Debate among Long Beach council candidates reveals differences on labor issues

The three candidates hoping to represent Long Beach’s 2nd City Council district had a chance to show the differences between their respective political styles during a Wednesday night debate.

Three candidates – interior design company owner Joen Gaica, technology retail company owner Eric Gray and labor advocate Jeaine Pearce – are competing to represent a council district that includes Port of Long Beach, the Ocean Boulevard corridor, the East Village Arts District and coastal neighborhoods as far east as Redondo Avenue. The 2nd District includes some of Long Beach’s more prominent areas, and has the distinction of being the city’s only contest in this election cycle where an incumbent is not seeking reelection.

Press-Telegram Public Editor Rich Archbold moderated the debate, which took place at The Breakers building in downtown Long Beach. The candidates spent more than two hours answering questions on a range of current policy issues affecting Long Beach and, as requested by Archbold, the candidates’ managed to avoid acting like presidential candidates and showed that it is actually possible to be polite to one’s opponents during an election year.

Although the candidates’ responses showed several instances of broad agreement on issues such as taxes, the future of Long Beach Airport and doing more to help the homeless people who congregate in downtown Long Beach, the debate did provide each of three candidates a chance to show how their respective backgrounds and viewpoints may shape their approach to leadership.

Gaica, who owns Gaica Interiors, emphasized her experience as a business owner whose company survived the Great Recession and her involvement with the East Village Association, of which she is currently president.

“I’m hand-in-hand working with the residents of Long Beach and I have been for many years,” she said.

Gray, who owns ITO Solutions and is president of the Downtown Residential Council, portrayed himself as the candidate who would be best able to achieve cooperation between business and labor interests.

“I know what makes business corridors tick and I’m ruing because I’m passionate about the city of Long Beach and what it can become,” he said.

Pearce, who is an organizing director for Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, helped campaign for the 2012 ballot measure that set a minimum wage for large, non-union Long Beach hotels. She said her involvement in the labor movement does not necessarily mean that she will always take unions’ sides, but would be relevant to work inside City Hall.

“I am the only candidate that has policy experience,” she said.

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In several respects, the candidates voiced substantial agreement on some of the major issues facing Long Beach’s 2nd District and the city as a whole.

Gaica, Gray and Pearce all said they favored the council’s decision to put proposed sales tax increase on the June ballot, and when pressed to declare their personal views during the portion of the debate when audience members could ask questions, the three all said they support the tax proposal.

What’s more, the three contenders generally agreed on the likelihood that city govement’s employees may need to receive pay raises at the conclusion of current and near-future labor negotiations, that allowing inteational flights at Long Beach Airport may benefit the city as long as planes don’t exceed the noise limits set by city law (the 2nd District is home to several luxury hotels) and that Long Beach may be able to accommodate medical marijuana dispensaries, as long as caabis providers are not over-concentrated in any given neighborhoods.

For whatever it’s worth, all three candidates also acknowledged they tried marijuana during their younger days.

Labor-related issues led to some moments where the candidates clearly disagreed with each other. For example, Gray blamed labor unions for events that led to the Califoia Coastal Commission denying a proposal for a high-end hotel-condominium project in the district. Pearce said the parking issues stopped the project.

There was a also a small dispute as to whether candidates seeking labor unions’ endorsements must sign pledges to ea interviews. Gaica, who has no labor endorsements, said she has not signed any promises to labor or pro-business groups.

Whereas Gray said candidates do have to sign papers expressing views on labor-related matters in order to be considered for union support, he does not consider those kind of statements to be a pledge for any specific actions. Pearce, however, said she considers those statements to be pledges.

Long Beach’s Primary Election is scheduled for April 12. There are also competitive elections in the city’s 6th and 8th council districts.

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