2024 Primary Election Guide: City Attorney for San Diego

Lawyers, Guns & Money, oh my!

The City Attorney contest on San Diegans ballots this spring is a Democrat vs Democrat contest.

You might also call it a city hall insider vs career politician contest. Or maybe it’s a male vs female race.  Or maybe it’s a shadow puppet debate over the relevancy of the position as presently constituted.

Let’s be clear about what office is at play:

• The City Attorney is the city's chief legal advisor and prosecutor, and serves as the chief legal advisor to the Mayor, City Council, and all city departments. The City Attorney is elected by the people for a four-year term

• The San Diego County District Attorney's Office prosecutes felony crimes and misdemeanors that occur outside of the City of San Diego. The San Diego City Attorney prosecutes misdemeanors and infractions within the City of San Diego and Poway. 

There are no issues being debated in this contest. One candidate is just saying “Proven Leader” on their website. That’s it. You’re supposed to vote for the person in the photograph.

One way to look at candidates is to look at their endorsements. Both candidates have high profile endorsements.

I can tell readers that there has been an ongoing discussion of whether or not  to split the City Attorney job into one elected (handling misdemeanor/ticketed criminal cases) individual and one appointed by the council president individual (for civil matters, including advising elected officials). 

Does the average Jane Doe voter care? I don’t think so. Both candidates in this contest say they oppose the idea. 

The City Council opted out of putting the question about dividing duties on the ballot for the November election in 2024, as they had in 2020. It’s my suspicion that having such an election could inform voters about the sausage making/legislating/deal making in local politics.

The dynamic between the termed out City Attorney Mara Elliott, the council, and the mayor hasn’t been great, with questions over legal advice vs influence simmering just below the surface. There haven't been any damning public assertions by either side, but it’s safe to say there are tensions.

My sense is that Heather Ferbert represents the status quo and Brian Maienschein represents a desire to have the office be more political.

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Heather Ferbert, Democrat, chief deputy city attorney,
https://www.heatherferbert.com/

She’s been in the City Attorney’s office since 2014. Her boss (Mara Elliott) has endorsed her. So has the city’s employee union, most lawyer-type organizations, Run Women Run, and California Women’s List.

She has a well done list of positions and priorities as a candidate. Most are no-brainers.

Buuut…She claims authorship of the law cleaning up homeless encampments, which a) hasn’t actually worked and b) cops are reluctant to enforce because of its likelihood of being reversed by higher courts. Yeah, I know getting rid of those unhoused ragamuffins off the streets is popular, but there’s no denying the unavailability of humane alternatives. 

I do take issue with her promise to: 

• Stop Fentanyl: Aggressively go after illegal fentanyl dealers that are poisoning our kids and cut off the supply of drugs into our community. 

She might as well say “Stop Hurricanes.” A City of San Diego office that prosecutes misdemeanors and citations isn’t on the front lines of the war on drugs; nor should it be. I guess candidates feel obligated to say stuff like this to prove they’re ‘tough on crime.’

On the other hand, she can appropriate Mara Elliott’s prestige for San Diego’s Red Flag laws, which have been remarkably effective at keeping bad guys with guns from doing bad things.

One of her strengths as a candidate is the occupation listed next to her name, sending a message to voters that she has experience and is qualified.

In the first of its editorials endorsing local candidates, the San Diego Union-Tribune has endorsed Ferbert, calling out Maienschein for sounding “like he sees the job as being akin to the 10th seat on the City Council.”

• In an interview Monday, she came across as confident, informed and determined to leave her own mark as city attorney, not be the equivalent of a third Elliott term. She wants to launch a “housing protection unit” to preserve existing affordable housing — a worthy cause in a city that’s been too blithe about such events as the 2017 demolition of a 332-unit apartment complex in Rancho Peñasquitos and has done little to adequately protect about 70,000 affordable apartments that may be imperiled by developers looking to build more lucrative homes. She also plans to strengthen consumer protections against financial scams and to target companies not following fair pay laws. And she vows to continue the incumbent’s aggressive use of GVROs to keep the public safe, noting the tactic’s value in averting a potential tragedy in Rancho Bernardo last month.

• The editorial board endorses Heather Ferbert for city attorney. She is much better-qualified and more likely to be an independent voice in a city government in perpetual need of such voices.

I’m not sure of what value this endorsement has, given the paper’s current role as a mere profit center, with news as an afterthought. They’ve run the same front page every day this week for digital subscribers (the inside is right), and don’t seem to consistently publish on time anymore.

But, but, but… There’s another side to this contest. It’s not about the motivations of the people who are for Ferbert; it’s the people who are against Maienschein.

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Brian Maienschein,.Democratic Legislator/Law Professor, https://brianmaienschein.com/

He’s the candidate whose campaign site is selling him with a family portrait. 

From the looks of his endorsements by organized labor, the Democratic Party, and even the San Diego Police Officers Association he could easily win this post. The Mayor and President of the City Council were first out of the gate with their backing.

He’s raised more than twice as much money as his opponent, and that’s just for this job. There is also a campaign account for Maienschein for Attorney General 3030. Late last summer, he hosted a reception for the 3030 account. with sponsorship levels starting at $1,500.

It’s not uncommon for politicians who are good at raising money to have wish-list accounts. Coming off of two terms on the SD City Council and a dozen years in Sacramento, it’s safe to assume the man knows how to raise money.

There was controversy not long ago over whether he was eligible to serve as City Attorney; an outside law firm concluded he was legal and the issue has faded into the sunset.

From LaPrensa:

• Although Maienschein has not practiced law while in office, he has served as the Chairman of the Assembly's Judiciary Committee that approves all pending legislation relating to family law, product and tort liability, Civil Code, and Evidence Code, and has taught an election law class at the University of San Diego School of Law since 2016.

• Maienschein also serves on the State Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the California courts. Maienschein is one of only two state legislators appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. All members of the Judicial Council must be lawyers or judges.

Maienschein switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat on January 24, 2019. This was a big no-no for right wing politics, and the abuse heaped up on the Assemblyman continues to mount up.

What makes it worse is that he blamed Fearless Leader for his decision to switch.

• He said, "Donald Trump has led the Republican Party to the extreme on issues that divide our country. But his leadership is not the only reason for my change in party affiliation. I, too, have changed."

Given that the local Republican party is about as toothless as can be, not to mention near-broke, the job of playing attack dog in local politics these days goes to Carl DeMaio and Reform California.

Maienschein is first on the list of that organization's  “Strategic Voting” campaign.

• “Because of his vote in favor of the tax-raising bill ACA-13*, we are now all-in to defeat Brian Maienschein and end his political career,” DeMaio pledged. “Our Reform California Voter Guide is hugely popular in San Diego county and we are committing additional financial resources to get the word out against Maienschein to Republicans and common-sense Independents.

• Republican and common-sense Independent votes in the City of San Diego can be decisive in the City Attorney’s race between two Democrats. In the 2022 election, the Republican candidate for Governor won 34% of votes in the City of San Diego. That’s not enough to win, but it is a sizeable and coveted voting block that can tip the scales in the City Attorney’s Democrat-Democrat contest.

*ACA 13 limited the ability of reactionaries to alter the percentage of votes required for ballot measures. When you can’t win an election, change the rules is the way reactionaries are playing around the nation.

Am I going to endorse anybody in the contest? I’ll let you know when I decide who’ll be the most upset with my position.