LOS ANGELES (CN) - Hundreds of people packed inside the Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles Monday to hear five candidates for governor debate on an array of complex challenges in the Golden State such as immigration, surging cost of living and mounting homelessness.
With the June 5 gubernatorial primary fast-approaching, Republican and Democratic candidates for governor quarreled for the seat of 40th governor of California. The debate, moderated by NBC’s Colleen Williams and Conan Nolan, focused heavily on policy with candidates sparring over plans to fund solutions to the state’s mounting crises.
California State Assemblyman Travis Allen and San Diego County resident John Cox both blamed Democratic leadership in Sacramento for the surge in the cost of living, lack of affordable housing and crumbling infrastructure in the state. They said they would implement tax cuts beginning with the so-called gas tax.
Delaine Eastin, Democratic former state assemblywoman and state superintendent said the state needed to invest heavily in education, which would double as a safety plan.
“We need to spend more on preschool and less on San Quentin,” she said, referring to the state’s infamous prison in the San Francisco Bay.
Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat and former Los Angeles mayor, said he would replicate his “proven track record” of policies that grow the middle class and support crumbling infrastructure.
State treasurer John Chiang, a Democrat, said he has already saved the state billions by identifying waste, as the “most successful auditor in history.” He said he has already pulled the state “from the brink of collapse” during the recent recession.
Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California and a former Mayor of San Francisco, declined an invitation to participate in the debate.
Sacramento businessman Doug Ose dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination for governor in February.
With a population hovering above 40 million, the state would be the sixth-largest economy in the world if it was a stand-alone nation. Southern California hosts 27 percent of voters in the state. The state’s $2.5 trillion economy is the largest in the country. It’s also a state gripped by a homelessness crisis.
Homelessness was a focal point of the debate. All candidates agreed a set of comprehensive and immediate actions were needed to address the issue.
Eastin said she would declare a state of emergency if elected governor, saying she has never seen so many homeless women and children. She said she would support legislation for rent control, to ease the burden on low income renters in the state.
Chiang said the state needed to identify funding for a range of measures to end homelessness such as programs that detect mental health issues earlier in life. He said he would appoint a homelessness “czar” that would bring public and private entities together to address the crisis.
Villagairosa said it was important to remember there are many families who are homeless, not just people addicted to drugs.
“Some families are a major medical operation away from becoming homeless,” he said.
Allen said the state should provide transients with support on housing, job search and health, but that homeless people from other states would get “a one way ticket back home.”
Last week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to spend $70.5 million on permanent housing for the homeless, and to create temporary homeless camps.