A Debate… Finally!

As of today, September 8, Sam Liccardo and Evan Low, the candidates for Representative of California’s 16th district, held their first official debate. The debate was moderated by former KQED Correspondent Angie Coiro. Some questions were raised by Coiro and others by audience participation.

Topics included the issues of homelessness, reproductive rights, taxation, universal basic income, and foreign policy. This article will follow Evan Low’s positions on the issue of homelessness based on what he said at the debate.

Low’s State Audit

When the question of how to combat homelessness in Congress came up, Low pulled out a piece of paper and said, “this is a state audit that just came out that showed the misuse of funds from the city of San Jose… And specifically, the finding on page seven, that homelessness under the tenure of Sam Liccardo increased 40%. Don’t take my word for it, this is a state audit report.” He continued to speak about the importance of “accountability” instead of “throwing money at the problem.” 

Some inconsistencies…

His response sounded strong, but upon further inspection, the document he references tracked the increase of homelessness not just of San Jose during Liccardo’s time as mayor there, but in San Diego as well. The report he mentioned (2023‑102.2) said this in the context that “although interim housing serves an important purpose, around 40 percent of people exiting such placements returned to unsheltered homelessness.”

It did not, however, say that homelessness ballooned specifically in San Jose under Liccardo’s leadership, as Low made it out to be. 

Furthermore, the Senator who Low cited as requesting the report, Dave Cortese, published his own statement after the report was released. He said, “Since 2017, California's homeless population has increased by about 38 percent, rising by approximately 50,000 to over 180,000 individuals.” Nowhere does Senator Cortese’s statement say homelessness rose 40% under Liccardo’s leadership as mayor. He even goes on to say that “the good news is that the data showed positive outcomes for people placed into permanent housing. In San Jose, 58% of the people placed into permanent housing remained housed.”

Contrasting success

In fact, in the interim housing built by Liccardo as mayor, over 72% remained housed after 2 years, with over half moving into the permanent housing mentioned by Cortese. Overall, while he was mayor Liccardo reduced homelessness in San Jose by 11%, and under the leadership of Mayor Matt Mahan, the city continued the quick-build and interim housing programs Liccardo started.

Concluding notes of Low’s response

Low continued to point out the accomplishments of the state legislature in “passing laws with our governor, Gavin Newsom, ensuring that cities are absolutely looking at the metrics for success and the deliverables.” He went on to say that “the facts matter. I am dedicated to ensure that, oftentimes, we have the understanding of federal government, state government, and local government… for the effectiveness of the deliverable result.”

…Anything else?

Low did not say anything else about his policies or plans to tackle the issue of homelessness.

This article is meant to be food for thought for voters in the district and others outside who are interested. The next few articles will continue to unpack Evan’s performance in this debate.