“The U-T wants only what is best for San Diego”
– quote from editorial warning Carl DeMaio to obey publisher Doug Manchester’s wishes
By Doug Porter
It was a day to remember in San Diego’s political history. Three high-profile politicians opted to decline the opportunity to enter the contest for the top spot in the eighth largest city in the United States. That’s like three customers going into a Starbucks paying for a latte with a hundred dollar bill and saying “keep the change”…or a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
Carl DeMaio did a stellar job of playing the media as to his intentions. “According to a source with direct knowledge of his plans” DC’s Politico and other media outlets ran with the story saying the former city councilman had decided to drop his candidacy for Congress to run for Mayor. He posted a photo on social media with supporters holding campaign signs for both Congress and Mayor.
The 11am press conference on San Diego’s harbor featured a podium sign strongly suggesting DeMaio was in it to win it for the mayor’s seat. One reporter even pre-typed a Tweet to that effect and ‘accidentally’ hit ‘send’ as DeMaio’s speech meandered across the political landscape. It was clear the former councilman was enjoying playing the press and his “special interest” opponents.
In the end, DeMaio deferred to his Congressional ambitions, Todd Gloria said that the job of being interim mayor demanded his full attention and County Supervisor Ron Roberts opted out of the race.
On the surface anyway, this leaves Democratic convert Nathan Fletcher and the GOP’s District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer as front runners in the race. Both can be considered “safe” choices. It’s center-left vs center right.
The “everybody knows” crowd is already at it, as in [insert name of candidate here] is the obvious choice for [insert political leanings here]. And discussion or even mention of the other 15 already declared or or potential candidates is summarily dismissed, as in “everybody knows” they can’t win because [insert reason here].
Perhaps we should just call off the primary just to keep the “everybody knows” crowd happy. Why bother with campaigns, or platforms when we can have the wisdom of “everybody knows”?
Of course this consensus masks a larger, and some would say more sinister, picture.
On the Republican (Tweedle-dee) side the power plays were obvious. Carl DeMaio, really, really wanted to be mayor. Word has it that he was strongly discouraged from pursuing that course by the “non-partisan” Lincoln Club with a push from UT-San Diego publisher “Papa” Doug Manchester.
From UT-San Diego’s reporting on DeMaio’s presser yesterday:
The decision by DeMaio comes after lengthy behind-the-scenes deliberations among Republican power brokers this past weekend in which they urged DeMaio to stay in the congressional race and unanimously agreed to back Councilman Kevin Faulconer in the mayor’s race. Faulconer is expected to announce his candidacy at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Lest DeMaio not get the message (and they were obviously worried that he wouldn’t), the UT-San Diego editorialized:
As this editorial page has said in the wake of Filner’s resignation, quality of character must be the hallmark of the new mayor — and the standard by which voters should judge the candidates. Never before have integrity, stability, long-standing core values and leadership style been so important.
This election is a time for statesmen. There is no room for political opportunism…
…DeMaio will announce Tuesday whether he will remain a candidate for Congress or demonstrate his own political opportunism by switching to the race for mayor. His decision will mark him as a future Republican star, or could end his political career. The U-T editorial board urges DeMaio to stick with his congressional candidacy; he can count on our editorial support if he does so.
So Carl DeMaio did the “right thing” and announced he was still running for Congress. He was rewarded with a very nice editorial today in the Daily Fishwrap.
Just to make sure nobody else got any ideas, the San Diego GOP jumped the gun, not waiting for Kevin Faulconer’s candidacy announcement (this morning), issuing a press release shortly thereafter:
Local Republican Party Chairman Tony Krvaric today issued the following statement concerning the special San Diego mayoral election:
“We are pleased that Councilman Kevin Faulconer will be running for Mayor. He is a centrist leader in proud San Diego tradition with broad appeal and an established track record of service to our City.”
“The Republican Party of San Diego County will consider an endorsement in the race for Mayor at its next meeting on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 pm at the Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley.”
An hour or so later the release was updated to say they were pleased that Faulconer was “considering” running.
Not everybody was trilled with the GOP’s move to the center on Faulconer. As one commenter at the Daily Fishwrap put it:
Now get ready for the repackaging of Kevin Faulconer. Wherein Barney Fife gets transformed into John Wayne.
While the GOP has cleared the deck of potential distractions, local Democrats (Tweedle-Dum) are still working on it.
City Councilman Todd Gloria’s announcement that he was not running was a step forward towards consolidating their package. Nathan Fletcher’s candidacy got a big boost even as he was releasing the official video saying he was in the race.
There are those pesky progressive types lurking in the shadows that have yet to be convinced that a figurative battle of the Titans (Manchester vs Jacobs) is the best way forward. And then there’s labor.
While the Metropolitan Employees Association and the Firefighters have already endorsed Fletcher—and the Police Officers Association won’t be far behind—the rest of the Labor Council isn’t convinced of the former Assemblyman’s ideological conversion, especially given his legislative vote history.
