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Podcasts Take Two
State Of Affairs: Primary race status, Paul Tanaka, $15 minimum wage and more
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Jun 12, 2014
Listen • 14:43
State Of Affairs: Primary race status, Paul Tanaka, $15 minimum wage and more
Votes are still being counted in a few primary races around Southern California and hotel workers in Los Angeles might be looking at a wage increase sooner than expected.
Paul Tanaka, seen here as he preparesto testify in front of the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence in 2012.
Paul Tanaka, seen here as he prepared to testify in front of the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence in 2012, is a leading candidate in the race for L.A. County Sheriff.
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Bear Guerra/KPCC
)

Votes are still being counted in a few primary races around Southern California and hotel workers in Los Angeles might be looking at a wage increase sooner than expected.

Votes are still being counted in a few primary races around Southern California and hotel workers in Los Angeles might be looking at a wage increase sooner than expected. To drill down on all of this and more we've got KPCC political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze in the studio.

We look first at some of the primary races still left open. In the Inland Empire, votes are still being counting in one congressional race. We get caught up on where things stand and what this race could mean for traditional party politics.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin will be in the November runoff for State Controller, but it's unclear who her opponent will be. What's the latest on the vote tally?

Up in Ventura County, the re-election of Democratic Congresswoman Julia Brownley seems to be in question. What's going on?

This week the Board of Supervisors voted four to one to create the Office of Child Protection. What would that be exactly?

This vote was pushed by county supervisors who are in the last six months of their terms, Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky. Is there something to be said about the timing of this just as the Board of Supervisors is preparing for a change in leadership?

Supervisor Don Knabe was the lone dissenting vote. He argued that adding an additional layer of bureaucracy is not the way to improve the child welfare system. Does he have a point? The county already has the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Public Social Services.

Undersheriff Paul Tanaka placed second last week in the primary for sheriff. Three days later, he was testifying in a federal case against six sheriff's deputies accused of criminal misconduct. What does his testimony mean for his chances in November?

A big story this week has to do with minimum wage in this town. A Los Angeles City Council committee approved a wage proposal this week that would increase the wages paid to employees in non-union hotels up to $15 an hour. Why is the city pursuing this policy and how likely is it to be passed?

In other City Council news, a sales tax proposal floated by two L.A. city council members to repair failing streets and sidewalks will not appear on the November ballot. The multibillion-dollar Save Our Streets plan is dead, at least for now. What are the politics behind this decision? What's the plan now to fix these roads?