Board of Supervisor District 1 Election Forum - 4/27/26

Moderated by the League of Women Voters, four candidates for Sacramento County Supervisor—Flo Cofer, Eric Guerra, Deborah Ortiz, and Tim Riley—give opening statements, answer community-submitted questions, and deliver closing remarks.

The forum covers major local issues including housing and greenfield development, homelessness, public health, climate and environmental plans, levee and tree removal on the American River Parkway, transit and infrastructure, immigration enforcement, and public safety measures like illegal fireworks enforcement.

Each candidate explains their priorities and proposed solutions in one-minute responses, offering voters a concise comparison of experience, approaches, and values to inform their ballot choices.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning. Welcome to the candidate forum for the county supervisor role. The candidates

(00:11):
in alphabetical order are Flo Kofor, Eric Guerra, Deborah Ortiz, and Tim Riley. This
forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County and the Sacramento
Metro Cable Television Commission. I am Lexi Tesh, a member of the League of Women Voters

(00:33):
of Sacramento County and the moderator for this forum. The League of Women Voters is
a nonpartisan political organization of women and men. We work together to encourage informed
and active participation in government. The League does not support or oppose political

(00:54):
candidates or parties. However, we are a political organization and we do, after careful
study, take positions on ballot measures and legislation. If you are interested in public
policy or just want to support our volunteer work, we invite you to join us. The format
for this forum will be as follows. Candidates will have one minute for opening statement.

(01:21):
They will have one minute to answer questions in rotating order. Finally, speakers will
have one minute for a closing statement. The timer is League Volunteer Evelyn and Evelyn
will give you 30 seconds left for 30 seconds left and the stop sign. We begin with an opening

(01:43):
statement from Flo Kofor. Hello, my name is Dr. Flo Kofor and I am running
for Sacramento County Supervisor because this moment requires expertise, courage, and skill.
I am a public health professional with over two decades of experience leading programs

(02:03):
reducing the infant mortality rate across the state and also making sure that birth
control was included when the Affordable Care Act was passed for free for women across the
state. I am running for County Supervisor because I understand in this moment that
our problems didn't start with Trump and they don't end there either. We have to make sure
that we are addressing the public health needs in our community, that we are running our

(02:26):
county which has a $9.2 billion budget in a way that reflects our values, and that we
are meeting the moment when it comes to the environment, when it comes to protecting the
people in our community, and when it comes to addressing our most pressing challenges
around homelessness, as well as our provision of social services, which is the responsibility
of the county. I am ready to lead in a way that our county needs and I would love to

(02:48):
be able to earn your vote. Next up, Eric Guerra. Thank you. I love and
I'm grateful for Sacramento. See, I grew up as an immigrant farm worker with my family
working in the fields, 12 hours a day in the sun. We know what it's like to work for poverty
wages and we know what it's like to feel hunger. When I moved to Sacramento, I found

(03:10):
myself in my car in a parking lot on Del Paso Boulevard, and that first dreadful summer,
I got all too familiar with feeling unsafe. But even with that first difficult year, Sacramento
has given me an opportunity to build a career, to start a family with two energetic young
kids, and to finally own a home. Every family should have that opportunity. I have a proven

(03:31):
record and experience and the lived experience to get things done. Just take a drive down
Stockton Boulevard and you'll see hundreds of new affordable housing, mental health drug
treatment center, new local jobs and local businesses. I did it by bringing people together.
I changed the direction there and I'll change the direction of the county. I would be honored
to earn your vote. Deborah Ortiz.

(03:56):
Thank you for the league for hosting once again the opportunity for the voters to assess
all of our strengths and opportunities. I was the vice president for the country's
largest Planned Parenthood affiliate. I led the California primary care associations team
to implement Obamacare. Now the Trump administration is closing Planned Parenthood clinics and

(04:17):
remains hell bent on destroying Obamacare. As a state senator, I created California's
Department of Public Health and lives were saved during COVID. I wrote the laws that
made stem cell research legal. Now many diseases and cancers are being cured, but the Trump
administration is allowing Robert Kennedy to tear down our public health systems and

(04:40):
shut down cancer research. Today I serve as the president of the local community college
system by graduating more nurses, other allied health care workforce more than ever before.
We are improving hospital staffing and increasing access to primary care clinics. On the board
of supervisors, I can improve public health and protect all that I have worked for. Thank

(05:05):
you. And Tim Riley.
My name is Tim Riley. I propose Sacramento County builds three educational buildings.
Sacramento dorms will be a 5000 room homeless dormitory. Each room will be supplied with
self study tutorials. We need a 5000 cell bigger jail. The new jail will have a study

(05:28):
hall staff with tutors. Sacramento Community College will offer a required course titled
ethical citizenship. Tomorrow, the board of supervisors will vote on the Upper West Side
development short of developing on top of a cemetery developing on top of a future nature

(05:48):
preserve is the worst location the county could approve. As you can see, I value nature
humanity, protection and education. If you share these values, then elect me to be a
member on our board of supervisors.
Thank you, candidates. Now we will move on to the questions which were solicited in advance

(06:13):
by the community. For the first question, we will start with flow. What do you consider
the most significant environmental issues in our county and why?
In the county of Sacramento, I think some of the most important environmental issues
are our lack of action towards our climate action plan. We have we are facing some significant

(06:41):
climate challenges when it comes to our land use when it comes to air quality, when it
comes to protecting the environment. And time and time again, we have put together plans
good plans that say we should protect these areas. We should develop here and not there.
We should protect our waterways. Here's the things we need in the future. And then as
quickly and as celebratory early as we say, hey, this is great and we should do this.

