Horvath, Hertzberg trade barbs at county supervisor candidate forum

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Councilmember Lindsey Horvath traded barbs with state Sen. Bob Hertzberg over their records on public safety on Tuesday night during a Meet the Candidates forum hosted by CBS Los Angeles.

Horvath, Hertzberg and state Sen. Herny Stern, all running for County Supervisor District 3, fielded in-depth questions on a variety of topics from the moderators, with a special focus on crime and homelessness.

Horvath leaned heavily on her work as councilmember and recent mayor of West Hollywood, touting the city’s social programs as models for that could work on a countywide scale.

“As mayor during COVID, as president of California Contract Cities Association, I was the liaison between our local communities to make sure that we got the services and support that we needed,” she said when asked why she was the candidate to tackle declining quality of life in the county.

Stern and Hertzberg both underscored the dark times the L.A. area is facing.

“I talk to people who won’t go to the shopping mall because they’re concerned about a smash and grab,” Hertzberg said. “That’s a terrorist act. Not just on the people stealing a $500 purse — that’s the easy part —  (but) on people who won’t go to shop because their public safety is so important.”

“You can throw statistics all you want at the people of L.A.” and tell them everything’s fine and crimes are at a certain level, or homelessness, ‘we’re doing everything we can’ — but the fact is the reality on the ground, L.A. voters know that things are not OK,” Stern said.

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Sparks flew when Horvath accused Hertzberg of being untrustworthy .

“I don’t think we can trust someone who’s endorsed by all of the law enforcement agencies to hold them accountable,” she said.

“The reason why they’re supporting me is because I’m somebody who actually makes stuff happen,” Hertzberg countered. “Councilmember Horvath claims that as a councilperson because she wrote a letter that pulled all the rape kits. I spent 11 years building one of the largest crime labs in the country at Cal State LA.”

Horvath took offense at his response.

“As a woman in elected office I’m not you I’m not unfamiliar with people trying to diminish the work that I’ve done, but actually I built a very strong diverse coalition of hundreds of people who came together in a movement to deliver results on the backlog of untested rape kit evidence. As a survivor I’m kind of offended that you would go there.”

The candidates were asked if they would take a fundamentally different approach to the homelessness crisis.

“Right now we’ve been stuck at the county level where we’ve been having to choose between a housing first policy and abundant services,” Stern said. “Essentially the county has been sitting on $980 million for mental health services dollars that should have been put to work on the street providing street-level medicine providing care and instead that that funding bottlenecked because folks said ‘unless you’ve got that permanent supportive housing built for that individual then we’re not going to deploy any services’ and I disagree with that approach.”

“We do need a fundamentally different approach and that’s what we’ve done in my community,” Horvath said. “We work with the sheriff’s department and on the law enforcement and safety side but we lead with care. We lead with clinically trained social workers who are able to diagnose people on the spot and get them into the care that they need rather than jailing them simply for being unhoused.”

Hertzberg offered a novel idea to help persuade homeless people to seek shelter and treatment.

“One of the big issues is that about 20 percent of the people on the street have pets. If you just provide some place for the pets, which we’ve now done at the state, you dramatically provide an incentive for people to get off the street,” he said.

The candidates then discussed their thoughts on the rise in crime and what could be done about it.

“There does need to be tougher prosecution in certain circumstances like extreme speeding and street street racing and some of these property theft rings that we’re facing,” Stern said. “We don’t need to cut public safety resources right now. We don’t need to defund the police right now. We can have restorative care and adequate public safety services.”

“We need to make sure law enforcement has the resources necessary to fight violent crime and we need to stop spending tens of millions of dollars on liability cases,” Horvath said. “I chaired the Liability Trust Fund Claims Board and Oversight Committee and I see all of those cases. We need to stop wasting this money on incidents that are reported to involve deputy gangs or asking law enforcement to respond to issues for which they are not uniquely trained.”

