The Valley's Voice for Choice"
National Organization for Women
San Fernando Valley - Northeast Los Angeles Chapter
P.O. Box 7141 Van Nuys CA 91409-7141 (818) 769-2035 76170.1423@compuserve.com
San Fernando Valley/Northeast Los Angeles NOW PAC
California ID# 990464
http://www.now.org
Name of Candidate: Bella De Soto
Office Sought: City Council District 9
Party affiliation: From Democrat, to now as Independent
Occupation: FC Bookkeeper Contractor
Organizational Affiliations: Many affiliations, but two pertinent to your cause is NARAL
& NOFW (National Organization for Women).
Are you a NOW Member?__Not presently
If not, would you like to join?_Yes
If yes, enclose check for $40.00 made out to NOW and specify chapter affiliation:
SFV/NELA__I would like to affiliate with your LA Chapter, but currently I can not.
I have not earned income for over two months, and just now have began working a few hrs only, so I'm trying to myfinancial resources are a bit tight now.
Los Angeles South "NOW Playing in the Hood"_ *
Other_- I would like to learn more about the different programs you have around town, Etc.
Issues
(Feel free to call us for information about any issue that
you don't understand or are not familiar with...our PAC process is
a learning process, not a test)
1. What does feminism mean to you, and what are the qualities that make up a feminist? Do you consider you're a feminist?
I guess I have always been a Feminist, but did not give it much thought, till one day some yrs ago, while having a challenging chat with a male counterpart. While I found his assertion, an affront when misinterpreting women qualities as self dependent, forthright, self esteem, etc., I became irate that I had to defend not only these very viable characteristics, but also identify my persona as such…
2. Are you "pro-choice?" Absolutely, and without negotiations in the matter! Currently there's a petition going around sponsored, certainly by the religious zealous fanatics, who do not respect a woman's right to choose, to make her own critical decision without extremities from a hostile exterior. I turn 52 on 3/06/05, and I too, made a difficult choice on a couple of occasions, while living in NYC for many years, because I see no reason to foster a child onto a not suitable situation all around. To date, I am childless, and can no longer give birth, but it was my experience, not any one else's !
3. What is your position on the following issues? State whether you support or oppose the following public policy proposals and feel free to explain your position:
* See my explanation to each of these measures attached.
(a) legally imposed waiting periods for the termination of pregnancies (I oppose this measure)
(b) legally required spousal and/or parental notifications (I oppose this measure)
(c) bans on specific termination procedures, such as so-called "partial birth" (I oppose this)
(d) residency requirements (I oppose this measure, because restricts the services to some)
(e) restrictions on government funding for family planning/termination (I oppose this)
(f) codification of Roe vs. Wade (I oppose this measure)
4. How many beds are available in the jurisdiction in which you are running for battered women and children? What will/can you do to increase available facilities or improve the quality of those already standing?
5. Do you support the Equal Rights Amendment and how will you work for its passage? (For further information on the ERA see www.now.org)
6. a) For candidates running for re-election: What have you done to elect (and appoint) more women and more feminists to positions of public service? What are your plans for future appointments?
b) For 1st time candidates: What will you do to elect and appoint more women and Feminists to positions of public service?
7. Do you support the Model Ordinance for Citizen Oversight of Police Misconduct (copy enclosed/attached)? If not, why not?
8. Do you support SFV/NELA NOW's proposed amendment to the Family Code to crack down on those who aid and abet child support non-payment? Explain your views.
9. After the City of Los Angeles voted to change civil service classifications for Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics in a way that SFV/NELA NOW warned would have a detrimental effect on the hiring and retention of women in City Council testimony, the effect on the employment of uniformed women in the Fire Department was a total force increase of 5 women and over 1,400 men over a ten year period. Review the attached information and explain how you would rectify the situation, including whether:
(a) you would return to the separate paramedic civil service classification
(b) to force the Fire Department to make good on its promises of affirmative action outreach to desegregate on the basis of gender
(c) LAFD officials should be investigated for conspiring to violate the civil rights of women.