(07:03):
We also shelve them and don't take any action on them. That is a dereliction of our duty
because it means that we are not taking the necessary action, even though we've outlined
problems and also outlined solutions. It's also a colossal waste of our staff and our
volunteers throughout the community's time. And so I want to make sure that when we put
plans together to be able to make sure we're in a better future position, we don't shelve

(07:24):
those plans and we're actually taking action on them every single year, building them into
our budgets, building them into our programming to make sure that we're protecting our environment.
Eric, the number one issue affecting all of our county, not even just our county, but
our region is how we address land use. The fact is the sprawling efforts that are affecting

(07:45):
our county lead to more traffic and congestion. This is why I have actually have a record
of building infill housing. And in fact, if you go down Stockton Boulevard, the housing
that is being built is all electric as well along a transit line so that you have to use
less of a vehicle reducing our emissions. It's that planned approach to looking at all
of our commercial corridors where we can take vacant lots and actually build them into housing

(08:09):
in a place where we can reduce our environmental impact on our entire region. We have to function
as a region. I've taken that leadership on, and now you see that happening along other
commercial corridors. I'll take that along the entire county. As the chair of the Air
District, my record has been so strong that we've actually met our air quality attainment
record from the federal government, but we need to go beyond that. With the kid who just

(08:31):
had his first asthma attack, I'll continue to fight for air quality issues, but it'll
only happen when we match housing with transportation to address air quality.
Deborah?
I think the most significant environmental issue we have in our region is the absence
of leadership and the absence of will. We have sufficient federal and state laws. We

(08:52):
have our own climate action plan. It is simply a lack of leadership or willingness to adhere
to that. We have seen our Board of Supervisors, unfortunately, disregard laws, policies, their
own policies that address Endangered Species Act, habitat conservation. Coyote Creek was

(09:16):
an amazing disgrace for our region in which they approved the loss of nearly, I want to
say 3,700 heritage trees. We have, hopefully we'll have the state and federal government,
perhaps not the federal government given the times, step in and intervene what is likely

(09:36):
to occur tomorrow with the Upper West Side. Supervisors have all the laws. They have all
the regulatory oversight. They simply have chosen to disregard it.
Tim?
On the east coast of the Sacramento River is planned a mile-wide habitat corridor starting
at what is proposed to be the Upper West Side development, going north all the way through

(10:03):
Sutter County. This habitat wildlife corridor is being funded by taxing the new developments
in the Natomas Basin area. Funds are being used to purchase farms within the wildlife
corridor and a conservation agency is restoring those lands to the natural habitat. The Sacramento,

(10:33):
the American River Parkway is a Sacramento gem. Likewise, the Sacramento River wildlife
corridor in the future could be an equal wildlife gem.
For the next question, we will start with Eric. After building support, signatures are

(10:55):
now being collected to put ranked choice voting for city elections and the half sales tax
for safer SAC streets and affordable transit on the city ballot. Will you be supporting
or opposing these measures?
On the ranked choice voting, I believe that it's important to reduce the cost of elections.
And as a candidate myself, it's also very difficult when you have a family, when a full

(11:19):
year-long election. And that becomes an impact not only to your spouse, but to your kids,
to the taxpayers, to everyone. On the issue of the safer streets measure, yes, I was one
of the first signatories. We have a significant problem with all the potholes, the impact
to drivers, the impact to safety. We need to make sure that our roads are safer. I bike

(11:42):
with my kids to school in the morning. It is dangerous. Now, as a council member, I've
taken on the issue to improve crosswalks, make better crossings. But this is just a
small amount of money that we have with the quick bills. We need to have a direct investment
in making sure that we have safe roads and safe streets for everyone, for every age that
needs to cross the street to get to the bus stop in a positive transit system.

(12:06):
Deborah?
Let me take the half cent sales tax first. I think I'm one of the few of the candidates
that address concerns, if not outright opposition to it. One, it's a general tax, so there's
no guarantee that it will be actually adhered to and used for the purposes intended. Two,
it would bring our tax rate, our sales tax rate, up to 9.25% in our region. When you're

(12:30):
two parents with starting out as service workers and your combined family income is $95,000
a year and you have three children you're buying shoes and clothes for, I'm sorry, that's
a huge impact on working families. Finally, on the ranked choice voting, I am open to
it. I have some concerns. It has had some odd results in the past in New York. It elected

(12:54):
a mayor, not the current one, but the one before that wasn't exactly, in my estimation,
the most progressive of mayors. However, consolidating costs and impact to counties is a compelling
argument and so I am open to that.
Tim?
Regarding ranked choice voting, well, I haven't modeled that out so I can't offer an opinion

(13:20):
on it. Regarding the one-half sales tax, well, it's a citizen's initiative and personally
I'm for it. It would be in my self-interest that Sacramento County expands its bike lanes.
I'm an active cyclist and I use my bicycle every opportunity I can to do my errands.

