Candidates To Replace Rep. Susan Davis Discuss Pandemic, Climate Change

Speaker 1: 00:00 The 53rd congressional district stretches through much of central San Diego from I five and bell boa park on the West through mission Valley to East County and continuing South to Chula Vista. The district has been represented by Congresswoman Susan Davis for years, but her decision not to run for reelection has opened the race up to a new generation. Two Democrats emerged as the top vote getters in the March primary, and they join us now for a discussion about the issues. Georgette Gomez worked as a community organizer in the district before being elected to the San Diego city council in 2016. She is currently city council, president and Georgette Gomez. Welcome. Thank you. Sarah Jacobs is most recently a scholar in residence at the Joan big crock Institute for peace and justice at the university of San Diego. She has worked at the United nations and at UNICEF and as a contractor in the state department. Speaker 2: 00:58 Welcome. Thanks. It's great to be here with you, Maureen. Speaker 1: 01:00 Now we've already discussed that. There's going to be a time limit on your questions. So we have lots of topics to get to, so let's get started. So this is to Joe George at Gomez, more than 225,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. If you are elected, what would you like to see Congress do to address this deadline? Speaker 2: 01:22 Oh, thank you. And I think that's one of the, um, I F I foresee this issue be very, very critical, um, for the next year or so. And I think the new congressional, uh, folks are going to have to focus. Uh, we need to ensure that we're putting resources to create more protective gear and make it available to our frontline workers, but also expanded our business community is needing of support our education system. As we're putting, coming back to restore the education, they too are going to need those resources. Uh, we need to continue adding and expanding our unemployment. We still have a bunch of, uh, residents that are unemployed or they lost their jobs. And they're very much are needing support for them from government to ensure that they have resources, uh, to be able to, uh, be able to pay their bills. Uh, we also have a bunch of people because of the eviction moratoriums, and I'm very glad that I was able to introduce within the city of San Diego, uh, but the folks who are also needing to pay their rent and we need to support them. Speaker 1: 02:24 Thank you. And this is the yes or no question. I'll start with Georgette Gomez. Do you support Medicare for all? I did. Yes. Sarah Jacobs, do you support Medicare for all? Yes. So I may ask you a very similar question to what I asked Georgette Gomez. How do you think Congress can play a role in addressing the Corona virus pending? Speaker 2: 02:45 It's a great question. And I actually was Hillary Clinton's policy advisor for global public health on the 2016 presidential campaign, where I was working directly with members of Congress on what kind of pandemic prevention plan we put in place. So, Speaker 3: 03:00 You know, I think Congress needs to enact a national mask mandate and national testing and tracing program that also has isolation. Um, I think we need the defense production act and we need Congress to provide oversight of that. So that's something like what already happened, where the Trump administration used that authority, but to buy airplanes instead of to create PPE, it's going to be really important. And then, you know, based on my experience working at UNICEF, I know that the vaccine will be incredibly important and especially the distribution of it. So Congress needs to make sure that there's funding not only for the manufacturing, which will be important, but also to support community groups who can be that trusted messenger, who can make sure that the vaccine is to be distributed to those who need it the most. Speaker 1: 03:43 Let me go to a second question to you, Sarah Jacobs, it seems likely that Congress will be arguing next year, about how to get the pandemic ravaged economy up on its feet. What programs would you support to give the economy a boost and bring down unemployment? Speaker 3: 04:01 Absolutely. I think this is going to be the most important thing that Congress is going to be doing. And I think we learned from 2009 that we need to make sure that that stimulus package is as big as we need it to be. And that assistance is getting to those who need it most to our families and our small businesses. I've worked with small business owners across the district to come up with a plan on what more Congress can do to help them make it through this time. And especially to make sure that federal recovery dollars actually get to the smallest of small businesses who were more or less shut out from the paycheck protection program. And as we talk about the kind of support that family needs, like more, uh, expanded unemployment, uh, like making sure that we are standing out another stimulus check, I will really be pushing to make sure that childcare and funding for our childcare infrastructure is included in whatever final negotiated package we get to in a stimulus plan, Speaker 1: 04:53 Go to