Bloomberg talks education, gun control and his nemesis: nicotine
He makes appearances in Oakland and Monterey as his ads blanket the airwaves
With his inescapable ads saturating local television, Mike Bloomberg took his presidential campaign through the Bay Area on Friday and also unveiled his plans for confronting climate change and wildfires.
The former New York City mayor started his day by riding BART from San Francisco to Oakland, where he met with Mayor Libby Schaaf at a downtown bagel shop before heading to Everett and Jones BBQ for a rally with supporters. Bloomberg then traveled south to Monterey for another organizing event in the afternoon.
In a wide-ranging 18-minute speech to supporters at the famed Jack London Square barbecue restaurant, Bloomberg touched on education, climate change, gun control, the opioid crisis and even his long-time adversary: nicotine.
He did not mention the wildfire plan his campaign rolled out this week ahead of the California trip, saving that for his remarks later in the day.
Instead Bloomberg spent the speech driving home the message of pragmatism and unity that he says he delivered as mayor of New York: “Less talk and less partisanship,” as he put it, more “getting things done.”
“My whole career I have been a problem solver, not a problem creator,” Bloomberg said. “Together we really can turn this country around.”
To close the speech, he said, “If you’re ready to clean out the Oval Office and get things done, welcome to Bloomberg 2020.”
A few hours later, Bloomberg spoke to about 200 people crowded into a historic barn in downtown Monterey that had been turned into a wedding venue. Introduced by former Sierra Club leader Carl Pope, he touted his plans to cut carbon emissions and protect natural resources.
“Climate change isn’t hypothetical here,” Bloomberg said, citing California wildfires and sea level rise, as he spoke under a string of exposed lightbulbs. “It’s not a Chinese hoax, it’s real and it’s threatening your way of life. We’ve got to do something about it.”
One promise drew big applause at both campaign stops.
“I will make you a commitment right now,” Bloomberg declared. “When I’m in the Oval Office, no tweeting.”
Monique Olsen, a Monterey local, said she decided to come to the event on a whim because “I see him every night on TV.” While Olsen said she was still deciding who to support, she said she liked what she was hearing from Bloomberg.
“He’s willing to put his money on the line” to beat Trump, she said. “He’s blowing his dough, so you know he’s serious about it.”
Bloomberg’s pledge of unity resonated with Tom Varghese, a 60-year-old from Alameda who signed on to volunteer for the campaign and watched the candidate speak in Oakland.
“He had to work with a lot of different people” as mayor, Varghese said. “We just need somebody to bring people together.”
This week’s trip marks Bloomberg’s third visit to California in his two months as a presidential candidate.
In addition to the Oakland and Monterey events, Bloomberg also held a closed-door briefing with tech leaders in San Francisco Thursday night.
His wildfire plan, which appears to be the most specific on fire policy of any of the top candidates who are still in the race, is a sign of how he is zeroing in on issues important to California voters.
Bloomberg’s campaign says he would double federal funding for fire resilience and fire management to $10 billion, with half of that going to forest restoration and mitigation work. He would increase FEMA funding for fireproofing homes.
The former mayor proposes a “Wildfire Corps,” a team of thousands of workers who would be trained in leading fire resilience work, which would be created through a partnership between federal and state governments. And he endorsed the Wildfire Defense Act, a bill introduced in Congress by Harris, which would allocate $1 billion per year to support community-based wildfire emergency plans.
California’s biggest wildfires in recent years have been sparked by damaged power lines and other equipment. Bloomberg’s plan would support the development of microgrids in high-risk areas, a development experts have pointed to as a promising way to reduce fire risk. It would also provide federal loans and grants to local utilities to help them upgrade and maintain their infrastructure — although any funding that goes to Northern California’s controversial Pacific Gas and Electric Co. might not be popular with voters.