Meet David Moore, Bay Area socialist running in the California governor recall election

Name: David Moore

Political party: Socialist Equality Party

Residence: Emeryville

Occupation: Special education teacher

Education: BA Mathematics UCSC, MA Liberal Arts St. John’s College

Experience: 5 years as a public school teacher, 10 years as a journalist for the World Socialist Web Site and campaigner for the Socialist Equality Party

Website: www.socialism2021.com

What precautions, if any, should California continue to take to cope with COVID-19 and its variants?

California should pursue a zero COVID strategy which would include lockdowns of nonessential businesses with compensation to workers and small business owners in order to contain the current delta surge. Additionally, massive investments in contact tracing, distance learning, safety improvements for essential workplaces and other public health measures to keep transmission rates low and ultimately contain COVID-19.

California provided cash support to individuals and small businesses during the pandemic. To what extent should that assistance continue?

These programs should be greatly expanded. The state’s billionaires have seen their wealth skyrocket during the pandemic due to trillions of dollars in government assistance and market speculation. Universal housing and health care are not just social rights but necessary public health measures.

What more would you do to address California’s housing crisis?

Everyone deserves safe, clean housing as a basic social right. Instead of criminalizing homelessness and wasting money forcibly moving them around and incarcerating them, we need a housing first approach to restore stability and privacy to their lives. There are roughly five vacant homes in the state for every homeless person, the wealth is there to guarantee everyone decent housing and social services but all those resources are currently being directed to the private profits of giant corporations and the state’s billionaires.

What should California do to build up its middle class?

In order to elevate the state’s working class, we must overhaul the education system. K-12 education varies wildly throughout the state and is preposterously tied to local property taxes. Universal access to a high quality public education is essential to democracy and a basic social right. Fully funding public schools so that class sizes statewide are 18 students or less and all schools have support staff like nurses, librarians, counselors, art and music programs will pave the way for economic prosperity. At the university level we must commit to free higher education at the community college, CSU and UC levels.

Would you propose any new policies to address climate change?

Climate change is fundamentally driven by capitalism and can only be solved as part of an internationally planned economy that puts the well being of humanity above private profit. In order for California to play its part in addressing climate change we must first end the cartel utility system dominated by PG&E and Southern California Edison and integrate the state’s power electrical system into a single public utility that can rationally apportion resources across the state. Second the state must invest heavily in public transit and basic infrastructure projects by, for example, driving out corruption and finishing the delayed and over budget high speed rail project which provide the foundation for large-scale emissions reductions.

What should California do in the long term to address wildfire and drought conditions?

PG&E and SCE have turned a nice profits for their investors but utterly failed to safely, effectively, and consistently provide electricity to the state’s residents. The state responded to the findings of manslaughter against PG&E in several fires by establishing a state fund to help bail them out of bankruptcy, paid for by higher rates to the consumer. There is no legitimate reason for the state to bail out a company criminally responsible for killing its citizens. Integrating the investor owned cartel system into one public utility would allow the state to modernize infrastructure by burying transmission lines. This should be paid for by taxes on the state’s millionaires and billionaires.

Drought is a more difficult systemic problem driven by climate change and the melting of the state’s glaciers. Agriculture accounts for roughly 80% of the state’s water use. Investing in modern irrigation methods will make the farms more drought resistant while leaving more water in the environment.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Meet David Moore, Bay Area socialist running in the California governor recall election."