The Board met on Tuesday and, after public testimony along with promises of support for voter turnout, unanimously voted to have a special election on August 15 to replace Nathan Fletcher.
Fletcher’s tenure on the Board in 2018 presaged a shift in politics and outlook. He became a force for change with county employees being told of new objectives and policies. Although he was the only Democrat of the Supervisors at the start of his term, the successes of his office contributed to voters giving him a majority to work with starting 2020.
He was Chairman of the Board during the COVID 19 crisis, and his support for public health measures gave reactionaries in the county something to organize around. Opposition to masking, vaccine distribution, and closures of assorted institutions turned venomous, with wanna be leaders using the GOP playbook of every accusation being a reflection as they denounced Fletcher as a fascist.
He also served as Chair at the Metropolitan Transit System and was considered a rising star in politics headed to the state capitol in the near future. And then –boom!--he was gone.
Selection of a new County Administrative Officer was, at the time, the next big item on the agenda. Negotiations were far along with Santa Clara County 2nd District Supervisor Cindy Chavez. I’ve even heard that an offer was being finalized coming out of a March 6 closed session.
It’s become clear since then that there was a partisan split because of her historically liberal positions. So this particular topic has been put on hold pending a vote of the full board.
Although the position is technically non-partisan, the current makeup of the board is split between Democrats Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson-Remer, and two Republicans Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond.
D4’s seat has been empty since Fletcher took medical leave in March. It didn’t take long for the reason for his abrupt departure – allegations & lawsuit by a former MTS employee of sexual harassment and assault– to surface.
The D4 supervisor’s office then announced he would be in treatment for mental health and alcohol abuse problems. Fletcher would tender his resignation on May 15, the day his treatment ended
The four remaining Supervisors had three options.
Appoint a successor to finish the 3½ years left in his term.
Appoint an interim substitute who would service until such time as an election could be held
Leave the position vacant pending results of a special election so the 700,000 voters in D4 could make a choice.
Eighty-five people signed up to speak prior to the vote at the Tuesday public meeting.
Most supported having a special election. Speakers with the Service Employee International Union argued for appointing a successor. And a few obstructionists used the occasion to voice their grievances about Fletcher’s actions, including one woman who caused the room to be cleared as she ranted about conspiracy theories.
Democratic San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, who had already an intention to vie for the seat regardless of which path the Supervisors chose, made the quip of the day:
“When we play the political insider games, then the people are often left out of the decision-making process.”
Supervisor Tara Lawson-Remer unsuccessfully argued for additional funding to drive voter participation in a special election.
I’m very concerned about an election in the middle of summer in an off-cycle year, and we could end up with 10 to 15 percent of voters at the polls, and that’s not democracy either.”
The initial round of voting on August 7 will require the winner to get more than 50% of the vote. If necessary, a runoff will coincide with the November 7 general election.
Coming out of yesterday’s meeting, there are now three declared candidates for the D4 seat:
Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of the Vet Voice Foundation, who ran unsuccessfully for retiring Rep. Susan Davis seat. She had already declared for Fletcher’s seat in the event he left to go to the State Senate.
San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery, who’s political ascendance at City Hall had reached its apex for the sin of advocating for accountability from the SDPD.
Amy Reichert, who utilized her fame as a pandemic denialist to run against Fletcher in the last election, losing with one third of the vote.
Goldbeck and Montgomery are both Democrats with a significant local following. Reichert is a Republican anti-vax amateur, who announced her campaign on KUSI.
Having two Democrats with name recognition and support within the party means the progressive vote will be split, just about guaranteeing a run-off election and four more months of no representation for District 4.
There is always the possibility that Republicans, with the assistance of the always “right” Awaken Church could turn out a majority of the votes in August.!!!
And…
Since the Board of Supervisors cannot legally remove Fletcher, if he decides to not resign then the special election will be canceled. A lot of consultants will have pissed away a lot of money, and –if rumors are true– his wife will dump him.
Over at KUSI, they have Jabba the DeMaio on repeat predicting Fletcher won’t resign. Please don’t send him money, pay attention to his rants, or –God forbid– listen to his advice on betting.
Meanwhile, In The Rest of The Country…
Next Up on the Republican War on Reality: No-Fault Divorce Via Daily Kos. Yes, abortion and birth control are just the start.
Today’s Republican is someone standing in front of reality (often holding out a cross) and screaming, “Go away!”
Carlson’s Text That Alarmed Fox Leaders: ‘It’s Not How White Men Fight’ Via the New York Times. How stupid must the editors at the Times (and a host of other publications) be to not realize until now that Tucker Carlson is a racist?
Keeping People In A Constant State Of Fear Makes The World A Violent Place By Parker Molloy at The Present Age. Stories in the NY Times and NY Post about a man killed by another passenger in the subway end up being excuses for “stand your ground” driven by media stories about rampant crime. (It’s down)
Framing this as “taking matters into his own hands” is disgusting. The “aggressive rant” was Neely yelling out in desperation about not having food, drink, or shelter? Oh, and he threw his own jacket on the ground? The horrors! The horrors!
Is that really the bar we’ve set as a society to justify extrajudicial killings? Is that really the bar we want to set as a society? I don’t.
10-year-olds among hundreds of children found working at McDonald’s restaurants Via NBC News.
The two 10-year-olds were among at least 305 children found to have been employed in violation of federal labor laws across 62 McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, operated under three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC, the Labor Department said.
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With all my heart I hope that the scandals surrounding Fletcher will not cause voters to react against the Democrats. We need Democrats to stand against the Pro-Death by Guns Party.
Unfortunately, the special elections I have been able to observe don't turn out well for us progressives. I voted 3 times for Donna Frye to be Mayor.