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Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, is a leading Democratic candidate for governor. California Today has been doing occasional question-and-answer sessions with candidates for office, and today we turn to Mr. Villaraigosa. The interview, edited and condensed for clarity, was done for our article on the race.

Q: Does Gov. Jerry Brown deserve any blame for the increase in poverty and homelessness?

A: No. I don’t think so. The state was in free-fall when he came in. And it took, what, four years, the first term at least, really five years, to get us back on the footing that we are on now. We weren’t in a position to do what we needed to do. The next administration needs to focus a lot more on building on that template of homelessness, affordable housing and economic development.

Q: Do you support the bill proposed by Senator Scott Wiener that would override local zoning laws to permit more dense housing construction near transit lines?

A: There are two problems with the Wiener bill. It starts out with a stick. I think you need to start out with incentives. And it only focuses on places where there is transit-oriented development. So Marin County, as an example, would be exempt. Marin has probably led the state in fighting affordable homeless.