Regardless of who wins in November’s elections, a new
person will be representing UCLA in the state Assembly.
As a result of re-districting, this year area residents will
have a choice between Democrat Herb Wesson, Republican Jonathan
Leonard and Libertarian Keith Clemens.
Each state Assembly district is supposed to represent an equal
number of Californians; UCLA’s has an estimated 423,404
people.
After the 2000 census, state legislators passed a bill to
re-draw district lines, so the districts would have an equal number
of people according to the census.
Other state legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives
follow similar procedures.
UCLA will move from Democrat Paul Koretz’s 42nd district
to the 47th, currently Wesson’s.
“Assemblyman Koretz is obviously disappointed that UCLA is
no longer in his district,” said Teresa Spark, a press aide
for Koretz.
Koretz is confident that Wesson will be able to represent the
UCLA community effectively, Spark said.
At the same time, Wesson looks forward to being able to
represent UCLA’s constituents.
“The speaker is ecstatic about representing UCLA,”
said Patricia Soto, Wesson’s press aide.
Wesson was named speaker of the state Assembly in February. On
Feb. 11 UCLA hosted his a inauguration ceremony, which was attended
by Mayor James Hahn, former state assembly speaker Antonio
Villaraigosa and then-Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks.
Wesson was the first speaker to be sworn in at a University of
California campus.
As speaker, he has many formal powers to control the flow of
legislation and is regarded as the leader of the Assembly’s
democrats. He also sits on the UC Board of Regents.
Much of the legislation Wesson has introduced in his four years
as an assemblyman has dealt with providing opportunities to
children and human rights.
A bill Wesson sponsored this year authorized the construction of
three veterans’ centers. One was placed in West Los Angeles
because of its proximity to the UCLA Medical Center, Soto said.
While some of his legislation dealt with education, higher
education was not a focal point.
But now that UCLA is in Wesson’s district, he will want to
develop relationships with students and faculty, Soto said.
The challenger Leonard said he is concerned that the state
provides too many services and is not spending its money
wisely.
These concerns extend to the UC, where student fees may need to
be raised to make up for a projected university budget
shortfall.
“It seems like they are choosing the wrong area to get the
money,” Leonard said. “Students at state universities
should be provided the same advantages as students 50 years
ago.”
While Wesson advocates affordable higher education, he has not
ruled out the possibility of a fee increase next year if there are
budget problems.
This year, Wesson presided over the Assembly as it passed the
budget two months late, while legislators debated how to handle a
$23.6 billion budget hole.
Leonard criticized Wesson for not being able to balance a
budget.
“Politicians have never balanced a budget in their
life,” Leonard said.
This is not Leonard’s first time running for the state
Assembly. Wesson ran against Leonard for the 47th district in 1998
and 2000.
Each time Wesson received over 83 percent of the popular vote,
but Leonard said it is important to keep campaigning.
“I knew in the beginning that the odds were against
me,” Leonard said. “We need people to make the
constituents think about what we (as a society) are
doing.”
Clemens, the other challenger, could not be reached for
comment.