California gubernatorial candidates clash over homelessness in debate

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]The backdrop set at the Skirball Cultural Center brought to you by NBC4 and Telmundo 52. Broadcast across the state in partnership with LMU. And tonight there is plenty of buzz.

[00:00:09]>> It's why we have our team of reporters talking to the candidates, the analysts, and hearing from you.

[00:00:15]>> NBC4's Robert Gav is off tonight. He's live from the Scribball Center on this critical night with the clash of the governor's side. Robert, >> Michael, and Carolyn. And that clash took place right inside this room in front of a live audience. They covered a lot of ground and spent a lot of time talking about homelessness.

[00:00:35]>> Rental assistance is much cheaper and more humane than letting someone go on the street. That emergency interim housing to get people off the street into a single room with a key with shared dining laundry facilities where you can bring your dog is much more compassionate.

[00:00:51]>> It's never going to be better until we get them the treatment that they need.

[00:00:54]Stop calling it homes. It's mental health, drug addiction, and alcohol addiction combined. The biggest thing that we need is the treatment centers that treat at the same time mental health conditions and drugs and alcohol.

[00:01:07]Chad's plan is exactly right, and I just add one thing to it, which is we need to enforce the law when it comes to homelessness. Just as Spencer Pratt laid out in the mayor's debate to you earlier, it's illegal to live and camp on the streets. And that's the starting point. what works according to the LAO uh temporary housing works, the home uh key program, rental assistance works, but we need uh permanent supportive housing as well with services connected to them. My job as governor, because I don't control the streets of the cities and the counties, is to make sure we prevent more Californians from from becoming homeless because it costs far more to take you off the streets, pick you up, get you the services, and get you the temporary shelter than it does to help you get past that medical emergency or that lost job. Homelessness prevention is the key. It costs about $6,000 to prevent someone from becoming homeless. That is a such a better investment than so much more humane than allowing people to live on the streets.

[00:02:09]We have to in stop making the problem worse. No one should be outside in a tent encampment in San Jose. We're building interim shelter, basic treatment capacity. We are moving people indoors. When those spaces are available, we require people come indoors.

[00:02:30]And as soon as the debate ended, our team fanned out to get immediate reaction from all of the candidates.

[00:02:38]>> The job of the governor of California is first and foremost to protect Californians and stand up for them. And I didn't hear that from anybody else on the stage. I heard a lot of back chat and carping, but I didn't hear anybody saying, "The only thing I care about is working Californians. I'm going to stand up for them no matter what." I will admit and I will tell you that the immigration system in the United States is broken. The governor can do absolutely nothing about it. But what I can do as governor is make sure that the people of our streets are as safe as possible. The same thing that I do in California right now in my county.

[00:03:09]>> The the theme of my campaign is calaffordable $3 gas. Cut your electric bills in half. Your first 100 grand taxfree. A home you can afford to buy.

[00:03:19]These are common sense practical things that a majority of Californians support.

[00:03:24]I balanced two budgets with a surplus when I was speaker of the assembly with a Republican and a Democrat. When I was mayor, uh, Wall Street said LA was going bankrupt. I said, "Not under my watch."

[00:03:34]I made the tough calls. And I think what I hope what we're looking for is someone who's willing to do that. We're still picking up steam. You just mentioned how proud I am to have earned the endorsement of the Sacramento Bee based on an hour plus long interview of my policy ideas. Those are not things that you get because you've been kicking around California politics for 40 years.

[00:03:56]They're things you get because you have the best ideas to make life better for Californians.

[00:04:02]>> I think that our best shot at winning in the runoff and defending our values against the Trump administration is to offer people a real vision of the future that is rooted in holding government accountable for delivering results, building housing so families can afford to live here. I'm the only candidate who's called for suspending the gas tax.

[00:04:21]>> Who can balance a budget in this time of crisis? I have. I balanced a budget larger than the state of California's budget. Who can we count on if we got to get out of this housing crisis? Who can we count on? Well, I've had to declare a national state of emergency emergency and get us out of crisis. Who can we count on to take on Donald Trump? How about the guy who took him on over 120 times and beat him?

[00:04:42]The one common denominator with all of these candidates tonight, Michael and Carolyn, they say no matter what happened with this debate, no matter what the polls say, they're not going anywhere and they are in it to win it.

[00:04:57]Live here at the Scurball Cultural Center, I'm Robert Kavasc. Let's go back to you, >> Robert. Appreciate it. Thank you.