SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento will pick a new mayor this year, and six candidates are making their case to voters.
Four of them participated in a mayoral candidate forum Thursday night, held by the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association at Tahoe Elementary School.
Some 300 voters came to size up candidates for mayor. Over the course of two hours, candidates addressed topics ranging from homelessness and affordable housing to crime and the city budget.
The four candidates invited to this forum were public health expert Dr. Flo Cofer, former Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty and former State Senator Dr. Richard Pan. The two other candidates who qualified for the ballot - Jose Antonio Aviña II and Julius Engel - were not invited. The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association said they only invited candidates who met certain criteria.
Here's what candidates had to say on the topic of homelessness:
Asm. Kevin McCarty: “We can’t have urban camping in Sacramento. It’s not good for the individuals, nor is it good for neighborhoods nor small businesses. But, conversely, we need to tell people where they can go...What councilmember wants to open a homeless camp(shelter) in their district? But we need to have these throughout the city of Sacramento.”
Dr. Flo Cofer: "So one of the first things that we need to do is make sure that we stop punishing people by not telling them where they are allowed to be and, instead, answer the simple question of where can people in this city go to be able to get a shower, to wash their clothes, to be able to charge their cell phones and to be able to get the resources that they need.”
Steve Hansen: “We can find places for people to go, but also we need Care Court. We need the tools in mental health court and drug and alcohol court, because some people need more affirmative interventions than just asking them 50 times whether they’ll save themselves. If we love people on the streets – which we have to, they’re our neighbors – we have to intervene in their lives more affirmatively to save them.”
Dr. Richard Pan: “We need a mayor, a mayor who’s going to say, ‘We’re going to be focused on this problem, and we’re going to work the problem, and we’re going to get results for the people of Sacramento, alright? This is intolerable that the homeless problem. And while we can say, ‘Look, it’s bad in California, it’s bad across the country.’ It is worse here, and that needs to change.”
Even though candidate Jose Aviña was not invited to participate in the forum, he still attended it, so ABC10 spoke with him afterward.
Jose Antonio Aviña II: “The first thing is just enforcing those laws from the beginning and then utilizing those resources that have already been allocated and making sure that those individuals are getting those resources because we, as taxpayers, are paying for that right now.”
Many in the audience arrived undecided, including Tahoe Park neighbor Scott Harrison.
"Everybody seems very qualified and they were all good candidates, but I think Dr. Flo is standing out to me," he said. "I think everybody’s really worried about homelessness. And we live really close to Stockton Boulevard and I think we’re all looking to see improvements along Stockton Boulevard."
All six candidates are expected to participate in a forum on Friday, Jan. 19 at the La Familia Maple Neighborhood Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. Details are HERE. This particular forum will focus on issues specific to the Latino community, as well as the broader community.
Another forum - more focused on kids - will be held on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Hiram Johnson High School, starting at 10 a.m. Details are HERE.
The Sacramento Bee and KVIE will be holding a forum on Jan. 31.
If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary, the top two vote-getters will go on to the general election in November.
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