A have a look at some claims throughout the KCRA and San Francisco Chronicle recall debate

Fact Check: A look at some claims during the KCRA and San Francisco Chronicle recall debate

Updated: 9:58 PM PDT Aug 25, 2021

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now the issues facing California, homelessness, the economy, serious climate change challenges candidates. The politicians are mucking it up this crisis succeeds. The current governors ability to deal with. We shouldn’t have career politicians and politics. I think the most important job of our next governor is to make it less important who the governor is tonight. Information voters across California need to make informed decisions live from California’s capital, K C R A. And the san Francisco chronicle present. Yeah, the California recall debate. Good evening and welcome. I’m Goldston dart. Right now, voters across California are deciding to questions first should Governor Gavin Newsom be recalled and second if he is recalled, who should replace him, Which is why we are here tonight. We invited Governor Newsom and six leading candidates looking to replace him. The governor’s campaign said that he’s not taking part in debates. Larry elder and Caitlyn Jenner said that they will only debate the governor. Well tonight, we’re joined by four candidates who did accept kevin kiley is a Republican. He graduated valedictorian from granted Bay High School. He’s currently a member of the state assembly representing the sixth district. Kevin path. Wrath is a democrat. He appears on the ballot as a financial educator, analyst and he may be better known by his Youtube channel. Meet kevin. He has also worked as a real estate broker. Kevin Faulconer is a Republican. He appears on the ballot as a businessman and an educator. He’s a former city council member and mayor of San Diego and John Cox is a Republican. He appears on the ballot as a businessman, accountant and father, he ran for governor in 2018 and lost to Gavin Newsom. Those are the candidates now to the questions and we want to hear from you. So scan the QR code you see on your screen to send us questions for the candidates are moderators. Tonight. Our lexicon, sf san Francisco chronicle capital correspondent in Kayseri three’s Deirdre Fitzpatrick. And based on a random drawing, our first question goes to kevin Faulconer. Dear drugs. Alright Gilson, thank you. So by agreement, you gentlemen have agreed to have one minute to answer these questions and for our viewers at home they will know that their minute is up because on the floor which you cannot see is a red light, green light system. So when the light is green, you’re free to talk. You’ll see a yellow, which means start wrapping it up. When you get to read, you’re supposed to be done talking and if you get past that lexi and I, We’ll find a nice way to try to start cutting you off. So let’s get to our first questions we did ask people all over California to submit questions. We had well over 400 questions come in, we won’t ask all of them. But those surprise. One of the top things people want to talk about is something that affects every single person on the planet. Everybody in this room right now and that is coronavirus. So we’ll talk about the pandemic and vaccine mandates to start us off today. So this week, the FDA gave full authorization to the Pfizer vaccine for those who are 16 and older. So now that it’s no longer under the emergency use status authorization, what is your position on vaccine mandates both in the private sector and in the public sector. And it is worth pointing out that all four of our candidates tonight are vaccinated. So we will, as Galston said, start with kevin Faulconer said thank you. I am vaccine vaccine number one way that we can get over Covid 19 is to have everyone get the vaccine. So I said, my family’s vaccine, my wife, my kids. I think it’s incredibly important and particularly this now that we’re seeing FDA approval uh, that we continue to educate and educate the benefits of getting that vaccine. And that’s something that I’ve been strongly advocating for all of these many months ever since. Obviously the vaccines came out And I feel really strongly that our best opportunity is indeed to educate. Uh, we’re not going to mandate our way out of COVID-19. Well, I was mayor of SAn Diego. I really stood up against the statewide mandates that we saw from governor Newsom one size fits all policy. We want everybody to be healthy. We want everybody to be safe. The best way to do that is to educate folks to get that vaccine and that is the best way that we are all going to get over this together is California. So to be clear your against mandates both in the for the public and then also in the private sector as well. No man. Our best opportunity again is to get everybody vaccinated. We’re not going to do it by mandating. You need to educate. Okay, next up is kevin path for a same question. Thank you very much. Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. The reality is the vaccine is very important. However, Oxford University just told us last week that transmission still occurs in vaccinated individuals. Now I encourage everyone to get vaccinated, my family is vaccinated but my three and five year old or not because they can’t yet get the vaccine and so we need to do something different. If we want to end this pandemic, We need to also include an emphasis on HEPA filtration in our schools. There’s a reason our planes are still flying. We don’t need lockdowns to end this pandemic. What we need is proper education. Like Mr Faulkner has said potentially even incentives of up to $250 for a new vaccinated adult, but if we still spread covid from vaccinated individuals, we must also make sure we lessen the burden on our hospitals by ensuring that every building in our state as a proper HEPA filtration and we use proper masking to end this pandemic. Okay, so I’m gonna ask the same follow up question just to be clear. No mandates, private sector or public sector. I do agree with mandates. I agree with mandates on a local level, though not from the Governor’s office can be very clear about this. I believe every individual business has the constitutional right and every individual building has the right to determine their own mandate rules. That means every individual school hospital can determine vaccine mandates themselves. Thank you Kevin Kiley. You’re turned well. As I was watching your station KcR before the debate started, I saw a commercial from Gavin Newsom against the recall and he had this dire warning that if the recall succeeds, then these mandates are going to go away and Covid is going to spread. Which was kind of an odd thing to say because the mandates didn’t exist until a week or two ago. We’re the only state that has them and they haven’t even gone into effect yet. So it’s clearly a campaign issue and that’s the way that Gavin Newsom is treated. Covid from the beginning. He’s politicized it. I’ll give you a very clear example of that last year in october when Newsom thought it was good politics, he cast doubt on the vaccine. He said that we couldn’t take the FDA is word for whether it was safe. The chair of the United States Senate Health Committee had to write him a letter telling him to cut it out. He said that Newsome was attacking the career scientists at the FDA that he was discouraging americans from taking the vaccine and he was costing lives. And then when it came time to actually roll out the vaccine, we had the slowest rollout of any say the governor didn’t prioritize seniors and when they were did become eligible, they’d spend all day on the phone trying to get an appointment and couldn’t get one. It’s been exactly the opposite of the way the approach should have been. And john cox I agree with Mr Kiley. I won’t call them kevin because we have too many kevin’s. Uh but listen, the politicians will politicize this and that’s what they’ve done and I’m a businessman. I want to solve the problem and mandates aren’t going to solve the problem. I’ve been vaccinated. My family’s been vaccinated. I believe in the vaccine. It comes from the private sector, it’s well tested and I believe it’s good. I’d like to see the vaccine to prove, not only for adults, but I’d like to see to prove for Children as well. And I think that’s going to happen very soon. But I think the reticence of people to get vaccinated is all about the lack of trust in government. And Gavin Newsom is exhibit a in that situation. This not just his hypocritical dinner at the french laundry which demonstrated that he doesn’t think the rules apply to him. But it’s also the no bid contracts. The no bid contract to blue cross to botch up the vaccine distribution that Mr kiley referred to. The note the raising of money for his wife’s foundation from PG and E. Which literally has killed people. Uh this erodes trust and when people don’t have trust in their leadership, they don’t listen to leaders. When the leaders tell them that they should do something. I don’t believe in mandates. I don’t believe in mask mandates. I am not interested in having that. I believe in freedom. I believe in the constitution guarantees john cox appreciate Let’s move on to the second of your question regarding coronavirus. Several of you have expressed opposition to mask mandates in schools as well as other public health measures that Governor Newsom has adopted to combat the pandemic. Now that we’re in the middle of another surge. What steps would you take to slow the spread of the virus moving forward, kevin Path Wrath will start with you. Thank you very much. Well, first and foremost, we need better masks, facial coverings or a failure dr scott Gottlieb tells us that facial coverings themselves are no better than 20 to 30% effective. The reality is We need N 95 masking the CDC and government has failed us in providing science based evidence That we should not use these. If you go to the CDC’s website right now. They say don’t use N- 95. They should be reserved for health care workers. I believe that is a mistake. And as governor, I will provide N- 95 respirators. These masks to individuals who need them in our state, who cannot afford them. I will make sure we have an appropriate supply of masks that are well fitted for our Children and the people of our state. So with proper ventilation, we can actually end covid. And again, I’m for vaccination. But what we just heard from the other three candidates on the stage and what you hear from the other candidates who are too afraid to be here tonight to stand in front of California people is nothing about ventilation and new ideas. It’s more of the same and that’s why we’re failing with Covid. I will change that as government. Thank you very much, kevin kiley. What steps would you take? I would follow the approach the other states have taken, which is to have a balanced approach and to place trust and citizens. And when you look at the issue of masks were in the minority of states that has a statewide mandate and you’ll come to other countries like the United Kingdom, they said, we’re not going to do mass for elementary school students or we’re not going to require it because the harms to a child’s development far outweigh any benefits and those benefits aren’t even very clearly established and it’s almost certainly the case that the effect on a child of wearing a mask all day varies a lot from child to child, which is why this should be this decision should be in the hands of parents, but we need to, we’re talking about masculine right now. But let’s not forget the fact that California shut down at schools longer than any other state in the country. We were 50th out of 50 and getting our kids back to school. Was that because that was the safe thing to do know, Gavin Newsom knew it wasn’t the safer thing to do. He sent his own kids to in person private school. It was rather that we have a special interest in this state. The teachers unions that gives more money to political office holders than any other group and has given more money to Gavin Newsom than anyone. And so that’s why I think there’s a level of distrust that exists in a lot of what the government is doing because clearly neither public health nor the interests of our kids has been guiding policy making. So you’ve spoken for the past minute about something you’re opposed to which is mask mandates, but what steps would you take moving forward to slow the spread of the virus? I would rebuild the trust that Gavin Newsom has lost through the steps. I’ve just outlined the way that he’s politicized the vaccine, the way he’s politicized things like mass the way that he shut down our schools for no good reason. I would say I’m going to start serving the people of California. I think when we rebuild that trust people are more than able to take the measures they need to keep themselves. Thank you very much, john cox what steps would you take? Well, I, I agree with rebuilding the trust. People should trust in the vaccine. They don’t because they don’t trust the avenues and they don’t trust the politicians. And you know, we need to be honest with people about this disease. This is an awful disease. I got it early on. The chinese should certainly be held accountable for failure to warn us about it as well as possibly of developing it themselves. But we have to deal with it and that’s the problem. See, the politicians never consider the costs of any activity. They engender. They whipped up a whole lot of fear among people and certainly this disease is certainly not a great disease, but it’s 99.9% survivable. Uh, certainly we should protect the vulnerable. Certainly we should protect people with preexisting conditions. But what we should do is be honest with people, this disease has animal reservoirs. Smallpox didn’t, we’re not going to get rid of this disease. So we’ve got to encourage people to trust the vaccine, get the vaccine. So if they do get the disease, it’s not gonna be as serious and that’s the best. That that’s the best. So are there any specific Steps that you had in mind beyond rebuilding trust with the public and I’m not, I look at the costs. You know, we can eliminate all highway deaths if we all drove at 10 mph. Well, we’re not about to do that. Governor Newsom shut down small businesses. He shut our kids out of school. The police is like florida kept their businesses open. Disney world was opened in july. Disneyland just opened in april. So you know, the destruction of thank you very much, destruction to our Children’s psyche is also serious to thank you for your answer and kevin Faulconer. Are there any steps that you would take moving forward? Just love this. I think the most important thing is to let our local school districts working with parents make the right decisions based upon the facts of the ground in that community. I think one of the things that you’ve heard very clearly is that Gavin Newsom, always his first step, is to say, let’s have a statewide mandate. Our state’s very big. It’s very diverse. That’s the wrong approach. Again, we need to have parents, school district members working together. I’ll tell you our schools should have been open this past semester. The fact that this governor shut down our schools for as long as he did. I kicked off my campaign in Los Angeles in front of a closed public school and right across the street was an open private school where teachers were safely teaching and kids were safely learning why? Because that school reported to parents. But yet the public school where I was at ultimately reports to Gavin Newsom was closed. My daughter should have been in school this past semester, just like everybody else’s kids across California in the classroom, safely learning with great teachers. Doing zoom was no substitute. We had a governor that didn’t understand that we’re still dealing with those consequences. Now, thank you. And just quickly again, are there any specific steps that you would take to slow the spread of the virus in California? All the great steps that we have seen. We have seen our local districts with our great teachers, working with our parents in terms