By Khalida Sarwari
Declared and potential gubernatorial candidates participated in a panel today focusing on leadership and engagement as part of a Silicon Valley public policy forum at Santa Clara University.
The morning-long conference was sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and featured separate panels with Silicon Valley leaders.
Additionally, gubernatorial candidates Steve Poizner, the state’s Insurance Commissioner, and Tom Campbell, a former congressman and the state’s finance director, spoke at the event. Panelists on the Democratic side included San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has not yet announced his candidacy but is expected to run.
“I’m not a candidate. Yes I am leading in the polls, but I’m not yet convinced,” Brown said. “The people of California are not anxious to hear from their candidates yet, and the deadline for filing papers isn’t until March, so tune in.”
Poizner, a Los Gatos resident who founded several technology companies before being elected as insurance commissioner, kicked off a panel focused on housing, transportation and infrastructure. He advocated the expansion of nuclear power, emphasizing that restrictions placed on nuclear power plants have done more harm for the global environment than they have intended to.
“Modern nuclear power plants are safe and should be used in California,” Poizner said.
Nuclear power would allow for the expansion of electric vehicle cars and would help the state meet its future energy needs, he said.
In a panel on energy and environment-related issues, Brown discussed AB 32, also known as California’s Global Warming Climate Bill. Signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, the measure establishes a program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve
cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gases. Brown did not discuss a recent measure that places restrictions on utilities acquiring power from renewable sources, but he said he would support getting renewable energy both from California and from producers in other states.
“Most scientists tell us we’ve got a big problem,” Brown said. “We don’t have a choice, we’ve got to move forward.”
Brown said, moreover, lawmakers must avoid a “logrolling peculiar political process” and efficiently prioritize the distribution of stimulus funds.
Campbell, who said he also supports nuclear power, focused on education during a panel on taxes, regulations and competitiveness. When asked what concerned him most about doing business in California, Campbell said most of the issues that worry him are the lack of an untrained workforce, an underfunded school system and layoffs.
“There’s a lot that can be done by just setting aside party labels,” he said.
Newsom, who graduated from Santa Clara University, espoused a similar notion during the final panel on education and workforce preparedness. He promoted a belief in public-public partnerships, universal preschool, wellness centers, art programs and a framework that guarantees sixth grade students placement opportunities in four-year colleges.
“The next governor needs to value higher education, substantially and not just rhetorically,” Newsom said.
The solution comes down to leadership and organizing that leadership, Newsom said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman did not attend due to a scheduling conflict. She has said the main focus of her campaign will be education and job creation and retention.
The 2010 California gubernatorial election will be held on Nov. 2, 2010.