Sheila Kuehl's Senate seat draws challenge

Fran Pavley Three candidates are on the Nov. 4 ballot to replace state Sen. Sheila Kuehl in the California Senate's 23rd District. Kuehl (DSanta Monica) served as state senator for eight years, the term limit for the position.

Democrat Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, Republican Rick Montaine of Winnetka and Libertarian Colin Goldman of Sherman Oaks are competing for the open seat.

The district stretches from West Hollywood to Oxnard and includes the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu and Westlake Village.

Fran Pavley

Pavley, a three-term Assembly member, intends to focus on "quality of life issues," including investing in schools and colleges, supporting public safety measures, improving transportation systems, protecting the environment and increasing access to healthcare.

"If I had to choose one (issue), providing quality education in order to educate the work force for tomorrow is the most important issue for this district," Pavley said.

Rick Montaine A Pavley law, Assembly Bill 1548, required the state to establish environmental education standards in public schools for kindergarten through 12th grades.

Pavley, Agoura Hills' first mayor in 1982, has also pledged to move the state toward "a clean and independent energy future."

During her six years on the Assembly, she won international acclaim with her Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, a landmark auto emissions bill that made California the first state to mandate a reduction in greenhouse gases. She also introduced legislation on clean car regulations, AB 1493, that required the Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light duty trucks by 30 percent by the year 2016. It was the first bill of its kind in the country.

As an Assembly member, Pavley passed 25 laws dealing with the environment, education, health, crime, transportation and other issues.

Locally, she helped establish city parks and the Agoura Hills/ Calabasas Community Center, and helped secure bond money to acquire Ahmanson Ranch and the former SOKA University property for permanent open space. She was instrumental in launching the local Dial-a-Ride programs and beach bus.

"It would be an honor to continue to represent the Las Virgenes area in Sacramento," said Pavley, who's considered the favorite in the race. "I view my role as a public servant rather than a politician."

Rick Montaine

Montaine points to the faltering economy as the biggest issue facing Californians.

"It is not acceptable for hardworking families to lose jobs, pensions, homes and health insurance while our state overspends and tries to balance our state budget on the backs of hardworking people," said Montaine, a systems security analyst. "The people in the 23rd Senatorial District need a candidate who will toe the line on no new or increased taxes."

Montaine says his father, a United States Air Force veteran, instilled in him a "deep sense of patriotism, a desire to serve my nation."

If elected, Montaine says he wants to create a businessfriendly environment and balance the state budget without borrowing from pension funds. He wants to lower taxes, improve highways and transportation, and "make sure that schools are fully prepared to educate our kids."

Montaine also wants to beef up laws to protect people against identity theft crimes and to expand Megan's Law and Jessica's Law to include increased penalties for sex offenders.

He also opposes eminent domain laws that allow governments to take control of private property.

Montaine says he is a "Ronald Reagan conservative" and would like to bring some Reagan country "up to Sacramento before my opponent taxes the last drop of it out of us."

Montaine lives in Winnetka and served on the Winnetka Neighborhood Council. He was the Republican nominee for the 2006 40th Assembly District and was a member of the 40th Assembly District Central Committee.

"Change will continue, and I believe it is important to take the common thread of what makes our state great in order to keep California a haven for families," Montaine said. "By embracing diversity, staying alert to local issues and drawing upon my 18 years of technical expertise as a systems security analyst, I am confident I can continue to contribute toward a brighter future for our great state of California."

Colin Goldman

Goldman, the Libertarian candidate from Sherman Oaks, says education would be his focus if elected as state senator.

"While the public schools tend to work reasonably well in many suburban areas . . . they tend to fail dramatically the most needy members of our population," Goldman said. "Far too many students in this state are trapped into forever-failing, often physically dangerous schools, leading to overall very high rates of illiteracy, unemployment and incarcerations in our state."

Goldman said he favors a voucher system for parents of children attending failing schools. Vouchers would provide funds for parents to pay for private education for their children.

"Our current state-controlled system is an uncontrollable, expensive mess that completely fails its most needy children," he said.

Goldman says he is the only candidate that favors a smaller government and fiscal responsibility. "I'm the only pro-choice candidate," he said, referring to his stance on choice in healthcare, education and other services.

Goldman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a master's degree in business administration from UCLA.