At the last City Council meeting, Horvath brought in insurance broker Karen Bartak to speak on the liability issue. Bartak veered into a discussion on gangs in the Sheriff’s Department before the city clerk recommended Bartak conclude until the topic could be added as an official agenda at future meeting.

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Krunker
2 years ago

I don’t think so. Why are you so sure of your opinion?

WEHO Resident
WEHO Resident
2 years ago

Horvath is awful, but the hypocrisy of Stern and Hertzberg is just nauseating. Both of those guys have been State Senators for years, voting for soft on crime laws for years! They are responsible for weakening CA’s laws on crime and the criminal justice system in favor of criminals. Now that crime is up (in part because of the laws they passed), and they’re running for yet another elected office (because the Supervisor job is a way more cushy gig than the legislature and because they’re unqualified for any other job), they’re paying a lot of lip service to the… Read more »

The More We Know
The More We Know
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident

The statement regarding hypocrisy seems inaccurate. If you believe that Senators Stern & Hertzberg have been “soft in crime” kindly point out specific examples. It seems most of the notable effects have coincided with the pandemic, BLM and National political currrents inspired by the DJT administration.

WEHO Resident
WEHO Resident
2 years ago

There are so many examples of how Stern and Hertzberg have failed the State on public safety. Since you asked, I’ll list some examples. A few years ago, way before the pandemic, they both voted for a reckless bill that would have capped sentencing for most felonies at double the high term, which means 6 years total regardless of how many charges or how many victims. So, someone who molested a bunch of 15 year-olds, for example, would have gotten a total of 6 years no matter how many victims there were. That’s what these two voted for even though… Read more »

The More We Know
The More We Know
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident

Thank you. Hmmmmm. More reading!!!

Joshua88
Joshua88
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident
Joshua88
Joshua88
2 years ago

What is your reference to BLM about?

Reality Check
Reality Check
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident

What Horvath has in common with these two guys is they have turned California into a state of high taxes and no benefits These schmucks write laws every 2 minutes to justify their jobs. This is a one-party state. Run by the NaziCrats.

STRATEGY
STRATEGY
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident

Think twice. I am voting for Horvath in the primary. Not in the run of.

The More We Know
The More We Know
2 years ago
Reply to  WEHO Resident

Sen. Hertzberg advocated ending cash bail for non-violent folks arrested awaiting adjudication. as it disproportionately affected certain groups of people unable to produce it and ultimately never had it returned when they did. Although I don’t know all the facts seems you are making a broad generalization.

WEHO Grifters
WEHO Grifters
2 years ago

Hey, Bob, and the other candidates running against Horvath. Take a look at the video featuring Horvath’s claim there is no crime in West Hollywood. https://rumble.com/vv0rqa-west-hollywoodsunset-strip-4-most-dangerous-city-in-california.html

Alan Strasburg
Alan Strasburg
2 years ago

Horvath likes to take a lot of credit for a lot of things. She claims to have had an 80% success rate in getting people off the streets. I’d love to meet the statistician who came up with that eye-popping lie that a simple use of ones eyes can clearly debunk. She likes to talk about tackling homelessness and crime in West Hollywood but fails to mention that the running backs that are crime and homelessness are nearing the end zone and ready to score against the home team. Seriously, read some of it here: https://larchmontchronicle.com/election-2022-race-is-on-for-board-of-supervisors-third-district/ When all else fails,… Read more »

Eastsie Straight Girl
Eastsie Straight Girl
2 years ago
Reply to  Alan Strasburg

I cannot agree with you more Alan! I just hope the majority of voters will sift through her BS before they vote!

JF1
JF1
2 years ago

Spot on, Alan.

