Faulconer announces he will run for governor

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Monday officially began his campaign for governor, criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom for such issues as income inequality and homelessness and pledging to begin the "California comeback."

"California has become the land of broken promises," Faulconer said in an approximately 2 1/2-minute video released on YouTube. "We can clean up

California and it starts at the top.

"Governor Newsom's ruling class has failed us. He promised equality but gave us some of the worst income inequality in the nation. They promised modern infrastructure but can't even keep the lights on. They promised prosperity, but created high costs, higher taxes and kill jobs all to protect powerful special interests.

"They promised compassion but enable addition and despair. They promised to fix failing schools but put special interests ahead of kids every time.''

The video also criticized Newsom for the distribution of the coronavirus vaccines and for dining at the acclaimed French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley without a mask when he was asking Californians not to socialize with friends and wear a face covering when going out and being around others.

Newsom later apologized for attending the dinner, calling it a "bad mistake.''

Faulconer was San Diego's mayor from 2014 through December after serving seven years on the City Council. In December, he was appointed a visiting professor of community leadership and government innovation at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy in Malibu.