Category: 2018 Candidate Questionnaire

Los Angeles, California, Oct. 15 – Responding today to a questionnaire by the disability advocacy group RespectAbility, Roxanne Beckford Hoge, who is running for Assembly District 46, outlined her views on education, employment and stigma for the 987,522 people with disabilities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. That includes people who are blind or deaf or have other visible conditions such as spinal cord injuries, as well as people with invisible disabilities including learning disabilities, mental health or Autism.

According to a recent survey, 74 percent of likely voters have a disability themselves or have a family member or a close friend with disabilities. The upcoming elections and their results will have an impact on people with disabilities, so it is important to become familiar with the candidates’ thoughts on certain issues.

“Candidates for office ignore the disability community at their peril,” said former U.S. Representative and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett. Bartlett, who was a primary author of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, is the chairman of RespectAbility.

RespectAbility reached out to Hoge’s opponent, incumbent Adrin Nazarian, as well, but received no response, according to the organization’s President, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi.

RespectAbility is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. The questionnaire is purely for educational purposes.

The full text of RespectAbility’s questions and Hoge’s replies follows:

Los Angeles, California, Oct. 15 – Responding today to a questionnaire by the disability advocacy group RespectAbility, Christy Smith, who is running for Assembly District 38, outlined her views on education, employment and stigma for the 987,522 people with disabilities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. That includes people who are blind or deaf or have other visible conditions such as spinal cord injuries, as well as people with invisible disabilities including learning disabilities, mental health or Autism.

According to a recent survey, 74 percent of likely voters have a disability themselves or have a family member or a close friend with disabilities. The upcoming elections and their results will have an impact on people with disabilities, so it is important to become familiar with the candidates’ thoughts on certain issues.

“Candidates for office ignore the disability community at their peril,” said former U.S. Representative and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett. Bartlett, who was a primary author of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, is the chairman of RespectAbility.

RespectAbility reached out to Smith’s opponent, incumbent Dante Acosta, as well, but received no response, according to the organization’s President, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi.

RespectAbility is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. The questionnaire is purely for educational purposes.

The full text of RespectAbility’s questions and Smith’s replies follows:

Questions Focus on Issues Relating to Education, Employment and Stigma

According to a recent survey, 74 percent of likely voters have a disability themselves or have a family member or a close friend with disabilities. Currently, there are 987,522 people with disabilities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. That includes people who are blind or deaf or have other visible conditions such as spinal cord injuries, as well as people with invisible disabilities including learning disabilities, mental health or Autism.

RespectAbility, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities, is asking candidates to answer five key questions that impact the close to one-million people with disabilities in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. All responses in full will be reported in The RespectAbility Report, a nonpartisan political commentary on U.S. elections with a focus on disability issues and used in our LA County Disability Voter Guide. The RespectAbility Report is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates. The questionnaire is for educational purposes.

Below are the questions for all Los Angeles area candidates. Please limit each answer to no more than 250 words.