Georgia Gomez. What measures do you think Congress should enact to stimulate jobs and the economy? Speaker 3: 05:00 Yeah, I think we need to start by supporting the small business administration, which is an entity that supports small businesses. And we know that we have a lot of folks currently in the district and beyond the district that are hurting financially and all of these folks are small businesses, so they need significant amount of support from the federal government. So infusing a significant amount of money to the, to, to the small business administration is critical, but also making sure that those resources are allocated appropriately. Uh, we need to, uh, support our minority women and veteran owned businesses. So that's something that I'll be advocating significantly. Uh, we also need to create, um, a small business component and making sure that we are making that more accessible. Uh, the loans that were provided and assistance was very convoluted and there's a lot of small businesses don't have access to hire a support to be able to apply Speaker 1: 06:01 Why Georgia Gomez, the issue of climate change always seems to take a back seat in our national political discussions. How important do you think it is for Congress to address climate change? Speaker 3: 06:13 I think, uh, aside from the pandemic and recovering from this, uh, critical health and economic crisis, the climate crisis is above very critical and I'm going to be a strong advocate. I had been working on the climate justice for more than two decades. I'm going to get to DC and fight significantly to build a political will, to actually acknowledge that we have a crisis and to start moving our country to a hundred percent renewable energy, start creating and updating our green technology then which will create jobs. Uh, we need to move forward with an infrastructure bill that would also update our crumbling infrastructure. And, uh, it will also create jobs, which right now on the high end employment, we need to be able to figure out how we're going to get people back to work. So this is a, win-win both, uh, to address unemployment, but also address our climate crisis. Speaker 1: 07:03 Okay. Then, and I have a, yes, no question for both of you Georgette Gomez. Do you support the green new deal? Yes. And Sarah Jacobs, do you support the green new deal? Yes. Okay. Let me ask you a question very similar to the one I just asked Georgette Gomez. Do you believe there's an urgency about the need to move forward to fight climate change? Speaker 3: 07:25 Absolutely. I talk a lot about the need for a new generation of leaders in Congress. And I think climate change is one of the best examples of that. We need to address climate change with the urgency that it requires. And I think young people are the ones who are really pushing that conversation and making sure we're doing that. So in addition to the green new deal and transitioning to an entirely clean energy economy by 2030, I've actually put together a plan on how we can make sure that any stimulus package one doesn't make our climate goals worse by inadvertently locking in high emissions industries that otherwise wouldn't have made it through this time. And two, how we can use the stimulus to, uh, address our climate goals, to make, put people back to work, make people's lives better, and also make sure that we're creating a climate that's more livable, including by making sure that any federally funded projects are entirely carbon neutral. Speaker 1: 08:17 Another question for you, Sarah Jacobs, we're seeing a political divide so deep in this country, that many question, if lawmakers can move forward together on any issue, how important is it to you to work across the aisle with Republicans? Speaker 3: 08:31 Again, I think a part of being a new generation of leaders is not only talking about different policy, but actually doing things differently and finding ways to listen to everyone and respect everyone and work across the aisle to actually get things done for San Diego families. Now, I think there are some issues we can never compromise on my youngest sibling is trans. Uh, obviously reproductive healthcare is very important to me, but there's a whole Speaker 2: 08:56 Range of other issues like assistance to small businesses like infrastructure spending like childcare that I actually think we have quite a lot of bipartisan support for. And I'm rarely looking forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to actually get those things passed and get support to our families and our small businesses who really need it right now. Speaker 1: 09:14 And Georgia Gomez. Is it important to be able to get bipartisan support on issues like climate change and the economy? Speaker 2: 09:21 Oh, most definitely. I think, uh, there's, there's a lot of different representation from across the us. So we need to acknowledge that in order for us to be able to move forward and move this country forward and lift people from poverty, we need to reach across the aisle and really get to get to work. People want to see a restoration of our economy. People want to see a real act on addressing the climate crisis. Um, people want to see us moving forward with universal health care. So