Feb 13 Candidate Forum: Board of Supervisors (District 5)
Seven candidates participated in the Tuesday, February 13, 2024, candidate forum hosted by RCPC, School Board Member Sam Davis and the Oakland Tech Varsity Debate Team.
Questions written and asked by the Oakland Tech Varsity Debate Team focused on the core programs of the county: homeless services & social services (assistance programs, foster care, senior services, etc)
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&fbclid=IwAR2HIFwMGtsVwcX7Q2oyD_0WMmQJjhep9X81dorGCygmCtwAYri79LCCIuQ&v=daQ0Xy0k5dAS
Questions answered at the forum, on the YouTube video:
1. Could you introduce yourself and let the public know what unique factors about you make you the best option to fulfill the role of County Supervisor for District 5?
2. Given that your predecessor Keith Carson was elected into this role in 1992 and held this same position for over 30 years, what is your opinion on maximum term limits for positions of public office like this one?
3. The County’s core function is to provide the social safety net (medical care for low-income and uninsured people, social services like welfare programs and foster care, and homeless services). Given that homelessness and poverty are worsening in our county, what is a new solution or initiative that does not currently exist that you would champion as County Supervisor to combat homelessness and poverty?
4. What would you do as County Supervisor to increase the ease of access for students to get the health and mental health resources they need?
5. Considering low graduation rates and high homelessness rates of foster kids after aging out of the system, how would you help improve the life outcomes of kids in foster care while they are in the child welfare system, and specifically once they age out of foster care?
6. The County Sheriff is an elected position which provides policing services to the unincorporated areas of Alameda County. Cities oversee their own police departments BUT Alameda County is responsible for mental health services county-wide. What, in your opinion, is the role of policing in response to mental health calls?
7. Many of today’s young people are seemingly locked out of future home ownership and the economic and social benefits that would include, how would you improve the amount and diversity of home ownership in our district?
