Something Stinks in the Race for District 3 County Supervisor
'Chicken Manure' Developer Funds Groups Supporting Democrat Olga Diaz, Attacking Terra Lawson-Remer
The number one issue in San Diego county politics is development. So it figures that those seeking to profit and those seeking to oppose would be factors in a critical election.
There are two measures on the March ballot, one of which would mandate voter approval for significant changes in the County’s General Plan, while the other seeks to overturn a Board of Supervisors approval of a housing development of the type that could be voted on in the future.
A housing shortage, sky-high property values driven by demand, and clogged highways caused by long-distance commutes to affordable homes make the subject unavoidable in local politics.
The contest for the third district County Supervisor’s seat involves two Democrats running against a vulnerable Republican opponent.
Changing demographics and incumbent Kristen Gaspar's decision to embrace Trumpism have created the opportunity to flip a seat that will likely give Democrats control of the Supervisors.
Both Democrats, Escondido Councilwoman Olga Diaz and Encinitas resident Terra Lawson-Remer, lay claim to the mantle of being “progressive,” and endorsements from county officials have been split along more personal than political lines.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher has preemptively called for a “Unity Breakfast” following the election in the hope of galvanizing party support for whomever wins on March 3. Based on the severity of the attack mailers I’ve seen, I wish him lots of luck.
Business-type Republicans seem to have acknowledged the potential for a turnover in November and are split about who they’d like to run against.
From Voice of San Diego:
It’s clear that Republicans would rather compete against Lawson-Remer, given her history of rabble-rousing and her work with progressive social movements. She co-founded STARC: Students Transforming and Resisting Corporations. In 2004, she was arrested while protesting the Republican National Convention.
Gaspar’s campaign consultant, Jason Roe, told the Coast News last month that Diaz quietly supported Gaspar’s campaign in the last election and worked against her own party’s interests then. She also attended a conservative Lincoln Club dinner the year before at Roe’s invitation.
I asked Diaz about Roe’s claims during our podcast interview, and she disagreed with parts of it. She did not support Supervisor Dave Roberts, a Democrat and Gaspar’s opponent in 2016, who was embroiled in scandal, and it was partly personal, she said, because Roberts hadn’t supported her when she needed him in Escondido. But she denied that she ever told Roe, a friend, anything that he could not have obtained publicly.
Ryan Clumper, who once headed the Lincoln Club, on the other hand, wants Olga Diaz to get through because Gaspar is perceived to be "dead man walking" come November. This line of thinking holds that Diaz would be more pliable.
In Blue States like California, Republican-leaning organizations “independently” pour large sums of money into campaigns attacking Democrats unwilling to bend their way or in support of candidates they believe will be weaker in the general election.
We saw this in San Diego in 2018, when the Lincoln Club “independently” supported Lori Saldana’s campaign for County Supervisor through attack ads aimed at Nathan Fletcher.
For the 2020 primary, large sums of money “independently” supporting Escondido Democratic Councilwoman Olga Diaz are being funneled through the Lincoln Club and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Nearly $90,000 has been spent in February by GOP related entities attacking Lawson-Remer and supporting Diaz. A major donor to this effort is developer Michael Schlesinger, a Beverly Hills developer who also funded the campaign against Fletcher.
A February 19 filing by the Chamber shows $39,872.01 being spent on direct mail opposing Diaz’ opponent Terra Lawson-Remer.
A $5000 donation came via the Lincoln Club. Another $5000 came via New Urban West, the company now responsible for a project involving the former Escondido Country Club. An additional $25,000 came from XJD LLC, an entity registered to Michael Schlesinger, the original developer of the Escondido Country Club.
The Community Leadership Coalition Sponsored by the Lincoln Club of San Diego County filed paperwork on Tuesday showing a $32,706.73 expenditure for direct mail opposing Terra Lawson Remer. The “coalition’s” parent organization simultaneously contributed $40,000, on top of the $30,000 they chipped in on February 4.
A February 23 filing by the Chamber shows another $17,198 being spent on direct mail supporting their endorsed candidate Olga Diaz.
There is nothing illegal going on here, but you gotta wonder what else is motivating these folks supporting Diaz and opposing Lawson-Remer.
A quick trip into Googleland reveals a recently settled six year battle between Schlesinger and the City of Escondido beginning with a fire-sale purchase of the bankrupt Escondido Country Club property.
After plans for a 600 home development were announced, all hell broke loose, led by property owners adjacent to the Country Club who’d bought in with the assumption that they’d be sitting next to green space.
Schlesinger paid a $100,000 fine after dumping a large pile of chicken manure on the old course across the street from a homeowner with asthma—allowing the wafting aroma to express his opinion to the opposition.
He scaled back plans for the Country Club to 430 homes, and funded a ballot measure enabling that development. Proposition H failed by a large margin, along with taking down the mayoral candidacy of Olga Diaz, who supported the revamped plan.
From the Union-Tribune:
Mike Slater, president of the homeowners association behind the “No on Prop. H” campaign, blasted what he called Diaz’s “betrayal.”
“For the last 1½ years Olga Diaz has claimed she supports the homeowners in Escondido. We learn now, on the eve of her mayoral election, that she has abandoned those homeowners and joined forces with an out-of-town developer. This betrayal and abandonment of principles will not go unnoticed by voters.”
In response, Diaz said: “This has nothing to do with the developer. This has everything to do with looking out for the long-term fiscal management of this issue. We have spent nearly $300.000 in court already and we are just getting started. It could be years before this issue is resolved.”
The development was scaled back again to 270 single family homes. The city council responded by rezoning the property as open space. Schlesinger took Escondido to court and prevailed on the basis that the rezoning amounted to an illegal “taking” of property.
He then reached an agreement to turn over development of the 110 acre property to New Urban West, Inc.
Olga Diaz was the deciding vote on the City Council approving Country Club “Villages” project, which includes 380 dwelling, 192 single-family lots & 30 condominium lots with 188 detached and attached condos.
From Union-Tribune coverage:
But the majority of the council, though clearly having no love for Schlesinger, said the project seemed like a good one that would be built by a respected company with a strong track record in the city.
“Honestly,” Diaz said to the crowd of spectators at the meeting that was mostly opposed to the project, “for those folks who are concerned about Mr. Schlesinger, the best way to get rid of him is to have this deal go through and let New Urban West take over.” She said the courts have ruled the land is developable and the plan before the council was the best one they could hope for.
The council members that supported the project also said should it be rejected, Schlesinger could find another developer to plan an even denser project that might be impossible to deny because of new housing laws enacted recently in Sacramento that encourage low-income building and takes control largely out of the hands of local governments. Gallo said he was voting “yes” based on the merits of the project,
A separate lawsuit brought by a homeowners group against the development was settled last summer and the project is now underway.
In response, a labor-sponsored group has spent more than $122,000 on media opposing Diaz in support of Lawson-Remer. That makes sense. Labor = Democrats.
A manure spreading developer getting involved in this race on the side of a Democrat, not so much.
Disclosure--While I have not endorsed in this contest, readers should know that Larry Remer, Lawson-Remer's father, have known each other for 40 years, dating back to the days when were co-editors with the San Diego Door alternative newspaper.
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