Will Opposing Racism Be a Priority for the Next City Council President?

There was never any doubt that Democrats would control the San Diego City Council after the 2020 elections. The only questions to be answered concerned how big the majority would be and what our district representatives would do with that power.

One of the biggest challenges facing the newly elected council will involve enacting an ordinance creating a new police oversight entity as approved by a whopping three fourths of San Diego voters on Nov. 3.

The devil is in the details here. The Commission on Police Practices, with members appointed by the City Council, will have its own staff and an independent attorney. There is a lot of room for finessing those details, and local history dictates that there will be a behind the scenes effort to water down its power.

A generally progressive group of Democrats won in the recent election, and there is hope for the creation of an entity matching the vision of community activists who’ve struggled for years to make it happen.  

Maneuvering for the real lever of power is now underway, namely who the council will agree on as president to set their agenda for the coming year.

The decision will be reached on December 10 at the first meeting of the incoming 9-member San Diego City Council, consisting of 8 Democrats members and a 1 (lonely) Republican.

The winner of the council presidency gains additional staffing, determines the chairs and membership of the various council committees and assigns members to positions on outside public boards, such as the Metropolitan Transit District and the San Diego Association of Governments.

In years past, decisions on leadership on the council were largely made in private. The city’s big economic players had a seat at the table; private vendettas in political circles also played a role. 

From Voice of San Diego:

• The public jockeying is a departure for the Council presidency, a position that does not involve a public vote. In 2014, Mayor-elect Todd Gloria was the Council president, until Mayor Kevin Faulconer and four Council Republicans threw their support behind then-Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, a Democrat, who along with a vote for herself had enough support to oust Gloria. In 2016, two of the most powerful unions in the city split over who to support, with then-Councilwoman Myrtle Cole winning out. A year later, Cole nearly lost the seat when she yanked committee assignments from Republicans who had voted for her a year earlier. In 2018, Council President Georgette Gómez quickly pulled together support from the new Democratic supermajority to take the role, and the elevated say over city priorities – and Council resources – that comes with it.

Both D2 Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell and D4 Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe (she married in August, hence the additional name) have made their intentions public.

Campbell has made her mark as chair of the City Council’s Environment Committee.

Montgomery Steppe’s leadership in the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee has raised her profile as an advocate for social justice..

Dr. Campbell told Voice of San Diego she was encouraged to run for council president by people inside and outside of City Hall, but would not name those individuals. She indicated that “people who know how I roll,” like the San Diego Police Officers Association, the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and organized labor were among those she’d spoken with.

The D2 representative officially went public with her intentions last Monday, saying “Throughout my term, I’ve made it a priority to put the City’s best interest ahead of my own immediate political gain.  I’ve taken a pragmatic, objective approach to building coalitions and working with each of my Council colleagues, despite our differences, to deliver positive outcomes for all our communities.”

The following day Montgomery Steppe chimed in, saying “As the People’s Council President, I will work to amplify the community’s voice by building a strong council.  … The City Council needs to harness our power and leverage it to benefit all communities.”

A coalition of Montgomery Steppe supporters are working to galvanize institutional and public endorsements via a website and social media. More than forty five organizations have publicly pledged support, along with hundreds of local voters. (Disclosure- I am proudly on this list,) 

Reading between the lines of the council presidency candidates and observing who seems to be lining up behind each of them, it’s safe to say Campbell’s approach to police reform will be less aggressive than Montgomery Steppe’s.

Support for the Commission on Police Practices in the past election reflected growing concern in the community in the wake of disclosures about the racial component of the expectations and practices of law enforcement. Policing as currently practiced is inherently inequitable, and deeply rooted in racism and white supremacy. 

While there is a need for substantive oversight of police behaviors, the real discussion that needs to take place concerns rethinking the scope of police responsibilities and shifting much of gets done in the name of public safety to entities better equipped to meet that need.

Given that Council member Montgomery Steppe includes “reimagining policing and public safety” as one of her priorities --  as opposed Campbell’s pledge “to protect the health and safety of all our San Diego communities”-- the selection of a council president also represents a commitment to making the kind of change needed to advance the struggle against racism.

Although I’m sure she would deny my inference, when I read Campbell's words “all our San Diego communities” I hear “all lives matter,” the phrase used by racists to deny the reality of oppression in this country. 

Black Lives Matter. 

And making that statement a reality involves getting to the root of our institutional racism, in policing and every other aspect of governance. District 4 Council member Monica Montgomery Steppe is the best choice to lead San Diego down that path.

Related: Be sure to read Jim Miller’s San Diego Democrats Are Facing ‘The Curse of the Supermajority,’ also published here today. 

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Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com