Election 2024: Candidates for 31st Congressional District seat talk housing, climate, war and peace - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Election 2024: Candidates for 31st Congressional District seat talk housing, climate, war and peace - San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Candidates participate in 31st District Congressional Candidates forum hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network in Baldwin Park on Friday Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)
Candidates, from left, Greg Hafif, Bob Archuletta and Erskine Levi talk before the 31st District Congressional Candidates forum hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network in Baldwin Park on Friday Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)
State Senator Bob Archuletta, left, speaks during the 31st District Congressional Candidates forum hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network in Baldwin Park on Friday Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)
State Senator Susan Rubio, right, speaks during the 31st District Congressional Candidates forum hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network in Baldwin Park on Friday Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)
Candidates Bob Archuletta, right, and Erskine Levi, left, share a moment before the 31st District Congressional Candidates forum hosted by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network in Baldwin Park on Friday Feb. 23, 2024. (Photo by Keith Durflinger, Contributing Photographer)

Nine of the 10 candidates running for the San Gabriel Valley’s 31st Congressional District seat sounded off Friday, Feb. 23, on how they would address some of the most pressing issues in the area.

Bob Archuleta, Gil Cisneros, Greg Hafif, Mary Ann Lutz, Marie Manvel, Kurt Jose, Erskine Levi, Susan Rubio and Daniel Martinez attended a candidates forum at Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Baldwin Park.

During the event, sponsored by the San Gabriel Valley Public Affairs Network, they shared their prescriptions on how they would lead if voters put them in Congress.

In the March 5 primary, voters will select the top two among them to face off head to head in the November election. Whoever wins will represent an area that includes El Monte, West Covina, Covina, Baldwin Park, Azusa, Bradbury, Duarte, Irwindale, South El Monte, Industry, La Puente, Avocado Heights, West Puente Valley, Valinda, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Monrovia.

The area is represented by Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte, who is retiring this year.

Each candidate agreed that housing and homelessness are issues that need to be addressed in the district.

Some candidates, such as Archuleta, Cisneros, Manvel, Jose and Martinez, said trying to solve homelessness also means investing in solving a mental health crisis. Lawmakers should be setting policy that provides the proper resources and funding to help begin addressing mental health issues, as well as addiction issues many in the homeless community face, they said.

“We have to find a way to hire more doctors, nurses, LCSW’s, we have to understand this is a mental health crisis,” said Archuleta, a Democratic state senator. “Then we have to work with every municipality we can to ensure that Congress is allocating the funding that they need.”

Addressing homelessness is also a complex issue, said Hafif, a self-described moderate Democrat who added the problem does not have one solution. He said that a lot of money has already been allocated to trying to solve it, and working on a local level is vital to really knowing what a solution could be.

Lutz said that more federal support for local organizations is needed because they are already doing the work of helping unhoused folk. Representatives must address the issues that led to families and individuals becoming homeless in the first place, said Lutz, a Democrat.

Levi, a conservative, emphasized that no veteran should go homeless.

As for affordable housing, candidates had different solutions such as giving incentives to developers to build affordable housing in communities.

Cisneros, a former congressman and Democrat, said that government-backed loans should help give people the opportunity to buy a house. He added that state, federal and local governments need to work together to develop policies that will help solve housing issues.

Rubio said that as a Democratic state senator representing an overlapping area she is already working on collaborating with cities in her district to create more affordable housing. She emphasized that many people who are homeless are those who have lost their jobs and can’t afford to continue living where they were. Workforce development should also be in plans to address both issues.

Candidates also discussed climate change.

Hafif, Manvel, and Rubio said investing in infrastructure will help encourage more electric vehicles. Rubio added that it is important to keep low-income families and individuals in mind through these changes, to make sure to “not leave people behind.”

Lutz added that advocating for open spaces in communities is also important in the conversation of addressing climate change.

“Climate change is normal, but we are stewards of our environment and have to cut down on pollution,” Levi said.

Martinez, a Republican, agreed that finding a way to change the orientation of the economy is needed to reduce pollution.

But just setting goals for zero-emission is not enough, said Jose, a Democratic candidate. Educating children and adults about the green economy, such as hydrophilic gardening, as well as working with energy companies is important to have a lasting impact on solving climate change.

Candidates also shared their stances on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

Archuleta, Cisneros, Hafif, Lutz, Jose, and Rubio said “yes” on supporting both rights.

“I wholeheartedly support the LGBTQ community,” said Jose. “I believe that we should protect them especially for children and keep their safety in mind. So for me, everyone deserves to be respected and we should all treat each other the way we want to be treated.”

Manvel, running a No Party Preference candidate, said that she supported reproductive freedom issues being taken to the state level, and is against abortions. “I believe that everyone in this country has freedom and everyone in this country should be respected,” she said when asked about supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

Levi said “no” to both. “God gives everyone in this world free will and I’m going to do the same. If they want to do that, they can do that,” he said when asked about supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

Martinez addressed supporting LGBTQ+ rights by saying, “I believe that every human has the right to choose their own path in life.”

Candidates were also asked about foreign policy, and whether they support military aid to Ukraine and Israel, and if they would support a ceasefire in Gaza.

Very few candidates said that they would support a ceasefire in Gaza but those who alluded to it also mentioned a ceasefire in the Ukraine and Russia conflict as well.

Martinez said that if U.S. support is going to any country impacted by conflict, he supports the conditions for a negotiation for a ceasefire in addition to military aid. He only spoke to the conditions of Ukrainian people suffering due to the conflict and that “if we do not get them to negotiate quickly they’re losing land every single day.”

Rubio said that she also supported aid to Ukraine and that entrance of humanitarian efforts should be allowed in Gaza but also in Israel.

“I think there is a more strategic way to tackle the issue, but we also have to remember there are still hostages being held and not put them in harm’s way so we need to be more strategic,” she said about the conflict in Israel.

Levi said that he is for a diplomatic response before any war but is in full support of providing aid to allies which are Ukraine and Israel.

Jose said he also is in support of aid to Ukraine, but noted that diplomatic measures and restraint are also needed. In the conflict in Israel, he said that he is in support of a “two-state solution,” and both conflicts should “get to the negotiating table and have lasting ceasefires.”

Manvel said that in the state of debt that the nation is in, she is in support of aid if it supports democracy and freedom.

Lutz said she also supports aid to Ukraine, and supports Israel “defending themselves against Hamas,” but, “I would like Israel to be more thoughtful in the way that they are conducting themselves at this time and they are taking care of the citizens that are caught in the crossfire.”

Hafif had a similar answer, but what Israel has been doing now after almost five months of the conflict was “beyond belief and it needs to stop immediately.”

Cisneros said that he believes that “that any other nation that is being attacked by a foreign power or terrorist organization has the right to respond and I think that’s what we’ve seen in both Ukraine and in Israel.” And is in support of “bringing back peace to the Middle East.”

Archuleta, the Democratic state senator who represents the 30th state Senate District, said it is important for the United States to protect their alliances with Ukraine and Israel. “We have to stay with them and make sure we don’t turn our back on our allies and we have to continue that funding,” he said.

Candidates also discussed other issues that they thought were important to address for the 31st congressional district, such as improving education, public safety, health care, local economic development and veterans issues.

Pedro Antonio Casas, a Republican, did not participate in the forum.