An Open Letter Regarding Chairwoman Nora Vargas

Newly Revealed Texts and WhatsApp Messages Prompt a Demand for Her Resignation as Chair of the County Board of Supervisors

We are a multiracial group of labor leaders, worker justice advocates and allies. We care deeply about the wellbeing of San Diegans and fight to make sure that workers and the working class get the respect they deserve.

In the last few days we have seen texts that we believe are between Supervisor Nora Vargas and members of her staff. We understand these texts were shared anonymously by people that fear retaliation. They ring true because they are consistent with behavior we have witnessed and heard about from others. These texts demonstrate contempt for labor unions, disrespect towards low wage workers, as well as anti-black racism and racialized hostility against Black women in our community.

These text messages cover a number of years but are all during the time Supervisor Vargas was either running for office or in her current seat. The sentiments expressed in these texts would be disturbing no matter who said them, but they are particularly disappointing coming from someone many of us have respected and from someone who has promised to work with and for working class people.

Joking about crossing the picket line for some of the lowest paid and most exploited workers, whom she has the power to set wages and working conditions for, is egregious.

(Alyse refers to Alyse Pipkin-Allen, a “respected elder” in the African American community. Negritas Vendidas roughly means Negro Women Sellouts)

The use of the diminutive and racialized insults against Black women elders reveals a normalized anti-Blackness and goes against Supervisor Vargas' claimed values.

We acknowledge that these texts are circulating at a time where Supervisor Vargas and her supporters have been vocal in calling out labor leader Brigette Browning. People have the right to hold public figures accountable for their actions and have the right to be offended by language they consider vulgar, inappropriate or racist. But, Supervisor Vargas does great harm when she uses these efforts to distract attention away from and silence the voices of people of color and working class people who are exercising their right to demand government accountability and for workers to weigh in on who will be the head of the institution they work for.

These messages are of public interest at this moment because they demonstrate that Supervisor Vargas has been hypocritical by supporting and perhaps even flaming efforts to call out communicating in a vulgar, insulting or racialized manner, even though it seems she has been engaging in this kind of talk for years.

While this letter is a call for accountability for Supervisor Vargas, she is not alone in needing to be accountable. Even before these texts and WhatsApp messages surfaced many of us were already frustrated by how less than 30 seconds of video featuring Brigette Browning had come to be almost the sole focus of media coverage of the action on April 30th.

Focusing only on a portion of Browning's statement with almost no coverage of the rest of the speeches or action inside of the county building served to silence the voice of workers/working class people who sacrificed time and effort to come out for government accountability. This silencing of workers and worker issues is sadly quite common.

By focusing only on the sensationalized aspect of the event, Supervisor Vargas and the rest of the Board of Supervisors evaded any accountability for the lack of transparency in the CAO hiring process. In most cases, neither the general sentiment nor the spoken words of working-class people of color were included in reports about the rally.

Additionally, there has been insufficient attention on identifying who might be responsible for sinking Cindy Chavez's (who is, for the record, a Latina) hiring. But the opposition to her is pretty clear: the "Building Industry Opposes Nominee from San Jose for Top County Administrator Role" (April 23, 2023).

When Supervisor Vargas tweets, "To those who are now coming in at this late-stage and trying to overturn our already transparent process in an attempt to strong arm their own favored candidate for the position, I say that's neither fair, nor transparent." She is being dishonest about the very ongoing and public advocacy that has been occurring and she is covering for the business interests who seem to have gotten their way without any significant scrutiny.

In general, the way Cindy Chavez has been treated is shameful both for its racialized sexism and for its classism. Immediate reports focused on links between Nathan Fletcher's resignation and Cindy Chavez's hiring for the job. Cindy Chavez's only actions have been to apply for a job. Talking about her hiring alongside the accusations against Fletcher is a reflection of the way women are consistently being held accountable for men's actions even when they have zero connection to those actions. No other vote taken by Nathan Fletcher has been subjected to this level of second guessing. Additionally, the insinuation that a labor leader or worker advocate is unfit to lead a government agency reveals deeply anti-worker bias.

We have decided to address these text and WhatsApp messages because we believe they will become public at some point and based on how the issues around the CAO hiring have been handled so far, we're concerned that they will serve only to create more hurt and conflict among people in our community. We are issuing this letter as a call for restorative justice. Our hope is that those who have done damage through their actions will work to repair that damage and to the extent possible focus on restoring the wellbeing of those they have negatively impacted.

Specifically, Supervisor Nora Vargas should spend significant time and focus reconnecting and rebuilding the trust with the communities and organizations that she worked with for many years. We do not believe this can be accomplished while she serves as Chair of the Board of Supervisors. Therefore, we are calling upon Nora Vargas to resign her position as Chair of the Board.

The following individuals, listed in alphabetical order, have co-signed this letter:

• Kyra Greene, Executive Director, Center on Policy Initiatives

• Johanna Hester, President Emerita, APALA National

• David Huerta, President, SEIU-USWW

• Crystal Irving, President, SEIU 221

• Brisa Johnson, Director, San Diego Black Worker Center

• Jose Lopez, Director, San Diego ACCE

• Doug Moore, President, Executive Director, UDW Homecare Providers Union/AFSCME Local 3930

• Satomi Rash-Zeigler, Executive Director, UCSD Labor Center

Additional damning screenshots - She says “fuck’ a lot.

Ellen Nash is Chair for the San Diego Chapter of the Black American Political Association of California

SEIU is the Service Employees International Union, which represents many County of San Diego employees.

UDW refers to the United Domestic Workers union, representing Home Health Care workers and others employed by the County.