An Evil Plot to Hire a County Administrator for San Diego?
Nah, it’s the way things have always been done
Four years ago, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors took on a new direction. Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson-Remer won elections in their respective supervisory districts, shifting the majority from Republican to Democratic.
Former supervisor Nathan Fletcher resigned last year following allegations of sexual harassment, leaving the Board tied with two members of each party. What this meant was that long term structural changes in County government were put on hold.
Votes on liberal leaning social issues, including gun safety measures and a crackdown on so-called pregnancy crisis centers went nowhere as the Board deadlocked along party lines.
Key to the agenda for the board majority, restored once former San Diego City Council member Monica Montgomery won a special election, was the selection of a new chief administrative officer. The job entails overseeing a budget of more than $7 billion and workforce of about 20,000 — executing board policy, managing labor agreements and negotiations and directing operation of county departments spanning health, land use, finance and more.
The decision, in the wake of Helen Robbins-Meyer’s planned retirement after 12 years on the job, was supposed to be made in May, 2023. Fletcher’s departure meant that a vote for the Democrats’ favored candidate, Cindy Chavez, currently a supervisor in Santa Clara County, was not in the cards.
There hasn’t been transparency about how Chavez emerged as a candidate for the job. Critics of the Dems on the Board treated this like it was a scandal; in actuality that’s how this sort of thing has always been done.
The insider game doesn’t feel right to me, but I acknowledge that making it public may not be as reasonable as it might seem to be.
Look no further than the machinations surrounding the elections of the County District Attorney and Sheriff for how this process has worked. Insiders pick the candidate, and any affirmation of the choice made is essentially an afterthought.
In recent days, the local Democratic Party’s central committee voted 32-12-1 to endorse Chavez for County Administrator. I’m told the local Labor Council will be weighing in shortly.
The power player in board politics these days is the SEIU, which represents many of the people who work for the county. After years of being treated like second-class citizens, the union put its shoulder to the wheel and its campaign dollars into donor committees to get some friendly faces at the top.
This is a system problem requiring a change of heart that shaming and naming won’t accomplish. Many people who publicly disdain this sort of political maneuvering can’t seem to recall the decades that real estate and construction interests made similar calls. That’s why it took years to cough up a climate action plan. That’s why county largess rained down upon the already wealthy and was used as a public relations vehicle when it came to smaller instances of support for hand-picked nonprofits and community groups.
The political process is what it is, and changing the way things are done at this level isn’t politically practical at this point in time. There are people who disagree with this point of view, to which I’ll invoke the Southern expression of “well, bless their souls.” Now, think about how all that energy might be otherwise used.
Let’s get back to Cindy Chavez. Her resume includes leadership roles with the South Bay Labor Council, a couple of terms on the San Jose City Council, two terms as a County Supervisor, and two close call defeats as a candidate for Mayor of San Jose. FYI–the South Bay Labor Council runs one of the largest organizational campaign operations in Northern California.
More importantly, it's what she enabled during her years as an elected official that’s made her attractive to San Diego’s elected Democrats and their allies. She’s been a progressive leader able to sell her stances on everything from bail reform to foster care to the people who can make a difference.
One commonality Chavez had with Nathan Fletcher was the contentious experience they had with anti-vaxxers during the COVID pandemic. Both were vilified for making a serious effort to do what they believed was the right thing during a time of crisis.
Santa Clara county had one of the highest rates of vaccinated residents in California, and saw a 47% lower death rate per 100,000 residents than the statewide average. San Diego was in the top ten in terms of vaccinations and has 29% fewer deaths than the statewide average.
The Building Industry Association of San Diego County, a powerful special interest group, announced their opposition to Chavez last year on the basis that she is too union-friendly. The irony of their advocacy for a more transparent process following their years as puppet master for various Supes is amazing.
Why is a union-friendly boss good for the county? The Supervisors make policy that the administrator and employees are supposed to make happen. Some employees are set in their ways; others have ideological excuses. The same-old, same-old way of doing things isn’t working for the people; big bucks dictated policy for too long.
I’m sure that avoidance of an antagonistic campaign led by two groups willing to play dirty and loud against hiring a chief executive has been the deciding factor in the decision to just get this task done. Go back and watch some of the anti-vaxxer antics at County Board meetings for later in 2020 and see if you’d willingly go through that again.
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Thursday’s Noteworthy News Links
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Trump campaign asks for cut of candidates’ fundraising when they use his name and likeness by Alex Isenstadt at Politico:
In a letter received by Republican digital vendors this week, the Trump campaign is asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign.
“Beginning tomorrow, we ask that all candidates and committees who choose to use President Trump’s name, image, and likeness split a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC. This includes but is not limited to sending to the house file, prospecting vendors, and advertising,” Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote in the letter, which is dated April 15.
They add: “Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump’s campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations.”
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America Isn't Running Out of Power by Michael Thomas at Distilled
Amid all of this, the Wall Street Journal has warned that growing electricity demand is creating an “electricity crisis.” The Washington Post recently warned that America is “running out of power.”
But make no mistake: These trends are signs of progress. Anyone who wants to see the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses decarbonize its economy should celebrate them.
Zero growth in the power sector would indicate a continuation of the status quo. It would imply a future that looks much like our present—one filled with fossil fuel-powered vehicles and home heating equipment, one in which the materials necessary to decarbonize are all made in countries run by authoritarians with little regard for human rights or freedoms, one cooked by greenhouse gasses.
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Trump Intimidates Juror #2--she leaves. Everyone twiddles their thumbs by Alicia Norman
At a certain point, however, we can’t continue to allow ourselves to be held hostage by the terroristic MAGA force, otherwise, true justice will never be done.
Both Watters and Trump should be in major trouble for intimidating that juror. Both are likely smugly beating their chests over managing to make that individual, who was just doing her civic duty, flee. But yeah, we know nothing will be done.
Humph, and Johnny Law wonders why no one ever wants to stick their neck out for him
