The special election to fill the Long Beach City Council’s vacant 1st District seat is just days away. On April 7, residents will choose which of five candidates will take over Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal’s former spot. Candidates include: Rick Berry, Evan Braude, Robert Garcia, Jana Shields and Misi Tagaloa. One candidate, Bill Grisolia, dropped out of the race last week. Below is a breakdown of how the candidates weigh in on some of the district’s top issues:

How should the city improve dilapidated rental housing conditions and protect tenants who report code violations?
 

Berry: Enforce existing housing laws, track landlord code violations and renters with negative tenancy histories.
Braude: Rigorously enforce code enforcements, train landlords to know the rules and tenants to understand their rights. Prosecute and fine landlords who do not follow city ordinances.
 

Garcia: Work on code enforcement, keep streets clean and patrolled.
 

Shields: Possibly require owners to live on-site, create and enforce laws with teeth.
 

Tagaloa: Create table for landlords and tenants to hash out differences, prohibit worst violators from owning property

Do you support a Housing Trust Fund to provide home ownership opportunities for low-income residents?
 

Berry: No. Takes money away from developers and entrepreneurs, only to redistribute and create another level of bureaucracy. Governments are broke and cannot solve this problem.

Braude: Yes. Also supports inclusionary zoning, a building ordinance that requires new developers to allocate a percentage of units for affordable housing.

Garcia: Yes. Create additional senior and workforce housing.

Shields: Yes. Also supports the Central Project Area Committee (CPAC) – an arm of redevelopment helping fund workforce housing.

Tagaloa: Yes. Businesses have responsibility to create affordable housing as well.

Are you in favor of employers in the tourism industry being mandated to provide living wages and do you support the Employee Free Choice Act, in which workers are able to form and join labor unions by collecting signed union cards from the majority of workers on a job?

Berry: No. Tourism jobs are not meant to sustain families, but to enter the workforce. Government should provide the ladder for employees to work their way up. Stands with Chamber of Commerce in not supporting Free Choice Act.

Braude: Yes. Need to remove barriers for workers who want to organize. Supports the Labor Peace Agreement, requiring hotels on city property to sign an agreement with labor organizations seeking to represent the hotel's hospitality workers.

Garcia: Yes. Must be vigilant in ensuring that workers are getting living wages and health care is available.

Shields: Supports employee freedom to choose whether they unionize or not, but this is not the time to put pressure on a struggling industry. Help make local workers employable, then, when the economy turns, both sides need to work together to increase wages and benefits, while considering the business side of it to not lose businesses or jobs.

Tagaloa: Yes. Legislate that employers provide living wage jobs and adequate health care for employees, penalize employers using bully tactics against employees.

How would you ensure that majority of local contract jobs go to Long Beach residents?

Berry: Public works contracts need to favor local business. Give an advantage to local contractors bidding on public works projects.

Braude: Supports project labor agreements to create jobs for local workers by requiring a percentage of jobs go to residents.

Garcia: Jobs should go to local residents first. Would like to explore requirements for management and public employees to live in city they represent.

Shields: Raise awareness for employers to hire locally and residents to shop locally, but not something we can enforce.

Tagaloa: Commit to creating jobs to keep people in Long Beach through legislation. Need to raise community participation in job market.

How do you feel about a public smoking ban? How can we increase air quality?

Berry: In favor of clean air, but supports personal freedom. You can’t regulate smoking because it makes criminals out of citizens.

Braude: Created the ordinances to establish Smoke Free Long Beach during previous council stint. Need to regulate the Port to reduce pollution. Supports Los Angeles Port program to combat pollution over Long Beach’s plan.

Garcia: Should expand perimeters of smoking ban in public and private, including making colleges, bus stops and farmers’ markets smoke free. However, did receive funding from cigar shop owners.

Shields: Reduce car traffic to lessen pollutants from gasoline engines. Supports the Long Beach Port plan because it assists individual truck drivers. Cannot enforce smoking bans.

Tagaloa: Need to reduce port and truck activity, as well as second hand smoke. Supports a smoke free city plan, enforcing a smoking ban outside markets, bus stops and churches.

How can the city be more accessible to those who are not fluent in English?

Berry: It is not the job of the city to provide assistance to those who don’t know English, but to provide education to create a common language.

Braude: City should continue to provide translation at meetings and translate municipal webpages.

Garcia: Translate all city services and webpages.

Shields: The key is for people to learn English, create volunteer English programs to help immigrants become citizens and enter workforce.

Tagaloa: Make sure translation equipment available to everyone, in all languages.

Time living in District
Berry: 15 years
Braude: 24 years
Garcia: 2 years
Shields: 13 years
Tagaloa: 14 years

Endorsements
Berry: Long Beach Taxpayer’s Association, Former Mayor Eunice Sato

Braude: California,  LA County, Long Beach and Lambda Democratic Clubs, Assemblywoman Bonnie Lownenthal, Former Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, L.A. Teamster's Union 42, UNITE HERE Local 11, AFSCME, IAM—Long Beach City Employees, Former Mayor Ernie Kell, Long Beach NAACP President Naomi Rainey

Garcia: Senator Alan Lowenthal, Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Club, Long Beach Firefighters and Police Officers Associations, Former Mayor Beverly O’Neill, Long Beach Councilmembers Dee Andrews, Gary DeLong, Val Lerch, and Suja Lowenthal
 

Shields: Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Greater Los Angeles

Tagaloa: Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Former State Senator David A. Robert, Independent Candidate for Congress Nick Dibs, Community Activist Harvey Cochran, and Governor of American Samoa Togilola Tulafono