Councilman David Alvarez told the City Beat he’d defer to a Todd Gloria or a Donna Fry candidacy. Now that Gloria’s out, some activists are encouraged. Alvarez @ City Beat:
“Clearly, if Donna runs, I don’t have any question that we’ll have a victory. With Todd, he’ll have a better chance than I do, even though some folks might have some reservations.”
The way Alvarez sees it, among the progressives, he comes next in line. So, he’s tried to figure out how much money he’d need to run an effective campaign. He’s made a list of individual donors who could max out at $1,000, he’s thought about how much the Democratic Party might spend independently if he were the guy the party chose to support and how much organized labor might spend; he’s thought about voter turnout and how many votes he’d need depending on the potential field of candidates. And he’s considered the fact that he and his wife are expecting their second child in March.
“I’ve got all these scenarios compared; it’s now just sort of finalizing who the candidates are,” he says. “That’s why this week, for sure we’ll know, and then it has to be, because I need to get started soon.”
Alvarez isn’t the only well-known politico mulling his/her options this week. But if any of these folk want in, they need to consider that the Central Labor Council meeting later (Friday) this week, where an endorsement package is reportedly on the agenda. The San Diego Democratic Party is waiting until September 24th to consider it’s endorsement options.
The Wild Cards
Activist Bruce Coons and former City Attorney Mike Aguirre are both candidates with enough name recognition to consider as viable alternative candidates. And there’s at least a dozen other possibilities.
We’ll be looking at some of those less well-known candidates in the coming weeks. Remember, the primary isn’t until November 19th. And any run off election won’t be held until at least a month into next year.
So for now, don’t settle for “everybody knows”. Your vote is too important to be relegated to the same decision making process used by Madison Avenue.
More Action on the Walmart Front
Labor Day may be over, but things are starting to get heated up for America’s largest retailer.
From The Nation:
Walmart workers and supporters plan to mount protests in fifteen cities Thursday, a mobilization that the union-backed group OUR Walmart expects will be its largest since last November’s Black Friday strike. This week’s rallies follow an August 22 civil disobedience action at which the campaign announced a Labor Day deadline for Walmart to raise its wages to at least $25,000 per year, and reverse the terminations of twenty workers who participated in a June strike….
…According to the campaign, Thursday’s rallies will have the largest total turnout by Walmart employees, and the biggest overall number of participants, of any Walmart mobilization since the one-day November 23 strike last year, in which organizers say four hundred-some workers walked off the job and thousands of supporters turned out to support them. Since then, organizers say hundreds of workers took part in collective confrontations with local management over scheduling on April 24, and over a hundred participated in the longer June work stoppage, which included a week of protests in and around Walmart’s Arkansas hometown.
No War on Syria Demonstration
The San Diego Veterans for Peace are relocating their weekly No Drones protests to downtown San Diego until further notice.
They’re calling for people to join them on Thursday, September 5th, 4-6pm at the 6th Street overpass over Interstate 5. People are encouraged to bring posters with very large letters so they can be read from 100 yards away. (The traffic is moving and they have only seconds to see the message.)
For more info: Dave Patterson – 760-207-9139
On This Day: 1781 – Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers. The original name was “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula,” which translates as “The Town of the Queen of Angels.” 1894 – A strike in New York City by 12,000 tailors took place to protest sweatshops. 1968 – “Street Fighting Man,” by the Rolling Stones, was banned in several cities. Authorities feared it might incite public disorder.
I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to… Catch “the Starting Line” Monday thru Friday right here at San Diego Free Press (dot) org. Send your hate mail and ideas to DougPorter@
Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to “The Starting Line” and get an email every time a new article in this series is posted!
Check us out on Facebook and Twitter. AND ! You can now follow SDFP on Instagram at sdfreepress.
Doug Porter
Latest posts by Doug Porter (see all)
- Last Call. Last Column. - December 14, 2018
- Which Presidential Candidate Will You Support in 2020? - December 13, 2018
- Mounting the Assault on Big Gay and Other Drivel From SDSU’s Minimum Wage Scrooge - December 12, 2018
SD Free Press nails it: “There are those pesky progressive types lurking in the shadows that have yet to be convinced that a figurative battle of the Titans (Manchester vs Jacobs) is the best way forward. And then there’s labor.” Are we going to sell the mayorship of the 8th largest city in our nation to the highest bidder?
Lori Saldaña is a native San Diegan who served the maximum 3 terms allowed in the California Assembly from 2004 to 2010, representing the 76th District, after waging a tough grassroots campaign in the 2004 Primary against the anointed candidate. She was raised in Clairemont, where she currently resides in her family home. Her father served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a reporter for the San Diego Evening Tribune. She earned a bachelor of arts degree and a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University. After college, Saldaña went on to teach business information technology for the San Diego Community College District, where she also managed Department of Labor grants used for student technical training.