(13:50):
But I'm not in a position to enforce that on the community as a whole. So I will vote
for it, but I'm not taking a position whether citizens should vote for it or against it.
Flo?
When it comes to sales taxes, they are regressive and so there's always a concern. And as the

(14:15):
former four-term chair of the Measure U committee, I shared the same concerns about affordability,
which is one of the major issues in our region, as well as, you know, where the dollars are
going to go. But thankfully, this is not a general sales tax. It's actually a directed
tax that's going to go towards transportation issues. And so in consultation with the Poor
People's Campaign and some of the other people who are thinking about affordability issues,

(14:36):
I am supportive. And I'm supportive because transportation is one of the top three issues
that people who have the lowest incomes are challenged by. And by actually making sure
the dollars don't end up in a fraud situation like we had with Measure U, where we promised
people during a campaign that we were going to spend dollars in one way and then spent
them completely differently and broke the trust, we don't have the option for our mayor

(14:59):
and council to be able to break the trust with the voters because the dollars are going
to go specifically to one place.
In terms of rate choice voting, there are always pros and cons of any system. But it
is true that dark money in our politics when people are taking IEs are challenging. And
so I do want to make sure that we are lowering the cost of these elections and also making
sure that people have an opportunity. And so I've signed on to allow it to be on the

(15:20):
ballot.
For the next question, we will begin with Deborah. Since the county has 140,000 approved
housing units in greenfield areas per sacog, would you support a moratorium on approving
new proposals? I'm sorry. Could you ask the question again?

(15:45):
I'm not sure I understood the question. Since the county has 140,000 approved housing
units in greenfield areas per sacog, would you support a moratorium on approving new
proposals?
I think we need to be smart about, you know, new housing, affordable housing. We are well

(16:09):
beyond increasing our housing stock. If we have in the pipeline appropriate housing in
appropriate areas of our region that do not interfere with environmental and are within
the urban land use urban planning area, then I would support that. It's hard to project

(16:29):
what a moratorium would look like given that we have such a huge demand for housing. I
would want to see where those future housing plans are located to ensure that they comply
with all environmental laws and our urban service boundary and our agreement with the
city not to build outside of the urban service boundary. So to speak to a moratorium on housing,

(16:52):
I would support a moratorium if it's outside of sound land use planning areas. But it's
hard to talk about moratoriums on housing when we have such a demand for housing stock
in our region.
Tim.
In 1990, Sacramento County had a million residents. Now we have 1.6 million residents. Everyone

(17:17):
needs a bed, a room, a shelter. The supply and demand curve for housing is skewed towards
housing becoming expensive. The population has increased, but housing supply has not

(17:42):
kept up. So housing costs are going up. The market reaction is to build more housing.
The choices are suburbs in the Natomas region or investors are infilling, converting city

(18:08):
factories and warehouses into apartment communities. The market is taking place, and it is satisfying
the housing requirements.
Flo.
Can I just clarify? This question is about whether or not we would support a moratorium
on greenfield housing development, not housing development broadly.

(18:31):
Yes, to my understanding. Would you like me to repeat the question?
Yes, please.
Since the county has 140,000 approved housing units in greenfield areas per SACOG, would
you support a moratorium on approving new proposals?
Okay. So I'm interpreting this as being about greenfield development, because there's two

(18:54):
different ways to interpret this question. And so what I'm looking at is we have 140,000
units that have already been approved in places that are going to have significant environmental
impact and maybe sprawl. And so I want more infill development. I want to be able to make
sure we're building inside of our urban services boundary and that we are making sure that we
have more housing. But I don't want to do it at the cost of our environment. And these

(19:17):
are sort of the zero-sum games that come up a lot when we have to make these decisions.
One of the challenges is that we have financing that often stalls projects after they're approved
from actually being able to move forward. And also we need to streamline the approval process
so that we can actually get these units built. And so those are things that are under the
responsibility of the county. I am a strong proponent of having a public bank so that

(19:40):
our dollars don't go to private shareholders who are undermining our climate action plan,
but actually to a bank that's held locally where all of those tax dollars can be reinvested in our
local communities and we can build more affordable housing. And so that is what I am in support of.
And so I would say we don't need more greenfield development, but we do need more housing
development. Eric? I have consistently focused on making sure that we use our land that's available.

(20:06):
And this is exactly why when you go down Stockton Boulevard, you'll see what was vacant lots
now are active places for housing that have already opened up and more will be opened up.
And the county needs to focus on that as well. There are many unplanned housing developments
that are on our commercial corridors where we can improve our bus line and our bus service.
When we do that, we have faster headways when a bus can come every 10 to 15 minutes.

