Long Beach mayoral contenders Suzie Price and Rex Richardson faced off in a debate Sunday afternoon in San Pedro, where they answered questions from audience members about port automation, pandemic recovery and how the city’s government conducts business.

The debate was hosted by the San Pedro Democratic Club at the Warner Grand Theatre Sunday and did not include all nine candidates that have declared for the mayor’s race to date. The club, which also hosted candidates for the Los Angeles mayor’s race and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s race, only included candidates who had eclipsed a certain fundraising mark.

Members of labor unions and neighborhood groups posed questions to Richardson and Price, who are current members of the City Council, with a focus on the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, homelessness and environmental justice.

However, the two were not asked questions about other pressing issues in the city like the housing affordability crisis and a looming budget shortfall that could force tens of millions in cuts to city departments.

Both promised to increase the efforts of the city to address homelessness with increased outreach to people living on the streets through the city’s REACH teams, which are comprised of a public health nurse, mental health clinician and outreach workers. Richardson said that he would call for the creation of a new department that would specifically address mental health within his first 100 days in office.

“The reality is we can’t address homelessness without building housing and we need to invest in step-down facilities, mental health resources to help our families who are on the street get the services they need and get off the streets,” Richardson said.

Both touted their track records of working closely with their communities to develop solutions to neighborhood issues and pledged to engage the community on decisions if they were to be elected mayor. Price pointed to her efforts during recent zoning changes in Southeast Long Beach, which she noted can be resistant to change, but said that early discussions with residents are key and that “eleventh-hour changes” on city policies were unacceptable.

“That’s not ok,” Price said. “That should never happen.”

Richardson and Price rebuffed automation at the ports if it meant the loss of local jobs, and promised that if they were elected as mayor they would appoint members to the Long Beach Harbor Commission who have experience with port operations. Price added that she wouldn’t use the commission as a means to repay political favors.

When asked how they would address environmental justice issues, particularly those that affect residents who live in West Long Beach near the port and other pollutant-producing industries, Richardson said he would push for the port to speed up investments in cleaner technologies like electric trucks and hold the port accountable to its Clean Air Action Plan.

The plan, which has been updated twice, calls for a zero-emission port by 2035.

Price said the port should continue investments in cleaner practices like hooking ships up to shore power rather than letting them burn diesel fuel as they are unloaded, but said that the city needs to address climate change, especially sea-level rise, to improve quality of life for all residents in the future.

“We need to invest resources and not just talk about those changes that need to happen to ensure that every resident in the city of Long Beach has a city that’s advocating for them to have the best quality of life in terms of environmental impacts,” Price said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Long Beach economy and many expect it to take years for it to fully recover from the business closures and job losses that began in 2020. One of the most affected portions of the Long Beach population has been its Latino community, which makes up about 43% of the city, according to the most recent Census.

Price and Richardson both said they would ensure that Latinos have a seat at the table in city decisions and that equity in Long Beach can’t be achieved until all communities are able to thrive.

“That means we have to talk about things like race,” Richardson said. “It’s OK to bring up race.”