defining" decade being the basis for marriage, family and a career. Instead of "sliding" into situations and relationships, Jay says 20-somethings should live their lives in a deliberate and meaningful way. She likens these years to an airplane and how even a slight change can have an enormous effect on the destination.
Even though people are living longer and tend to be settling down later, it doesn’t discount what takes place during this decade. For example, the female fertility age does not change, 80 percent of "life’s defining moments" happen by the mid-30s, and relationship and career decisions can affect marriage and future salaries. In addition, she says the brain is still developing and 20-somethings are undergoing personality changes.
"What that means is that whatever it is you want to change about yourself, your 20s are an incredibly sweet spot for making those sorts of changes,” said Jay on AirTalk. “People do live longer, but that hasn’t changed the fact that your 20s are still an incredibly critical and transformative period of time.”
With relationships, Jay believes in not wasting time in the dating game and not taking cohabitation lightly. Although it’s fine to get married later, she doesn’t want 20-somethings to think there is an infinite amount of time and who they date casually is not significant.
"My question to people is, if you’re doing something later in order to do it better, that’s great," said Jay. "If you can make a better decision at 30 than you can at 25, then wait till 30. But be sure you’re using those extra five years or those extra 10 years to date intentionally and mindfully and really be learning.”
As for career-searching in a difficult economy, she hopes 20-somethings will network and begin to establish their careers because the 20s affect their future wages. Jay believes sayings like, "30 is the new 20" discourages 20-somethings from realizing what they are capable of even in a difficult economy.
Some 20-something callers responded that they are not deliberately wasting their time but are stuck because of the economy. They said they're not able to establish careers earlier because they’re competing with 30-somethings who have higher degrees and more experience. Others are not frustrated by this situation and are enjoying the benefits of continued parental support to travel and pursue personal goals.
If you’re 20-something, how does this compare with your own experience? Do 20-somethings feel like this decade is just a waiting game for what happens next? If so, is that a trend or is it because of the economy? Also, what positive and negative experiences in your 20s have influenced your life today?
Guest:
Meg Jay, Ph.D, psychologist that works primarily with clients in their 20s; TED 2013 speaker; author of “The Defining Decade: Why your twenties matter—and how to make the most of them now”