this is the only way as elected is to really find that the, the points of, uh, uh, intersections that we all agree and be able to address it and move forward. I've been able to do that at the city council as the council president, and that's the type of leadership that I'm going to bring forward to Congress, uh, working with all my colleagues and making sure that we're moving our country forward and more importantly, lifting people out of poverty. Speaker 1: 10:17 Okay. I have two last questions for you, uh, for you individually. This is for you, uh, Georgette Gomez. You've taken criticism lately about some discrepancies on your tax returns. It's been alleged that you under-reported income and took some credits and deductions you weren't allowed. How can voters trust you to be honest with them, if you're accused of cutting corners like that? Speaker 2: 10:41 Yeah, no. I mean that, that article, when they came out, um, there was one, one, one real truth, uh, the, the real truth and they took responsibility for it right away. We addressed it. Um, my 2017 taxes for ms. File. Um, my accountant did an include, uh, one of my forms. I didn't know that that occurred as soon as it was brought to my attention. I took care of it literally the next day, but I also take responsibility for that. And, uh, I will always work from a place of transparency and being honorable. I take that to heart. So I, I took my responsibility. I addressed it immediately. Uh, but at the end of the day, it's about making sure that we're transparent and I made my Texas available to all residents to see right away w I wasn't holding anything back. So I will continue working in a transparent way and continue leading as an elective. Speaker 1: 11:36 All right. And this is for you, Sarah Jacobs, you ran for Congress in the 49th district and lost. Now you're running in the 53rd. You've used millions of your own money and the Jacobs family fortune to bankroll your campaign. You've been accused of trying to buy your way into Congress. My question is why is it so important for you to become a member of Congress? Speaker 3: 11:58 First of all, I think the whole idea of buying an election is pretty insulting to voters. I'm very grateful for everything that San Diego has given my family, and that, that means I'm able to communicate directly with voters, but, you know, I think we saw in the democratic presidential primary that no amount of communication matters. If you don't have a message and a candidate that resonates with voters and Earl's Mike Bloomberg would be our democratic nominee right now. And, you know, I honestly think that because of everything San Diego has given me and my family, it's my personal responsibility to do everything I can to make San Diego and the world fairer and more equitable. And I did that working at the state department and at UNICEF and now running for Congress and as the chair of San Diego for every child. And I love San Diego and I would be very honored to represent it in Congress. Speaker 1: 12:46 All right. Now, finally, I'd like to finish our discussion with each of your closing statements to voters. There'll be about a minute each, and we'll start with Sarah Jacobs. Speaker 3: 12:56 Thank you. Um, I am a third generation San Diego born and raised, uh, when my great-grandparents first moved to San Diego, they lived in college area because it was one of the few places that Jewish families were allowed to live. Uh, and, uh, you know, I'm very proud that I was able to serve my country at the state department, work at UNICEF and the UN and now chair San Diego for every child. And I believe that that experience making an implementing public policy at the federal level is going to be incredibly important as the next Congress makes generation changing decisions about how we recover from COVID, whether or not we expand the Supreme court, whether or not we address racial injustice. Um, and I'm ready to hit the ground running on day one. I love San Diego. I love my home, and I'd be very honored to represent it in Congress. Speaker 1: 13:45 Thank you, Sarah Jacobs, and a closing statement now from Georgette Gomez. Speaker 2: 13:50 Thank you, Maureen. And, uh, I, and thank you for, uh, for this discussion. You know, America is going through some significant challenges in 2020, we are facing a global pandemic, uh, a climate change crisis, a shattering recession, a reckoning on race and injustice. Uh, we've learned that elections have consequences that it can really mean a life and death, uh, for her constituent. Uh, so having a proven record of being an elected of actually moving forward policies is very critical. I'm very proud that as the council precedent I've been doing that, I been working on addressing our housing crisis. I've been working on addressing and protecting our low-income renters. I've been working to implement the climate action plan for our region, and they deliver millions of dollars for community projects, Georgette Gomez. Thank you so much for Speaker 1: 14:52 Participating. Thank you and Sarah Jacobs. Thank you. Of course. Thanks for having me a reminder to our listeners mail in voting is underway in person voting begins this Saturday in San Diego and ends on Tuesday, November.