GOP HOPEFULS SPEAK ON ISSUES AT A.V. FORUM\4 candidates to vie in primary for 36th Assembly District seat.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Republican candidates for the 36th Assembly District seat sounded familiar themes of cutting state government Thursday during a forum.

Hosted by the Antelope Valley Republican Women-Federated, the forum brought out all four Republican candidates: Littlerock businesswoman and water board member Barbara Hogan; George Pederson, a Santa Clarita councilman; Lancaster Mayor George Runner, and Billy Pricer, a former trustee of the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

The winner of the March 26 Republican primary will face Democrat David Cochran, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Cochran is a business representative for a union representing state, municipal and county government employees.

Hogan, a board member of the Littlerock Creek Irrigation District who calls herself a moderate Republican, acknowledged her campaign thus has been so low profile that she has been dubbed the "stealth candidate."

Hogan said she is against gun control, favors tighter controls on illegal immigration, and supports women's rights.

Hogan said her own views are not as important as those of the district's constituency.

"The state Assembly is the land of the people," Hogan said. "Each one of us should be represented."

Pederson, a former sheriff's captain as well as a Santa Clarita councilman since 1992, called for reform of the legal system. Crime victims should receive monetary compensation from a fund that would be created from financial penalties collected from criminals, Pederson said.

Pederson said he also supports legislation that would allow juries to convict a suspect with a 10 to 2 vote rather than requiring a unanimous guilty verdict.

On education, Pederson said he supports the idea of giving money to school districts in the form of block grants rather than having the state dictate how funds are spent.

"Local school boards, local administrators know a lot better what is needed in their communities than bureaucrats," Pederson said.

Pricer, who gave up his seat on the high school board last November after one term to run for Assembly, is a former sheriff's deputy who runs the anti-gang program United Community Action Network.

He called for reforms of the education system and the juvenile justice system.

On education, Pricer said he wants to end tenure for teachers, which he believes would encourage competition for excellence. Pricer also said he wants to end teachers unions.

Pricer called for some type of watchdog system to provide consistency in sentencing, eliminating wild fluctuations in sentencing based on a judge's political or social philosophy.

Pricer says taxes should be cut to stimulate economic growth. The state's tax rate is discouraging new businesses from coming to the state, he said.

"We have the highest corporate tax rate in the western United States and the third highest overall," Pricer said.

Runner, the founder and executive director of Desert Christian Schools in Lancaster, called for ending the state's prevailing wage law, reforming tort law, and eliminating categorical funding for schools - which restrict money to specific programs - in favor of block grants.

The prevailing wage law requires the state pay union wages on state projects, such as prison construction. Eliminating that requirement would allow tax dollars to go further, Runner said.

On tort reform, Runner said the existing system allows a person with a frivolous lawsuit to receive money from people and insurance companies who would rather settle a lawsuit than rack up legal costs defending themselves against it.

"We have to create a system where the loser pays. The loser pays the cost of that lawsuit," Runner said.