10. If you are running for school board and/or community college board, explain the impact of Title IX in your district, including but not limited to Title IX compliance in sports opportunities for women and girls.
11. Explain your views on the attached policy statement on zoning and child care issues formulated by SFV/NELA NOW.
E-Mail your response as a "Word" attached file to:
76170.1423@compuserve.com
Proposed Amendment to Family Code
An amendment to add Section 3655 to the Family Code
Section 3655. Aiding and abetting child support evasion.
(a) Every person who harbors, conceals or aids a party who is obligated to pay child support or who has been ordered to pay child support by any court, in any way that would enable the party to conceal assets, income, or other means of payment of support from the court and/or the custodial parent to whom the support is to be paid, with the intent that said principal may avoid payment of an appropriate amount of child support, having knowledge that said party is subject to a child support obligation, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) A custodial parent who is owed child support has a right of action against any person who violates subsection (a) to be brought in an appropriate civil court for three times the amount of actual damages according to proof, or $5,000.00, whichever amount is greater and for reasonable attorney fees, costs of the action, and costs of investigation if an investigation is performed by any person licensed under Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7512) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code or his or her employees.
Model Ordinance for Citizen Oversight of Police Misconduct
Section 1.
The citizens of _______________ enact this ordinance to advance and promote the following public policies:
(a) To guarantee equal protection of the law to all (Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article One, Section 7 of the California Constitution);
(b) To guarantee due process of the law to all (Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article One, Section 7 of the California Constitution);
(c) To enforce the right of the people to safety (Article One, Section 1 of the California Constitution);
(d) To enforce the right of the people to privacy (Article One, Section 1 of the California Constitution);
(e) To enforce the public policies of the State of California to freedom of information balanced by privacy concerns as enumerated in the Information Practices Act and the California Public Records Act;
(f) To protect the rights of peace officers and their collective bargaining representatives exercising their rights under the public policies enumerated in Section 923 of the California Labor Code.
Section 2.
A Citizen - Police Oversight Commission shall be elected as follows:
(a) Four members shall be elected in the same manner and at the same time as members of the _________________ City Council as specified in the _________________ Municipal Code;
(b) One member shall be selected by the collective bargaining agent, if any, representing officers of the _________________ police department who are peace officers in any manner the collective bargaining agent determines in accordance with its constitution and/or bylaws; if peace officers of the _________________ police department are not represented by a collective bargaining agent, then each peace officer who has been employed by the department for not less than 30 days prior to a date set for election by municipal ordinance shall be eligible to vote for a representative to the commission in a manner to be determined by municipal ordinance; the term of said commission member shall be the same as the term for any other member of the commission.
Section 3.
The authority and duties of the Citizen - Police Oversight Commission shall be as follows:
(a) To receive, and in its discretion to administer and investigate, complaints from the public at large involving allegations of police misconduct;
(b) To receive, and in its discretion to administer and investigate, complaints from peace officers employed by _________________ regarding the administration and supervision of the _________________ Police Department;
(c) To receive, and in its discretion investigate tort claims involving police misconduct or misconduct concerning the administration and supervision of the _________________ Police Department;
(d) To receive a copy of all tort claims filed with the City Clerk, of all complaints filed with the _________________ Police Department, of all lawsuits in state or federal courts served upon the City of _________________, and all grievances filed by officers against other officers or supervisory personnel of the _________________ Police Department which shall be provided to the Commission within thirty (30) calendar days;
(e) To utilize the services of the _________________ Police Department and/or to hire (as employees or as independent contractors as needed) Private Investigators licensed by the Bureau of Security & Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs to investigate complaints as specified in subsections (a) and (b), above;
(f) To hire or contract for the services of polygraphers, questioned documents examiners, fingerprint experts, eyewitness identification experts, and other forensic experts as needed to assist with investigations of complaints as specified in subsections (a) and (b), above;
(g) To hold hearings to determine whether any police officer or any civilian suspect assigned to the police department has violated any laws or rules or regulations relating to the police department;
(h) To subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses, and the production of books and papers pertinent to the investigation and to administer oaths to such witnesses to the extent permissible by law;
(i) To thereafter make recommendations concerning allegations regarding police misconduct, including but not limited to recommendations for settlement or litigation of tort claims, lawsuits, and employee grievances to the City Administrative Officer and/or to the City Council;
(j) To refer such matters that the Commission concludes are violations of law to the District Attorney of the County of Los Angeles, to the Attorney General of the State of California, and/or to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and/or United States Department of Justice for prosecution;
(k) To make available to the public and to the news media any materials which fall under the purview of the California Public Records Act in consultation with the _________________ City Attorney and to consult independent legal counsel for a second opinion if deemed necessary to protect the right of the public to information necessary to the functioning of a free and open society.
