'Mayor Pete' seeks more funding for housing vouchers, $15 minimum wage

James DeHaven | Reno Gazette-Journal

Joseph Cress, Iowa City Press-Citizen

Pete Buttigieg kept busy during his first 2020 campaign swing through Northern Nevada.

The South Bend, Indiana mayor and surprise Democratic presidential favorite started his Saturday in downtown Reno, with a roughly hour-long tour of recently razed low-rent motels now slated to become trendy restaurants and upscale apartments.

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Photos: Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigns in Reno and Sparks

Buttigieg heard from several low-income residents pushed out of the motels amid a redevelopment rush that’s long been blamed for fueling the region’s ongoing affordable housing crisis.

The 37-year-old White House hopeful said he hopes to help ease the crunch by expanding federal affordable housing incentives and creating a public trust to buy up abandoned properties and hand them over to qualified residents.

“First of all, we need more funding for things like Section 8 (vouchers),” he said during a brief afternoon interview with the Reno Gazette Journal. “Secondly, at risk of sounding simplistic, people need to be paid more. An apartment is often out of reach for someone working full-time because the minimum wage is so low.

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Buttigieg also touched on House Democrats’ recently opened impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, telling reporters Trump’s divisive dealings with Ukraine were “not just irregular, but possibly illegal.”

He then headed north to meet with a few dozen striking United Auto Workers at a GM parts distribution center in Stead, where he pledged to help expand labor unions’ reach by pushing back against state-level restrictions on collective bargaining and restoring powers to the National Labor Relations Board.

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From there, he circled south for a Sparks campaign rally that opened with a rousing call for unity in a moment of sharp political division.

"Patriotism is not using the flag to beat people over the head and tell them thei wrong," Buttigieg told around 750 supporters gathered at Sparks High School. "It’s about recognizing the flag belongs to all of us. The country is us. Protecting America means protecting Americans.

"It means standing up to white nationalist violence. It means recognizing climate disruption is a serious threat. ... I’m going to make sure we stand up for every family."

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Buttigieg, one of the best-funded contenders to take on President Donald Trump next year, already boasts 35 full-time staffers in three offices around the Silver State. His campaign plans to open seven additional Nevada offices by the end of next month.

The ex-U.S. Navy officer is the fourth highest-polling candidate in most national polls and the fifth most popular hopeful in a September survey of likely Nevada caucusgoers.

Buttigieg planned to cap off his hectic Reno campaign swing with an appearance at the inaugural “Keep Nevada Blue” dinner at the Grand Sierra Resort.

He and several other prominent presidential candidates are also scheduled to attend a Wednesday gun safety forum in Las Vegas.