Full transcript of Sept. 3 Fresno mayoral debate at The Bee

Published online on Friday, Sep. 12, 2008

On Sept. 3, mayoral candidates Henry T. Perea and Ashley Swearengin appeared on the Boren/McEwen political podcast and answered questions from Jim Boren and Bill McEwen for 71 minutes. This transcript contains their complete answers. The questions have been edited for space.

Q: If you become mayor, where does providing basic services rank on your priority list?

Perea: I think the job of the mayor really has to take a couple different views. One is you have to take the global picture, the big picture in looking at issues like how we address our economy, how we address air quality and how we do this from a regional perspective say in transportation. But you’re right, the other part of being mayor means that you have to pay attention to the nuts and bolts; the issues that people deal with everyday as they walk out their door. I can tell you that as a member of the City Council, I have an extremely strong record in fighting for these types of issues, both for my constituency in District 7 and for the entire city of Fresno, the cornerstone of that effort being No Neighborhood Left Behind. This is an opportunity where Mayor Autry and I partnered and co-authored this initiative, where more than $45 million was invested in 71 of the poorest neighborhoods and bringing them up to a new kind of standard that all neighborhoods should have the opportunity to live by. So, for me, addressing the basics is at the top of the list. Now, how often am I going to be at City Hall? I’m going to be there everyday. But I’m also going to be out in the community, speaking to community groups, reaching out to various organizations, making sure that we are constantly communicating with the diverse community of Fresno. So I certainly plan on being the kind of mayor that’s going to be hands on. I’m going to roll up my sleeves and get to work every day.

Swearengin: I think about being the mayor of Fresno as being the CEO of the public’s business. The public has entrusted City Hall with its resources to cover essential services. Those things always will be first and foremost, my top priorities, public safety, making sure that our neighborhoods are of the quality and the safety they need to be, making sure that those essential services are being met. That’s what I hear every single day when I go door-to-door, when I visit with people. And I think a lot of the, sort of the disenfranchisement that we see among the voters today is because many of those essential services are being overlooked. It is the foundation of our administration. From there, and once we have a solid foundation, then it’s possible to reach for the stars, it’s possible to think about the investment for the long-term and to do the things that are really going to create the quality of life in Fresno that I think we really deserve. I certainly applaud the efforts of No Neighborhood Left Behind. I think Mayor Autry and with Henry signing on to that, I think it was an important first step, but let’s not forget that we still have the highest concentration of poverty of any other large city in the United States; that our police officers are fighting gangs that are literally outnumbering them to the tune of thousands. We have a lot of work left to do on essential services and that’ll certainly be my focus. In terms of my work ethic and where I spend my time, I think anybody that’s worked with me knows I’m passionate about the work that I do and would be on the job almost round-the-clock. I will budget some time for family and for sleeping, but whether it’s in City Hall or whether it’s in the community or representing Fresno in Sacramento or in Washington, D.C., the interests of the public will always be first and foremost on my mind.