(20:31):
And the county not only should do that to support the city in this effort, because when the county
does that, it also gets its share of property tax revenue to support the vital services.
But it should also help the other cities and the other parts of the region to help their
commercial corridors. That's how we're going to have a better realistic transit system,
was when we focus our energy on that. And the county can do that. So I would consider,

(20:55):
you know, the issues of a moratorium, but not if it affects the ability for us to actually
build in infill areas. There is much more land we can use today.
Thank you. For the next question, we will begin with Tim.
Natoma's farmland is relied upon for species protected by the Natoma's Basin Habitat

(21:16):
Conservation Plan. Developers want to build 30,000 houses on this land, even though the
county has approved 62,000 houses to be built elsewhere. Do you support the proposals by
the Upper West Side, Providence, and Grand Park? Of course not. The Upper West Side development

(21:38):
is located in what is supposed to become a nature preserve. The developers somehow
have hijacked the decision makers here in Sacramento County to force the issue to a vote
tomorrow. This is a critical junction in our county's environmental planning. The developers

(22:06):
should withdraw their plan and seek farmlands elsewhere. The
Hawk Zone, what's called the Swainson's Hawk Zone, is going to be a Sacramento gem, and it needs to
begin where the Upper West Side development community is being planned. So definitely I'm

(22:34):
against it. Flo? This is exactly why I'm a corporate free candidate, because I want everyone in
Sacramento County to know that when decisions come before the board, I'm making them in the best
interest of our community and not because someone paid me to be able to take a certain position.
I am strongly opposed to us violating our climate action plans and the many other provisions we put

(22:58):
in place to be able to say where we should and should not build, and rewarding developers for
buying the farmland for cheap because they're not supposed to develop there and that devalued the
land and then say they will buy politicians and force them to be able to make these decisions.
This is part of what's wrong. This is part of what's threatening our county overall, but especially

(23:18):
our environmental issues, because we keep rolling over and playing dead when these developers come
and they do things that are against our best interests. So no, I am not going to vote against
the people of Sacramento County. I'm going to vote in favor of we can do two things at once. We can
build and we can build in places that are smart and don't destroy our environment and put us in a
worst place when it comes to public health. Eric.

(23:42):
I have publicly opposed the Upper West Side and voted also to send a message to stop and oppose
the Upper West Side project as well, and this is an issue again of our housing demand, which is why
I focus significantly on creating not only a local strategy but a citywide and I'll take a
countywide strategy on building more more infill housing. Also on building more duplexes, triplexes

(24:06):
and quadruplexes and making a diverse variety of options so that everyone has an opportunity to
start and owning a home at wherever their income level is. I also have taken on the approach and
my strong environmental record of working with farmers to protect farmland. In my role as a
regional leader and as a state appointed official on the environment, I've taken the opportunity to

(24:29):
help farmers and try to address the challenges they face so that they're not pulling out their
walnut orchards and then making sure that that land for agriculture stays valuable and not cheap.
If we don't address our housing challenges on the infill site, we will always be addressing this
issue as we go on. Deborah. I think that's the one position we've all been fairly consistent on

(24:51):
is that we're opposed to the Upper West Side, Providence as well as Grand Park that is in the
pipeline. Sadly the county is proceeding tomorrow likely to support that project likely as a result
of hearing the public comments among all of us here too that if we are elected that we would

(25:12):
oppose it. It violates everything that federal, state, their own Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation
Plan. It violates you know every principle of access to water in which the city has made it
very clear that they will not provide access to water either on the Upper West Side or we have

(25:34):
issues on Grand Park regarding wells that may indeed be contaminated. So there are so many
reasons not to do this but it sadly appears to be going to be approved tomorrow. So it takes
leadership going forward to prevent that happening in other projects. For the next question we will

(25:57):
begin with Flo. Do you support the Army Corps of Engineers plan to remove hundreds of trees from
the American River Parkway to strengthen the levee? Why or why not? Yeah this is a one of those
questions that brings up the same challenges we just talked about in the last one. So I have been
on the record saying that I am really really angry that we even have to make this decision

(26:21):
because of land use issues. We should not have built houses this close to the river but they're
there now and we don't want to threaten people's health and well-being. At our last League of Women
Voters Forum I talked about the cost and the fact that you know given that we have almost 200,000
people who might be losing their Medi-Cal there are going to be some really challenging decisions
we have to make as a county and I'm not sure that you know working on this is going to be one of

(26:45):
those priorities and I wanted to be honest about that. But then yesterday when we were at Earth Day
hosted by ECOS I had some conversations with some folks about actually there are some other proposals
and it may actually be that the upfront costs are higher when it comes to the trees but the overall
the overall cost of being able to do something other than what has been proposed is actually
lower and so if that's the case I want to see those proposals in front of me because I don't

(27:09):
want to tear these trees down. I would prefer us to be able to actually preserve them and if there's
an opportunity to do that with cost effectiveness that's the way we should go. Eric? Well number one
safety first. We have to have strong levees and I have neighbors who are also on the Army Corps
of Engineers so I also know how much they care about the environment. What I am what I don't

(27:32):
agree with is the public process and the way it was. I would have loved to have seen what are the
alternatives and as an engineer you learn that you know every option or every challenge has
multiple alternatives but I am I'm an electrical engineer so I'm not going to question a civil
engineer but what I would have liked to have seen is the public process that shows what those

(27:54):
alternatives are. I have seen some success and what's happening in the regrowth but it is always
hurtful to see when a 300-year oak tree is taken down but the number one thing that we should
focus when it's our levees is safety for the public first. Deborah? Yeah um this is that
classic conundrum safe we are the highest risk one of the highest risk areas in the country.

