“To the Point” host Alex Bell sat down with California’s candidates for governor to hear directly from them about their priorities and what they’d bring to the job.
CALIFORNIA, USA — This June, Californians will head to the polls to help decide who could become the state’s next governor. While the final decision comes in November — for now, nine leading Democratic hopefuls and several Republicans are in the race.
To help you get to know them and what they say they’d bring to the job — To the Point Host Alex Bell sat down with the candidates at this past weekend’s Democratic convention and will do the same with the Republican Party.
To keep things fair, names were drawn at random for these interviews. Interview responses have been cleaned up and slightly condensed for easier reading, while keeping the candidates’ words intact.
Antonio Villaraigosa
Q: For people that are meeting you for the first time, why would you say that you’re deciding to run for California governor?
Antonio Villaraigosa: “I’m a proven problem solver. I’ve said that this state has given me more than I could have ever imagined. My grandpa came with a shirt on his back from Leon Guanajuato, Mexico with a dream. I tell folks, never in my lifetime did I ever think I’d be Speaker of the California State Assembly or mayor of Los Angeles, but the one thing I know, we also face big challenges. Challenge number 1 is affordability.
Challenge number 2, right with number 1 is the threat to our democracy posed by Donald Trump. We need a proven problem solver. Everybody’s going to talk well, including in these interviews, but I’m somebody that’s actually done it, and that’s what I’m running on.
A record of results, a speaker, balanced two budgets with a surplus with a Republican and a Democratic governor when we were a purple state, not a blue state, led, spearheaded the effort to turn us from purple to blue, largest expansion of healthcare, biggest effort to clean up the air since the Clean Air Act, Carl Moyer Act. When I was mayor, 60% increase in the graduation rate, 48% drop in violent crime.
We were the most violent big city in America when I started, when we left with New York the safest. Built more infrastructure than anybody in America and number one city in reducing carbon emissions, greenhouse gasses. That’s why I’m running. I got a record.”
Q: Now if you were to be elected, what would be your top three priorities your first year in office?
Antonio Villaraigosa: “Well, priority number one is to make sure that we’re living within our means. The next governor is going to face an $18 to $30 billion deficit, according to the legislative analyst. The idea that we just could cut our way out of that is just a pipe dream. We need a grown up who will make the tough calls, but we also got to grow our economy.
We got to address the fact that this is the toughest state to do business in the United States of America, and small business is suffocating in this state. So we got to grow our economy and we’ve got to address the big challenges, the challenge of homelessness, the challenge of safety, good schools. We’re number one in teacher pay. That’s great. We’re 21st in per-pupil spending. We’re in the mid-30s in reading and math in the 4th grade, and we’re dead last in graduation.
We need a governor that’s going to focus on the basics, common sense, competence and a course correction.”
Q: Let’s talk about homelessness. We know that the state of California has spent billions of dollars trying to fix the homelessness crisis, but you still see it on city streets. What would you do differently to approach homelessness?
Antonio Villaraigosa: “We spent $24 billion from the state, and the cities and counties spent billions more, and homelessness went up. They did an audit, and they could only show that two programs worked. We can’t just throw money at the problem. What I’ve said is, one, let me just say this, I built more homeless housing in eight years during the middle of a recession than in the 12 years before me.
I built more affordable workforce and market rate housing than the 12 years before me, so we need a builder. But let’s be clear, we can’t keep on throwing money at the problem. We have to understand that we need to invest in what works and stop doing what doesn’t. I’ve said I don’t believe in criminalizing homelessness. I do believe in compassion, but I don’t believe in chaos. And when you’re selling drugs in front of cops, that’s chaos.
So we need an approach that focuses on providing a network of investment in services and housing, but the average house for homeless right now costs $850,000. Reporters can’t pay that. Their children can’t pay that. So what I’ve said is tiny homes are being built in L.A. for $100,000. We’ve got to be smart about how we expend these resources and not just throw money at the problem.
That’s what I’ll do, proven problem solver, someone who’s done it before, someone with a record of getting things done.”
Q: Let’s talk about criminal justice reform. Do you think California has gone too far, not far enough, or has struck the right balance when it comes to criminal justice reform?
Antonio Villaraigosa: “I led the fight against ‘three strikes, you’re out’ when I was in the legislature. I’m against the death penalty, but I tell people I believe in accountability. When you keep on stealing and you’re on drugs and you get arrested and you refuse drug treatment the first time, the second time, the third time, you’re going to jail. That’s why I supported Prop 36, we can’t be ideologues with these things. Grown-ups need to understand, and I think they do, that you need leaders that say hold it, yeah, that’s a good idea, but if it’s not working, then we got to try something else. I believe in accountability, and I know this, the next governor’s number one priority has to be public safety, that means fire and police. We’ve got to focus on protecting the public, and I will because I have a record on it.
Told you crime went down 48% when I was mayor.”
More interviews with the candidates for governor will be posted as they air on ABC10.
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