of social distancing, in terms of all the hygiene things that you have to do, make those decisions locally. Not again a statewide mandate coming from the governor to shut our schools down. Thank you very much. It is not a surprise we’re in a severe drought and that many of California’s water reservoirs are at record low levels. Would you mandate restrictions on water used to get California through this season? If so, how would you actually enforce them? And if not, what would you do to address the very dry months that we have ahead of us? And we’ll start this time with kevin kiley, I would not do so rationing should not be an option. And you mentioned the reservoirs are low, they were overflowing just a few years ago. So if we had political leaders who were exercising any semblance of political leadership, we would have figured this out a long time ago. Maybe we should find a way to save the water in the wet years so that we can use it in the dry years. What I’ve proposed as a constitutional amendment that will say that from this point forward, a fixed amount of our state budget is going to go towards projects to increase our water supply towards bands towards what reservoirs towards conveyance to re use towards desalination until we add five million acre feet to our annual water supply. And by the way, there’ll be protections from litigation as well. And it would make sure the funding is actually used for that purpose. You know, we haven’t significantly expanded our water capacity here in California since the state water project, we have more than enough water that comes to us by the grace of God, we just need to manage it responsibly, you know, and scarcity and rationing and cutbacks, our political choices. And if we make different choices, then we’ll end this era of shorter showers and fallow fields in California. Those are long term ideas. What do you do for the next six months till the rain is back? Well, I point you to, for example, a letter that a democrat in the Assembly Adam Gray wrote to the waterboard telling them not to impose these cutbacks on farmers and pointing to other solutions like a lot of the environmental regulations that cause us to divert water from productive use, right, john cox Yeah, this is another one of the management problems that the politicians and the celebrities and the insiders who have run this state for too long have cost. I mean this is a management issue. This is not a political issue. If you need water, which we do, we need water to live, we need water farm, we need water for every use. You make sure that you have the water available. You don’t just sit and blame climate change and not do anything about it. I’m a business man. I’m gonna solve the problem. And of course what that means is that we have to do things like desalination, recycling programs and reservoirs and I agree right now we are in a problem because of the lack of management skill. Uh and the politicians are to blame for it. You know, we’ve passed to water bonds in the last 10 years and they’ve yet to spend most of the money from those water bounds. This is the voters have spoken, they said we want water stored and another constitutional amendment isn’t going to do the job. We need to get just better leadership, kevin Faulkner. The only solution we get from Gavin Newsom every time we’re in a drought is take a shorter shower, that’s not going to cut it. We have to build more storage, we have to increase the supply in California in fact, just last week I had the pleasure to be up in Maxwell, about an hour north meeting with folks on the sites reservoir, we have to turn that into reality. We have the ability to do not only that, but temperance flat down further south and we have to increase our supply and for a governor to just give lip service to that, but not actually take the steps and the emergency steps necessary to get these reservoirs going. I think it’s unconscionable and it has to be an all of the above approach and I have a lot of experience of that is when I was mayor of SAn Diego, we moved forward on one of the biggest water recycling programs right now going on in the state of California, we have desalinization in san Diego County, strong proponent and supporter of that. And so instead of what we see from Gavin Newsom every single year, take a shorter shower cut back. We have to get smart, increase the supply, we know what needs to be done. I will have the experience and the political will to get it done. But what do you do the day after you become governor when people don’t have water because reservoirs take years to build, What do you do for those months in between? I will move immediately on building reservoirs. Day one temperance last night told not only that incites reservoir as well, these have been on the books forever. We have funding in the water bugs, but we haven’t had the political will to move forward. We have to start, I will start on my first day as governor, kevin Patras Patras same question. Thank you very much. Well, much of what we’ve heard here about solving our water crisis is the same old that we’ve heard a lot of complaining the same thing that we heard with their covid plans. The folks on the stage with me did not have strong plans and they each had to be asked follow up questions for what their actual plans would be. We need emergency action when it comes to our water crisis. On day one, I will declare a state of emergency to begin the construction as soon as feasibly possible of a pipeline to the Mississippi River. We will build an interstate pipeline by coordinating with joe biden and the federal government. Now this sounds outlandish, but we have a massive problem. Researchers and PhD S have come up with a solution. It would take just 14 power plants to pump water here. We can buy cheaper cleaner water. There’s enough federal land between here and there. With the exception of Texas, where we’re going to rent land, we’re going to double the flow of water to the Mississippi River. We need strong ideas and that’s why I’m pulling better than all three candidates on the stage combined in August, both poles in August I pull better than all three combined by a 4-9% margin because my plans will work. Have you explored cooperation with these other states to do something like that? Absolutely. Here’s the thing. We have spoken with a lot of folks about our plans. But what I want to be very clear about first is I stand for win win negotiations. I recognize that we’re not just going to take water, but we also do diesel conservation wells. We’re gonna do everything all hands on deck. But we need more water. We need to double the flow of water to the Colorado River. It would only take 4% of the water from the Mississippi from water. We’re going to go to fire. Yes, we’re in the middle of another record breaking wildfire season, which has leveled towns and uh, a destroyed property all over the state. Um, do you favor restricted, do development in high fire risk zones, john cox will come to you first. No, I don’t, I, I favor better management to deal with the fires. Uh, this is again, another problem of the politicians and the celebrities who have run the state into the ground. We solved the problem. And how do we do that? We manage the forest, We go in and we get rid of the tingling the the dead trees and all these things that are going to cause fires uh, to be become infernos. We also revived the timber industry, which has been run out of the state. They did a lot of the fire forest management before they were run out of the state. And then we need to have a new ideas like a Air force I saw today. There’s a new fire in grass valley. I mean, if we had decent air force, if we weren’t spending $4 million a day on that train to nowhere in the central valley, I proposed taking that money and buying or leasing a whole bunch of jets. There’s never been more jets available than any time in history, outfit them with tanks and make sure you go after these fires and put them out before they become infernos. That money for the train was set aside by a constitutional amendment passed by voters. Do you favor going back to the ballot too to redirect that money toward wildfires? That yeah, if necessary. But I’ll tell you what that project is. Way over budget. Way behind schedule. It’s a honeypot for all kinds of interest groups that are making money out of it. And the taxpayers are footing the bill. It’s wrong. Okay, thank you, kevin Faulconer. Do you favor restricting development in high fire risk? Sounds my favorite putting our state on a war footing when it comes to wildfire and what we see from Gavin Newsom, year after year is rhetoric will go out and talk about climate change, but he won’t take action. He won’t take action what we need to here in California to do it. And so that’s why I believe we have to and I will declare a state of emergency as governor to move forward immediately on the fuel reduction that hasn’t been occurring in our force that need to on the brush management on all of the emergency ingress and egress of fire exits that haven’t been constructed because this governor won’t do it. And what did he do? He cut the funding from cal fire last year. And then he also went out and tried to take credit for treating acres. Of course that never actually happened. I’m going to treat this as the emergency that it is because lives are literally at stake and if we do not actually get and reduce those fuels, do that brush measurement, providing a tax credit for home hardening. That’s the only way we’re actually going to make a difference on this in California. And again, it starts by saying we have to change it immediately. Put our state on a war footing for wildfire prevention. So just quickly yes or no. Do you favor restrictions on development? I favor giving the increases that we want for folks to do their home harding and we need to do that and all the legislation that’s out there. It works. Ok. Thank you. Um kevin path wrath. Same question to you. I’ll answer the question no, I do not favor restrictions. I favour doing what our governor said. He was going to do. I understand I’m running as a democrat and I encourage people to vote yes on that second question for kevin Path as a backup. But here’s the reality. Have a bone to pick with Governor Newsom. He overstated fire prevention by 690%. He was exposed by NPR for doing that the day he was exposed, we had Governor Newsom’s administration tried to cover up that they ever made that promise, which is the news that came out last week. But look, here’s the reality. The economist told us that in 2017 Portugal had devastating wildfires, Then conducted controlled burns at a cost of just $35 an acre versus the $1500 an acre it cost to fight wildfires and then they didn’t have a devastating wildfire since. And that’s what we need. We need a governor who’s actually going to do what he says he’s going to do. But I don’t think that could be a republican. That’s because we have a 75% democratic control in congress and democrats in Congress will sandbag republican governor through the 2022 election by overriding vetoes from a Republican governor by overriding emergency action and overriding or delaying appointments. This is why we need a JFK style democrat vote Kevin Path. Thank you, Kevin kiley. Do you favor restricting new development and high fire risk zones. I will agree with my namesake and I want to thank him for underlining something that is abundantly clear to everyone except Gavin Newsom, which is that this is not a partisan recall. This has been bipartisan multi partisan from the beginning, it’s about the failures of our government to do the most basic things like manage our forests and the result, of course, is that our communities are at risk and we keep having these catastrophic events. So I don’t think it’s necessary to restrict development there Alexey. I think that in the areas where there’s an unavoidably high risk people are not gonna be eager to build and there are plenty of places to build. But I will say this that’s an entirely different story for folks who already live in areas that have become high risk. Thanks to the states negligence, we have many, many people in this state whose fire insurance rates have doubled, tripled more. They’ve lost their coverage, they’ve had to go to the California Fair plan And it’s imposed a real economic hardship. Their homes have become unsellable and I do think those folks need tax relief, it should come in the form of a tax credit, which I actually proposed in the legislature. But the larger issue is that we need to actually start prioritizing forest management. We have 15 to 20 million acres of overgrown forest in this state and we’re seeing the tragic results of a year after year. Thank you very much. Our next question is another one that viewers submitted and it has to do with housing affordability. Spoiler alert. They think it’s really expensive to live in our state. So some democrats have pushed to make it more affordable and easier to build small apartment buildings and residential areas and neighborhoods or to turn unused commercial property into residential housing. So, would you sign a package of bills to allow those kinds of changes to happen? And we start this time with kevin Faulconer, Our state is too expensive, first and foremost, and people are voting with their feet, they’re leaving our state because they can’t raise their family, they can’t afford a home. Gavin Newsom appointed himself as the homeless, are the housings are right, everything under the sun, but yet doesn’t take the action necessary to actually construct the units. A lot of experience in that. As mayor of san Diego, I brought together democrats and republicans to pass one of the most significant reforms to help increase housing in san Diego, increase the supply where we want it along our transit quarters, we called it complete communities. It’s going to make a huge difference. I eliminated the regulatory burdens to construct that, eliminating things like parking requirements to make it easier, so you can get more units. I have the experience and actually not only getting these plans there, but getting them across the finish line. In this case, the super majority democrat City council, we have to make housing more affordable in California and I will take the same types of steps that I took us bear those immediate steps that says we’re going to cut through the bureaucracy, we’re going to build more homes, were going to build them where we want them to be, which is along transit corridors, and we can actually do it. All right, we’ll go to kevin Path Wrath. You certainly have a lot of Youtube videos on topics like this, where do you stand on it, California currently builds just 80,000 housing units per year to break even with our housing disaster, we need to be building 300,000 homes per year. That’s the break. Even kevin Faulkner mentions that we should build along our Transit coordinator quarters. That’s not enough. That’s not enough. It’s not that it will create a drop in the bucket for our housing crisis. It doesn’t help that. When you have a real estate deal in san Diego one oh one, ash, you understated repairs and then ended up costing 100 $15 million. Then you stated they would $115 million more. Here’s what we need to do. We need to build hundreds of thousands of homes throughout California, ideally half a million homes per year. There are 482 cities in this ST we build them outside of our large cities, will average them out, we will have affordable housing again that way, we’re not affecting housing prices within our city, but instead, we’re providing an affordable option outside of our cities and then we can have better infrastructure to connect these homes. We will also make these communities net negative by building them near and around solar and wind farms, but we must build more houses fast by streamlining the permitting process and enabling Californians to build. Okay, yeah, you can, you know, you have 30 seconds to respond. I’m happy to it’s not the time for on the job training before youtube. Somebody that’s never actually had to get legislation across, actually