Politics & Government

27th Congressional District Candidates Talk Immigration, Gold Line

Two of the three candidates for the 27th Congressional District -- which will include Sierra Madre -- share their views on some key local and national issues.

Discussing topics from illegal immigration to the Gold Line extension project, the candidates for the newly drawn 27th Congressional District were met in Glendora for a local forum Wednesday.

Hosted by the Glendora Chamber of Commerce and the Citrus Valley Association of Realtors, the forum touched on topics important to the Glendora community – including education, the economy and healthcare.

The 27th District covers communities including Northern Glendora, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Altadena, San Marino, and La Canada Flintridge.

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The top two of the three candidates from the will advance to the November election.

Missing from the 27th District forum was candidate Judy Chu, also the Democratic congresswoman for the 32nd District.

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However Republicans Bob Duran and Jack Orswell, both from Pasadena, were present. Duran is a tax attorney and a businessman, while Orswell is a former FBI agent and now owns a business that conducts environmental assessments for financial institutions, real estate companies and law firms.

The following are excerpts from answers on some of the issues discussed at last night’s forum:

Illegal Immigration

Orswell

“We have laws in place that are not being enforced…As a former law enforcement officer it is very contradictory to me to not enforce laws.  We have laws in place, we need to secure the border…Immigration is a complex problem. My plan for a solution is to gather all the members of Congress from Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico and say, ‘This building immigration is seriously affecting the economies of our four states.’ I think working together is the best way to approach a comprehensive situation.”

Duran

“There is no question that those who have entered the country illegally have broken the law. I do agree that we need to secure our border, we need to know who enters the United States and we need to keep track of all visitors to the United States. But for those that are already here, that’s the real difficult question. True, there are those committing crimes, and they need to be punished and removed. Those who are law-abiding, those who are here working, to make a better life for themselves, those are the people I think we have to deal with, and I think we should have a guest worker program of some kind and giving them some work authorization without necessarily giving them a pass to citizenship.”

Efforts to Support the Gold Line Project to Ontario Airport

Orswell

“I am a strong proponent of the Gold Line, It will be opening up in 2013 at the Azusa/Glendora border, but it definitely needs to go out to the airport. If Ontario airport can be run as a major airport, that would also reduce the traffic off the 210 (freeway).

Duran

The Gold Line project is underway and I would be an avid supporter of it as anyone else. We’ve already had way too much invested and it needs to be completed. I will say this about public transportation, but we need to look at not just the cost of constrcution but the ongoing cost of subsidizing these transportation systems

Healthcare

Orswell

“Obviously the Supreme Court should be coming out with a ruling next,  hopefully, it will be declaring that the government has taken that step beyond the line that has intruded into our private lives. Not only telling us that we have to get healthcare, but the government also determines whether the treatment and the cost  is going to be covered. It gives the government way too much control over our lives.”

Duran

"It does fundamentally change our relationship to our government when the government can determine when, if and how we receive medical care…I understand that for the insured and uninsured that premium support will be needed, but I believe the private sector can do the best job in delivering medical care in the United States."


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