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Mayoral debate focuses on stadium, infrastructure

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Stadium-related initiatives, problems in the Police Department and San Diego’s crumbling infrastructure were among key topics in Tuesday night’s televised mayoral debate.

Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer and his two re-election opponents – Democrat Ed Harris and independent Lori Saldana – also sparred over affordable housing, raising the minimum wage and fighting climate change.

In addition, Faulconer vigorously defended himself against critiques that he takes too much money from the hotel industry and other special interests.

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The candidates sharply differed on the Citizens’ Plan, a proposed November ballot measure that would hike hotel taxes for a convention center annex and ease approval of a downtown football stadium.

RELATED: Voter turnout could be hurdle for Faulconer

Faulconer opposes the plan based on legal concerns raised by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, while Harris and Saldana reiterated their support, partly because the measure would bring educational uses to the site of Qualcomm Stadium.

Lifeguard Ed Harris is challenging Mayor Kevin Faulconer John Gibbins U-T
Lifeguard Ed Harris is challenging Mayor Kevin Faulconer John Gibbins U-T
(John Gibbins/U-T file)

On a separate measure being pursued by the Chargers that would hike hotel taxes for a combined stadium and convention center annex, Saldana and Harris expressed strong opposition.

“I can’t support giving taxpayer money to a billionaire,” said Harris, referring to Chargers chairman Dean Spanos.

Faulconer said he doesn’t have enough information, such as how much it would cost to relocate a bus yard within the proposed stadium’s footprint, to take a firm position before the June 7 primary.

“It’s up to me as mayor to make sure that we’re getting the facts, not just taking a guess,” he said.

Harris criticized Faulconer for his fall 2015 proposal to spend $350 million in taxpayer money to help build a stadium in Mission Valley.

On Police Department struggles to recruit and retain officers, Faulconer said he’s made a variety of efforts to address the problem and won’t consider any revisions to pension reform the voters approved in 2012 as Proposition B.

“We’re not going back,” he said.

RELATED: Is Faulconer vulnerable on public safety?

He also noted that the local crime rate is near historic lows and that he’s been endorsed by the labor union representing police officers.

Harris said he wouldn’t change Proposition B, but that he would find ways to boost wages enough to solve the problem through negotiations with the police union.

“You can pay a competitive wage without violating Prop. B,” said Harris, a former City Councilman. “You just have to go back to the table and be creative.”

Saldana agreed with Harris, asserting that the pension reform measure has flexibility built into it for dire situations, such as the Department having 150 officer vacancies it can’t fill.

“This is an emergency,” she said, contending that San Diego is the last choice of most applicants for local law enforcement positions. “We are in a crisis.”

On infrastructure, Faulconer touted his tripling of money for road repairs since being elected in 2014, his commitment to devote half of all new revenue to infrastructure and his support for Proposition H, a June 7 ballot measure that would devote millions to infrastructure over the next 25 years.

Saldana and Harris said the mayor hasn’t done nearly enough.

Saldana said Proposition H relies on iffy projections of revenue growth and future pension savings.

Harris said he supports paying for infrastructure upgrades and repairs by selling bonds that would be paid back with future city revenues.

He said the timing is ideal with interest rates at historic lows, which would make it relatively cheap to borrow money now and pay it back over time.

“If we’re not bonding now, where there’s record low rates of interest, we’re not putting people to work and we’re not fixing a problem that’s been growing for several years,” Harris said.

On San Diego’s shortage of affordable housing, Harris said the city must prevent illegal vacation rentals from limiting availability of residential housing. He said the city should also create incentives for developing lower-cost housing along trolley lines.

Saldana said the city repeatedly fails to take advantage of millions in federal money available for low-income housing that could be secured with thorough needs assessments.

“The money is there, the leadership is what’s lacking,” Saldana said.

Faulconer called his opponents’ positions “rhetoric” and said he’s made substantive changes to address the problem.

He said those include cutting bureaucracy and red tape to accelerate approval of housing projects, and updating community plans all over the city to clarify where dense housing can be built.

Harris and Saldana attacked Faulconer for opposing an increase in the city’s minimum wage, contending it would help solve problems with homelessness and boost city revenues by strengthening the local economy.

Faulconer said he’s focused instead on creating more job opportunities for young people, especially in high-paying technology fields.

On climate change, Harris criticized Faulconer for not following through on his ambitious climate action plan by not attending meetings of the county’s regional planning agency, the San Diego Association of Governments.

He said that agency will be crucial to approval and funding for the mass transit and bicycle lanes needed to make the mayor’s plan work.

Saldana, a former state Assemblywoman, also said there needs to be much greater focus on mass transit.

Faulconer said he’s proud of his climate action plan and the collaborative way it came about.

“The reason we’ve gotten such nationwide attention is because we did it the right way,” Faulconer said. “We brought environmentalists together. We brought the business community and the Chamber of Commerce together, and we have ambitious goals but we have goals that are achievable.”

On his financial support from business groups and other special interests, particularly the hotel industry, Faulconer said his record shows he’s not beholden to such contributors.

“It’s not about who supports you or who doesn’t support you, it’s about standing up and making the tough decisions,” he said.

Some critics have said the hotels industry’s opposition to higher hotel taxes may prevent Faulconer from supporting the Chargers proposed stadium initiative.

Faulconer said the hotel industry’s position won’t determine his position on the initiative.

“I do what’s right and I always have since I’ve been mayor and I’m going to continue to do that for the next four years,” Faulconer said.

Faulconer also announced on Tuesday that he won’t run for governor in 2018 if he’s re-elected as mayor.

If none of the candidates get more than 50 percent of the vote on June 7, the top two finishers will move on to a November runoff.

Tuesday night’s debate, which was televised by KUSI, was sponsored by the station and the Union-Tribune.

Another mayoral debate is scheduled for June 3.

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