The Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom (D. CA), sat down with The New York Times recently and touched upon the issues of inequality, the rising homeless problem and the skyrocketing prices for housing affordability in the state:
Q. Has the governor paid enough attention to homelessness?
A. He has on the margins. But have we designed a framework to regionalize solutions and to have the state drive the effort? No. And I intend to do that. We have never had a governor particularly animated by homelessness.
Q. Do you support the proposal by Senator Scott Wiener to override local zoning and permit construction of eight-story housing near transit lines?
A. I told him point blank, “I would not sign this bill, but I love what you are doing. How can I help?” No sooner than did we have that conversation than he’s already made substantive amendments, on rent control protection. He realizes one size does not fit all. The spirit of what he is doing is right.
Q. I get the spirit. But what about the concept?
A. It’s a crisis. We can’t live on intentions. At the end of the day, if you want to move the mouse, you’ve got to move the cheese. The middle class of the state is leaving in droves. This is a Code Red in California.
Newsom has laid out a proposal to tackle the housing affordability crisis and homeless problem in California:
Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom says California officials should set a goal to help 3.5 million new homes get built by 2025 to stem the state’s housing problems.
“Simply put, we’re experiencing a housing affordability crisis, driven by a simple economic argument,” the lieutenant governor said in a post on Medium outlining his housing plan. “California is leading the national recovery, but it’s producing far more jobs than homes. Providing adequate housing is fundamental to growing the state’s economy.”
Newsom outlined a number of policy changes he’d make including:
- Expand by $500 million the low-income housing income tax credit program to build more affordable homes.
- Allow cities to sequester local tax dollars to help finance new development in certain neighborhoods.
- Link state transportation funding to local governments’ housing growth targets, which cities and cities currently have little incentive to meet.
- Revamp local tax incentives so it makes more financial sense for cities to approve new homes.
- Appoint a homelessness czar.
To win this race, Newsom knows he needs to run on bold ideas. That explains why he’s been leading in the polls:
Polls suggest that the two leading contenders to succeed Mr. Brown are Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor and a former mayor of San Francisco, and Antonio R. Villaraigosa, the former two-term mayor of Los Angeles and Assembly speaker, both Democrats. The two are known as effective public speakers with extensive political experience that could prove important in navigating the fight against Washington.
Of the two, Mr. Newsom has assumed the more aggressive stance in taking on the Trump administration, drawing strong support from liberal Democrats in the process. He has also called for the impeachment of Mr. Trump. A centerpiece of his campaign is a pledge to adopt a government-run, single-payer health care system, a direct challenge to the free-market vision embraced by Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans.
“This is more than a political campaign,” Mr. Newsom told cheering delegates at the state Democratic convention here this year. “It’s about Democrats acting like Democrats in a battle for America’s soul against a president without one.”
“Some of the defeatist Democrats are saying we just want to defend against the status quo,” he told another audience that day. “How can you just defend against the status quo? We need to do more than just push back against their agenda to wreak more havoc.”
Mr. Villaraigosa has struck a more restrained note, saying it was too early to talk about impeachment and dismissing Mr. Newsom’s promise to have California go it alone with its own health care system as a “pie in the sky” promise he was making to ride anti-Trump sentiment. In tone, Mr. Villaraigosa is closer to Mr. Brown in positioning himself against the president.
“Gavin likes to talk about the resistance — I don’t use that word,” Mr. Villaraigosa said over green tea during a break from campaigning in downtown Los Angeles. “I tell people the best way to resist is not to text and tweet, scream and yell at Donald Trump. The best way to resist is for us to chart a different path here in this state.”
“We are going to push back,” he said. “But most of our attention, most of our efforts need to be focused on improving the human condition here.”
Robert Shrum, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said the divisions on health care and impeachment reflected discussions Democrats were having nationally as they debated the best way to defeat Mr. Trump. Mr. Villaraigosa’s stance reflects the calculation that while California is overwhelmingly Democratic in its voting habits, many voters are independent by registration, and thus might be less receptive to an overly confrontational position against Mr. Trump.
“Newsom is endorsing all of those things on the Democratic wish list,” Mr. Shrum said. “Villaraigosa is saying, ‘I like those things, but we actually can’t do them.’
“One position speaks to the anger in the base,” he said. “The other speaks to what I think Democratic leadership in Congress prefers.”
Under California’s election system, 27 candidates will appear on a primary ballot on June 5, regardless of party. A runoff in November will be held between the top two finishers.
While polls suggest the November contest will be between Mr. Villaraigosa and Mr. Newsom, the dynamics of a multicandidate field can make it difficult to predict who might finish in the top. John Chiang, a Democrat and the state treasurer, and John H. Cox, a Republican businessman, also appear to be in position to capture a spot on the November ballot, according to some polls.
Of course, once elected, Newsom will no longer just have to talk the talk, he’ll have to walk the walk. He’s going to have some very high expectations to lead California forward. Villaraigosa has been uninspiring in my viewpoint with his campaign but come November, the top two choices may very well be between bold ideas and cautiousness. We shall see. I for one choose Newsom and if you do as well, click here to donate and get involved with his campaign.