Faulconer Fronts for Developers, Aims for GOP Control

2024 Voting Guide: San Diego County Supervisors

San Diego County finally has a Climate Action Plan. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. Now the local government will take into account the climate impacts of decisions about the future and current operations. It’s a hard fought victory that includes recognition that underserved communities are hardest hit by emissions.

Three years ago, a changing Board of Supervisors directed county staff to develop a new climate action plan that was legally enforceable and didn’t use carbon offset credits, which let developers pay for releasing excessive emissions rather than reduce them.

Prior to that action, the Board of Supervisors rolled out three documents over time packaged as a plan for dealing with climate change, only to have lawsuits filed by environmental groups and courts agreeing with its defects.

As Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor noted in his 2018 ruling against the County,

• “The 2018 (Climate Action Plan) appears to the court to be an attempt to address (Greenhouse Gas Emission) reduction with a window-dressing pronouncement of policy suggesting aggressive action, but the devil is in the details, and here, the details allow the bold policy pronouncement to be emasculated by the unfettered access to out-of-region credit purchases.

• “The people of the County have a right to expect more from their elected officials, and the Planning and Zoning Law, the General Plan, and (California Environmental Quality Act) all require that they provide more.”

Since that time, the bankruptcy of the practice of offsetting carbon credits somewhere else has been shown repeatedly. It’s a scam for the most part where whatever was promised was an unenforceable half a world away and sometimes non-existent.  

As far as the elected officials of a decade ago were concerned, they were simply trying to produce a bunch of hollow promises allowing unfettered development in the far reaches of the area. The existential threat of climate change was a hoax to them, with pointy-headed Sacramento politicians imposing mandates.

Back in those days, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors was five guys who liked the way things were running the show. Once a year, they’d hand out slush fund money to assorted committees. Where it went from there nobody knew. And nobody cared. 

The County bureaucracy was staid and out of touch, and they liked it that way.

Things started to change in 2018 with Democrat Nathan Fletcher’s win over former DA Bonnie Dumanis. Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson-Remer, also Democrats, won in 2020, and for the first time in memory, Republicans no longer controlled the Supes.

Fletcher was top dog for a while until he wasn’t. Monica Montgomery has taken his place, and Vargas has assumed the leadership role. Each of the women who constitute the majority have different styles, and interests.  

It’s hard to say who’s the most progressive/pushing the change agenda; a lot of shifts in policy have/are going through the “let's do a study” process. I suspect that part of that approach involves getting the front line workers involved and I think it’s working. Sadly, nobody seems willing yet to confront the elephants in the room, namely the Sheriff’s offices and jails. 

The two Republicans remaining on the Board are not on the same page; Jim Desmond is taken with the MAGA agenda, the Joel Anderson is very conservative but not into performative whining about the county being overrun with migrants. 

I’m going to write about the supervisor's contests in reverse order (starting with District 3), since the third district election will be the most consequential. Districts 1 and 2 have incumbents who will be reelected. Districts 4 and 5 will be decided in 2026. While the supervisors' contests are technically non-partisan, that just means party affiliations are not listed on the ballot.

This election is about partisan control of the Board of Supervisors, period. Voters will have a choice, roll back the clock to when reactionary real estate interests ruled roost, or continue forward on a path taking the welfare of citizens as a priority.

District 3 - Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer is the incumbent.

District 3 runs along the coast, from Coronado to Carlsbad, and inland from Rancho Peñasquitos to Little Italy

Supervisor Lawson-Remer defeated a Republican incumbent in 2020. As supervisor she’s largely taken an incremental approach rather than big swings at progressive wish list items. She and her sister Democrats on the board have effectively tackled the task of redirecting the county bureaucracy into a humans-first approach over the procedurally straightjacketed way of operating.

The big local issues in this district are homelessness, the cost of housing, drug overdoses and Tijuana River sewage crisis. None of these could be resolved solely by the Supervisors, much less one district’s representative, but they have taken steps to respond in ways within the realm of what is realistic. Anyone who claims otherwise is just lying.

San Diego County's Housing and Community Development Services has opened waitlists for renters interested in spots at new housing developments in Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido. All feature supportive units for seniors, low-income families and disabled adults experiencing homelessness along with a base rental equal to 30% of residents’ income.

The County’s CARE program, which enables treatment for people with untreated mental illness problems, is the most successful in the state, though much more in the way of resources needs to happen. 

Perhaps the least heralded program is the county’s shallow rental subsidy pilot program, providing direct payments to landlords for seniors’ housing. Elderly residents are the fastest growing part of the local homeless population.