had to get the units constructed and built and actually take the stance to get housing constructed in California. I think that’s a clear difference between you and me, my friend, And that’s why it’s important that we elect a governor that can actually get hit the ground on day one who has success working with Democrats and Republicans to actually get housing across the finish line like we did in San Diego that will help 100,000 new units to make it more affordable for our families. It’s not time to test drive. It’s time to actually have somebody who has the experience to do it. All right, It’s kevin kylie’s turn, I’ll remind you, I’m sorry, I should respond to that. We’re going to move to kevin kiley. The question to remind you is, would you sign a package of bills to make changes including building small apartment buildings within existing residential neighborhoods or turning unused commercial properties into housing? Well, it’s hard to commit to signing or not signing a bill in the abstract, there’s a lot of things we need to be doing about housing and you know, some of the ideas you mentioned may have merit, but fundamentally this is the issue more than any other. That is the reason the american dream is falling apart in California. This used to be the state where anyone could get ahead. It’s now the state that so many people can’t wait to leave behind last year. For the first time in California history, our population declined by 182,000 people. We just lost a seat in Congress based upon the last census. Now, Gavin Newsom came into office, he ran for the governorship claiming that he’d do a marshall plan for housing, but he’s produced nothing of the short as a matter of fact, he’s delivered 1/5 of the units that he promised. Now you’ll get other states, they can get projects off the ground in weeks and for thousands of dollars that in California take years and cost millions of dollars. That’s the reason we don’t have the housing supply that we need. And there are very simple reforms we can make to get the results that other states do reforming sequel. Rolling back the costs that add $150,000 to the price of a home before the project even gets off the ground, Certainly streamlined the approval process. Okay, the last person to answer this question is john cox Well, I’ve been in the housing business for over 40 years, so I have the experience and I’m not a politician and the politicians have jawbone about this for years. You know, this isn’t just a supply issue, that’s certainly part of the issue, but it’s the cost of building. And Mr Kiley referred to it, I build for a living. Most of my building is done in Indiana. I can build there for $125 a square foot here in California. It’s 455 $100 a foot. You can build 300,000 units all you want, but you’re never gonna make it affordable when it’s that expensive and it’s driven up as Mr Kiley said by sequa by the impact fees by the lawsuits, I could get approvals in 6 to 12 months in Indiana and I assure you that people in indiana care about the environment, they care about traffic, they care about building standards and it’s not the cost of the land. That’s the difference because when you’re building multi family, the cost of the land isn’t significant. We need to get somebody has experienced can bring down the cost of housing because it is killing families and their ability to live in this state. It’s all about families. But many of the regulations that you refer to are in place to protect things like air water and labor. Is there one regulation you would look to end first. Like I said, the people of indiana care about the air water and labor as well. They managed to approve property building in 6 to 12 months, not 12 years like here. They certainly have high standards as well, but they managed to get it done like that all across the country, California is the outlier here. And I think we all need to understand that it’s because of the politicians and the celebrities that we’ve had running the state. Uh, we’re going to move on to the next question. One of the biggest debates to emerge from the recent racial justice protests is whether the state should be able to strip law enforcement officers of their badges when they break the law California is one of only four states in the country where there is no statewide process to do this. But there is a bill moving through the legislature right now, that would make that change. Would you sign it, kevin path First to you. Well, first live 3000 hours of experience in law enforcement and I support our law enforcement community. But I also understand there are problems in law enforcement. We need a massive community style policing package in our legislature to make sure we can reform law enforcement and I would consider exactly what you’ve just asked me. Crime. Proposition 47 57, we’ve got problems we need to enforce the law. We don’t need to defund the police. We need properly fund the police, not over fund the police and that’s what I stand for. Now. I’d like to respond to the claim of experience. I have 11 years working in real estate and my experience doesn’t include ripping off my city. It also doesn’t include a disdain for transparency or such a disdain for California. You prefer to invest in real estate outside of California. All of the properties I own are in California. I respect the experience I have in real estate here. The reality is I am a JFK style democrat who can work with our Democratic legislature, a vote for any republican, including the ones who are not here is a wasted vote and whether you are yes or no on recall, you should vote for kevin path and see my full planet. Me kevin dot com. Okay, thank you kevin kiley, would you sign a police decertification bill? Well, I will answer that question actually, let me just say first that you know, I believe there is room for criminal justice reform and police reform where appropriate. I authored a bill brought together the A. C L. U. Uh, and law enforcement to provide transparency in for grand jury proceedings, an officer involved shooting cases and for example, in the Brianna taylor case after there was the decision not to move forward there. The family wanted to see the transcript of that have taken place in California they could have because of my bill now with respect to the specific bill that you’re talking about. I think everyone agrees there needs to be a fair process, but I can’t just commit to whatever the bill maybe at this point in time and my years in the Legislature, I’ve spent five years in the legislature. I can tell you that these things are sort of a moving target a lot of times as they went their way through the legislature. But the larger issue is this that we have had a a policy towards our law enforcement in California. That has been incredibly disrespectful. I mean the slogan defund the police is one of the most offensive political slogans ever concocted and I think that at the end of the day, we need to restore the reverence and respect for law enforcement that they deserve and also put public safety first in our communities again at a time when crime rates are rising. Okay, thank you very much john cox. Would you sign a police decertification though? We need to get the politics out of this? We need to make sure that we have the most professional law enforcement force that we can muster and that means we need to get the politicians out of the picture. We need to make sure certainly that we have a transparent process that weeds out people that abuse their badge. That’s a very rare occurrence by the way. And I think it stains a lot of the people that already serve. I mean, My law partner has a son in the police and and he says he doesn’t understand how his son continues to serve because of all the abuse that they’re getting. Uh politics gets into this and we don’t have the leadership that stands up and defends the police, 99.9% of whom do a good job. They deserve our respect. They certainly, we certainly have to have body cameras and make sure that we go after police who abuse their power. But that is such a rare occurrence. I agreed to fund the police is not the way that we should go. We need to get rid of 47 and 57. We need to enforce the law, make sure that crime is punished. That’s the first role of government. So this question was about a process to strip law enforcement officers if their badges when they break the law, just to be clear. Do you support that concept or not? I certainly think that a police officer was found in a professional hearing that’s not politicized found to have committed a crime or abused his power certainly should be stripped. I don’t believe it should be run from the state down. I don’t believe in top. So that’s a no no on the statewide process. Okay, thank you, kevin Faulkner. The same question stood up during a very difficult time in our city. I had hundreds of protesters out in front of my house yelling at me. My family defund the police. I stood up and said, no, I heard the first female police chief in the history of san Diego. We were selected as the nation’s safest big city in America. Why? Because I understand that balance and what you have to do to protect your city and actually bring people together in a safe way. It takes character and judgment. I’m going to take this opportunity because one of the people that is not here tonight, Larry Elder does not have the character of the judgment, the skill set or the experience to be governor. And I’ve been very outspoken this week and I’m gonna take one more opportunity to do so. His attack on working women is unconscionable to all of the working moms out there. Now that with Kevin Faulkner is your governor, I’m going to support your right to raise a family to have a career. Unlike what Larry Elder is talking about, I’m going to make sure the California’s daughters have the same opportunities as California’s sons. We need a governor that’s going to stand up for working women and knows that every woman in this state can have a career, can raise a family and to all the working moms out there right now. I want to say one thing. Thank you. Thank you for what you’re doing? We value you, we can’t wait to work. Is there, is there a specific policy uh promoting gender equality that you would try to pursue as governor? It is. And talk a lot about the opportunity for equal pay. That’s incredibly important. I promoted some women into the top management positions in our city was I was, I understand how important that is about as governor rather than yes, exactly time of day. It’s going to be a strong point. I’ll be talking more about that later. Okay, thank you. Our next question has to deal with tax cuts. Many Californians believe the cost of living is too high in the state. Sure that it’s not a surprise to what would you do to make California more affordable And for those of you who have proposed tax cuts, please be specific about how you would make up for the loss in revenue. And this time we start with kevin kiley. Well, we do need to lower taxes and you don’t need to make up for the loss in revenue. I mean, I talked to people who hate the taxes but they say, look, if I was just getting something in return for it in terms of the quality of government service, then I’d be okay with it. I mean, you know, we just Gavin Newsom just signed a $267 billion budget by far the largest in state history? The budget is more than doubled in just the last decade yet. Do you look around and say, wow, look at these beautiful reservoirs and dams we have look at are perfectly paved roads. Look at our sterling public schools. No, of course not. Everything has continued to get worse. The quality of life in California has continued to decline. That is the story of modern California as epitomised by Gavin Newsom that we sacrifice the most and get the least in return. And why is that? It’s because I’ve seen this in my five years in the legislature that our state government is fundamentally broken And what is broken. It is political corruption. We have a state capital that is entirely run by lobbyists and special interests, which is why I’m the only elected official at the state level in California that refuses all special interests funding because we need to get back to the idea of government by the people, John Cox, yes or no on tax cuts. I propose the largest tax cut in the history of California across the board, 25%. This state taxes, it’s people way too much. It’s not just the income tax, it’s the corporate tax. The sales tax is one of the highest in the country. The gas tax is one of the highest in the country are gasoline prices are now approaching $6 a gallon in most of California. The cost of living is way too high. It’s literally killing families and forcing them to break up and move to other states. And you know the parents then have to move themselves. Uh The real problem is spending, I’m a CPA and I can’t wait to get my hands on this budget. I practice zero based budgeting in my own businesses. I’ve done that for 40 years. You start at zero. You don’t just take last year’s budget and add money to it. You know when I’m the governor I’m gonna have to appoint 3000 political appointees. That’s ridiculous. We shouldn’t have that many appointees. We shouldn’t have most of the boards and commissions we have. We’re gonna have an audit of every single agency starting with the E. D. D. And we just learned of a homeless audit that was blistering in terms of its criticism of Governor Newsom that was just released today. They have no idea what they’re spending the money on. It takes too long to get done and they have no idea if it’s even helping homelessness. This has got to change. We moved kevin falcon or where do you stand on tax cuts? We have to give California is the relief that they deserve. Yet our state is too expensive. People are leaving and everyone is listening to us tonight understands we need to let you keep more of your hard earned tax dollars in your own pocket. Not send it to sacramento and that’s the same thing that we get from Gavin Newsom in the legislature year after year, send more money. The fact that we’re at a $70 billion dollar surplus. I’ve proposed the largest middle class tax cut in California history. One reason to make sure that folks have been able to keep that so they can afford to live here in our great state and it’s significant. What do we have to have a newsome going around Given out a stimulus check, $600 in thinking that that’s the be all end all. It’s not it’s not even close. We need permanent lasting tax relief. And my plan is real dollars in people’s pockets enough for eight months of grocery, eight months of utility bills, 92 tanks of gas. And that’s just for starters, we’ve got to stop being the highest taxing state in this nation and understand that we’re going to create good quality jobs help California families by letting you keep more of what you earn. That is a huge difference between what we’re seeing from this governor who only wants to tax and we’ll end this question with the democrat on stage. Thank you very much. Well I’ve heard a lot of complaining from my fellow candidates here, but the reality is I have not heard a plan is a JFK style candidate. I have a plan. Step one know homeless on our streets within 60 days. We have a very thorough plan for making sure homeless can finally get the dignity and services they deserve, Homeless costs California $80,000 per year per homeless person is very expensive. Then step two, we need to solve the causes of homelessness. We can’t be the fifth largest economy in the world with schools in the bottom 20%. We need to teach financial education in our schools. We need teach mental education in our schools, provide drug treatment services. $1 into drug treatment services saves us $3 in crime. And with the legislature will pass a very comprehensive package to address housing, transportation and traffic and busing. We will address homelessness and the causes with drugs and mental health. And we will also make sure we have future schools in the state. Now, my full plan is that meet kevin dot com. But the reality is once we invest in Californians, then we can lower taxes