FACT

There is a reason that both classroom teachers1 and school support2 staff have endorsed Christy Smith. When California was hit hard by the Recession, the State Legislature made drastic cuts to the education budget, requiring school districts across the state to provide a notice to temporary classroom and physical education teachers. While school boards around the state were forced to make hard choices, Christy made sure that the Newhall School District preserved school services and class sizes because a bad economy shouldn’t stand in the way of our kids’ education. Every single staff member given a layoff notice was  rehired when the Governor revised the state budget, partly due to advocacy by Christy and other school board members. Real leaders can navigate through hard times when the going gets tough. Christy has gotten our schools through a hard time, and she’ll fight for us in Sacramento.

The Newhall School Board voted to have their stipend increase to cover inflation, around $10 a month. Dante, on the other hand, voted to give himself and fellow City Councilmembers a ten percent pay raise, around a $2200 a year bump3.

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1: Christy Smith is endorsed by:  California Faculty Association, Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, California Federation of Teachers, California Teachers Association

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2: Christy Smith is endorsed by: California School Employees Association

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3: Hometown Station 1/27/16, Santa Clarita City Council Agenda 1/26/16

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FACT

Everyone should read what Christy Smith actually wrote in a

Signal op-ed back in 2011.

During the depths of the Great Recession, Christy expressed her support for allowing voters to vote on revenue measures that would prevent devastating cuts to essential services like schools, public safety and health care.

Christy didn’t take a position on the possible initiative but warned Sacramento politicians to spend the money wisely if the measure passed. That’s the exact kind of representative Christy Smith would be in Sacramento -- a careful steward of taxpayer dollars.

FACT

Christy Smith does NOT support increasing property taxes, nor does she support any changes to Proposition 13:

"In the State Assembly,  I will oppose any and all efforts to raise property taxes. I'll work with members of both parties to preserve Prop 13 protections for our district's homeowners."      - Christy Smith

FACT

Dante may say he prioritizes public safety, but he opposed funding for law enforcement and first responders, and opposed funding  local trainings for current police officers and firefighters at College of the Canyons.1

Budgets are a statement of values, and Dante clearly does not value our safety.

All of our public safety professionals work hard to protect our quality of life.

Christy is committed to increasing funding for law enforcement and firefighters so that they have what they need to do their jobs, live in our communities, and retire with dignity.

1. SB 840–2017-18; http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB840

FACT

This is another example of his campaign taking a statement completely out of context.

Christy Smith has taken a pledge in support of "citizen-funded campaigns."

That means she supports people funding our campaigns, not corporations like the oil and tobacco companies that fuel his campaign. That’s why Christy Smith is vehemently opposed to Citizens United and supports a constitutional amendment to overturn it.

FACT

Dante plays obstructionist politics. He voted against student loan forgiveness, against supporting domestic violence survivors, and against  wildfire prevention, for no purpose other than pure political grandstanding.1 We need a leader who will get off the soapbox and get to work for our community.

1.SB 840–2017-18

FACT

The  truth  is Dante did not support equal  pay legislation on five separate occasions in his two years as an Assemblymember.1

Not only did Dante vote against Equal Pay 2, but he has consistently voted against women and women’s rights. He voted against making childcare affordable, against assistance for domestic violence survivors, and against parental leave.3  

Dante Acosta claims to support whistleblowers, but he failed to vote to make it easier for employees to report sexual harassment.4 Even worse, Acosta voted against ending secret arbitration agreements that harbor serial harassers and silence victims.5

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1. SB 826–2017-18;  AB 168–2017-18;  AB 1209–2017-18;

2. AB 1209–2017-18;

3. SB 840 – 2017-18;  AB 2012–2017-18;

4. AB 569–2017-18;

5. AB 3080–2017-18