Sacramento mayoral candidates clash on police funding and how to confront city’s homeless crisis

The candidates vying to be Sacramento’s next mayor expressed sharp differences on public safety, homeless services sites and rent control in a packed debate Thursday as they tried to distinguish their positions two months from election day. 

Assembly member Kevin McCarty and epidemiologist Dr. Flo Cofer, both Democrats, ran platforms furthest to the left in the primary election. But McCarty said Sacramento should focus on core services while Cofer said the city needs to try alternative approaches. 

McCarty said he won’t make any cuts to police, fire or parks, adding the city must enforce its anti-camping laws as it confronts the homeless crisis. Meanwhile, Cofer proposed shifting funding from vacant police jobs to violence prevention programs and also to the city’s Department of Community Response for some homeless issues.

“We’ve got to do something different and focus on public safety, not just emergency response,” Cofer said. 

This was the first debate between the mayoral candidates since March. More than 200 people attended the event, which was held at Tahoe Elementary School and organized by the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association. The crowd cheered after some responses and many waited to talk with the candidates after.

McCarty, who served on the Sacramento City Council from 2004 to 2014, argued the city’s police and firefighter unions have endorsed him because they know he’ll support them. 

The candidates also disagreed on whether the city should open homeless service sites at parks. Cofer said the city should consider outdoor homeless shelters similar to ones in Portland, Oregon, at underutilized parks. McCarty, by contrast, said he opposes homeless encampments in parks, sanctioned or not, and suggested Cal Expo as a site for emergency homeless housing. 

Both agreed Sacramento must boost affordable housing to prevent homelessness. But McCarty said he’s against increasing rent control beyond the city’s current limits in the Tenant Protection Program. The program caps annual rental rate increases and expires at the end of this year. 

“I thought that was a fair compromise,” McCarty said. “I think if anything else it would be a disaster for building any more multi-family apartments in Sacramento.”

Cofer argued the program doesn’t go far enough, especially for people on fixed incomes. 

The Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association posted a recording of the debate online. The association said it decided not to livestream the event because of reception issues at Tahoe Elementary School and to encourage people to attend in person, President Isaac Gonzalez said. 

Voters in November will elect either McCarty or Cofer to succeed Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who has held the office since 2016. The mayor of Sacramento runs City Council meetings and appoints members to boards, commissions and advisory agencies. The mayor is also responsible for interpreting the city’s policies and needs, according to the city charter.