and we can make California competitive by cutting taxes on anyone, making less than $250,000 to 0 Once we properly invest in California. Okay, we need to move into round two of our questioning tonight and this shrinks your answers to 30 seconds. Okay, so, good luck Governor Newsom, I think everybody would agree has been dealt a unique set of challenges everything from the pandemic to the recession, wildfires, drought, civil rights unrest, in your view? What has he done well? And what would you continue? And we’ll start this time with john cox this state is a mismanaged mess. I mean, you can’t really name anything that this governor has done. Well. I might have agreed with in the first couple of weeks of Covid where he cautioned us to slow down two weeks to stop the spread. But beyond that, his pandemic management was an inconsistent disaster. And listen, we don’t have electricity, we don’t have water. We have live in fear of fires, Crime is rising. Housing prices are out of sight, taxes are out of sight. The homeless problem has only gotten worse when the audit today said that we don’t even know what the money was spent for. We gotta stop with these politicians and celebrities reminder the question is name something he’s done well. And what could you see at the very beginning of Covid, we all pulled together as a state. Uh, it was a very difficult days for all of us. I was mayor of SAN Diego and I had one goal keeping us all healthy and safe and communicating. But I think the problem we saw from this governor is again, he went into lockdown mode. He went into a one size fits all policy that’s, that just caused all of the shutdowns that caused our school closures. That is not the right way to do it. We have to bring people together as I did when I was mere republicans, democrats, independents and I will make sure that we put the facts forward first and move forward in one direction, Not a top down policy to kevin path wrath. Now something the governor has done well that you could see continuing the governor has done a great job at branding this election as a republican recall. Unfortunately, he’s wrong. I’m a democrat running against the governor. That’s one thing he’s done well. But here’s the problem. We have a big threat. That threat isn’t here to defend himself. That’s Larry Elder. That’s because Larry elders with his disinformation friends tucker, Carlson and laura Ingraham. Right before this debate air, he went on laura Ingraham show it’s time to end the big threat and make sure that Larry Elder does not become the next governor by voting for kevin path with kevin kiley, can you name something the governor has done well that you could see continuing. So the governor actually is my constituent, I should say he lives in my assembly district. And one thing that he’s done well is he does these big splashy announcements like he did With fire mitigation efforts, which my friend over here said, I pointed out was exaggerated by 690%. There’s never any follow through. But what’s worse is, you know, kind of the image that should stay with people about Gavin Newsom is the one of the French laundry. Not because of the hypocrisy, but because of who was there with a table full of lobbyists. That is who this governor listens to and what we need in our next governor is someone who will actually serve the people of California. Thank you. This is our final question. The integrity of our elections was challenged last year and one of the candidates in this race. Larry elder has promoted unfounded theories that the recall election is rigged against him. Do you believe this election is fair? And will you accept the results of the recall kevin Faulconer first to you said Larry Elder is unfit to serve as governor of this state. Doesn’t have the character of the judgment today. We just found out by the way that he supports legalizing some of the most dangerous drugs on our streets in California. That’s crazy. That’s not just dangerous. It’s crazy. Not only will what will that will mean for our homeless encampments and it’ll grow beyond exponential belief, but think of all of our families and our kids and what those dangerous drugs, opioids. If you legalize all the heroin methamphetamine, that’s a big no, it’s terrible. There’s no place for that for a cancer. No. Was running for. You accept the results of this election radically worse. Will you accept the results of this election? Just yes or no? Yeah, I’m planning on winning. And I can’t wait. Great kevin Patras same question to you. I don’t know about the plans to win right now. I’m beating all three of you in the polls combined. But I will accept the results of this election. I do understand the secretary of state needs a lot of work. I have a bone to pick with the Secretary of State, but we have to remember, nothing’s going to get done. I am so worried about California for the future of my Children. Have three, I’m sorry, have two Children. 1315. I’m so worried about the future of California. And the republican governor will sandbag California for a year as democrats take complete control until 2022 to win the governorship back. Okay, thank you, Kevin Kiley. Do you believe this is a fair election? And will you accept the results? Well, it should be pointed out first that actually there’s a law story now to try to cancel the election and there are people in Gavin Newsom’s inner circle who seemed to be supportive of this effort. They have tried every step of the way to delegitimize the recall. They called it the California coup. And indeed, Gavin Newsom himself signed a bill to change California law a couple months ago in order to allow the date of the election to be moved to the date where he thought he had the best chance of winning. And so there is no doubt that this election has the scales have been tilted in favor of the incumbent here and I think that’s why a lot of people distrust our election process. Will you accept the results of this recall? We won’t even know when the results. You want that. Certified. It’s certified. So yes, you will accept the certified it is certified. Yes. You will accept the result. That’s the way I always thank you. And john cox. Finally to you, I will accept the results. And uh, but I’ll make it clear that I don’t want all mail ballots. Uh, South Korea did an impersonal election in April of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic because they wanted people to trust. You know, that’s what we need. People. We need to get away from the politicians and the media types and all the attacks going on here from the politicians and the media. We need to get a business person that’s actually going to solve the problem Maryland massachusetts have Republican businessman as governors and they’re the most popular governors in the country because they solve problems and that’s what we go to. We need to get away from this partisan Thank you very much for your time. Does in round two of our questioning take a breath. We’ll toss it back over to Gholston, dart. Alright, thanks dear to great exchange there. We’re gonna take a quick break right now when we come back tonight, the candidates will be making their final statements. Yeah, yeah. Welcome back. We’re wrapping up our debate for the gubernatorial recall election. Four candidates are ready to make their final statements. They each have one minute and we’re going to start tonight with john cox. Imagine a California where you can buy an affordable home where you don’t have to see homeless all over parks and beaches, where you have enough water, we have enough electricity. Imagine a California where you have to worry about rising crime or wildfires threatening you, where the taxes don’t tax you to death where you can you can actually have a decent sense of life. You know, let’s stop electing the politicians and media celebrities who are all talk. I’ve built a business over 40 years by solving problems and delivering results. I’m not doing this to get a job. I’m not doing this to move up the wrong of political ladder. I’m doing this to save this state because it needs to have that done. We need to fix this state. We need to get away from the mismanagement. These aren’t political issues these are management issues and they can be solved. That’s the good news. We just have to have a leader who is interested in solving the problems and not practicing politics, kevin kiley, you’re next. Well, this election is happening because many, many Californians have demanded it more than ever, have signed a petition in United States history, you know, and people of all partisan affiliations, all backgrounds who look around and see that we have the highest poverty that we have, the most homelessness. We have the greatest level of inequality that we have failing public schools that we have crumbling infrastructure and they ask, how is it that our beautiful state became last in everything and as I’ve seen as a member of the legislature for five years. The answer is that we have a broken state government. So if you’re someone who is frustrated with the direction of our state, you want to stay here. You want to raise your family here, you want to retire here. But maybe you’re reluctant to cross party lines. What I would say is this take a chance on change. The recall is for you. You’re not signing on for four years. You’re signing on for one year. So you can see if things improve and then if not, you can vote for a return to the way things are next year. But if I’m elected, I think you will see things improve because my administration will be about back to basics, pave our roads, manage our forests, store our water, maintain our grid fund, our police do the things government is supposed to do. All right, kevin path Wrath your turn. Thank you very much. We’ve heard a lot of vision from other candidates, but no real plants. I understand my plans are bold. So we’re jF case my plans are to end our homeless crisis to solve our housing crisis to solve our school crisis, our crime crisis, our water crisis in our fire crisis, all the details of which of course are at me kevin dot com But we have to remember one thing we’ve got to go out with the old and went in with the bold And that’s what I bring both plans because we need this in California. Otherwise, in 20 years, my Children, I fear will ask me why I raise them in a state that’s now bankrupt. That is what I fear. But I also fear a governor who can’t get anything done over this next year lame duck governor. And since I am pulling the best of the candidates on this debate stage, I would ask them to drop out of the race and endorsed me, Kevin path wrath on the second part of the ballot so we can defeat larry elder and bring bold change to California and kevin Faulconer, you will have the last word tonight. Well, thank you. It’s time to stop the circus. This is very serious times for our state. We don’t want to replace one dysfunctional governor with another. I’m going to bring the experience the judgment, somebody who can bring our state together. That’s exactly what I did when I was Mayor of san Diego in a very difficult time when we had a mayor that needed to be replaced and I stepped in and we made a huge difference. Somebody who can bring together democrats, republicans and independents who will provide the real solutions and the leadership on day one. That’s the serious stakes that are involved here. It’s no time to test drive the governor and to all of you who are listening. Now tonight, whether you’re a democrat, independent or republican, I ask for your help and your support and your vote. I’m running because I believe that I strongly believe the California’s best days are ahead of us. I’m ready to lead on the issues that matter to you and with your help and support, I can’t wait to be the next governor of the great state of California. Right with that gentleman. We want to thank you for being here with us tonight and sharing your views on what you think the future of California should look like. That is all the time we have again. We want to thank all of our candidates for joining us. Remember voters can vote on one or both parts of this recall and you can mail back your ballot anytime as long as it is postmarked by September 14 and you can also drop off your ballot at a secure ballot dropbox or a voting location or your county’s election office by eight p.m. September 14th. We wanna thank you for joining us tonight for this special debate. I’m Gholston dart on behalf of K C R A three and the san Francisco chronicle, we say get out and vote, have a good night
>> Announcer: NOW THE ISSUES FACING CALIFORNIA. >> HOMELESSNESS. >> THE ECONOMY. >> SERIOUS CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGES. >> Announcer: THE CANDIDATES. >> THE POLITICIANS ARE MUCKING IT UP. >> THIS CRISES EXCEEDS THE CURRENT GOVERNOR’S ABITYLI TO DEAL WITH IT. >> I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB OF OUR NEXTOV GERNOR IS TO MAKE IT LESS IMPORTANT WHO THE GOVERNOR IS. >> Announcer: TONIGHT INFORMATION VOTERS ACROSS CALIFORNIA NEEDO T MAKE INFMEDOR DECISIONS. LIVE FROM CALIFORNIA’S CAPITAL. KCRA AND THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE PRESENT “THE CALIFORNIA RECALL DEBATE.” GULSTAN: GOOD EVENING. I’M GULSTAN DART. RIGHT NOW, VOTERS ACROSS CALIFORNIA ARE DECIDING TWO QUESTIONS. FIRST, SHOULD GOVERNOR GINAV NEWSOM BE RECALLED. AND SECOND, IF HE IS RECALLED, WHO SHOULD REPLACE HIM. WHICH IS WHY WE ARE HERE. WE INVITED GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM AND SIX LEADING CANDIDATES LOOKING TO REPLACE HIM. THE GOVERNOR’S CAMPAIGN SAID HE’S NOT PARTICIPATING IN DEBATES. LARRY ELDER AND CAITLYN JEERNN SAID THEY WILL ONLY DEBATE THE GOVERNOR. TONIGHT WE ARE JOINED BY FOUR CANDIDAT WESHO DID ACCEPT. KEVIN KILEY IS A REPUBLICAN. HE GRADUATED VALEDICTORIAN FROM GRANITE BAY HIGH SCHOOL. HE’S CURRENTLY A MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMB,LY REPRESENTING THE 6TH DISTRICT. KEVIN PAFFTH IRAS A DEMOCRAT. HE APPEARS ON THE BALLOT AS A FINANCIAL EDUCATOR/ALANYST HE MAY BE BETTER KNOWNY B HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEET KEVIN. HE HAS ALSO WORKED AS A REAL ESTATE BROKER. KEVIN FAULCONER IS A REPUBLICAN. HE APPEARS ON ETH BALLOT AAS BUSINESSMAN AND EDUCATOR. HE’S A FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AND MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO. JOHN COX IS A REPUBLICAN. HE APPEARS ON THE BAOTLL AS A BUSINESSMAN, ACCOUNTANT AND FATHER. HE RAN FOR GOVERNOR IN 2018,ND A LOST TO GAVIN NEWSOM. THOSE ARE THE CANDIDATES. NOW, THE QUESTIONS. AND WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. SCAN THE Q.R. DECO ON YOUR SCREEN TO SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES. OUR MODERATORS TONIGHT ARE ALEXEI KOSEFF, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT. AND KCRA 3’S DEIRDRE FITZPATRICK. BASED ON A RANDOM DRAWING OUR FIRST QUESTION GOES TO KEVIN FACOULNER. DEIRE?DR >> YOU AGREED TO VEHA ONE MINUTE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. FOR VIEWERS AT HOME, THEY WILL KNOW TIRHE MINUTE IS UP. ON THE FLOOR, IS A RED LIGHT, GRNEE LIGHT STEYS LET’S GET TO OUR FIRST QUESTIONS. WE DID ASK PEOPLE ALL OVER CALIFORNIA TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS. WE HAD WELL OVER 400 QUESTIONS COME IN. WON’T ASK ALL OF THEM. NO SURPRISE, ONE OF THE TOP THINGS PEOPLE WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS EVERY SINGLE PERSON ONHE T PLANET, EVERYBODY IN IN ROOM NOW, THAT IS CORONAVIRUS. WE’LL TALK AUTBO THE PANDEMIC AND VACCINE MANDATES. THIS WEEK, THE FDA GAVE FULL AUTHORIZATION TO THE PFIZER VACCINE FOR THOSE WHO ARE 16 AND OLDER. NOW THAT IT’S NO LONGER UERND THE EMERGENCY USE STATUS AUTHORIZATION, WHAT IS YOUR POSITION ON VACNECI MANDATES BOTH IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND IN THE PUBCLI SECTOR ANDT I IS WORTH POINTINGUT O THAT ALL FOUR CAN CANDIDATES TONIGHT ARE VACCINATED. WE WILL START WHIT KEVIN FAULCONER. >> NUMBER ONE WAY TO GREATEST OF A COVID-19 IS TOHAVE EVERYONE GET I THINK IST’ INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. NOW WE’RE SEEING IT FDA APPROVAL. THAT WE CONTINUE TO EDUCATE. EDUCATE THE BENEFSIT OF GETTING THAT VACCINE. THAT’S SOMETHING I’VE BEEN ADVOCATING FORLL A OF THESE MANY MONTHS EVER SINCE THE VACCINES CAME OUT. I ELFE STRONGLY THAT OUR BEST OPPORTUNITY IS INDEED TO EDUCATE. WE’RE NOT GOING TO MANDATE OUR WAY OUT OF COVID-19. WHEN I WAS MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO, I REALLY STOOD UP AGASTIN THE STATEWIDE MANDATES THAT WE SAW FROM GOVERNOR GANVI NEWSOM. ONE SIZE FITS ALL POLICY. WE WANT EVERYBODY TO BE HEALTHY. WE WANT EVERYBODY TO BE SAFE. THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT IS TO EDUCATE FOLKS TO GET TTHA VACCINE AND THAT IS THE BEST WAY THAT WE ARE ALL GOING TO GET OVER THIS TOGETHER AS CALIFORNIANS. >> TO BE CLEAR, YOU’RE AGAINST MANDATES FOR THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR? >> OUR BEST OPPORTUNITY IS TO GET EVERYBODY VACCITENAD. WE’RE TNO GOING TO DO IT BY MANDATING. YOU NEE TOD EDUCATE. >> NEXT UP IS KEVIN PAFFRATH. >> THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS. THE VACCINE IS VYER IMPORTANT. HOWEVER, OXFORD UNIVERSITY SAID THAT TRANSMISSION STILL OURCCS IN VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS PI ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TOET G VACCINATED. