Debate held for Alameda County Supervisor (District 1) Candidates

Pleasanton served as the neutral location to host the Alameda County Supervisor Debate for District 1 Candidates. The four Candidates vying for the District 1 seat are Fremont City Councilmember Vinnie Bacon, Dublin Mayor David Haubert, Dublin City Councilmember Melissa Hernandez, and District 10 State Senator Bob Wieckowski.

Dublin Vice Mayor, Arun Goel moderated the forum which was sponsored and organized by Puran Moorjani and co-hosted by Fremont Mayor Lily Mei and San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee.

Additional sponsors for the event were the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, APAPA (East Bay and Tri-Valley Chapters, the Sierra Club - San Francisco Bay and 80-20 United and representatives from each organization were present. A number of elected officials from across the district were present at the event.

District 1 covers 440 square miles of Alameda County's 738 total square miles with a variety of land uses including urban, suburban, agricultural and rural open space. The District includes the cities of Dublin and Livermore; most of the city of Fremont; a portion of the unincorporated community of Sunol; and most of the unincorporated area of the Livermore-Amador Valley.

This well attended event was a community-focussed debate to educate and draw attention to County issues and to help citizens make an informed decision on who to vote for in the upcoming election. Key topics discussed were development/open space, transportation, affordable housing, homelessness, climate action, job provision and sustainable energy.

The debate kicked off with opening statements from each candidate followed by questions posed by the hosts to which each candidate was given a limited period to respond.

The first question pertained to transportation and regional Measure 3 and whether the resulting $400 million should be re-directed to the Valley Link Rail project. Further questions to Candidates included:

- What are your thoughts on FASTER Bay District and the proposed 1 cent sales tax increase?

- What are the top three things you will do to encourage having more of the best job opportunities in District 1 thereby helping to reduce inter-regional commuting?

- Do you support changes in the law (such as SB50 or its renumbered latest version) to reduce local control of land use decisions to address the housing crises?

A particularly hot topic at the debate was the issue of homelessness and candidates were asked what they believed the causes of skyrocketing homelessness in Alameda County were and if they were elected what they would do to address the worsening situation.

A question was also posed about modes of energy generation and their preferences when considering environmental impact given the acuteness of the climate problem and comments ensued that mentioned residential solar panels and electric car usage. Candidates also noted however that further developments in technology could assist in dealing with the issue of energy generation and usage.

Public questions were considered in the second half of the debate.

A Dublin resident asked Candidates what their top two priorities would be if they were elected. The top two priorities mentioned in their collective responses were firstly homelessness and secondly transportation.

Another question posed by a member of the public was what percentage of their campaign donations were 'special interest dollars' which led to comments considering the influence of corporate money and the level of expense pertaining to running a campaign. Documents would be made public on January 31st outlining the breakdown of campaign donations received.

A question was also raised about the current district boundaries and the "redistricting" process to ensure that the supervisorial districts are equal in population. Census 2020 will be critical in providing accurate population data.

Outgoing County Supervisor Scott Haggerty was on site and was recognized by several speakers for his invaluable years of service to the community. Ironically he also had a ticket selected in the random draw for questions from the public and asked the Candidates a question that got to the heart of their understanding of the role "So what does a County Supervisor do?" which yielded some revealing responses.

A video of the debate is available to view.

After the debate Dublin Vice Mayor Arun Goel remarked "A great event! Thank you to the candidates, volunteers, supporters, organizer, and all the attendees. Amazing attendance and glad to see a very engaged crowd. We hope this debate helps voters make an informed choice for Alameda County District 1 Supervisor on March 3, 2020."