Still Undecided in the Murky Mayor’s Race? -- Why Progressives Should Vote for Todd Gloria
...if you want a more progressive San Diego, you may not have a perfect choice in this race, but you do have a clear one...
By Jim Miller
If there is one word that describes San Diego’s mayoral contest this 2020, it is this: disappointing.
Just a few years ago, local Democrats could not even get their act together enough to run a credible challenger against Kevin Faulconer with all the likely suspects choosing to run for safe seats instead of going toe to toe with the incumbent. Perhaps one could charitably argue that the wreckage and deep divisions in local progressive circles left in the wake of the Filner debacle were responsible for this.
But now, with the demographics and party registration numbers in the city having changed significantly enough that the Republicans have become a minority party unable to even field a mayoral candidate capable of making it to the general election, one might think we’d finally be in a much better place. Unfortunately, the “new day” in San Diego politics that we are confronted with is far from inspiring. While I’m still optimistic that, long-term, the new political landscape of the city will make it possible to elect a progressive who might deeply transform San Diego politics, we are not there yet.
Neither of the two candidates running for mayor of San Diego are true progressive champions. In fact, both of them have done things to alienate the local progressive base. Front and center here is the fact that both Democratic candidates for mayor failed to endorse Proposition 15, which would bring in around $700 million in resources for education and community services to our region and reform one of the most egregious parts of the Proposition 13’s legacy by closing a glaring corporate tax loophole that has robbed schools and municipalities of funds for decades.
This puts both candidates at odds with the state Democratic party and the governor, who endorsed Prop. 15. As any progressive with a historical memory understands, Proposition 13 was at the heart of the rise of the New Right here in California and nationwide.
Indeed, the biggest legacy of Proposition 13 has been that California, despite being the world’s 5th largest economy, has schools, counties, and cities that frequently struggle with austerity, particularly during economic downturns.
Another way of putting it is that Proposition 13, the spawn of right-wing backlash politics, was very effective at what folks like Reagan administration official David Stockman charmingly refer to as “starving the beast.” That is, preventing government from being effective by limiting resources and then calling for more cuts because of that ineffectiveness.
Thus, when Barbara Bry came out vociferously against the measure and Todd Gloria did so more tepidly, it was a clear sign that neither of the two candidates to be the next mayor in the post-GOP era had deep progressive principles. Shame on both of them for this.
Indeed, the argument cited by both Bry and Gloria about raising taxes during an economic downturn erases the fact that that is precisely what made the New Deal possible during the Great Depression and that the costs of austerity are more likely to do more lasting harm for many more people than those of asking corporations to pay their fair share.
I understand that Bry and Gloria were both aiming to triangulate and appeal to Republican voters, but going straight for this stock-in-trade neoliberal baloney should be beneath any candidate trying to campaign as a Democrat, no less a progressive one. It should be a question of core values.
In Gloria’s case, this was a betrayal of a significant part of his base, those of us in public sector unions, and he should know better as he has supported progressive tax measures in the past and has said as much to many of the people whose resources are helping in the effort to elect him.
For Bry, it simply confirms what any astute observer already should know: she is a milquetoast La Jolla corporate Democrat whose claims of “independence” from special interests are only necessary because the local Democratic Party and the local labor movement chose not to support her after she eagerly sought their endorsements. Period.
So while this issue exposes the fact that San Diego is far from having the perfect progressive candidate for mayor, on the whole, it’s clear that the race is between a candidate who’s good on most issues, versus someone who is happy to run toward the right, not just on Proposition 15 but on a whole range of issues.
I have to say, I have been puzzled watching some progressives turning themselves into pretzels trying to portray Bry as some kind of resistance street fighter, defending her wealth as a virtue in an age of oligarchy, apologizing for her investments in fossil fuels as we face catastrophic climate change, and her general bourgeois NIMBY positions, none of which are signs that she has progressive instincts.
This strange phenomenon is, in part, born out of anger at Gloria’s support for Measure E, which is far from perfect, but is supported by labor (for jobs), housing advocates, and the Climate Action Campaign for encouraging density to fight climate change. So while I understand the fury of the opposition and share many of their concerns, it’s not at all clear to me that those who favor Measure E are simply establishment pawns. Perhaps they just see it differently.
In one of the more clear-eyed pieces on the race, Michael Smolens outlines a couple of other key differences between the two candidates, noting that Bry is opposed to SANDAG’s Regional Transportation Plan that many San Diego environmentalists and other community activists favor and that her position on homelessness doesn’t include providing housing:
They also disagree on the regional transportation plan being proposed by the San Diego Association of Governments, a blueprint for a $177 billion system of high-speed rail, transit and highways that would be developed over a 30-year time span. Gloria is in general support, with the caveat that details need to be fleshed out. Bry is opposed, saying it’s better to expand the existing transit system and rely on a future with autonomous vehicles.
They also don’t agree on how best to help the homeless. Gloria advocates the “housing first” model that seek to stabilize homeless people by giving them a place to live, then providing them with services to address such things as mental health and addiction issues. Bry, who once backed housing first, says she now believes providing services along with bridge shelters should be the priority.
Finally, I’d also add that Bry is far from a friend of working people in San Diego as evidenced by her recent reticence on the City Council to vote for a worker retention measure for hotel and hospitality employees until Scott Sherman amended it, which made it more palatable for her. Hardly the stuff of a working-class hero.
Additionally, her support for Proposition 22, which would hand big corporations a gift, repeal Lorena Gonzalez’s AB 5, and rob gig workers of basic labor rights, is unforgivable. Of course, this and other anti-labor stances are all part of her effort to court Republican voters, but when Carl DeMaio lines up behind you, you should know that you’ve gone over to the dark side.
Gloria, on the other hand, has been there for working people far more often than not as evidenced by his advocacy for San Diego’s minimum wage increase and his 100% lifetime floor vote record on labor issues in Sacramento from the California Federation of Labor, Proposition 15 aside. On environmental issues, he has another 100% rating from the Sierra Club, and, as interim mayor, he introduced San Diego’s Climate Action Plan.
In sum, if Gloria has shown himself unreliable on one key issue for many progressives during this cycle, Bry has made a concerted effort to form a center-right coalition that she would need to govern. Gloria, who has the support of business interests, is also indebted to labor, many environmental activists, and liberal Democrats, which would mean they’d have a bigger role in his governing coalition.
Historically speaking, electing Barbara Bry would help keep San Diego’s traditional class and race split largely divided by the 5 and 8 freeways intact in Democratic clothing. Gloria, for all his flaws, would be the first Filipino mayor in San Diego and also the first who’s openly gay. And he comes from a working-class background. With regard to issues of racial equity, gay rights, and inclusion, that matters.
On a personal note, despite my present displeasure with Gloria with regard to Proposition 15, I know him and have lobbied him (with my union hat on) successfully and unsuccessfully on various labor and educational issues over the years.
One thing that impresses me about him is that he is always open to talk, even after you’ve gone after him forcefully, as I just did here. That is not always the case with many other elected officials and has not been my impression of Bry who, in the multiple labor council interviews I have participated in over the years, was far less able to respond to criticism with equanimity.
Thus, if you want a more progressive San Diego, you may not have a perfect choice in this race, but you do have a clear one: vote for Todd Gloria for mayor and push him to do the right thing more often than not.
Lead Image via Gerd Altmann at Pixabay