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. NEED TO ALSO INCLUDE AN EMPHASIS ON HEPA FILTRATION IN OUR SCHOOLS. WE DON’T NEED LOCKDOWNS TO END THE PANDEMIC. WHAT WE NEED IS PROPER EDUCATION, POTENTIALLY EVEN INCENTIVE UP TO $250 FOR AEW N VACCINATED ADULT. WE NEED TO USE PROPER MASKING. >> I ASK THE SAME QUESTION TO BE CLEAR. NO MANDATES, PRIVATE SECTOR OR PUBLIC SECTOR? >> I DO AGREE WHIT MANDATES. I AGREE WITH MANDATES ON A LOCAL LEVEL, THOUGH. NOT FROM THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE. I BELIEVE ERYVE INDIVIDUAL BUNESISS HAS THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL BUILNGDI HAS THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE THEIR MANDATE RULES. THAT MEANS SCHL,OO HOSPITAL CAN DETERMINE VACCINE MANDATES. >> THANK YOU, KINEV KILEY YOUR TURN. >> I SAW A COMMERCIAL FROM GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM AGAINST THE RECL.AL HEAD H THIS DIRE WARNING THE MANDATES WILL GO AWAY AND THE COVID WILL SPREAD. THE MANDATES DIDN’T EXIST UNTIL A WEEK OR TWO AGO. WE’RE THE ONLY STATE THATAS H THEM. IT’S CLEARLY A CAMPAIGN ISSUE. THAT’S THE WAY GOVERRNO GAVIN NEWSOM TREATED COVID FROM THE BEGINNING. LAST YREA IN OCTOBER, WHEN NEOMWS THOUGHT IT WAS GDOO POLITICS HE CAST DOUBT ON THE VACCINE. THE CIRHA OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE HAD TO WRITE HIM A LETTER TELLING HIM TO CUT IT OUT. HE SAID NEWSOM WASIS DCOURAGING AMERICANS FROM TAKING THE VACCINE. HE WAS COSTING LIVES. WHEN IT CAME TIMEO T ROLL OUT THE VACCINE, WE HAD THE SLOWEST ROLLOUT OF ANY STA.TE THE GOVERNOR DIDN’T PRIORITIZE SENIORS. IT’S BNEE THE OPPOSITE. >> JOHN COX? >> I AGREE WHIT MR. KILEY. THE POLITICIANS WLIL POLITICALIZE IS. I WANT TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. MANDATES AREN’T GOING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I’VE BEEN VACCINATED. MY FAMILY HAS BEEN VACCINATED. I BELIEVE ITHN E VACCINE. IT COMES FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR. IT’S WELL TESTED. I BELIEVE IT’S GOOD. I LIKE TO SEE THE VACCINE APPROVED NOT ONLY FOR ADULTINGS BUCHT ILDREN AS WELL. THAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN VERY SOON. I THINKHE T RETICENCE OF PEOPLE TO GET VACCINATED IS ALL ABOUT THE LACK OF TSTRU IN GOVERNMENT AND GAVIN NEWMSO IS EXHIBIT A IN THAT SITUATION. NOT JUST HIS HYPOCRITICAL DINNER AT THE FREHNC LAUNDRY, IT’S ALSO NO-BID CONTRACTS, THE BLUE CSSRO TO BCHOT UP THE VACCINE DISTRIBUTION THAT MR. KILEY REFEEDRR TO. THE RAISING OF MONEY FOR HIS WIFE’S FOUNDATION FROM PG&E. WHICH LITERALLY KILLED PEOPLE. THIS EROSDE TRUST. WHEN PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TRUST IN THEIR LEADERSHIP, THEY DON’T LISTEN TO LEADERS WHEN THE LEADERS TELL THEM THEY SHOULD DO SOMETHING. I DON’T BELIEVE IN MANDATES. I DON’T BELIEVE IN MASK MANDATES. I’M NOT INTERESTED IN THAT. I BELIEVE IN FREEDOM. >> TNKHA YOU, JOHN COX. LET’S MOVE ON TO THE SECOND QUTIESON REGARDINGHE T CORONAVIRUS. >> SEVELRAOU Y EXPRESSED OPPOSITION TO HAVE MASK MANDATE IN SCHOOLS. NOW WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER SURGE, WHAT STEPS WOULD YOU TAKE TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS MOVING FORWARD? KEVIN FFPARATH? >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. FIRST AND FOREMOST,E W NEED BETTER MASKS. FACIAL COVERSRE A A FAILURE. FACIAL COVERING ARE NO BETTER THAN 20% TO0% 3FF EECTIVE. WE NEED N95 MASKI.NG THE CDC AND GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED US. YOU GO TO THE CDC’S WEBSITE, THEY SAY DON’T USE N95’S, THEY SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS. I BELIEVE THAT’S A MISTAKE. I WILL MEAK SURE WE HAVE AN APPROPRIATE SUPPLY OF MASKS THAT ARE WELL FITTED FORUR O CHILDREN AND PEOPLE OF OUR STATE. WITH PROPER VENTILATION, WE CAN DEN COVID. I’M FOR VACCINATION. WHAT WE JUST HEARD FROM THE OTHER THREE CANDIDATES ON THE STAGE, WHAT YOU HEAR FROM THE OTHER CANDIDATES WHO ARE TOO AFRAID TO BE HERE TONIGHT, IS NOTHING AUTBO VENTILATION AND NEW IDEAS. IT’S MORE OF THE SAME. THAT’S WHY WE’RE FAILING WITH COVID. I WILL CHANGE THAT AS GOVERNOR. >> THANK YOU VERY MU.CH KEVIN KILEY, WHAT STEPS WILL YOU TAKE? >> I WILL VEHA A BALANCED APPROACH AND PLACE TRUST IF CITIZENS. WHEN YOU LKOO AT THE ISSUE OF MASKS, YOU LOOK AT THE OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE UNITED KINGDOM, THEY WILL NOT REQUIRE MARKS. THE HMAR TO A CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT FAR OUTWEIGH BENEFITS. THOSE BENEFITS AREN’T CLEARLY ESTABLISHED. IT’S THE EFFECT OF CHILD WEARING MAA SK ALL DAY, VARIES A LOT FROM CLDHI TO CHILD. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT MKSAS NOW. LET’S NOT FORGET THAT CALIFORNIA SHUT DOWN ITS SCHOOLS LONGER THAN ANY OTHER STA.TE WE WERE 50th OUT OF 50 GETTING OUR KIDS BACKO T SCHL.OO IT WAS RATHER THAT WE HAVE A SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE STA.TE THE TEACHER’S UNION THAT GIVES MORE MONEY TO POLITICAL OFFEIC HOLDERS THAN ANY OTHER GROUP. THAT’S WHY I THINK THERE’S A LEVEL OF DISTRUST THAT EXIST IN LOT OF WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING. NEITHER PUBLIC HEALTH HAS BNEE GUIDING POLICY MAKING. >> YOU SPOKEN FOR THE PAST MINUTE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU’RE OPPOSED TO, WHICH IS MASK MANDATES. WHAT STEPS WOULD YOU TAKE MOVING FORWARD TO SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS. >> I WOULD REBUILD THE TRUST THAT GAVIN NEWMSO LOST. THE WAY HE POLITICALIZED THE VACCINES. I WILL START SERVING THE PEOPLE OF CALORIFNIA. PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN AEBL TO TAKE THE MEASURES THEY NEED. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. JOHN COX, WHAT STEPS WILL YOU TAKE? >> I AGREE WITH REBUILDING THE TRUST. PEOPLE SHOULD TRUST IN THE VACCINE. THEY DON’T BECAUSE TYHE DON’T TRUST GAVIN NEWSOM, THEY DON’T TRUST THE POLITICIANS. WE NEED TO BE HONEST WITH PEOPLE ABOUT THIS DISEASE. THIS IS AN AWFUL DISEASE. I GOT IT EARLY ON. ETH CHINESE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR FAILURE TO WARN US ABOUT IT AS WELASL POSSIBLY DEVELOPING IT THEMSELVES. WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT. THAT’S THE PROBLEM. THE POLITICIANS, NEVER CONSIDER TTHE COST. THEY WHIPPED UP A WHOLE LOT OF FEAR AMONG PEOPLE AND CERTAINLY THIS DISEASE IS CERTAINLY NOT A GREAT DISEASE. ‘SIT 99.9% SURVIVABLE. WE SHOULD PROTECTHE T VULNERABLE AND PROTECT PEOPLE WITH PREEXISTING CONDITIONS. WE SHOULD BE HONEST. THIS DISEASE HAS ANILMA RESERVOIRS. SMALLPOX DIDN’T. WE GOT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO TRUST THE VACCINE, GET THE VACCINE SO IF THEY GETHE T DISEASE, IT’SOT N GOING TO BE SERIOUS. THAT’S THE BEST WE CAN DO. A>>RE THERE ANY SPECIFIC STEPS THAT YOU HAD IN MIND BEYOND REBUILDING TRUST WITH ETH PUBLIC? >> LOOK AT THE COST. WE CAN ELIMINATE ALL HIGHWAY DEATHSF I WE DROVE IT 10 MILES AN HOUR. GOVERNOR NEWSOM SHUT DOWN SMALL BUSINESSES. HE SHUT OUR KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL. PLACES LIKE FLORIDA KEPT TIRHE BUSINESSES OPEN. DISNEYLAND JUST OPENED IN APRIL. >> THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWER. KEVIN FAULCONER ARE THERE ANY STEPS YOU WILL TAKE? >> THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LET OUR LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS WORKING WITH PARENTS MAKEHE T RIGHT DECISIONS. BASED UPON THE FACTS OF THE COMMUNITY. ONE THE THINGS YOU LEADER, GINAV NEWSOM IS TO HAVE A STATEWIDE MANDATE. OUR STATE IS BIG AND DIVERSE. THAT’S THE WRONG APPROACH. WE NEED TO VEHA PARENTS, SCHOOL MEMBERS WORKING TOGETHER. I’LL TELL YOU OUR SCHOOLS SHOULD VEHA BEEN OPEN THIS PAST SEMESTER. THE FACT THAT THIS GOVERNOR SHUT DOWN OUR SCHOOLS FOR AS LONG AS HE DID, I KICDKE OFF MY CAMPAIGN IN LOS ANGELES. IN FRONT OF CLOSED PUBCLI SCHOOL. RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET WAS AN OPEN PRIVATE SCHOOL. WHERE TEACHERS WERE SAFELY TEACHING. WHY? BECAUSE THAT SCHOOL REPORTED TO PARENTS. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL WOULD ULTIMATELY REPORTS TO GAVIN NEWSOM WAS CLOSED. MY DAUGHTER SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN SCHOOL THIS PTAS SEMESTER. JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE’S KIDS ACROSS CALIFORNIA. IN THE CLASSOMRO SAFELY LEARNING AND ZOOM WAS NO SUBSTITUTE. WEAD H A GOVERRNO THAT DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT. WE’RE STILL DEALING WHIT CONSEQUENCES. >> ARE THIS ANY STEPS YOU WILL TAKE? >> ALL THE GREAT STEPS THAT WE HAVE SEEN. WE HAVE SEEN OUR LOCAL DISTRICTS WITH OUR GREAT TEACHERS WORNGKI WITH OUR PARENTS IN CERTAINLIES OF SOCIAL DISTANCING AND ALL THE HYGIENE THINGS THAT UYO HAVE TO DO. MAKE THOSE DECISIONS LOCALLY. NOT AGAIN, A STATEDEWI MANDATE COMING FROM THE GOVERR.NO >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> IT IS NOT A SURPRISE WE’RE IN A SEVERE DROUGHT. MANY CALIFORNIAN’S WATER RESERVOIR ARE RECORD LOW LEVEL. WHAT WOULD YOUO D TO ADDRESS THE VERY DRY MONTHS WE HAVE AHEADF O US? WE’LL START WITH KEVIN KIL?EY >> RATIONING SHOULD NOT BE AN OPTION. RESERVOIRS WERE OVERFLOWING A FEW YEARS AGO. IF WE HAD POLITICAL LEARSDE EXERCISING IT. WE WOULD HAVE FIGURED THIS OUT A LNG TIME AGO. WHAT I PROPOSED A CONSTUTITIONAL AMDMENENT. FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, A FIXED AMOUNT OF OUR STATE BUDGET IS GOGIN TO GO TOWARDS PROJECTS TO INCREASE OUR WATER SUPY.PL UNTIL WE ADD 5 MILLION-ACRE FEED TO OUR ANNUAL WATER SUPPLY. WE HAVEN’T SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED OURAT WER CAPACITY HERE IN CALIFORNIA. WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH WATER THAT OF COS TO US BY THE GRACE OF GOD. WE NEED TO MANAGE IT RESPONSIBLY. SCARCITY AND RATIONING AND CUTBACKS ARE POLITICAL CLOYSES. WE MAKE DIFFERENT CHOICES WE’LL END THIS ERAF O SHORTER SHORSWE IN CALIFORNIA. THERE WERE THOSE ARE LONG-TERM IDEAS. WHAT DO YOUO D FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS? >> I POINT YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, A LETTER THAT A DEMOCRAT IN THE ASSEMBLY WROTE TO THE WATER BOARD. TELLING THEMOT N TO IMPOSE THOSE CUTBACKS ON FARMERS. LOT OF THE ENVIRONMEALNT REGULATIONS CAUSED US TO DIVERT WATER FROM PRODUCTEIV U.SE >> JOHN COX. >> THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS THAT THE POLITICIANS AND CELEBRITIES WHO RUN THIS STATE FOR TOO LONG HAVE CAUS.ED THIS IS A MANAGEMENT ISSUE. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE. IF YOU NDEE WATER, WHICH WE DO, WE NEED WATER TO LIVE, WE NEED WATER TO FM.AR WE NEED FOR EVERY USE. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE WATER BETTER. DON’T JUST BLAME CLIMATE CHANGE AND NOT DONY ATHING ABOUTT. I I WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM. WHAT THAT MEA,NS WE HAVE TO DO THINGS LIKE DESELL NATION, RECYCLING PGRROAMS AND RESERVOIRS. I AGREE NOW, WE ARE IN A PROBLEM BECAUSE OF A LACK OF MANAGEMENT SKILL ANDHE T POLITICNSIA ARE TO BLAME FOR IT. WE’VE PASSED TWO WATER BONDS LAST 10 YES.AR HAVE YET TO SPEND MOST OF THE MONEY FROM THE WATER BONDS. THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN. THEY SAID WE WANT WERAT STORED. ANOTHER CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ISN’T GOING TO DO THE JOB. WE NEED TO GET BETTER LEADERSHIP. >> KEVIN FAULCONER? >> ONLY SOLUTION WE GET FROM GAVIN NEWSOM, EVERY TIME WE’RE IN A DROUGHT IS TAKE A SHORTER SHOWER. THAT’S NOT GOING TO CUT IT. WE HAVE TO BUILD MORE STORAGE. WE HAVE TO INCREASE THE SUPPLY IN CALIFORNIA. JUST LAST WEEKS I HADHE T PLEASURE TO BE UP HOUR NORTH. WE HAVEO T TURN THAT INTO RELATE. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO IT NOT ONLY THAT BUT TEMPERS FLAT, WE HAVE TO INCREASE OUR SUPPLY. FOR A GOVERNOR TO GIVE LIP SERVICE TO THAT BUT NOT TAKE THE STEPS ATHE EMERGENCY STEPS NECESSARY, TO GET THESE RESERVOIRS GOING. IT HAS TO BE ALLF O THE ABOVE PRETTY MH.UC I HAVE LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN THAT WHEN I WAS MORAY OF SAN DIEGO. WE MOVED FORWARD ON ONE OF THE BIGGEST WATER RECYCLING PROGRAMS GOING ON IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. WE HAVE DESALINATION IN SAN DIEGO. INSTEAD OF WTHA WE SEE FROM GAVIN NEWSOM, EVERY SINGLE YEAR, TAKE A SHOERRT SHOWER, CUT BACK, WE HAVE TO GET SMART, INCREASE THE SUPPLY. WE KNOW WHAT THESE TO BE DOPE. I WILL HAVE THE EXPERIENCE AND THE POLITICAL WILL TO GET IT DONE. >> WHAT DO YOU DO THE DAY AFTER YOU BECOME GOVERNOR. RESERVOIRS TAKES YEARS TO BUILD. WHAT WILL YOU DO IN THEON MTHS IN BETWEEN. >> I WILL MOVE IMMEDIATELY. I WILL BUILD RESERVOIRSAY D ONE. THESE HAVE BEEN ON THE BOOKS FOREVER. WE HEAV FUNDING. WE HENAV’T HAD THE POLITICAL WILL TO MOVE FORWARD. WE HAVE TO START — I WILL START O MY FIRST DAY AS GOVERNOR. >> KEVIN PAFFRATH, SAME QUESTION. >> MUCH OF WHAT WE HEARD HEER ABOUT SOLNGVI WATER CRISES IS THE SAME OLD THAT WE’VE HEARD. LOT OF COMPLAININGSA, ME THING THAT WE HEARD WITH OUR COVID PLANS. THE FOLKSN O THE STAGE WITH ME, DID NOT HAVE STRONG PLANS. THEY HAVE TO BE FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WHAT THEIR PLANS WILL BE. WE NEED EMERGENCY ACTION WHEN IT COMES TO WATER CRISES. I WILL DECLARE STATE OF EMERGENCY TO BEGINHE T CONSTRUCTION AS SOON AS FEASIBLY POSSIBLE OF PIPELINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. WE WILL BUILD AN INTRASTATE PIPELINE BY COORDINATING WITH JOE BIDEN AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. IT SOUNDS OUTLANDISH,E WHAVE A MASSIVE PROBLEM. RESEARCHERS AND PH.D.’S HAVE COME UP THWI A SOLUTIONS. WE CAN BUYHE CAPER CLEANER WATER. WE’RE GOING TO DOUBLE THE FLOW OF WATER TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. WE NDEE STRONG IDEAS AND THAT’S WHY I’M POLLING BETTER THAN ALL THREE CANDIDATES ON THE STABLE COMBINED IN AUGUST. BOTH POLLS IN AUGUST, I POLLED BETTER THAN ALL THREE COMBIDNE BY A 4% TO 9% MARGIN. >> HAVE YOU EXPLORED COOPERATION WITH THE OTHER STATES TO DO THAT? >> ABSOLUTELY. HERE’S THE THING. WE HAVE SPENOK WITH A LOT OF FOLKS ABOUT OUR PLANS. WHAT I WANT TO BE CLEAR ABOUT FIRST, I STAND FOR WIN-WIN NEGOTIATIONS. WE’RE NOT JUST GOING TO TAKE WATER. WEON CSERVATION AND WELLS. ALL HANDS ON DECK. WE NEED MORE WATER. WE NEED TO DOUBLE THE FLOW OF WATER TO COLORADO RIVER. IT WILL OYNL TAKE 4OF T% HE WATER FROM THE MISSISSIPPI. >> FROM WATER TO FIRE NOW. >> WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER RECORD-BREAKING WILDFIRE SEASON WHICH HAS LEVEDEL TOWNS AND DESTROYED PROPERTY ALL OVER THE STATE. DO YOU FAVOR RESTRICTING DEVELOPMENT IN HIGH FEIR RKIS ZONES? JOHN COX? >> I DON’T. I FAVOR BETTER MANAGEMENT TO DEAL WITHHE T FIRES. THIS IS ANOTHER PROBLEM OF THE POLITICISAN AND THE CELEBRIESTI WHO RUN THE STATE IN THE GROUND. WE SOLVE THE PROBLEM. WE MANAGE THE FOREST. WE GO IN AND WE GET RID OF THE DEAD TREES AND ALL TSEHE THINGS THAT WILL CAUSE FIRES TO BE BECOME INFERS.NO WE ALSO REVIVED THE TIMBER INDUSTRY WHICH HAS BEEN RUN OUT OFHE T STATE. THEY DID LOT OF THE FIRE FOREST MANAGEMENT BEFORE THEY WERE RUN OUT OF THE STATE. WE NEED TO HAVE A NEW IDEAS LIKE AN AIR FORCE. I SAW TODAY, THERE’S A NEW FIRE