Section 4.
In making decisions regarding the hiring or contracting of investigative personnel and auxiliary assistants, the Commission shall consult:
(a) The collective bargaining representative for the _________________ Police Department;
(b) The Los Angeles County Criminal Defense Investigators Association (or any local criminal defense investigators association);
(c) The District Directors and District Governors of the California Association of Licensed Investigators residing within the County of ________________;
(d) The collective bargaining representatives for investigators employed by the Office of the County Public Defender and the Office of the Alternate Public Defender (if any);
(e) Any other association or union which in the discretion of the Commission would be necessary and proper to making hiring/contracting decisions to determine the competence, background, training, certification, reputation, education, and experience of auxiliary forensic experts.
Section 5.
The People of _________________ declare that it is the public policy to conduct investigations and to protect the rights of the public to the greatest extent possible. This public policy is inconsistent with the sociological phenomena known as the "Code of Silence" observed by many peace officers. To mitigate the results of the "Code of Silence" to the greatest extent possible, polygraph evidence shall be admissible and considered by the Commission in performing its duties when the polygraph is utilized as an investigative tool under the following conditions:
· The polygraph is freely and voluntarily taken
· The polygraph is administered by a Private Investigator Licensed by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs
· The polygrapher is certified by the American Polygraph Association and the National Polygraph Association
No officer employed by the _________________ Police Department shall be required to take a polygraph or to do any act prohibited by the Peace Officers Bill of Rights.
Section 6.
The hearing process of the Commission shall be open to the public to the extent legally possible and insofar as it does not conflict with state or federal laws or the California Constitutional Right to Privacy (Article One, Section 1).
The records of the Commission shall be available to the public to the greatest extent permitted by the California Public Records Act and the California Information Practices Act.
Section 7.
Violations of the Information Practices Act involving the improper accessing of address or other personal information of any person by any employee of the ________________ Police Department shall be immediately reported to the victim(s) of the offense in writing and shall be reported to the Commission within (30) calendar days.
Any investigator assigned to investigate violations of the Information Practices Act shall attempt to ascertain any facts or theories from the victims of the violations as to any potential motive for the violation.
If the violation results in, aids, or abets any violation of the Ralph Civil Rights Act, Section 51.7 of the California Civil Code, and/or results in, aids or abets any violation of any statute prohibiting any "hate crime" and/or violation of any state or federal statute protecting the civil rights and/or voting rights of any person or class of persons, the City of ______________ shall not indemnify, reimburse, or pay any portion of a punitive damage award against an individual unless compelled to do so by state law.
Section 8.
Peace officer investigators assigned to the Commission shall be required to cross-train with continuing education courses on criminal defense as well as prosecution oriented police techniques; civil plaintiff and defense coursework related to police misconduct and civil rights investigations; and ethnic studies courses consistent with gaining understanding of major population groups within the City of ______________.
Private Investigators hired by or contracted for by the Commission shall demonstrate background, training, education and experience with prosecution and defense of criminal activity, civil plaintiff and defense related to police misconduct and civil rights investigations; and ethnic studies courses consistent with gaining understanding of major population groups within the City of _________________.
Section 9.
Any and all policies and procedures regarding or concerning eyewitness identification techniques of the ________________ Police Department shall be consistent with the Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement, authored by the Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence and published by the National Institute of Justice, October 1999. All officers shall be trained in the use of these procedures.
Section 10.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of the ordinance. The City Council of the City of _________________, California hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared unconstitutional.