Earlier this year the County awarded $42 million to nine affordable housing developments intended to provide 872 new homes. Of the nine projects, three will be on county excess land and two on publicly owned land belonging to the MTS. 

I’m not sure anybody can claim credit for this, but drug overdoses in the county fell slightly last year. (Oh, how I wish drug use was treated primarily as a health concern.)

For residents in the southern reaches of the county, the stink of untreated sewage coming from Mexico has become an emergency. Beaches along the coast are closed due to polluted waters. While the public health effects are still being measured, the political critical mass has yet to emerge at the Federal level. 

Promises of money and studies have been falling into a black hole, as pollution in the area continues to worsen in large part because of a scattershot approach. Senator Alex Padilla and other elected officials held a press conference at the border to announce legislation aimed at consolidating and speeding up efforts to get the situation under control.

Its chances of making it through the House of Representatives this year are slim and nothing, given that the MAGA caucus in congress is determined not to do its job and hoping Democrats will be blamed.

Terra Lawson-Remer - Democrat
Website | Facebook | X itter

Kevin Faulconer - Republican
Website | Facebook | X itter

Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is aiming to resurrect his political career by getting elected to the County Board of Supervisors, and he’s getting a lot of help from some very wealthy friends.

While Faulconer is out in public touting his record on managing the homeless situation, the local forces who got us into the mess are pouring money into various political war chests. 

Local developers, real estate investors and other San Diego-based businesses have helped three independent committees supporting Faulconer rack up nearly $600,000 as of July 31. And the money, in the tens of thousands, has picked up pace in September, according to 497 reports filed with the county.

Prominent among those entities is the Lincoln Club of San Diego, the reactionary force that held sway over the region when Republicans ruled the roost. They’re market-first and trickle-down types gathered together in the name of greed.

Faulconer’s campaign is largely centered around the good old days when he was Mayor of San Diego. He fell up into that position thanks to developer Doug Manchester, who gathered donors and made sure that competitors were marginalized following the fall of Bob Filner. 

After being termed out, Faulconer set his sights on the Governor’s mansion in the 2022 election. He rebranded, using MAGA political ornamentation. Then the recall election happened, thanks to Northern California MAGAts, and he jumped into the ring. He pulled 8% of the vote as a gubernatorial candidate to replace Gov. Newsom if the recall succeeded, and even in San Diego districts his totals were largely in the single digits.  Ooof.

Two things characterized the Faulconer years in City Hall; a proclivity for bad real estate deals, and wishy-washiness on issues until his hand was forced.  Oh, and he was lousy about the other governance responsibilities that came with the job, missing 84% of SANDAG meetings and 97% of MTS meetings during his time in office

Monuments to his property ineptitude include a former skydiving building that was supposed to be a one-stop resource center, involvement with the 101 Ash Street building debacle (which benefitted donor Doug Manchester), a failure to fund the Convention Center rehab and expansion, and a failed insider effort to build the SoccerCity project at the site of the former Qualcomm Stadium. Many people blame Faulconer for the departure of the San Diego Chargers; saving the team was a fool's errand given that ownership intended to leave all along.

He’s running around now campaigning on his effectiveness at clearing homeless encampments. People forget that he could have cared less until a hepatitis epidemic started downtown and spread outward. Yes, he cleared some encampments, and they just moved around the region.

Most importantly, Faulconer and no one person can change the reality causing the numbers of homeless to increase. Yes, the “problem” has gotten worse — so has inequality.

Faulconer could probably do himself some good by denouncing Donald Trump as the former president is making a name for himself in the annals of racist authoritarians. But doing so risks alienating MAGA voters and hurting his chances at being much more than a seat warmer should the Republican ticket triumph. Faulconer, who voted for the ex-president in 2020, still says “it was the right choice,” even after Trump supporters denigrated the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Voting for Faulconer is the wrong choice; there’s no cause to go backward except making his donors richer.

Postscript: I was moved enough during my research for this contest to make a contribution to Lawson-Remer’s campaign. We have to counter the Red hat menace on every level this year, and that includes County Supervisor.

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District 2 - Republican Joel Anderson is the incumbent

District 2 is HUGE, with Rancho Bernardo to Julian on the north, Santee and El Cajon in the middle, and the Mexican border from west of Tecate to Jacumba on the south.  Much of it is rural, and large swaths of its voters are Republican no matter what.

Joel Anderson - Republican
Website  | Facebook 

He’s a veteran of the State Legislature, who, when his Republican strictures allow, has actually voted for constituent centric ordinances. He’s barely campaigning, and has avoided opportunities to debate.