IN GRASS VALY.LE WE HAD DECENT AIR FORCE, IF WE WEREN’T SPENDING $4 MILLION A DAY ON THAT TRAIN TO NOWHERE IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY, I PROPOSE TAKING THAT MON AEYND BUYING OR LEASING WHOLE BUNCH OF JETS. THERE’S NEVE BREEN MEOR JETS AVAILABLE THAN ANY TIME IN HISTORY. I WILL FIT THEM WITH TANKS AND GO AFTER THESE FIRES. >> THAT MONEY FOR THE TRAINAS W SET ASIDE BY A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PASSED BY VOTERS. DO YOU FAVOR GOING BACK TO THE BALLOT TO REDIRECT TTHA MONEY TOWARD WILDFIRES? >> YES,F I NECESSARY. THAT PROJECT IS WAY OVER BUDGET, WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE. IT’S HONEY POT FOR ALL KINDS OF INTEREST GROUPS THATRE A MAKING MONEY OUT OF IT. THE TAXPAYERS ARE FOOTING THE BILL. IT’S WRONG. >> THANK YOU. KEVIN FAULCONER, DO YOU FAVOR RESTRICTING DEVELOPMENTN I HIGH FIRE RISK ZONES? >> I FAVOR PUTTING OUR STATE ON A WAR FOOTING WHEN IT COMES TO WILDFIRE. WHAT WE SEE FROM GAVIN NEWSOM YEAR AFTER YEAR IS RHETORIC. WE’LL TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE BUT HE WON’T TAKE ACTION. THAT’S WHY WE VEHA TO, I DO DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY AS GOVERNOR TO MOVE FWAORRD IMMEDIATELY BEEN OUT FUEL REDUCTION THAT HASN’T BEEN OCCURRING INUR O FOREST. ON THE BRUSH MANAGEMENT ON ALL OFHE T EMERGENCY INGRESS AND EGRESS. THIS GOVERNOR EWOTN’ DOT. I WHAT DID HE DO? HE CUT THE FUNDING FROMAL C FIRE LAST YEAR. THEN HE WENT OUT AND TRY TO TAKE CREDITOR F TREATING ACHE ORS OF FOREST THAT NEVER HAPPENED. I’M GOING TO TREAT THIS AS THE EMERGENCY THAT IT IS. VELIS ARE LITERALLY AT STAKE. IF WE DOOT N ACTUALLY REDUCE THOSE FUELS, I’M PROVIDING A TAX CREDIT FOR HOME HARDENING. AGAIN, IT STARTS BY SAYING, WE HAVE TO CHANGE IT IMMEDIATELY. PUT OUR STATE ON AAR W FOOTING FOR WILDFIRERE PVENTION. >> JUST QUICKLY, YES OR DO,O D YOU FAVOR RESTRICTIONSN O DEVELOPMENT? >> I FAVOR GIVGIN INCREASES FOR FOLKS. ALL THE LEGISLATION THAT’S OUT THERE, IT WOR.KS >> OKAY. THANK YOU. KEVIN PAFFRATH, SAME QSTUEION TO YOU. >> I WILL ANSWER THE QUESTION. NO, DO I NOT FAVOR RESTRICTIONS. I FAVOR WHAT THE GOVERNOR SAID HE’LL DO. I UNDERSTAND I’M RUNNING AS A DEMOCRAT. HERE’S A REALITY, I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH GAVIN NEWM.SO HE OVERSTATED FIRE PREVENTION BY 690%. THE DAY HE WAS EXPOSED, WE HAD GAVIN NEWSOM’S ADMINISTRATION TRY TO COVER UP THAT THEY MADE THAT PROMISE. HERE’S THE REALITY. THE ECONOMIST TOLD US THAT IN 2017, PORTUGAL HAD DEVASTATING WILDFIRES. THEN CONDUCTING CONTROL BURNST A A COST OF JUST $35 AN ACRE TO FIGHT WILDFIRES. THEY DIDN’T HAVE A DEVASTATING WILDFIRE SINCE. THAT’S WHAT WE NEED. WE NEED A GOVERNOR WHO WILL DO WHAT HE SAYSE H WILL DO. I DON’T THINK THAT CAN BE A REPUBLICAN. THAT’S BECAUSE WE HAVE A 75% DEMOCRATIC CONTROL IN CONGRESS. DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS WILL SANDBAG REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR BY OVERRIDING VETOES FROM A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR BY OVERRIDING EMERGCYEN ACTION AND OVERRAIDING OR DELAYING APPOINTMENTS. WE NEEDAL JFK STYLE DEMOCRAT. VOTE KEVIN PAFFRATH. >> KEVIN KILEYHO W YOU FAVOR- – >> I WANT TO THANK HIM FOR UNDERLINING SOMETNGHI THAT’S CLEAR TO EVERYONE EXCEPT GAVIN NEWSOM. WHICH IS THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN RECALL. THIS HAS BEEN BIPARTISAN, MULTI-PARTISAN FROM THE BEGINNING. IT’S ABOUT THE FAILURES OF OUR GOVERNMENT TO DO THE MOST BEAK THINGS LIKE MANAGE OUR FORREST. WE KEEP HAVING THESE CATASTROPHIC EVENTS. IN AREAS WHERE THERE’S UNAVOIDABLE LIFE-THREATENING, PEOPLE WILL NOTE B EAGER TO BUILD. IT’S A DIFFERENT STORYOR F FKSOL WHO ALREADY LIVE IN AREAS THAT BECOME HIGH RISK. WE HAVE MANY PEOEPL IN THE STATE FIRE RETURN RATES HAVE TRIPLED OR DOUBLED. THREI HOMES HAVE BECOME UNSELLABLE. I DO THINK THOSE FOLKS NEED TAX RELIEF. LARG IERSSUE IS WE NDEE TO ACTUALLY START PRIORITIZING FOREST MANAGEMENT. WE HAVE 15 TO 20 MILLION ACRES OVERGROWN FOREST IN ETH STATE. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> NEXT QUESTION IS ANOTHER ONE, IT HAS TOO D WHIT HOUSING AFFORDABILITY. THEY THINK IT’S EXPENSIVE TO LIVE IN OUR STATE. HAVE DEMOCRATS PUSH TO MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE, EASIERO T BUILD SMALL APARTMENT BUILDINGS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS OR NEIGHBORHOODS. WOULD YOU SIGN A PACKAGE OF BILLS TO ALLOW THOSE KINDS OF CHANGES TO HAPPEN? WE WILL SRTTA WITH KEVIN FAULCONER. >> OUR STATE IS TOO EXPENSI.VE PEOPLE ARE VOTING WITH THEIR FEET. THEY’RE LEAVINGUR O STATE. THEY CAN’T AFFORD A HOME. GAVINEW NSOM APPOINTMENTED HIMSELF — APPOINTED HYMN AS — HIMSELF AS THE HSEOING CZAR. LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN THAT. AS MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO, I BUGHTRO TOGETHER DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS TO PASS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REFORMS TO HELP INCREASE HOUSING IN SAN DIEGO. INCREASE THE SUPPLY, WHERE WE WANT IT ALONG OUR TRANSIT CORRIDORS. WE CALLED IT COMPLETE COMMUNITIES. IT’S GOING TO MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I ELIMINATE THE THE REGULATORY BURDEN TO CONSTRUCT THAT. ELIMINATED PARKINGEQ RUIREMENTS TO MAKE IT EASRIE TO GET MORE UNITS. I HAVE THE EXPERIENCEND A ACTUALLY NOT ONLY GETTING THESE PLANS THERE BUT GETTING THEM ACROSS THE FINISH LINE. IN THIS CASE, SUPERMAJORITY DEMOCRAT CITY COUNCIL. WE HAVEO T MAKE HOUSING MORE AFFORDABLE IN CALIFORNIA AND I WILL TAKE THE SAME TYPES OF STEPS I TOOK AS MAYOR, THOSE IMMEDIATE STEPS THAT SSAY WE’RE GONG TO CUT THROUGH THE BUREAUCRACY. WE’RE GOING TO BUILD MORE HOMES. WE’RE GOING TOUI BLD THEM WHERE WE WANT THEM TO BE. WE CAN ACTUAYLL DO IT. >> WE’LL GO T KOEVIN PAFFRATH. YOU HAVE A LOT OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON TOPICS LIKE THIS. WHERE DO YOU SNDTA ON IT? >> CALIFORNIA CURRENTLY BUILDS JUST 80,000 HOUSING UNITS A YEAR. WE NED TO BE BUILDING 300,000 HOMES. THAT’S TO BREAK EVEN. KEVIN FAULCONER MENTIONED WE SHOULD BUILD ALONG OUR TRANSIT CORRIDORS.– THAT’S NOT ENOUGH. IT IS A DROP IN THE BUCKET OF OUR HOUSING CRISIS. WHEN YOU HAD A REAL ESTATE DEAL IN SAN DGOIE, YOU UNDERSTATED REPAIRS ENDED ENDED UP COSTING 15$1 MILLION. $115 MILLION MORE. WE NEED TO BUILD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HOMES THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, IDEALLY HALF A MILLION HOMES PER YEAR. THERE ARE 482 CITIES IN THE STATE. WE BUILD THEM OUTSIDE OF OUR LARGE CITIES. WE WILL HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AGAIN. WE ARE NOT AFFECTING HOUSING PRICES WITHIN OUR CITIES. WE ARE PROVIDING AN AFFORDABLE OPTION OUTSIDE OF OUR CITIES. WE CAN HAVE BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE TO CONNECT THESE HOMES. WE WILL MAKE THESEOM CMUNITIES NET NEGATIVE BY BUILDING THEM NEAR AND AROUND SOLAR AND WIND FARMS. WE MUST BUILD MORE HOUSES FAST BY STREAMLINING THE PERMITTING PROCESS AND ENABLING CALIFORNIANS TO BUILD. >> YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO RESPOND. >> IT’S NOT THE TIME FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING. SOMEBODY THAT HAS NEVER HAD TO GET LEGISLATNIO ACROSS HAD TO GET THE LET — UNITS CONSTRUEDCT AND TAKE A STAND IN CALIFORNIA. THAT’S A CLEAR DIFFERENCE. THAT’S WHYE W — IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE ELECT A VEGORNOR THAT CAN HIT THE GROUND ON DAVE — DAY ONE WHO HAS SUCCESS WORKING WITH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS TO GET HOUSING ACROSS E THFINISH LINE, LIKE WE DID IN SAN DIE.GO THAT WLIL HELP 100,000 MORE UNITS TO MAKE IT MORE — MORE SORTABLE FOR OUR FAMILIES. IT’S TIME TO HAVE SOMEBODY WITH THE EXPERIENCE TO DO IT. >> I SHOULD RESPOND TO THAT. >> WOULD YOU SIGAN PACKAGE OF BILLS TO MEAK CHANGES INCLUDING BUILDING SMALL APARTMENT ILBUDINGS WITHIN EXISTING RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS OR TURNING COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES INTO HOUSING? >> IT’S HARD TO COMMIT TO SIGNING TO A BILL INHE T ABSTRACT. SO MANY PEOPLE CAN’T WAIT TO LEAVE THE STATE BEHIND. LAST YEAR, OUR POPULATION DECLINED BY 182,000 PEOPLE. WE LOST A SEAT IN CONGRESS. GAVIN NEWSOM CAME INTO OFFICE AND RAN FOR THE GOVERNORSHIP, CLAIMING THAT HE WOULD DO A MARSHALL PLAN FOR HOUSING. HE’S PRODUCEDOT NHING OF THE SORT. HE HAS DELIVERED ONE FITS OF THE UNITS HE PROMISED. OTHER STATES CAN GET PROJECTS OFF THE GROUND IN WKSEE. IN CALIFORNIA, IT TAKES YEARS DAN COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. THAT’S WHY WE DON’T HAVE IT — HAVE HOUSING SUPPLY. REFORMING SECRET, ROLNGLI BAG — BACK THE COST. CERTAINLY STREAMLINING THE APPROVAL PROCESS. >> JOHN COX. >> I’VE BEEN IN THE HOUSING BUSINESS FOR OVER 40 YEARS. I HAVE THE EXPERIENCE. POLITICIANS HAVE JOB OWNED ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS. THIS ISN’T JUST A SUPPLY ISSUE. IT’S THE COST OF BUILDING. I BILLED FOR A LIVING. MOST OF MY BUILDING IS DONE IN INDIANA. I CAN BUILD THERE FOR $125 PER SQUARE FOOT. IN CALIFORNIA, $500 A FOOT. YOU CAN BUILD 300,000 UNITS YOU NTWA BUT YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT AFFORDABLE WHEN IT’S THAT EXPENSIVE. IT HAS DRIVEN UP BY CEQA, THE IMPACT FEES, BY LAWSUI.TS I CAN GET APPROVALS IN 12 MONTHS IN INDIANA. PEOPLE IN INDIANA CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND TRAFFIC. IT’S NOT THE COST OF THE LAND THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE. WHEN YOU ARE BUILDING MULTI FAMILY, THE COST ISN’T. IT’KIS LLING FAMILIES AND THEIR ABILITY TO LIVE IN THE STATE. IT’S ALL ABOUT FAMILIES. >> MANY REGULATIONS ARE IN PLACE TO PROTECT AIR, WATER, LABOR. IS TREHE ONE REGULATION YOU WOULD LOOK TO AND FIRST? >> THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA CARE ABOUT THE AIR, WATER, AND LABOR. THEY APPROVED PROPTYER BUILDING AND 6-12 MONTHS. THEY HAVE HIGH STANDARDS AS WELL. IT’S DONE LIKE THAT ALL ACRSOS THE COUNTRY. CALIFORNIA IS THE ATLEE ARE HERE. WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT. >> THANK YOU. >> IT’S BECAUSE OF POLITICIANS AND CELEBRITIES. >> WE WILL MOVE ONTO THE XTNE QUESTION. ONE OF THE BIGGEST DEBATES TO EMERGE FROM THE RECENT — RAALCI JUSTICE PROTESTS IS WHETHER THE STATE SHOULD BE ABLE TO STPRI LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OF THEIR BADGES WHEN THEY BREAK THE LAW. THERE IS NO STATEWIDE PROCESS TO DO THIS IN CALIFORNIA. THERE’S A BILL RIGHT NOW THAT WOULD MKE THAT CHAE.NG WHEN YOU SIGN IT? >> I HAVE 3000 HOURS OF EXPERIENCE IN LAW ENFORCEMT.EN IUP SPORT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY. THERE ARE PROBLEMS IN LAW ENFORCEMT.EN WE NEED A MASSIVE COMMUNITY STYLE POLINGCI PACKAGE IN OUR LEGISLATURE TO MAKE SURE WE CAN REFORM LAW ENFORCEME.NT CRIME, PPRO 47, WE’VE GOT PROBLEMS AND WE NEED TO ENFORCE THE LAW. WE DON’T NEED TO DEFUND THE POLICE. WE NEED TO PROPERLY FUND THE POLICE. THAT’S WHAT I STAND FOR. I WOULD LIKE TO RESPOND TO THE CLAIM OF EXPERIENCE. I HAVE 11 YEARS OF WORKING IN REAL ESTATE. THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE RIPPING OFF CMYITY. IT DOESN’T INCLUDE DISDAIN FOR TRANSPARENCYR O CALIFORNIA. ALL OF THE PROPERTIES I OWN ARE IN CALIFORNIA. I ASKED — RESPECT THE EXPERIENCE THAT I HAVE. I’AM JFK DEMOCTRA WHO CAN WORK WITH OUR DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURE. A VOTE FOR ANY REPUBLICAN IS A WASTED VOTE. WHETHER YOU ARE YES OR NO ON RECALL, YOU SHOULD FOOT FOR ME AND SEE MY FULL PLAN. >> THANK YOU. WOULD YOU SIGN A POLICE TO CERTIFICATION BILL? >> LET ME SAY FIRST, I BELIEVE ERTHE IS ROOM FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM AND POLICE REFORM WHERE APPROPRIATE. I AUTHORED A BILL THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER THE ACLU AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY FOR GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS. IN THE BREONNA TAYLOR CASE, AFTER THERE WA TSHE DECISION NOT TO MOVE FORWARD, THE FAMILY WANTED TO SEE THE TRANSCRIPT. WITH RESPECT TO THE SPECIFIC BILL TTHA YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT, EVERYONE AGREES THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE A FAIR PROCESS. I CAN’T’COMMIT TO WHATEVER THE BILL MAY BE AT THIS POINT IN TIME. I ENSPT FIVE YEARS IN THE LEGISLATURE. THESE THINGS ARE A MOVING TARGET A LOT OF TIMES. THE LARGER ISSUE IS TH.IS WE’VE HAD A POLICY TOWARDS OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT IN CALIFORNIA THAT HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY DISRESPECTFUL. THE SLOGAN DEFUND ETH POLICE IS ONE OF THE MOST OFFENSIVE POLITICAL SLOGANS EVER COOCNCTED. WE NEED TO RESTORE THE REVERENCE AND RESPECT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT THEY DESERVE. ALSO PUBLIC SAFETY FIRST IN OUR COMMUNITIES AT A TIME ENWH CRIME RATES ARE RISING. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WOULD YOU SIGN A POLICE TO CERTIFICATION BILL? >> WE NEED TO GET THE POLITICS AND OUT OF THIS. WE NEED THE MOST PROFESSIONAL LAW-ENFORCEMENT FORCE THAT WE N CAMUSTER. WE NEED TO GET THE POLITICIANS OUT OF THE PICTURE. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A TRANSPANTRE PROCESS THAT LEAVES OUT PEOPLE THAT ABUSE THEIR BADGE. THAT’S A VERY RARE OCCURRENCE. I THINK IT STAINS THE PEOPLE THAT ALREADY SERVE. MY LAW PARTNER HAS AON S IN THE POLICE. HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HOWIS H SON CONTINUES TO SERVE BECAUSE OF THE ABUSE THEY ARE GETTING. THE POLITICS GETS INTO THIS. WE DON’T HAVE THE LEADERSHIP THAT STANDS UP AND DEFENDS THE POLICE. 99.9% OF WHOM DO A GOOD JOB. THEY DESERVE OUR RESPECT. WE CERTAINLY HAVE TO HAVE BODY CAMERAS AND MAKE SURE WE GO AFTER POLICE WHO ABUSE THEIR POWER. THAT IS SUCH A RARE OCCURRENCE. DEFUND THE POLICE IS NOT THE WAY YOU WE SHOULD GO. WE NEED TO GET ROY — ENFORCE THE LAW AND MAKE SURE THAT CRIME IS PUNISHED. >> THIS QUESTION WAS ABOUT A PROCESS TO STRIP LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OF THEIR BADGES WHEN THEY BREAK THE LAW. DO YOU SUPPORT THAT CONCEPT OR NOT? >> I THINK A POLICE OFFICER WHO IS FOUND IN A PROFESSIONAL HEARING, THAT IS NOT POLITICIZED , FOUND TO HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME OR ABUSED HIS POWER, CERTAINLY SHOULD BE STRIPPED. I DON’T BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE RUN FROM THE STATEDOWN. GULSN:TA — >> SO THAT IS A NO. OAKLEY. SAME QUESTION. >> VERY DIFFICULT TIME IN OUR CITY. HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, YELLING ATY M FAMILY. I STOOD UP AND SAIDO. N I HIRED THE FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF IN THE HISTORY OF SAN DIEGO. WE WERE SELECTED AS THE NATION’S SAFEST BIG CITY. I UNDERSTAND THE BALANCE AND WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR CITY AND BRING PEOEPL TOGETHER IN A SAFE WAY. IT TAKES CHARACTER AND JUDGMENT. I WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY. ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO IS NOT REHE TONHTIG IS LARRY ELDER. HE DOES NOT HAVE THE CHARACTER, JUDGMENT, SKILL SET TBEO GOVERNOR. I’VE BEEN OUTSPOKEN THIS WKEE AND I WILL TAKE EON MORE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. HIS ATTACK ON WORNGKI WOMEN IS UNCONSCIONABLE. TO ALL THE WORKING MOMS OUT THERE, I’M GOING TO SUPPORT YOUR RIGHT TO RAISAE FAMILY, TO HAVE A CAREER. I’M GOING TO MEAK SURE THAT CALIFORNIA’S DAUGHTERS HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS CALIFORNIA’S SONS. WE NEED A GOVNOERR THAT IS GNGOI AND KNOWS THAT EVERY WOMAN IN THE STATE CAN HAVE A CAREER, CAN RAISE A FAMILY. TO ALL THE WORKING MOMS OUT THERE, I WANT TO SAY ONE THING. THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU’RE DOING. WE VALUE YOU. CAN’T WAIT TO WORK WITH YOU. >> IS THERE A SPECICIF POLICY PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY THAT U YOWOULD TRY TO PURSUE AS GOVERNOR? >> IT IS. I TALK A LOT ABO TUTHE OPPORTUNITY FOR EQLUA PAY. THAT’S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. I PROMOTED WOMEN INTO THE TOP MANAGEMENT POSITIONS IN OUR CITY WHEN I WAS MAYOR. >> WHAT ABOUT AS GOVERNOR? >> EXACT.LY I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT LATER THIS WEEK. >> OUR NEXT QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH TAX CUTS. MANY CALIFORNIANS BELIEVE THE COST OF LIVING IS TOO HIGH IN THE STATE. I’M SURE THAT IS NOT A SURPRISE TO YOU. WHAT WOULD YOU DO TOAK ME CALIFORNIA MORE AFFORDABLE? FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE PROPOSEDAX T CUTS, BE SPECIFIC ABOUT HOW YOU WOULD MAKE UP FOR THE LOSS IN REVENUE. THIS TIME, WE START WITH KEVIN KILEY. >> WE NEED LOWER TAXES. YOU DON’T NEED TO MAKE UP FOR THE LOSS IN REVENUE. PELEOP SAY, IF I WAS GETTING SOMETHING IN RETURN FOR IT, I WOULD BE OWIK TH IT. GAVIN NEOMWS SIGNED A $726 MILLION BUDGET, THE LARGEST IN STATE HISTORY. THE BUDGET HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE LAST DECADE. DOOU Y SAY, LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL RESERVOIRS AND ROADS? NO. EVERYTHING HAS CONTINUED TO GET WORSE. THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CALIFORNIA HAS DECLINED. THAT’S ETH STORY OF MODERN CALIFORNIA AS EPITOMIZED BY GAVIN NEWSOM. WE SACRIFICE THE MOST AND GET THE LEAST IN RETURN. WHY IS THAT? I’VE SEEN THIS IN THE LEGISLATURE. OUR STATE GOVERNMENT IS FUNDAMENTALLY OKBREN. WHAT HAS BROKEN IT IS POLITICAL CORRUPTION. WE HAVE A STATE CAPITAL THAT IS ENTIRELY RUN BY LOBBYISTS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS. I’M THE ONLY ELECTED OFFICIALN I CALIFORNIA THAT REFUSESLL A SPECIAL-INTEREST FUNDING. WE NEED TO GET BACK TO THE IDEA OF GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE. >> JOHN COX, YES OR NO ON TAX CUTS? >> I PROPOSE THE LARGEST TAX CUT IN THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. THE STATE TAXES SIT PEOPLE TOO MUCH. IT’S NOT JUST THE INCOME TAX. CORPORATE TAX, SALES TAX, GAS TAX. OUR GASOLINE PRICES ARE APPROACHING SIX DOLLARS A GALLON IN MOST OF CALIFORNIA. THE COST OF LIVING IS TOO HIGH. IT’S KILLING FAMILIES AND FORCING THEM TO BREAK UP AND MOVE TO OTHER STAS.TE THE PARENTS HAVE TO MOVE THEMSELVES. THE PROBLEM IS SPENDG.IN I’M A A.CP I CAN’T WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON THIS BUDGET. I PRACTICE ZERO-BASED BUDGETING IN MY OWN BUSINESSES. YOU STARTED ZERO. YOU DON’T TAKE LAST YEAR’S BUDGET AND ADD MONEY TO IT. WHEN I’M THE GOVERNOR, I WILL HAVE TO APPOINT 3000 POLITICAL APPOINESTE. THAT’S RIDICULUS. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE THAT MANY. WE SHOULDN’T HAVE THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS WE HAVE. WE WILL VEHA AN AUDIT OF EVERY SINGLE AGENCY STARTING WITH THE EDD. WE LEARNED OAF HOMELSES AUDIT THAT WAS BLISTERING IN TERMSF O ITS CRITICISM OF GUNDERSON — GOVERNOR NEWSOM. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE SPENDINGON MEY ON. THEY HAVE NO IDEA IF IT’S HELPING HOMELESSNESS. TH HISAS TO CHANGE. >> KEVIN FAULKNER. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON TAX CUTS? >> WE HAVE TO GIVE CALIFORNIANS THE RELIEF THAT THEY DESERVE. OUR STATE IS TOO EXPENSIVE. PEOPLE ARE LEAVING. EVERNEYO UNDERSTANDS THAT WE NEED TO LET YOU KEEP MORE OF YOURAX T DOLLARS IN YOUR OWN POCKET. NOT SEND IT TO SACRAMENTO. THAT’S THE SAME THING WE GET FROM GAVIN NEWSOM IN THE LEGISLATURE. NDSE MORE MONEY. THE FACT THAT WE ARE IN A $70 BILLION SURPLUS. I PROPOSED THE LARGEST MIDDLE-CLASS TAX CUT IN CALIFORNIA HISTORY. TO MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS ARE ABLE TO KEEP THAT SO THEY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE HERE IN OUR GREAT STATE. THAT IS SIGNIFICT.AN GAVIN NEWSOM GOING AROUND, GIVING OUT STIMULUS CHECKS. THINKING TT’H’S THE BE ALL IN ALL. IT’S NOT CLOSE. WE NEED PERMANENT, STLAING TAX RELIEF. MY PLAN IS REAL DOLLARS IN PEOPLE’S POCKETS. ENOUGH FOR EIGHT MONTHS OF GROCERIES, UTILITY BILLS, 92 TANKS OF GAS. THAT’S JUST FOR STARTERS. WE HAVE TO STOP BEING THE HIGHEST TAXING STATE IN THE NATION. UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE GOINGO T CREATE GOOD QUALITY JOBS BY LETTING YOU KEEP MORE OF ATWH YOU EARNED. THAT’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT WE SEE FROM ISTH GOVERNOR WHO ONLY WANTS TO TAX. >> WE WILL END THIS QUESTION WITH THE DEMOCRAT ON STAGE. >> I’VE HEARD COMPLAINING FROM MY FELLOW CANDIDATES. I HAVEN’T HEARD A PLAN. I HAVE A PN.LA STEP ONE, NO HOMELESS ON OUR STREETS WITHIN 60 DAYS. A VERY THOROUGH PLAN FOR MAKING SURE HOMELESS CAN GET THE DIITGNY AND SERVICES THEY DESERVE. HOMELESSNESS COST CALIFORNIA $80,000 PER YEAR PER HOMELESS PERSON. IT’S VERY EXPENSIVE. WE NEED TO SOLVE THE CAUSES OF MEHOLESSNESS. WE CAN’T BE THE FIFTH LARGEST ECONOMY INHE T WLDOR WITH SCHOOLS IN THE BOTTOM 20%. WE NEED TO TEACH FINANCIAL EDUCATION IN OUR SCHOOLS. PROVIDE JOB TREATMENT SERVICES. THAT SAVES US THREE DOLLARS IN CRIME. I WILL PASS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE TO ADDRESS HOUNGSI, TRANSPORTATION, AND TRAFFIC. WE WILL ADDRSES HOMELESSNESS AND THE CAUSES. WE WILL ALSO MEAK SURE WE HAVE FUTURE SCHOOLS IN THE STATE. MY FULL PLAN IS AT MY WEBSITE. ONCE WE INVEST IN CALIFORNIANS, THEN WE N CALOWER TAXES AND WE CAN MAKE CALIFORNIA COMPETITIVE BY CUTNGTI TAXES ON ANYONE MAKING LESS THAN $25000,0 TO ZERO ONCE WE PROPERLY INVEST IN CALIFORNIANS. >> WE NEED TO MOVE INTO ROUND TWO OF OUR QUESTIONING TONIGHT. THIS SHRINKS YOUR ANSWERS T30O SECONDS. GOOD LUCK. EVERYBODY WOULD AGR GEEOVERNOR NEWSOM HAS BEEN DEALT A UNIQUE SET OF CHALLENGES. EVERYTHING FROM THE PANDEMIC TO ETH RECESSION, WILDFIRES, DROUGHT, CIVIL RIGHTS UNRE.ST WHAT HAS HE DONE WELL? WHAT WOULD YOU CONTINUE? WE WILL START THIS TIME WITH JOHN COX. >> THE STATE IS A MITCH MANAGED MASS. YOU CAN’T NAME ANYTHING THAT THE GOVERNOR HAS DONE WELL. I MIGHT VEHA AGREED IN THE FIRST COUPLE WEEKS OF COVID WHERE HE CAUTIONED US TO SLOW DOWN, TWO WEEKS TO STOP THE SPREAD. BEYOND THAT, HIS PANDEMIC MANAGEMENT WAS A DISASR.TE WEON D’T HAVE ELECTRICITY, WATER. WE LIVE IN FEAR OF FIRES. CRIME IS RISING. HOUSING PRICES RE OUT OF SIGHT. TAXES ARE OUT OF SIGHT. THE HOMELESS PROBLEM HAS GOENTT WORSE. THE AUDIT TODAY SAID THAT WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE MONEY WAS SPENT FOR. HWEAVE TO STOP WITH POLITICIANS AND CELEBRITIES. >>HE T QUESTION IS, NAME SOMETHING HE’S DONE WELL. WHAT COULD YOU SEE CONNUTIING? >> WE ALL PULLED TOGETHER AT THE BEGINNING OF COVID AS A STATE. THAT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT DAY FOR ALL OF US. I HAD ONE GOAL, KEEPING US HEALTHY AND SAFE AND COMMUNICATING. THE PROBLEM WE SAW FROM THE GOVERNOR IS THAT HE WENT INTO LOCKDOWN MODE. HE WENT INTO A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL POLICY. IT CAUSED ALL THE SHUTDOWNS AND SCHOOL CLOSURES. THAT’S NOTHE T RIGHT WAY TO DO IT. WE HAVE TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, AS I DID WHEN IAS W MAYOR. REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS. I WILL MAKSUE RE THAT WE PUT THE FASCT FORWARD FIRST AND MOVE FORWARD IN ONE DIRECTION. NOT A TOP-DOWN POLICY. >> SOMETHINGHE T GOVERNOR HAS DONE WELL THAT YOU CAN SEE CONTINUING. >> THE GOVERNOR HAS DONE A GREAT JOB AT RENTING THIS ELECTION AS A REPUBLICAN RECALL. HE’S WRONG. [LAUGHTER] I’M A MODECRAT RUNNING A GRANTS — AGAINST THE GOVERNOR. WE HAVE A BIG THRE.AT THAT THREAT IS IN HERE TO DEFEND HIMSELF. LARRY ELDER. HE IS WITH HIS DISINFORMATION FRIENDS BEREFO THE DEBATE. HE WENT ON LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW. IT’S TIME TO END THE BIG THREAT AND KEMA SURE THAT LARRY EERLD DOES NOT BECOME THE NEXT GOVERNOR. >> CAN YOU NAME SOMETHING THE GOVERNOR HAS DONE WELL THAT YOU CAN SEE CONTINUING? >> T GHEOVERNOR IS MY CONSTITUENT. HE LIVES IN MAIA SIBLEY DISTRICT. ONE THING THAT HE HAS DONE WLEL IS BIG SPLASHING ANNOUNCEMENTS, LIKE HE DID WITH FIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS. THAT WAS EXAGGERATED BY 690%. THERE’NES VER ANY FOLLOWTHROUGH. WHAT’S WORSE IS THE IMAGE THAT SHOULD STAY WITH PEOPLE ABOUT GAVIN NEWSOM, THE ONE OF THE FRENCH LAUNDRY. NOT BECAUSE OFHE T HYPOCRISY BUT A TABLE FULL OF LOBBYISTS. WHAT WE NEED IN OUR NEXT GOVERNOR IS SOMEONEHO W WILL SERVE THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA. >> THANK. >> THIISS OUR FINAL QUESTION. THE INTEGRITY OF OUR ELECTIONS WAS CHALLENGED LAST YEAR. LAYRR ELDER HAS PROMOTED UNFOUNDED THEORIES ABOUT THE RECALL ELECTION RATE AGAINST HIM. DO YOU BELIEVE THE ELECTION IS FAIR? WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE RECALL? >> LARRY ELDER IS UNFIT TO SERVE AS GOVERNOR OF THE STA.TE HE DOESN’T HAVE THE CHARACTER OR JUDGMENT. WE FOUND OUT TODAY THAT HE SUPPORTS LEGALIZING SOME OF THE MOST DANGEROUS DGSRU ON OUR STREETS IN CALIFORNIA. THAT’S CRA.ZY IT’S NOT JUST DGEANROUS. IT’S CRAZY. WHAT THAT WILL MEAFON R OUR HOMELESS AND CAN’T MINCE BUT THINK ABOUT OUR FAMILIES AND OUR KIDS. WHAT THOSE DANGEROUS DGSRU HAPPEN IF YOU LEGALIZE THEM. THAT’’ TERRIBLE. THERE’S NO PLACE FOR THAT. >> YES OR NO, WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION? >> YES. I’M PLANNING ON WINNING. I CAN’T WAIT. >> SAME QUESTION TO YOU. >> I’M BEATING ALL THREE OF YOU IN THE POLLS. I WILL ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION. I UNDERSTAND THE SECRETARY OF STATE NEEDS A LOT OF WORK. I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH H.IM WE HAVE TO REMEMBER, NOTHING IS GOING TO GET DONE. I’M SO WORRI AEDBOUT CALIFORNIA AND FOR THE FUTURE OF MY CHILDREN. I HAVE TWO CHILDREN. I’M WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF CALIFORNIA. THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WILL SANDBAG CALIFORNIA FOR YEARS AS DEMOCRATS TAKE CONOLTR UNTIL 2022 TWO WHEN THE GOVERNOR BACK. >> IS THIS A FAIR ELECTION AND WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS? >> THERE IS A LAWSUIT TRYING TO CANCEL THE ELECTION. THERE ARE PEOEPL IN GAVIN NEWSOM CENTER CIRCLE WHO SEEM TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF THIS EFFORT. THEY’VE TRIED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY TO DELEGITIMIZE THE RECALL. THEY CALLED IT THE CALIFORANI COUP. GAVIN NEWSOM HIMSELF SIGNED A BILL TO CHANGE CALIFORANI LAW A COUPLE MONTHS AGO IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE DATE OF THE ELECTNIO TO BE MOVED TO THE DATE WHERE HE THOUGHT HE HAD THE BEST CHCEAN OF WINNING. SO THERE’NOS DOUBT THAT THIS ELECTION, THE SCALES HAVE BEEN TILTED IN FAVOOFR THE — OF HIM. >> WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS? >> WE DON’T KNOW WHEN THE RESULTS WILL BEGIN. >> WILL YOU ACCEPT THE RESULTS? >> ONCE IT IS CERTIFIED. >> YES? >> YES. THAT’S HOW IT WORKS. >> JOHN COX? >> I WILL ACCEPTHE T RESUL.TS I WILL MAKE IT CLEAR THAT I DON’T WANT ALL ILMA BALLOTS. SOUTH KOREA DID IN IN PERSON ELTIECON IN APRIL OF 2020 IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PANDEMIC BECAUSE THEY WANTED PEOPLE TO TRUST. THAT’S WHAT WE NEED. WE NEED TO TGE AWAY FROM THE POLITICIANS AND MEDIA TYPES. ALL THE ATTACKS GOING ONER HE FROM THE POLITICIANS TO THE MEDIA. WE NEED TO GET A BUSINESS PERSON THAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM. MARYLAND HAD REPUBLICAN BUSINESSMEN AS GOVERNORS. THEY ARE THE MOST POPULAR GOVERNORS IN THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY SOLVE PROBLEMS. THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO GO TO. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. >> ROUND TWO OF OUR QUTIESONING. TAKE A BREATH. GULSTAN: WE WILL TAKE A QUICK BREAK RIGHT NOW. ONE WE COME BACK, THE CANDIDATES WILL MAKE THEIR FINAL STATEMENTS. GULSTAN: WELCOME BACK. THE FOUR CANDIDATES ARE READY TO MAKE THEIR FINAL STATEMENTS. THEY EACH HAVE ONE MINUTE. WE WILL START TONIGHT WITH JOHN COX. >> IMAGINE A CALIFORNIA WHERE YOU CAN BUY UNAFFORDABLE HOME, WHERE YOU DON’T HAVE TO SEE HOLEMESS ALL OVER AND BEACHES, WHERE YOU HAVE ENOUGH WATER, ELECTRICITY. IMAGINE A CALIFORNIA WHERE YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WILDFIRES THREATENING YOU. WHERE THE TAXES DON’T TAX YOU TO DEATH. WE CAN HAVE A DECENT SENSE OF LIFE. LET’S STOP ELECTING THE POLITICIANS AND MEDIA CELEBRITIES WHO ARE ALL TALK. I BUILT A BUSINESS OVER 40 YEARS BY SOLVING PROBLEMS AND DELIVERING RESULTS. I’M NOT DOING THIS TO GET A JOB OR MOVE UP THE WNGRO OF POLITICAL LETTER. I’M DOING THIS TO STAVE — SAVE THE STATE. WE NEED TO FIX THE STATE. WE NEED TO GET AWAY FROM THE MISMANAGEMENT. THESE ARE POTILICAL ISSUES. THEY CAN BE SOLVED. WE HAVE TO HAVE A LEADER WHO IS INTERESTED IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS AND NOT PRACTICING POLITICS. GULSTAN: KEVIN KILEY? >> THIS ELECTION IS HAPPENGNI BECAUSE MANY CALIFORNIANS HAVE MADENDED IT. MORE THAN EVER HAVE SIGNED A PETITION IN THE UNITED STATES. PEOPLE OF ALL PARTISAN AFFILIATIONS AND BACKGROUNDS LOOK AROUND AND SEE THAT WE HAVE THE HIGHEST POVERTY, THE MOST MEHOLESSNESS, THE GREATEST LEVEL OF INEQUALITY, FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CRIPPLING INASFRTRUCTURE. HOW IS IT THAT OUR BEAUTIFUL STATE BECAME LAST IN EVERYTHING? THE ANSWER IS THAT WE HAVE A BR OKEN STATE GOVERNMENT. IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO IS FRUSTRATED WITH THE DIRECTION OF OUR STATE, YOU WANT TO STAY HERE AND RAISE YOUR FAMILY HERE AND RETIRE HERE BUT MAYBE YOU ARE RELUCTANT TO CROSS PARTY LINES. TAKE THE CHANCE ON CHANGE. THE RECALL IS FOR YOU. YOU ARE NOT SIGNGIN ON FOR FOUR YEAR. IF I’M ELECTED, I THINK YOU WILL SEE THINGS IMPROVE. MY ADMINISTRATION WILL BE ABOUT GETTING BACK TO BASICS. PAVEUR O ROADS, STORE OUR WATER, MAINTAINUR O GRID, FUND OUR POLICE. DO THE THINGS GOVERNMENTS I SUPPOSED TO DO. >> WE’VE HEARD A LOT OF VISION FROM OTHER CANDIDATES BUT NO REAL PLANS. I UNDERSTAND MY PLANS ARE BOLD. SO WERE JFK’S. MY PLANS ARE TO END OUR HOMELESS CRISIS, TO SOLVE OUR HOUSING CRISIS. THE DETAILS ARE AT MY WEBSITE. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER ONE THING. YOU HAVE TO GO OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE BOLD. THAT’S WHAT I BRING. BOLD PLANS. WE NEED THIS IN CALIFORNIA. IN 20 YEARS, MY CHILDREN WILL ASK ME WHY I RAISE THEM IN A ST ATE THAT IS BANKRUPT. I FEAR A GOVERNOR WHO CAN’T GET ANYTHING DONE OVER THE NEXT YEAR. A LAME-DUCK GOVERN.OR SINCE I’M PULLING THE BEST OF THE CANDIDATES ON THE DEBATE STAGE, I WOULD ASK THEM TO DROP OUT OF THE RACE AND ENDORSE ME. SO THAT WE CAN DEFEAT LAYRR ELDER AND BRING BOLD CHANGE TO CALIFORNIA. >> YOU WILL HAVE THE LAST WORD TONIGHT. >> THANK YOU. IT’S TIME TO STOP THE CIRCUS. THIS IS VERY SERIOUS TIMES FOR OUR STATE. WE DON’T WANT TO REPLACE ONE DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNOR WITH ANOTHER. I’M GOING TO BRING THE EXPERIENCE, ETH JUDGMENT. SOMEBODY WHO CAN BRING OUR STATE TOGETHER. IT’S EXACTLY WHAT I DID WHEN I WAS MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO AT A VERY DIFFICTUL TIME WHEN WE HAD A MAYOR THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND I STEPPED IN. WE MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. SOMEBODY WHO CAN BRING TOGETHER DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, AND INDEPENDENCE WHO WILL PROVIDE THE REAL SOLUTIONS IN THE LEADERSHIP ON DAY ONE. THAT’S THE SERIOUS TAKES. IT’S NO TIME TO TEST DRIVE THE GO VERNOR. TONIGHT, WHETHER YOU ARE A DEMOCRAT, INDEPENDENT, OR REPUBLICAN, I ASK R FOYOUR SUPPORT. I’M RUNNING BECAUSE I BELIEVE, I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT CALIFORNIA’S BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD OF US. I’M READY TO LEAD ON THE ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU. WITH YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT, I CAN’T WAIT TO BE THE NEXT GOVERNOR OF THE GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA. GULSN:TA THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US TONIGHT AND SHARING YOUR VIEWS. THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE. WE WANT TO THANK ALL OF OUR CANDIDATES FOR JOINING US. VOTERSAN C VOTE ON ONE OR BOTH PARTS OF THE RECALL. MAIL BACK YOUR BALLAD ANYTIMES A LONG AS IT IS POSTMARKED BY SEPTEMBER 14. YOU CAN DROP OFF YOUR BALLOT AT A SECURE BALLOT DROPBOX OR VOTING LOCATIOORN YOUR COUN’Y’S ELECTION OFFICE BY 8:00 SEPTEMBER 14. WE WANTO T THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TONIGHT FOR THE SPECIAL DEBATE. ON BEHALF OFCR KA3 IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, GET OUT AND VOTE. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT. [CAPTIONING PERFORMED BY THE NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CAPTION CONTENT AND ACCURACY. VISIT NCICAP.ORG]

