February 20, 2014
The CAPE Political Endorsement Committee -- PEC -- held their formational meeting on Tuesday, February 11th to establish protocol for reviewing the endorsement requests from candidates vying for LA County 3rd District Supervisor and County Assessor in 2014.
There are at least two top-tier candidates running in the 3rd Supervisorial District, and there are several competitive candidates running for Assessor, including some CAPE members.
The PEC determined that each of the candidates in each contest would be asked to complete and return a comprehensive questionnaire covering issues important to county services, labor relations and leadership. Each of the candidates requesting support from CAPE and returning a completed questionnaire will then be invited to the next CAPE PEC meeting for the candidate interviews.
The PEC will conduct the candidate interviews at the CAPE office building on Tuesday evening, March 4 starting at 6:30 PM. That meeting is open to all CAPE members, however only PEC members will be eligible to vote for endorsement recommendations.
The PEC's recommendations could include support for any one of the candidates in each contest, or to remain "open" during the June 2014 Primary Election.
The PEC's recommendations for endorsements will be considered for ratification by the CAPE Board of Directors. Once approved, the endorsement decisions will be communicated back to the candidates. More importantly, CAPE's support for countywide candidates will be conveyed to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor where the tools and resources of many public and private sector employee associations may actively engage in programs to help elect countywide candidates.
CAPE members are encouraged to attend the Political Endorsement Committee meetings.