(28:20):
We have two rivers uh that our city was founded on and decisions made decades centuries ago to
place housing not a lot not necessarily earlier along the Sacramento River now the American River
in question where the Army Corps of Engineers project right around River Park up along Sac State
those homes have been there since the 40s and 50s um so we absolutely have to protect life

(28:44):
and property and these are very real risks. I remember it was 1986 uh in which they were
proposing to break those levees to save the downstream part of Sacramento uh and risk those
homes and those families in that area to prevent greater damage in the deeper part of Sacramento.
So sadly we are at a place where we have to protect life and property as well as understanding

(29:09):
the Army Corps of Engineers as a federal entity that we have little to no ability even if we
litigate to stop that process. Tim? As a tree hugger it saddens me that we have to remove trees
however trees do grow roots and roots will go into the levee and that will make make the levee

(29:34):
unstable it would be a calamity if we were to have a levee break so I I would with with sadness have
to go with the Army Corps of Engineers uh good good faith decision making.

(29:54):
For the next question we will begin with Eric. The federal administration has violated rights
civil rights and liberties for immigrant communities. What changes in our county if any
do you believe are necessary to ensure immigration enforcement policies
and practices are lawful and accountable to the communities they impact?

(30:19):
Well as an as a person who grew up as an immigrant an undocumented one who our family were faced
unfortunately deportation I didn't have to be an attorney to know that we needed to have legal
defense for our folks. So number one our county should join and participate in the fuel network
and making sure that people have access to representation in their case. They're taxpayers

(30:40):
they they are providing our work workforce here many of them are homeowners and business owners.
Second we need to make sure that we take the appropriate measures so our facilities like our
child care centers and local areas do not fall into the situation where we saw in other parts
of the country where children were used as bait to get parents and making sure we have appropriate

(31:00):
lockdown procedures and I'm already doing that in my role of starting the the the county-wide
task force on child care to make sure that they know their rights. And then finally we need to
continue to be aggressive the county should join in federal lawsuits when the federal government
is overstepping on their on their their rights and the sovereignty of local cities and counties.

(31:22):
Debra I've said this before it's horrific you know some of us feel this on a very personal
level because it's our family it's our cousins it's our we look at our grandparents who gave
only gave to this country and did not take back. When I was a CEO of a local refugee resettlement
agency during Trump one we got filled five million dollars in grants to do immigration

(31:49):
legal services program it was a horrific then it's worse now because refugees are now being
stripped of their rights and having fearing the knock at the door. What can the county and do
they can engage in a meaningful pact between the city both sheriffs and police department that
vow to work together to preclude and to indeed intervene when people are taken off the streets

(32:11):
to share no information from the county at all with immigration officials to create a response
team that when these situations happen that there's immediately on-site observation
investigation in partnership with attorneys ACLU and others and in the end just do what is right
the right and ethical thing to do. Tim. Unfortunately the supremacy clause of

(32:37):
the constitution puts the federal government on top of state or local jurisdictions.
We don't have any governmental tools available to prevent the bad acts of our federal
representatives. What we can do however is bring awareness to to the sweeps.

(33:00):
Secondly if there are incarcerations or deportations the county can take efforts
efforts to return green card holders asylum seekers and refugees those that
have a right and deserve to be in the United States to we have an obligation as a as a

(33:24):
government to do efforts to return them to their families. Flo. Yeah as the 15th you know generation
descendant of people who were human trafficked to the United States I don't derive my morality
from the law and so what is happening right now especially when it comes to immigration is wrong
and it is immoral and we need to speak that out loud very plainly. So you know as the chair of

(33:46):
the measure you committee for the city we championed every single year the inclusion of
the fuel network funding in the city's budget because we understood the importance of that
long before you know we were thinking about you know what was going to happen with a second Trump
administration and so it is a real you know disappointment that the county has not joined
in to being able to fund that because this is a regional issue. There also are questions right now

(34:09):
about info sharing those questions have happened when it comes to reproductive health services
there's a lot when it comes to policing and our and especially our sheriff's department and so
our county needs to have clear policies to make sure we're not sharing information and putting
people at risk and then we also need to make sure we have county plans and policies around what
happens if ice shows up about what we are willing and not willing to do and making sure that people

(34:32):
are backed up on that so we're not leaving our staff to have to regulate this on their own.
Starting with Debra, do you support the recommendations that the county's climate
emergency mobilization task force presented to the supervisors? Why or why not? I haven't seen
that report so I'm not going to speak to the details. I have confidence however that if their

(34:58):
advice is is called based on aligning with a climate action plan that the county has in place
that it's consistent with state and federal laws. I believe it should comply with state and federal
laws and perhaps go beyond and make recommendations to strengthen and to illustrate how to implement

(35:19):
effectively and aggressively our climate action plan which should incorporate state and federal
laws and perhaps even go beyond if we have more resources in our region to exceed that so I would
support that in concept not having read it in detail. Tim. I too am not familiar with the climate

(35:41):
emergency action plan however it's very clear that climate change is an existential crisis
throughout I would say for hundreds of thousands of years the carbon dioxide concentration in the
atmosphere has never exceeded 300 parts per million. Then industrialization all of a sudden