Gina Jacobs - Democrat
Website  |  Facebook 

She’s currently one of the leaders in San Diego State University’s project for developing the land that used to be Qualcomm Stadium.   Worked for then-Councilman Mark Kersey, and San Diego Gas & Electric. Her campaign also looks bare bones, but at least she’s doing more public appearances.

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District 1 - Democrat Nora Vargas is the incumbent

District 1 is South coastal San Diego County, includes the neighborhoods of Southeast San Diego and East Otay Mesa, along with National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach. It’s heavily Latino and solidly Democratic.

Nora Vargas - Democrat
Website  | Facebook  | X itter

First up, she’s virtually guaranteed to win. The first Latina on the Board of Supervisors is also Chair. She took some heat over (politically incorrect) old text messages in the wake of some back and forth over the hiring of a County Executive. Tends to be very careful. Solid Democrat, a leader on women’s health issues.

Alejandro Galicia - Republican 
Personal Facebook  | X itter

A plumbing contractor who is a Dodgers and Rams fan. A warm body posing as a Republican.

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About the Voter Guide.

I’ve been compiling voter guides for San Diegans for over a decade on various platforms. I have a progressive point of view tempered with life experience informing me of what’s possible and what’s bullshit. 

Portions of this guide will be published most weekdays throughout September. I’ll publish a comprehensive guide (with links if you care) on Monday of the week ballots are mailed out. (October 7)

The Democratic supermajority in California has given rise to some mediocre politicians. I won’t recommend Democratic candidates unless I can say I feel more than ‘meh’ about them. 

I can’t recommend Republicans because they’ve chosen to ally themselves with authoritarian, anti-democratic, and theocratic forces. I won’t suggest third parties because they can’t win in today’s system –this is a guide for THIS election. 

While I’d like for everybody to agree with my choices, we all know that won’t happen. As long as you actually vote, I’ll be satisfied.

Previously 

California Ballot Measures Two thru Six
California’s Proposition 32: Something’s Better Than Nothing, I Suppose
CA Proposition 33: Deja Vu All Over Again on Rent Control
Just Say No to CA Propositions 34 & 35
California Proposition 36: A Feel Good Measure for Fear Mongers
Local 2024 Ballot Measures in San Diego
Who Is San Diego Sending to Sacramento This Year?
Who Will Represent Us in Washington DC?

Coming Wednesday: Those Who Hear the Call for City Hall

Check your voter registration at  
https://www.sdvote.com/content/rov/en/voter-info-lookup.html

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Monday News You Should Read

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Carl DeMaio Decried for Backing ‘Rogue’ GOP Candidates Amid FPPC Complaint by Ken Stone at Times of San Diego

• Perennial candidate Carl DeMaio is being accused of attempted bribery, bullying, threats and lies as his Reform California group endorses “rogue” Republicans amid his own race for Assembly.

• DeMaio, the former San Diego City Council member and radio talker, was denounced Friday by local GOP chairman Corey Gustafson and Central Committee member Amy Reichert.

• Writing to “Fellow (and Future) Central Committee Members,” Gustafson said DeMaio placed his own self-interest and political ambition above the good of the party.

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County GOP reports negative balance by Jeff McDonald at the Union-Tribune

• Federal elections regulators are demanding an explanation from the Republican Party of San Diego County for reporting a negative cash balance of thousands of dollars on its most recent monthly financial statement.

• The U.S. Federal Elections Commission also wants to know why local Republican Party officials apparently accepted donations that exceed campaign limits.

• Additionally, regulators are asking why prior party filings did not properly report employee costs and administrative expenses. They also want more information about donations that were spent on entertainment and gifts.

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How to Think About Politics Without Wanting to Kill Yourself by Hamilton Nolan at How Things Work

• …The willingness to overlook certain morally indefensible things is something that most people accept, in their own hearts, when they go into electoral politics. If there is a hell, I expect that many well-liked and popular Democratic politicians will end up there. But here in the material world, we are trying to achieve tangible things. The cowards, unlike the enemies, can be moved into the right place. That is why we vote for them, when faced with the choice of the two.

• In general, it is better to think of even the politicians on your own side not as role models to be admired but rather as basically disreputable figures who are necessary to deal with but who should always be looked down upon and forced to prove, through action, that they are not pieces of shit.

• So cease your valorization of political candidates, and cease also your tortured moral struggle over “supporting” a candidate who has done something awful. The first feeling leaves with an illusion about the world, and the second leaves you unable to act effectively to bring about the world we need. Accept that all we will get from the next election is someone who can be made to do the right thing under pressure, rather than someone committed to doing the wrong thing no matter what. There are many heroes in this world, and very few of them are politicians. Our job is to get so strong and organized that the cowards will have no choice but to come along with us. The real action in politics is not in Washington. It is right where you are.