Congressional challenger pushes for ‘new economy’

Kevin Feldman

Because of the recent change in district boundaries, local voters will have several new choices in the upcoming primary election for the U.S House of Representatives.

In the newly created 30th Congressional District—previously it was the 24th—residents of Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village will no longer be represented by U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) starting in January 2003.

The March 5 Democratic primary instead pits incumbent U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) against newcomer Kevin Feldman. Coming from a traditionally strong Democratic area, the winner will be a strong favorite against any Republican challenger in November.

"This is it, unfortunately," said the 33-year-old Feldman, a former senior technology manager with Charles Schwab & Co.

The West Hollywood resident wishes the primary were in June to give himself more of a running start. He blames "insider politics" on the early primary and the last minute drawing of district boundaries, but as he steps up his campaigning in the final week of the race, Feldman feels good about his chances to unseat the veteran Waxman.

Because Waxman is new to almost half the district, Feldman sees the race as being more wide open than people might think.

"We bring a different approach to problem solving and building consensus … Voters find it refreshing," said Feldman, who’s never been elected to public office, but received a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

While making his living as a corporate executive, Feldman remained active in the Democratic Party for more than a decade as a supporter and fundraiser for sundry political and charitable organizations. His resume includes participation in such groups as amFAR; Project 10; the Human Rights Campaign; CARE; the No on Knight initiative; and the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC), one of the largest providers of peer-based services for gay and lesbian youth.

Feldman currently serves on the board of LYRIC.

A magna cum laude computer science and business graduate from UCLA, Feldman calls himself an "experienced business problem solver" who understands the dynamics of the new economy—and how to use technology as a vehicle to provide innovative, lower cost services to consumers.

"The seeds of this were planted last year where when the economy really turned down and I saw the people were struggling to understand how to deal with that change of events," Feldman said. "I thought this a time where the skills I developed at Schwab might really be helpful."

Feldman, a licensed investment broker, was appointed a Schwab vice president in 1997.

"I think we’re in a different period now where people are starting to value different skill sets and I actually think it would be both refreshing and helpful to people in all levels of government with business skills," Feldman said.

"I’m kind of unusual in that I’m a Democrat with a strong business background. I don’t subscribe to the notion that what’s good for business is bad for labor and what’s good for business is bad for the environment."

Feldman advocates public-private partnerships to help boost the economy while saving the environment—a new "Manhattan Project," for example, aimed at building a next generation vehicle based on non-petroleum fuel sources.

"There’s a national security dividend attached to this where if we came up with a zero emissions vehicle, yes it would take several years and billions of dollars, but in addition to improving the environment and quality of life, it would also relieve us of maybe not all of our dependence, but a great majority of our dependence on foreign oil."

Feldman also has been a longtime advocate of rapid transit.

"We need to get the light and heavy rail projects done. We’ve been talking about it for 30 years. The train needs to come out to the West Side and to the Valley."

As for education, Feldman said there’s been too much "ideological friction" at the national level—at student cost.

First, take away the focus on testing, he said. "It’s time to stop pretending that measuring the problem is the same as solving it."

Feldman added that the benefits of class size reduction remain unclear; he even sees "negative side effects," such as the frequent hiring of unqualified teachers. He advocates additional federal funding to "build, modernize or rent" additional classroom space over the next 10 years.

"We need to abandon some of our past approaches and begin a course of innovation and experimentation with education. In business, when there’s a large or complex problem, it’s usually best to break it down into pieces and try different solutions. Education would benefit from a similar approach," Feldman said.

"Take some of that money we were going to be using in testing and reward people who are going to come with innovative ideas to help improve education," he said.

Next week: A look at 29th Congressional District incumbent Henry Waxman, Feldman’s opponent in the new 30th District.