(36:09):
caused in 1950 the carbon dioxide fluctuation to start increasing exponentially. We're currently
at 420 parts per million. The last time the earth experienced 420 parts per million
Florida was underwater and the South Carolina coast was 60 miles inland. This is needs as

(36:36):
an institution governments need to be aware of this and take actions to stop it now.
Flo. The value of having an epidemiologist on the board of supervisors is that this is my wheelhouse
so I led a project throughout the state looking at emergency response in particular as it relates
to climate emergencies and one of the most shocking things that I learned is that most of

(37:00):
our emergency plans that have been developed have not been updated since before the iPhone was
invented. So we are behind the curve in terms of the tools that we have available so I am supportive
of the emergency action plan. It has been developed by both county staff as well as
community partners and it is an opportunity for us to take a proactive approach to invest in

(37:20):
prevention for the things that it's not a matter of if but when they are going to happen especially
because we are so behind the ball on some of the environmental protections that we sort of put in
place that could have impacted our environment and so we do need to not only make sure that we
are implementing it but we need to also make sure that we are setting aside resources for it because
there will always be immediate concerns but if we keep putting this off we're not going to be in a

(37:44):
place where we're ready when the emergency happens and that is one of the hardest things that that
impacts our communities. Eric. The county plays a strong leadership role it must play a strong
leadership role not just only for its unincorporated responsibilities but with its
cities within the county. The county is also the the significant hardest seat for a regional

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body and so this is where we need to make sure that the county is working with the other cities
also to address those environmental impacts and we need a supervisor that knows how to bring people
to the table and bring them together. When I chaired the air district the longest serving
chair of the air district we were able to have an aggressive plan to meet our federal air quality
standard and nobody thought we would ever meet attainment for ozone or smog but now we've met

(38:33):
that standard and now we're going to meet our pm standard. We did that by bringing people to the
table and figuring out what can we actually do versus just lofty goals or ideas let's get to
the table and I as a county supervisor I'm going to bring that leadership to make a strong plan
not only that but to bring our other cities and jurisdictions forward because that's the only way
we're going to make a significant change in our environment. For the next question we will begin

(38:58):
with Tim. Light rail is heavily subsidized and does not serve most of Sacramento County.
What would you do to improve public transportation throughout the county?
Well public transportation is funded by a special assessment tax and it's separate from the

(39:22):
county budget appropriations process. Of course it is well obviously it is it is underfunded.
The my experience is using public transportation well we're disappointing.
What the county can do is find funds to appropriate to subsidize public transportation.

(39:49):
It's it's a it's a tall order but all I can do is is agree that the problem exists and and efforts need to be made to to fund it.
Hello. One of the challenges is again our lack of planning because we decided to put the light rail

(40:10):
in where the old you know streetcars already existed and we had the setbacks and all of that
but we didn't actually think about where we wanted where people lived and where we wanted them to go
and so there is a joke about how our light rail did until we moved the the arena downtown our
light rail didn't go anywhere that people needed to go like Cal Expo the airport right
our major transportation centers it goes by the 19th street safeway but doesn't stop

(40:33):
and so part of what we need to do is think about what we have resources to do right now.
We have resources to be able to invest in a strong protected bus lane area so that we are making sure
throughout the region that the buses are not sitting in the same traffic as cars because that
undermines the the strength of of our public transit. I would like to be on the RT board if

(40:54):
elected to this position because I want to think about how we can have responsive routes.
I grew up in a place that had responsive routes where when kids were going to school in the morning
the routes were were more heavily concentrated there. We now all have you know the opportunity
to be able to be responsive in this way and so we need to be thinking about transportation
for 2026 and not 1976. Eric. Number one issue uh for making sure that transit is function is also

(41:21):
how we build out our infill because that's the only way we're going to make the metrics work for
for public transit and when we do that we also help out the suburban areas that have less uh
inflow but that's the that's the purpose of making sure that what we're like doing on Stockton
Boulevard where we're increasing the housing and making transit work better and also bringing in

(41:41):
our other counties you need a supervisor who's going to be able to bring in all of the other
jurisdictions and that's where I have experience. I created the actual MOU for the city county and
regional transit to create the first rapid protected bus lane. We're already moving in that
effort. Second we need to build the Truxwell bridge so that we have a multi-modal network across

(42:02):
the river because that's the only way we're going to be able to get public transit and light rail
out to the Natomas area and making sure that they also have access. Everyone yesterday last
night at a meet and greet told me how we wish they wish we had a light rail to the airport.
How can we make sure that we're not just driving so we're parking our car out in the airport?
Deborah. So this is a challenge uh light rail is indeed highly subsidized versus other modes of

(42:27):
public transportation through our RRT system buses that unfortunately don't serve the most
needy areas. So that is the challenge is that light rail is incredibly expensive. It's become
increasingly expensive but it's a commitment and it's a priority that we need to sustain and stick
to. The fact that we have not gone out to the airport yet is really a shame. We need to rely

(42:52):
on state and federal subsidies. The times are difficult in the federal government right now
but I'm confident we're going to get to a point where we're going to be able to draw down
federal subsidies to continue light rail and as well as state revenues at some point are
going to come back to be able but we just it's an expensive endeavor. We have to do it
as well as sustaining our our bus systems for the most needy areas but the fact that we do

(43:20):
we are building more more parking structures at the airport while we are not getting light
rail out there is just the kind of contradiction that needs to change in our county.
Starting with Flo, many feel the county has not done its job in dealing with the homeless crisis.
Do you agree and how would you change that? What solutions do you offer both short and long term?

