PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Candidates for multiple offices across Palm Beach County joined WPTV Anchor Michael Williams on stage for a public candidate forum Wednesday evening.
The forum, moderated by Williams and hosted by the Urban League of Palm Beach County, was held in the Duncan Theater at Palm Beach State College's Lake Worth Beach Campus. WPTV streamed the forum live.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Republican candidate Michael Gauger on policing, diversity, mental health and budgeting
First to answer questions was Palm Beach County Sheriff Republican candidate Michael Gauger.
Gauger, a now-retired chief deputy for the Sheriff's Office, is running against Democratic incumbent Rick Bradshaw. Current Sheriff Rick Bradshaw did not attend the forum.
Gauger said, if elected, would focus on community policing.
"That's the important part, building relationships, building partnerships, not just with neighborhoods but also with surrounding businesses," Gauger said. "We got the first neighborhood park build, we fought to do that, and now we have 30 neighborhood parks."
When asked about the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's $952 million budget proposed for next year, which Williams pointed out has garnered criticism as being "bloated", Gauger said he would spend more frugally.
"I think there are areas that we can cut," said Gauger. "As for where exactly would we cut, I would do a forensic audit, we'd bring in an inspector general."
"How would your administration look different than Bradshaw's?" asked Williams.
"I was the man in the community. The Sheriff was not. I was out in those communities," replied Gauger. "You have to be holistic. All divisions are important, SWAT, tactical, you need all of it but you have to keep it within reason and be fair and equitable across the board."
District 15 State Attorney Office candidates Alexcia Cox and Samuel Stern on crime, diversity and mental health
After Gauger, candidates Alexcia Cox, a current Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney, and republican candidate Samuel Stern, a former federal prosecutor in New Jersey, took the hot seat.
Stern said he would take a 'tough on crime' approach if elected, and ensure transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
When asked his stance on directly filing juveniles to adult court, Stern said he would take a 'fair' approach.
"Juvenile court is one of the toughest things we deal with because it's rehabilitative, not punishing," said Stern.
"Do you think there’s too much of this?" asked Williams.
"It's case by case, I can’t give you a broad stroke," replied Stern. "We try to be fair in every case. My commitment to everyone is to reform this very troubled office and to do the right thing all the time."
Cox said if elected, she'd focus on building up a hate crimes task force, and an elder crimes task force.
"Because I believe we’ve seen an uptick in hate crimes and it's something we need to address," said Cox. "And we need to make sure we are collaborating with community agencies to make sure people preying on our seniors are brought to justice."
The audience asked the candidates about their stance on implicit bias existing in the justice system.
"I believe it's important that when we're talking about policing and criminal justice, that we're not afraid to have conversations about it," Cox said.
"I think people have biases, but we're an evidence-based operation, we have fair people who know what they’re doing and are well trained," Stern said.
When asked about how they'd handle the prosecution of abortion doctors if Amendment 4 is defeated, Stern said "I'm not a legislator, we follow the law, whatever the laws are we will follow them."
"We trust women to make decisions about their own bodies, but as a State Attorney I have a commitment to uphold the law whether we like it or not,"
Candidates were also asked about their approach to mental health issues within the community.
"This is a time for us to have collaboration between police, prosecution and the public, it's a problem we have to work through together as a community," Cox said.
Stern the issues of mental health should be dealt with by our legislators.
County Commission District 3 candidate Joel Flores on providing relief to constituents struggling under the cost of living
"In my district, I see a lot of my community having to move to make a living," said Flores. "The easiest fix is where the County Commission could have lowered the millage rate. Lowering the overall taxes in this county could help."
Flores, a Democrat running against incumbent Republican Michael Barnett, said he has a six-point strategy plan to increase housing opportunities. Barnett, did not participate in the forum.
"Part of it is lowering taxes, working with nonprofits to add more to the pipeline," said Flores. "We really have to focus on lowering the millage, communicating with Tallahassee."
"People say they need help now," said Williams.
"I agree," replied Flores.
District 5 Commissioner candidates Maria Sachs and John Fisher on over-development
"How do you find that balance?" asked Williams.
"Smart development," said Palm Beach County Mayor Sachs. "When we moved here, we liked the open spaces in the west, we liked being able to drive on Lyons Road and see all the open fields. I want to have more fresh markets and more farmer's markets to make use of the beautiful agriculture. The balance is that we have development while maintaining open spaces. The people come first, development comes second."
Fisher said he'd pump the brakes on development until infrastructure can catch up.
"Palm Beach County roads get an 'F' rating, the roads are horrendous. We're $700 million behind," said Fisher, who added he'd like to focus his efforts on trimming the budget. "The budget was $6.7 million two years ago, now we're encroaching on $9 million. I want an outside auditor to come in and take a non-biased, forensic look."
When asked about how they'd handle the property insurance crisis, both candidates deferred to Tallahassee.
Palm Beach County's District 7 Commissioner candidates Bobby Powell Jr. and Leonard Serratore on affordable housing, homelessness and cost of living
"I'm a conservative, I believe in less government and that means less taxes and more money in your pocket," said Republican Serratore.
"So what programs would you cut?" asked Williams.
"There are not many things you can actually cut, from a policy point of view," replied Serratore.
"I believe as a community if we work together we can get things done," said Democratic State Senator Powell. "Together, we can 'TEAM,' we can blend this community and we make sure that together we do everything to move us up, not down."
When asked to define affordable housing, Powell said its' skewed by wealthier salaries that bring up the median income of an area.
"Unfortunately, affordable housing is up to 80 percent of an area's median income and it sometimes still ends up being more than $350,000," said Powell.
"What's the sweet spot we need to hit?" asked Williams.
"The sweet spot we need to hit, if we can, is get our housing under 250 thousand for workforce housing," said Powell.
"Is that achievable?" asked Williams.
"Absolutely, in a few years, yes, if we work together," said Powell.
Supervisor of Elections candidates Wendy Sartory-Link and Jeff Buongiorno on the security and integrity of our election system
Supervisor of Elections incumbent, Wendy Sartory-Link, and her opponent, republican candidate Jeff Buongiorno.
"Do you believe in the security of our elections?" asked Williams.
"Yes, elections are safe and they are secure," replied incumbent Sartory-Link. "We have a number of procedures in place to ensure that if people choose to vote by mail, we're checking names, birth date, address, ID, drivers licenses. It's a closed-loop system, so if we didn't mail you your ballot out we know whether you voted more than once."
Buongiorno said he did not believe in the sanctity of the election.
"No, I do not, you do not need photo ID to vote, you can register to vote with last four digits of social security number," said Buongiorno. "You can go ahead and request a ballot online using just your social security number."
Sartory-Link countered and said that isn't true, and said even requesting a ballot by mail still requires a check of identification, particularly if signatures don't match.
When Williams asked how voters can have faith in the election process, Sartory-Link said her office is required to have a 100% audit.
"We are required by statute to do a 100% audit of the vote tallies after every election, so we have two different opportunities where you have your tabulation system and auditing system to look at those same votes and if they are coming up with the same numbers, the only difference maybe one or two," Sartory-Link said. "That's just one way, we have open transparency where they can come and watch the process. I think people can come and get more educated as well."
Early voting begins at 7 a.m. on Oct. 21. Early voting polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 3.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is 5 p.m. on Oct. 24.