Commentary by the Author - Jan B. Tucker
The importance of the above proposed model ordinance is based upon some 23 years of investigative experience, both defending and opposing police officers accused of misconduct, conducting plaintiff and defense civil investigations, and rising within the private investigative community to service as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Association of Licensed Investigators (CALI), the world's largest organization of private eyes.
I have built some basic value judgments into this proposal. For one, rank and file peace officers deserve independent, public scrutiny over their own grievances with management to protect them from undue influence by the brass and politicians. For this reason, I have built in representation for the officers themselves and expanded the traditional scope of the "police commission" to include authority to investigate and address these grievances. Another value judgment is respect for the voters' right to elect commission members and by-pass the mayoral-council appointment systems in the usual commission.
Certain aspects of this proposal, e.g., who gets hired to conduct investigations and how they are to be trained, is based upon the simple fact that police departments are not the fountains of all wisdom. Private investigators have different training and different approaches, often gained after a career in law enforcement. A combination of approaches to the investigation is best and a smart commission will have both police and private investigators work side by side in a team to get the best of all worlds.
The requirement that victims of Information Practices Act violations be notified and questioned seems like a no-brainer, but the LAPD had two Lieutenants "investigate" illicit access to personal records of over 200 persons (myself and now-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger included), without ever bothering to inform or question the victims. Had they done so, they would have learned that the illegal acquisition by an LAPD investigator of my home address coincided with Swastikas being painted on my car, obviously a relevant factor.
Finally, I have included a requirement that the police officially adopt the 1999 guidelines for eyewitness identifications which were promulgated by a task force of prosecutors, law enforcement, and others throughout the United States which worked at then-Attorney General Janet Reno's request to design techniques which would help prevent wrong identifications which lead to the conviction of the innocent and to the guilty going free (all too many cases cleared after conviction and prison sentences by DNA results were based on eyewitness identifications and testimony). Some police departments have come around gradually to using these techniques. Others, like Long Beach, have confirmed in writing that they have no policies, procedures, or guidelines at all in response to a California Public Records Act request.
San Fernando Valley - Northeast Los Angeles Chapter
National Organization for Women
Policy on Child Care
Making quality child care available to all Californians is a high priority for SFV/NELA NOW;
A significant component of quality child care is to mitigate the current high turnover rate of child care employees due to low wages and benefits causing discontinuity and loss for the children affected;
SFV/NELA NOW has endorsed the campaign of Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union which has launched a major campaign with national backing of the labor movement to organize child care workers throughout California;
SFV/NELA NOW wants immediate study and implementation as feasible of the following legislative goals by the California legislature, by the federal government, and by municipal and county authorities:
· The California legislature can promulgate a model zoning ordinance requiring or recommending mitigation of child care impact just as large commercial or residential developments ought to provide for mitigation of parking and traffic impacts on communities.
· Employers can be encouraged to provide on-site child care as a benefit to employees by giving them a tax-credit while employees should be encouraged to use the benefit by making it a non-taxable benefit; the federal government should be encouraged to adopt similar tax policies.
· Any new housing development should be required or encouraged to incorporate child care centers within them. One way of encouraging this development would be to provide for a progressive property tax formula. Under such a formula, the property taxes imposed on the community would be eligible for a discount on the basis that child care facilities were constructed and put to use. This would be something that developers could advertise as an incentive to sell homes in such a community.
· The same use of progressive property taxation could apply to commercial developments and could be made available to existing real estate that opened child care facilities on-site and for that matter, for any existing residential development that implemented an on-site child care facility that did not detract from existing uses (one would not want to encourage a landlord from turning a recreation room into a child care center simply to get a tax break).
· In housing developments, community participation should be encouraged by requiring that residents be given a right to vote on the initial implementation of a child care plan, similar to the rights of members of Home Owners Associations in common interest developments. Community members ought to be given the right to vote on alternatives such as coop-child care or contracted out child care.
· To the extent that any incentives are offered by government, they should incorporate preferences for facilities that are unionized and which minimally pay a living wage, to implement the public policy goal of not having high turnover of staff, which in a child care facility, causes discontinuity and emotional loss for the children.