The More We Know
The More We Know
2 years ago
Reply to  Alan Strasburg

Thanks Alan for posting the Larchmont Article which was more substantive than CBS last night. Hopefully posting CBS in Wehoville will clear the local fog. Hertzberg has the gravitas for the position and the interview shows Stern as bright and also resourceful. Interesting that they both have environmental expertise which is the large elephant in the room regardless of who does what with the homeless issue and sorting out crime. Housing seems in need of correction from Sacramento as the “crisis” appears overblown robbing local municipalities of the otherwise normal control over their destiny. Ms. Horvath is clearly way over… Read more »

:dpb
:dpb
2 years ago
Reply to  Alan Strasburg

Horvath is a credit taker even when it’s not true. That is defined as lying. Which she is doing and has done continually for years. Crime is up 137% and the city is (10) deputies less from precovid levels. She was mayor (rotational luck- she wasn’t elected- West Hollywood Mayor is a ceremonial designation and has Nothing to do with election achievement. She’s a propagandist. This time she hitched her wagon to the LA Times commissioner chick that will make up any statistics to maintain her unqualified carpetbagger life here in Weho. What is a fortunately unfortunate is that crime… Read more »

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

“I don’t think we can trust someone who’s endorsed by all of the law enforcement agencies to hold them accountable,”

I’m not a huge fan of Horvath but she has a point- if you are beholden to a group to get you elected, whether it be a hotel union or the PD, you can’t fault people for wondering how effective you will be at saying “no” to that group.

John
John
2 years ago
Reply to  Tom

What about holding the criminals accountable?

JF1
JF1
2 years ago

Once again Horvath plays victim. If all of law enforcement endorses Hertzberg..that’s a damn good indication who is going to be tougher on crime.

WEHO Resident
WEHO Resident
2 years ago
Reply to  JF1

A few years ago, Hertzberg ran a bill (which passed) that would have gotten rid of bail. That’s why there was a proposition recently that we all had to vote on to keep bail. It was to overturn the law he authored! So, no, Hertzberg will not be tougher on crime, unless of course he’s decided to now do the exact opposite of what he’s done in the legislature. (Not a fan of Stern or Horvath either in case you’re wondering). Law enforcement is backing Hertzberg because he pays lip service to them, not because he’s ever been tough on… Read more »

West
West
2 years ago

Horvath’s determination to upgrade from local LOLCOW to National joke on full display.

Hey Lindz, remember when you ignored certain victims of Ed Buck because they weren’t friends with the right people? I do, and so will the voters.. no matter how many kickbacks you dole out to dirty Unions and Billionaire media heiresses.

Randy
Randy
2 years ago

I’m still not clear about something. If Horvath wins the primary, and ends up in the general election, is she allowed to run for City Council, as well as Supervisor? Like McCain did, in 2008, when he ran for Senator, as well as President?

Don Jones
Don Jones
2 years ago

The county is sitting on $980 million for mental health services!? Two of theses county commissioners who hold those purse strings have endorsed Horvath. Yet another reason not to vote for Horvath.
Thanks to Senator Henry Stern for bringing this to our attention. Another reason to vote for Henry Stern.

I Am Change
I Am Change
2 years ago

Are Ms. Horvath’s closing remarks actually demonstrated in what we currently witness in the community? Takes credit for being the only candidate capable of producing change: A. Points out she is only one delivering on creating affordable housing and solutions to homelessness. Well yes, in a respect, by voting on projects developed within the city and no in regard to homelessness, the residents do not see credible evidence. B. Only one working with the Sheriffs Department to hold them accountable and keep folks safe. Where is the evidence? Why does she partner with the defunding effort via her PS Commissioner?… Read more »

alex
alex
2 years ago

Wow … I urge Sen. Bob Hertzberg and Sen. Herny Stern to talk to WeHo citizens and hear how the WeHo public feels about the Public Safety Commission and the efforts to defund the Sheriff’s Department in WeHo. Thank You to Captain Moulder and his team’s for what they do every day to protect West Hollywood.

State of Weho
State of Weho
2 years ago
Reply to  alex

You could always write them a letter.

JF1
JF1
2 years ago
Reply to  alex

Yes!!!

Wacky WeHo
Wacky WeHo
2 years ago

Out of she/her depth.