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Justin Fareed says opponent puts party politics before public safety

Posted at 6:27 PM, Oct 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-11 02:30:32-04

Two men are vying to represent the 24th district in the House of Representatives.

KSBY anchor Christina Favuzzi sat down with each candidate to talk about the issues they want to tackle.

Click here to see her interview with incumbent Congressman Salud Carbajal.

Challenger Justin Fareed says the Central Coast needs a new representative in Washington D.C.

November 6 will mark Justin Fareed’s third attempt to win the 24th district.

“I think a lot of people are discouraged and disappointed that my opponent had talked about working in a bipartisan way when he’s voted with his party leadership almost 100 percent of the time,” Fareed said.

The south coast businessman says he’s frustrated with Democrats and Republicans for failing to come up with bipartisan immigration reform.

He wants a fair, compassionate and merit-based immigration system.

“We need to encourage people to go through legal ports of entry and absent any criminal conduct, do not separate those people from their families,” he said.

Fareed supports a guest worker program to help alleviate the labor shortage in the agricultural sector.

He sees the closure of Diablo Canyon power plant as an opportunity to create jobs as well as a water source. He wants to retrofit the facility into a desalination plant.

“Not only would you be creating jobs here locally, we have some of the best electricians and pipe fitters,” Fareed said. “We need to continue to do more to bring in the next generation of skilled workforce.”

Fareed says he doesn’t want to see any more Central Coast natives forced to move out of state due to the high cost of living, including soaring healthcare costs.

“I think it’s important that we work in a bipartisan way in the United States government and Congress to resolve these issues by reducing one, the cost of healthcare and then making sure that healthcare is more accessible and affordable.”

He also says federal agencies should partner more with local law enforcement to combat opioid addiction and human trafficking.

“We need to do everything we can from the federal perspective to make sure our local law enforcement and our federal agencies in partnership and collaboration with one another can work to keep our streets as safe as possible,” he said.

Fareed says incumbent Salud Carbajal hasn’t done enough to keep local families safe.

“[Carbajal] regularly put party politics ahead of our community when it comes to public safety,” Fareed said.

KSBY will host a live debate between the congressional candidates this Saturday at 7 p.m. If you have a question for the candidates, please send it to us at news@ksby.com.