4 CANDIDATES COMPETE IN MAYORAL RACE\Palmdale drops rotation system; voters will choose new leader.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer For the first time, Lancaster voters will be able to directly elect their mayor when they go to the polls April 9, ending the old practice of rotating ro·tate v. ro·tat·ed, ro·tat·ing, ro·tates v.intr. 1. To turn around on an axis or center. 2. the post among council members. While the post has no additional powers than other council seats, the mayor does run meetings and serves as the city's chief representative at various functions. Vying vy·ing v. Present participle of vie. vying vie for the first two-year term are Keith Giles, Frank Roberts Frank Roberts may refer to:
Giles, 33, is the vice president of Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Produce Inc., and has been a resident of the Antelope Valley for 30 years. Giles belongs to the National Small Business Administration; Small World Adventures, which arranges host families for foreign exchange students; Walden Environment, a foster children program; and the Lancaster First Assembly of God Church, where he serves as a board member and works on a number of youth activities. On economic issues, Giles said he would be willing to offer land and buildings as incentives to lure industry. Incentives for retail businesses would depend on how much sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenue the business could produce. Such incentives could include assistance with relocation expenses. "I would encourage the council to generate and attract new businesses and industries without forsaking and sabotaging existing locally owned businesses," Giles said. In the area of crime, Giles said he would promote citizen programs such as the citizen patrols and Neighborhood Watch. Giles said he would also encourage programs to keep youths away from crime. On recreation issues, Giles said the city should create a soccer complex and look into the possibility of building an ice hockey ice hockey: see hockey, ice. ice hockey Game played on an ice rink by two teams of six players on skates. The object is to drive a puck (a small, hard rubber disk) into the opponents' goal with a hockey stick, thus scoring one point. facility. Giles said he also would focus on encouraging greater citizen involvement in the community. Roberts, 64, is a dean at Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. and a city councilman. Roberts served once as mayor during the rotation system In combinatorial mathematics, rotation systems encode embeddings of graphs onto orientable surfaces, by describing the circular ordering of a graph's edges around each vertex. . Roberts has lived in the Antelope Valley for 50 years. He is a board member of the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. and a supporter of the Visiting Nurse vis·it·ing nurse n. A registered nurse employed by a public health agency or hospital to promote community health and especially to visit and administer treatment to sick people in their homes. Association and the Boy Scouts of America Noun 1. Boy Scouts of America - a corporation that operates through a national council that charters local councils all over the United States; the purpose is character building and citizenship training . He is also a member of the Rotary International. On economic issues, Roberts said he would work to obtain state and local incentives, such as tax relief, to help create jobs. Roberts said he also would work to secure funding for job retraining re·train tr. & intr.v. re·trained, re·train·ing, re·trains To train or undergo training again. re·train and placement programs. Roberts said incentive programs to attract industry are already in place. The city might want to look at refining those programs to help existing retail businesses. On crime issues, Roberts said he would enhance civilian programs like Neighborhood Watch and Business Watch. Roberts also wants to enhance the Target Oriented o·ri·ent n. 1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia. 2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality. b. A pearl having exceptional luster. 3. Policing program in which the city provides money to crack down on specific crimes or crime areas. On recreation issues, Roberts said he wants to see the city create a soccer complex and to establish a municipal golf course. Rodio, 67, is a retired plumbing contractor and a former councilman who served twice as mayor during the rotation system. Rodio has lived in the Antelope Valley for 42 years and is a supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. To help the economy, Rodio suggests the city focus on helping existing businesses rather than on incentives for out-of-town companies. "We need to help existing businesses by buying down their loan interest, help expand their business and help any other way we can," Rodio said. To attract new businesses, Rodio suggests hiring someone with a background in small, clean industries to help the city recruit companies. The focus should be on encouraging in-person visits, rather than sending out brochures. Rodio said he would not vote to provide incentives to attract retail stores. On crime issues, Rodio said the city should continue programs like Operation High Desert Storm, in which Lancaster bought properties in crime-ridden neighborhoods and demolished de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. the buildings to ready the land for single-family homes. Rodio said he would call for posting sheriff's patrol cars in bad neighborhoods and leave them there until the situation improves. Rodio said he also would encourage the use of volunteers to take minor crime reports, freeing deputies to concentrate on more serious crimes. Rodio said he would seek the restructuring of the city's redevelopment agency. Rather than having the City Council serve as the agency's board, Rodio said it should be composed of two council members and three other citizens. Rodio said he would ask for the council meeting to be held later in the week instead of Monday to allow citizens time to review issues and staff reports coming before the council. On recreation, Rodio said he would continue projects already in the works, but any new projects would have to wait until the city's reserve is sufficiently built up. Singer, 43, is a Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La captain who was elected to the City Council in 1994. Singer, an Antelope Valley native, is on the board of directors for both the Boy Scouts of America and Frederick Douglas Head Douglas Head is a rocky point on the Isle of Man overlooking Douglas Bay and harbour. Views extend to include Snaefell Mountain and Laxey General Until 1870, the headland was originally owned by the Nunnery Estate when Sir John Goldie-Taubman gave part of it to 'the Start. On economic issues, Singer suggests ending turf wars between the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale over retail businesses by forming a tax revenue sharing revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. district. Singer said he would continue existing incentive programs aimed at attracting industry, particularly those that would help the region diversify its economy. No incentives should be offered to lure in retail businesses, Singer said. "If we bring jobs then the retailers will follow," Singer said. "We don't need to give them anything but customers." Singer said he also would encourage tourism, including developing the region's aerospace attractions. Singer suggested that the city could work to help establish a train museum, citing how a similar museum in Sacramento is credited with attracting $73 million annually to that city's economy. On crime, Singer said the city should expand such programs as TOP Bomb, in which two patrol cars are used to target specific crimes or crime areas rather than responding from call to call. Singer said he would encourage converting some sheriff's tasks to civilians to save money. On recreation issues, Singer said he would like to see a municipal golf course built and the expansion of a network of multiuse trails. Unless they are self-sufficient, new programs will have to wait until the economy improves. Other issues Singer said he wanted to address as mayor include restructuring the city's redevelopment agency, instituting campaign reforms, and encouraging openness of the government process. CAPTION(S): PHOTO Photo (1) Keith Giles Favors new business incentives (2) Frank Roberts Urges creation of new jobs (3) Arnie Rodio Focuses on existing business (4) Michael Singer Wants economic alliances |
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