Meet Kevin Faulconer, former San Diego mayor running in California governor recall election

Name: Kevin Faulconer

Political party: Republican

Residence: San Diego

Occupation: Former mayor of San Diego

Education: Graduate of San Diego State University

Experience: Former mayor and City Council member of San Diego

Website: kevinfaulconer.com

What precautions, if any, should California continue to take to cope with COVID-19 and its variants?

I encourage every Californian to get vaccinated. We can help overcome vaccine hesitancy by communicating the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and the pathway it provides to getting life back to normal.

California provided cash support to individuals and small businesses during the pandemic. To what extent should that assistance continue?

Small business owners and their employees are the core of our state’s economy, and we need to do everything we can to help them get back on their feet. Many were shut down multiple times. Getting relief was frustrating. Some small business owners took on debt that will take years to repay. As governor, I’ll make sure small business owners and their employees get the kind concrete, quick, easy financial help they have told me they need, including help with rent and utility bills, or waiving state fees for permits and licenses. These owners and employees are vital to our future and I will treat them as such.

What more would you do to address California’s housing crisis?

Every Californian deserves to be able to buy a house. However, housing costs are outrageous. They don’t need to be. As San Diego’s first YIMBY (“Yes In My Backyard”) mayor, I made it easier to build new and cheaper housing, eliminating long waits, unfair fees, head-shaking regulations, and other costs that made housing costs skyrocket. I made it easier to build new housing near transportation hubs, and removed costly, un-necessary parking space requirements where it was appropriate. As governor, I’ll take my successful San Diego housing plans statewide. That will make it easier to build new housing so that our next generation can afford to live here.

What should California do to build up its middle class?

People deserve to keep more of their hard earned money. It’s getting more and more difficult to live a middle class life here. As such,

(1) I’ve proposed the largest middle-class tax cut in California history. It would exempt a person’s first $50,000 from state income tax and $100,000 for families. This would be enough to pay for 8 months of groceries, 8 months of utilities, or 92 tanks of gas. This tax plan provides lasting relief that goes beyond one-time checks.

(2) I’ll demand improvement of our failing K-12 schools so that a child’s opportunity isn’t determined by their ZIP code. I’ll bring back ‘school to work’ vocational education programs so that students who want to work can find good-paying jobs. (3) I’ll eliminate the punitive gas tax, which makes our prices the highest in the nation, reduce eye-rolling regulations that make our energy and food prices outrageous, and make day to day life more affordable so that people don’t have to work two jobs to live a middle class life.

Would you propose any new policies to address climate change?

We need to take a responsible approach to addressing climate change. As San Diego mayor, I worked with business owners, residents, and environmental groups to pass the city’s Climate Action Plan: one of the most ambitious but practical plans in the country. We don’t have to disrupt the entire economy or cost Californians thousands of dollars a year to have a real impact. In fact, many smaller, simpler changes add up to big changes. For example, as mayor I encouraged housing construction close to job centers and transportation. That reduces the need for longer commutes and slashed vehicle emissions. As governor, I’ll take many of our ground-breaking practical solutions statewide.

What should California do in the long term to address wildfire and drought conditions?

Preventing wildfires should be a top priority. It hasn’t been. As governor, I will put California on a war footing for wildfires. I have a comprehensive wildfire prevention plan. It will streamline environmental rules that delay projects, provide $1 billion in annual funds for prevention efforts under a new Department of Wildfire Prevention, and create a $10,000 tax credit that will help property owners make their homes more fire resistant.

California should build enough storage to prepare for droughts. Sacramento has done nothing except take water away from farmers, strangling our agriculture and killing thousands of jobs. Years ago voters passed an initiative that funded this storage. Hostages to radical environmentalists, these storage projects were never built. As governor I will build them along with systems that get water where it needs to go. While we should all conserve water by taking reasonable steps in storage and distribution, California should have all the water we need.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.