Important Police Oversight, School Board Election Reforms to Appear on San Diego's November Ballot

Two ballot measures for San Diego passed muster at this week’s city council meeting. Both should have a significant impact on how things work in America’s Finest City.

After eight years of research, advocacy, and being told “no,” activists working for more oversight of the San Diego Police Department successfully persuaded the city council to bring the idea to a vote in the general election.

If enacted, the measure will lead to creation of a new police oversight board with the power to launch independent misconduct investigations, subpoena witnesses, and hold officers more accountable for their actions.

Women Occupy San Diego, the Racial Justice Coalition and the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association did the hard work to make this happen, San Diegans for Justice and the youth council of the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network joined them in the final push.

Via the Union-Tribune:

• Community leaders and council members said Tuesday’s vote was an important milestone that would allow voters to boost transparency and accountability for local police. But they also stressed that much more needs to be done on police reform.

• “It is only the beginning, but it is necessary for all other reforms to be successful,” Councilwoman Vivian Moreno said.

• Councilwoman Georgette Gómez agreed that Tuesday’s vote was just a first step but said it was still notable.

• “This is a moment of community victory,” she said. “People might feel that government is not listening — we are. And we are doing the work to ensure that we are uplifting our communities and creating a better San Diego.”

In recent weeks hundreds of people have emailed and called in to support the measure.

Events prompting local and national protests calling for a fundamental rethinking of policing played a role in shifting public opinion in support of change.

A major stumbling block in past years was the union representing police officers. Negotiations with them were required because the new board would change the working conditions for officers.

An earlier proposed ballot measure was sidetracked by political maneuvering delaying discussions until it was too late to make the ballot. Many activists blamed then-Councilmember Myrtle Cole for the delays, and it was an issue in the campaign leading to her defeat in 2018.

Councilmember Monica Montgomery, who replaced Cole on the council, took the lead in guiding the proposal through the process this time around. The vote to put the measure on the ballot was unanimous. 

The Commission of Police Practices will replace the Community Review Board on Police Practices, a volunteer panel that lacked legal power and political support at city hall. In recent years, positions were left unfilled and findings had little impact.

Originally called the Commission on Police Procedures, the volunteer panel was established in 1989 via ballot initiative. It made the ballot as an attempt to block a much stronger proposal by community activists calling for police oversight.

A 2018 report by the County Grand Jury spurred by a citizen complaint found the board to be understaffed and unable to exhibit proper oversight of the San Diego Police Department, saying many “do not consider the CRB as currently constituted to be independent from SDPD and do not believe the CRB reports reach fair and unbiased conclusions.”

The report also noted that city staff have failed to implement Measure G, a 2016 voter-approved initiative requiring the board to review all in-custody deaths and officer-related shootings.

The newly formed commission board and its executive director are to be appointed by the City Council, and its operations will be independent of the mayor and the Police Department.

Independent investigations of police-related deaths and officer-involved shootings will be mandated, along with inquiries examining use of force by a police officer resulting in great bodily injury, dishonesty in investigating a crime and incidents showing patterns of misconduct.

Disciplinary actions against officers that are proposed by the board will be subject to final say by the Chief of Police. Officers will be able to appeal declarations by the commission concerning misconduct.

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A ballot measure changing San Diego Unified’s Board of Trustees elections from city-wide to district-by-district was also unanimously approved by the city council. 

Holding expensive city-wide elections for a position that pays less than $20,000 annually has meant that Trustees either had to be independently wealthy or have the backing of a major interest group.

The high cost of running for a city-wide seat led to some contentious campaigns in past years, with charter school advocated backed by wealthy individuals going up against unions representing educators. 

In the not-so-distant past, running for School Board Trustee was considered a stepping stone for higher office. Congresswoman Susan Davis and former Mayor Bob Filner both began their political careers there. 

Incumbent Trustee Kevin Beiser has hoped to launch a campaign for city council this year, but withdrew his effort following legal settlements stemming from accusations of sexual harassment.

Although the other Trustees have voted to demand his resignation, Beiser has refused to give up his seat. He will have to decide on whether to run again in 2022.

The hope is that future campaigns will see a larger pool of candidates. A lower cost contest should have the effect of encouraging residents from lower income districts to run for office.

From KPBS:

• “This is an extremely important issue in my community in particular, and you can tell that from the calls we’ve received, and it’s something folks have been fighting for a long time,” said City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery, who represents neighborhoods in Southeast San Diego. “ I’m very very happy to support this today.”

There is a potential downside to this reform, namely the ease of campaigning will make it possible for candidates with extreme points of view to run. If you’ve ever been to a school board meeting, you’ll have observed a lot of sincerely misinformed people using the public speaking part of the program to advance some rather ”interesting” ideas.

School board elections in other parts of the country have long been targeted by zealots opposing sex education, arguing against evolution, and insisting that their religious views be given preference.

The solution to this problem is to get people who care about education to run for office. Apathy in these sorts of elections can lead to logjams preventing schools from carrying out their basic mission of educating youth. 

District-by-district elections will begin in the 2022 election cycle, should the measure be approved by voters.

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Thought...

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