(43:43):
Yeah this is a great question. Yes we have not done what is needed when it comes to the county
there is work being done but not certainly enough. One of the things that we need to do first and
foremost is make sure that we are not a complicated bureaucracy that makes it really difficult for
people to get the services that they need and so there are too many ways that people have to
navigate and one of the things I want to do is streamline that so that we can get people in and

(44:07):
get them all the services they need. The other thing that our county has done repeatedly is not
draw down eligible funds. We have a problem yet we don't take we didn't take all of our Mental
Health Services Act dollars we didn't we don't take down all of our CalAIM dollars which are
the wraparound dollars for homelessness for people who are on Medi-Cal that is a problem
because we can't have a problem this big and then also not take all of the eligible resources that

(44:30):
we have. Also our county has you know is opposing being able to work together with all of the cities
within its county and that's a real problem as well. When I was the chair of the Measure You
Committee we met with the Police Review Commission. We were just commissions but we understood that we
had to meet together and so the fact that that's not happening regularly is a real problem and it's
something that I commit to making sure will happen as a collaborative body if you if elected your

(44:54):
next supervisor. Eric. The county must work with all of the entities. This is a problem for everyone
every jurisdiction in our area here but the county has to do a better job and we need a county
supervisor who actually has experience of bringing the county along and actually getting things
things done. I opened up 175 bed manufactured home center for people who are coming off

(45:19):
the street with on-site behavioral health service. That's a city county and state with a non-profit
provider. We also need a county that's going to be working with other entities to look at the very
big issue of mental health and drug addiction. The problem we have right now is so many people on the
street can't even manage themselves let alone manage their drug addiction. So we need the county

(45:39):
to be working with the cities on how we respond in outreach making sure they go to a crisis receiving
center that deals with their mental health which is something I helped vote and fund here as well
and expand that. We're building out 32 beds right now. It'll be 250 beds of an acute mental health
addiction center for people who can't even manage their time on the street. We see that tragedy
every day. The county needs to be a better partner. Deborah. The solution to homelessness

(46:05):
is twofold. It's services and it's shelter and our region has not done enough simply because
they have not this is a this is a solution that should have happened a decade ago
and and what we I would propose we do is you front load the services mental health substance use

(46:31):
certainly behavioral health and other services and you do that by front loading case workers
doubling the number of case workers training them to go out in the community getting people
into shelter out of the elements and and making a commitment on the board of supervisors to sustain
the funding of those even in difficult times. We don't have the luxury of delaying any longer

(46:54):
the whole discussion about collaboration with the city and county. I'm confident that this
whomever is elected to this board is going to be a change maker regarding their relationship
with the city and that we all have an obligation to do it. Tim. Sacramento County should build
manage staff and supply Sacramento dorms. The dormitory will have an environment of education.

(47:20):
It will have a study hall staff with tutors and the tutors will have social science degrees.
The location for the dorms has been picked for us. The old courthouse is now for sale and it
should be taken off the market and Sacramento dorms should be located on that city block.

(47:42):
By putting all the health services and all the social services in one place
economies of scale and economies of scope will be achieved and it'll be most efficient solution.
The most important component of Sacramento dorms is the residents. The voices inside their heads

(48:07):
will be occupied with academics and that is a much more healthy environment for our
entire community. The next question we will begin with Eric.
Sacramento County has increased enforcement and penalties for illegal fireworks. Residents have

(48:29):
proposed a follow the source approach where enforcement efforts prioritize identifying
where illegal fireworks are purchased and distributed not just who uses them. Do you
support this strategy and as a supervisor how would you address both the local impacts and the
upstream supply of illegal fireworks? I do support follow the source and in fact I'm leading with

(48:54):
that at the city level. I wrote the first firework ordinance to go after the illegal fireworks in
that was happening mostly in the south area and it's actually made dramatic improvements
and we talk about that every year that unfortunately one of our important holidays
fourth of July or New Year's is all always taken out by someone using illegal fireworks

(49:16):
causing fires to roofs and kids being injured and not only that but going after the the not
only the users but the providers and the profiteers. We went after a person that was
right across the street from Hiram Johnson who had hundreds of pounds of illegal fireworks.
You know I grew up in the country in Esparto and saw what happened there. We have to make a serious

(49:38):
uh attempt at going after the source but also reminding our neighbors that they have a
responsibility and there will be a penalty for not being responsible and good neighbors and using
illegal fireworks. Everyone has a responsibility in a safe neighborhood. Deborah. This is a public
safety issue. It's not just an inconvenience or traumatized animals and persons with PTSD.