Fact Check: A look at some claims during the KCRA and San Francisco Chronicle recall debate

Updated: 9:58 PM PDT Aug 25, 2021

Candidates made claims during the KCRA 3 and San Francisco California recall debate on Wednesday night about vaccine mandates, COVID-19, electability and other topics. Here’s how some of those claims stacked up. Kevin Kiley on vaccine mandatesEarly on in the debate, Republican California Assembly member Kevin Kiley asserted that California is the “only state” that has vaccine mandates “and they haven’t even gone into effect yet.” California was the first state to announce a mandate for state workers and health care workers, but New York and Washington have also announced statewide mandates. California state workers are required to either get tested regularly or be vaccinated. Mandates for health workers and teachers have fall deadlines. John Cox on the dangers of COVID-19Republican businessman John Cox claimed that COVID-19 is “99.9% survivable,” but that’s misleading because some people are more at risk from the disease based on their age, underlying health conditions or whether they were vaccinated. The Associated Press, which looked into a similar claim, noted that a country’s overall rate cannot be used to calculate an individual’s chance of dying. Such claims also downplay long-term symptoms that many people face. Kevin Paffrath on his polling lead Kevin Paffrath said that he was the top polling candidate among those on the recall debate stage. FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages show Paffrath indeed leading other recall candidates — with one notable exception, Republican Larry Elder. Elder was not on the stage. He leads with an average of 19%, compared to 9% for Paffrath and 6% for John Cox. John Cox and Kevin Kiley on COVID-19 and other countries Cox said he would accept the result of California’s recall election, but does not want all mail-in ballots. He cited an election that was held in April 2020 in South Korea amid the pandemic so the public could trust the process. South Korea was one of the first countries to hold an in-person national election but also expanded some vote-by-mail options for people with COVID-19 or who were self-isolating. Back in April 2020, South Korea was experiencing nearly 10,000 total cases. By comparison, the country is now experiencing a record high in COVID-19 cases, about 2,200 daily for a total caseload of more than 216,000 cases. Kiley claimed that the harms of kids wearing masks outweigh the benefits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend masking indoors at schools. Kiley did not elaborate on what harms he may have been referring to. Reuters has debunked some viral claims here. Kiley cited the United Kingdom in not mandating masks for kids in schools as an example to follow. In that case, a study there found that infection rates for kids in schools were lower in June than in the greater population. Under the U.K. system, kids were required to be tested twice a week and for their “bubble” to self-isolate when one person tested positive, Fortune reported.

Candidates made claims during the KCRA 3 and San Francisco California recall debate on Wednesday night about vaccine mandates, COVID-19, electability and other topics. Here’s how some of those claims stacked up.

Kevin Kiley on vaccine mandates

Early on in the debate, Republican California Assembly member Kevin Kiley asserted that California is the “only state” that has vaccine mandates “and they haven’t even gone into effect yet.” California was the first state to announce a mandate for state workers and health care workers, but New York and Washington have also announced statewide mandates. California state workers are required to either get tested regularly or be vaccinated. Mandates for health workers and teachers have fall deadlines.

John Cox on the dangers of COVID-19

Republican businessman John Cox claimed that COVID-19 is “99.9% survivable,” but that’s misleading because some people are more at risk from the disease based on their age, underlying health conditions or whether they were vaccinated. The Associated Press, which looked into a similar claim, noted that a country’s overall rate cannot be used to calculate an individual’s chance of dying. Such claims also downplay long-term symptoms that many people face.

Kevin Paffrath on his polling lead

Kevin Paffrath said that he was the top polling candidate among those on the recall debate stage. FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages show Paffrath indeed leading other recall candidates — with one notable exception, Republican Larry Elder. Elder was not on the stage. He leads with an average of 19%, compared to 9% for Paffrath and 6% for John Cox.

John Cox and Kevin Kiley on COVID-19 and other countries

Cox said he would accept the result of California’s recall election, but does not want all mail-in ballots. He cited an election that was held in April 2020 in South Korea amid the pandemic so the public could trust the process. South Korea was one of the first countries to hold an in-person national election but also expanded some vote-by-mail options for people with COVID-19 or who were self-isolating. Back in April 2020, South Korea was experiencing nearly 10,000 total cases. By comparison, the country is now experiencing a record high in COVID-19 cases, about 2,200 daily for a total caseload of more than 216,000 cases.

Kiley claimed that the harms of kids wearing masks outweigh the benefits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend masking indoors at schools. Kiley did not elaborate on what harms he may have been referring to. Reuters has debunked some viral claims here. Kiley cited the United Kingdom in not mandating masks for kids in schools as an example to follow. In that case, a study there found that infection rates for kids in schools were lower in June than in the greater population. Under the U.K. system, kids were required to be tested twice a week and for their “bubble” to self-isolate when one person tested positive, Fortune reported.

A look at some claims during the KCRA and San Francisco Chronicle recall debate Source link A look at some claims during the KCRA and San Francisco Chronicle recall debate