(50:05):
The fact that the county is moving towards a more aggressive enforcement and considering
as they say upstream it'll take law enforcement. It'll take collaboration between the city and
county. It requires extensive penalties and fines but it's going to cost to do this enforcement.
I'm all in support of it. I can't believe we're this far along and we're and there's still not a

(50:27):
policy uh as aggressive as particularly uh identifying distributors and sellers all illegal
and not looking at potentially uh wobblers or criminal penalties for those um those sales.
Um it's long overdue whereas in addition to the traumatizing problems and neighborhoods going
through this there's major fire risks in our region as we face more and more drought. This is

(50:54):
a comprehensive public safety and health and safety issue so I'm really I look forward to
embracing a more aggressive policy. Tim. Every fourth of July I empathize with our firefighting
community and their the stresses that what should be a celebration of our nation's birthday turns

(51:18):
into a stressful evening. It there are laws in place preventing fireworks from
shooting up into the air for example. They are flagrantly
not being abided by and it's it's disappointing that our community should relish our

(51:48):
constitution and our freedoms and instead of using the excuse to generate what is potentially
a very harmful situation.
Flo. In the same way that the war on drugs should never have been focused on people who were using

(52:10):
drugs this is an example of where we always needed to go upstream and this is the benefit you know of
having someone with a public health background because we don't think first about how do we
respond to a problem. We think about how do we get to the source and how do we prevent it and so that
is my approach not just on this issue but on lots of issues and so yes I am in support of following

(52:30):
the source because the these illegal fireworks are not supplying themselves. Someone is selling them
and that is a great place to be able to stop the pipeline in but it also speaks to our need to
look at this for a broad range of issues that come before our county and say what is the root
cause of this issue and not just treat the symptoms we get to the source. Thank you. Unfortunately we

(52:54):
are out of time for more questions so we will move on to closing statements. Closing statements will
begin with Tim. In my 65 years I've developed two important skills. Number one I can articulate
context and nuance. Number two I am not a group thinker instead I'm a critical thinker. You don't

(53:21):
want a representative who joins the group think of the supervisor culture. Instead you want a
critical thinker who will transform the culture to value education.
Debra.
Thank you to the league for giving us again an opportunity to educate the voters of Sacramento.

(53:46):
As I shared in my opening I was a vice president of the country's largest Planned Parenthood
affiliate. I led the California primary care association team to implement Obamacare and as a
state senator I created the California department of public health and wrote the law that made stem
cell research legal. We are indeed in a battle with the Trump administration. The county will

(54:12):
have a hundred million dollar deficit as a result a structural deficit just this next cycle as a
result of the Trump administration costs. Our safety net for Medi-Cal public health food stamps
is being eviscerated. Our refugee immigrant communities and working class poor families
are at risk. I will be the champion with the experience with specific legislative accomplishments

(54:36):
and implementation at Planned Parenthood the California primary care association and a CEO
of a refugee resettlement agency that will govern responsibly. Eric. I love Sacramento
and what makes Sacramento so beautiful is its diverse neighborhoods, its diverse communities,
its rich history and that's what got me into this. I started off as a neighborhood leader

(54:58):
and bringing people together to solve issues what we saw the tragedy on Stockton Boulevard
with so much human trafficking. I worked with community against sexual harm to go after and
write the human trafficking ordinance. I looked at issues of housing knowing myself what it's like
not to have housing and I made sure that I focused on policies that were going to look at all of the

(55:19):
issues housing, transportation, the cost of child care and created a a standing meeting now where
all of our child care providers are working together so we can also look at workforce
opportunities for families. I'm a person who brings people together and I will take that
approach to the county so that our county leads with neighborhoods and it leads on solutions that

(55:40):
are based on our community of what they need today and thinking about what it's what the
legacy is for our kids in the future. I would be honored to be your county supervisor. Flo.
What our county needs right now is someone who's able to lead through instability,
to have difficult conversations and to believe that more is possible for our county.
I got into public health because my father died at 47 from heart disease due to smoking and I

(56:06):
committed my life to making sure that we had healthy communities. As I mentioned earlier we
can't blame all of the county's problems on the Trump administration because we've watched our
county mismanage the jail, homelessness, COVID-19 and land use but now on top of that we do have a
hostile federal administration and we have to take bold action to meet the challenges at the same
time and none of that happens without collaboration. I built my career on that. Public health has

(56:30):
limited authority and almost no money so we have to work with people and that's how we were able
to lower infant mortality by 14 percent across the state and also make sure that the ACA included
birth control for free for women. I've served on active transportation, Measure U, the mayor's
climate commission and the sheriff's oversight for our county and I'm ready to work with every
single member of this board to make sure the Sacramento county is well served. We have to make

(56:53):
sure we're taking care of our unincorporated counties but we also have to make sure that we
have people with a background who are ready to lead and that is me and that's why I'd love to
earn your vote. This concludes our forum. Thank you candidates for for running for office and being
here to answer questions from voters. So voters look for that important pink envelope and return

(57:16):
your ballot. The sooner the better. You can return it by mail or put it in a special drop box anywhere
in the county. Locations are listed in the pink envelope. You can also vote in person anywhere in
the county. Locations are in the pink envelope. Now you are a more informed voter and we hope you

(57:36):
will pass on what you have learned. You can also pass on a recording of this forum. A YouTube link
to the recording will be available at our website lwvsacramento.org after the ballots go out and on
the website for Sacramento Metro Cable Television channel 14. Thanks to League

(57:56):
volunteers and the wonderful team here at Sacramento Metro Cable Television. Thank you.