Lori Saldaña has distinguished herself as a champion of environmental causes. From 1992-1994, she chaired the San Diego Wetlands Advisory board as an appointee of the Mayor of San Diego, and in 1999, the President appointed her to the Border Environment Cooperation Commission’s advisory council.
In 2007, Lori Saldaña was named Legislator of the Year by Californians Against Waste for her legislation regarding E-waste. She also co-authored the state’s Million Dollar Solar Initiative and the Global Warming Solutions Act. A longtime union member (carpenter’s apprentice and teacher), Assy. Lori Saldana was given a 100 percent voting record by the California Labor Federation, and honored by the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council as “Labor’s Legislative Hero of the Month.” Only 15 of 120 CA legislators received 100 percent voting records. She was appointed Assembly Speaker Pro Tem, presiding often in the Speaker’s stead, and served as chair of the bipartisan California Women’s Legislative Caucus and the Housing and Community Development Committee.
After serving San Diegans in the State Assembly for 3 terms, including serving as Speaker Pro Tem during her 3rd term, she returned to teaching in San Diego community colleges, helped to care for her aged and ailing father, and ran for Congress in the 2012 Primary to unseat Brian Bilbray — coming within 700 votes of securing a Top Two spot in the General Election despite being outspent by $1 million.
During the 2012 Congressional Primary, Saldaña was endorsed by all of the Democratic Clubs in the new 50th Congressional District. She also received endorsements from EMILY’s List, MoveOn.org, Bold Progressives, DFA, PDA, the American Federation of Teachers, former San Diego City Councilmember Donna Frye, San Diego City Council members Marti Emerald and Tony Young (then Council President), and San Diego School Board Trustee Richard Barrera (then Board President).
Since that race, she stepped up once more to lead the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club, while teaching in our community colleges and continuing to care for her elderly father. Getting OUTSIDE the bubble and living as so many of us do — as a working person, caring for our elderly parents, and advocating for making ALL of our neighborhoods and residents healthier, safer and more prosperous — is a very GOOD perspective from which to run for Mayor of our diverse and growing city.
On Facebook:
Doug, good article. Also, I enjoy your “This day in history” footnotes and have often wondered about “Porciuncula” in the formal name of Los Angeles. So, I finally looked it up. It’s a tiny chapel near Assisi, Italy, where the Franciscan Order is said to have been founded (St. Francis of Assisi). Makes sense since Father Serra was a Franciscan and founded the mission system in Baja and Alta California.
I agree that the Free Press nails the Mayor Race. It looks to me that the race will become “The Battle of the F-Names.” With this choice, The winner be the result of a political fight over who wears the nicest but perhaps empty suits (I am torn between Fletcher and Faulkner.) Perhaps the race will go to whoever will bend over the furthest for the big corporate special interest groups like the Downtown business groups, the Hotel Groups, and SDG&E while screwing over the rest of us ( It looks like a tie to me on this one too.)
I hope some real Progressives come out soon so we might get a real choice. I like Lori Saldaña for the job, but I don’t know if she has a nice enough suit.
Lori Saldana is clearly the peoples choice for Mayor of San Diego. Her distinguished legislative career in which she rose to be Speaker Pro Temp of the CA Assembly, her outstanding voting record on labor, economic, and environmental issues, and her outstanding record as a leader of nonprofit organizations make her an excellent choice for Mayor of San Diego.
Bruce Coons is the only candidate I’d consider in this race. A San Diego for all San Diegans. We’re not a city made up of billionaires, but of real, everyday normal people and we need a leader who understands and addresses the concerns of the majority of San Diego citizenry.
A second for Bruce……He is one of the 99% not a career politician.
If Bruce Coons or Lori Saldana were to promise to name Aguirre their city attorney I’d work for both of them until blood ran out my pores.
The City Attorney is an elected position. Bruce, Lori, or no one else can “name” the city attorney – Filner certainly would not have named or appointed Jan Goldsmith as City Attorney.
It will be an open seat in 2016. Goldsmith ran unopposed in 2012, won it in June.
This group makes C Arnholt Smith, John Alessio and the Copley Press of 50 years ago look good.
RE: the pawns line up. Great analysis Doug. ” Everybody knows ” (nod to your neighbor and make meaningful shrugs and head wagging with downcast eyes) hand wringing and whining is not acceptable under these circumstances. Let’s not jump on any bandwagons to nowhere just yet. A real progressive may actually be convinced to jump into the race. San Diego deserves REAL real choices to debate who will lead the region where for the next 3 to 7 years. Think about the demographics. Who is ascendant? How do we help them build power to win and to lead?
I look forward to seeing how Aguirre and Coons do in the initial forays.
In my opinion, Aguirre was a great City Attorney, but he was a natural enemy of the media (normally a good thing) and became an enemy of Labor with his pension solutions. I would love to see him as Mayor, but right or wrong the typical voter will see him as another divisive mayor and no one wants two in a row.
I also like Bruce Coons and his save our Heritage activism. However, even I wonder if he isn’t a “one issue” candidate. He has almost no name recognition and no time (or money?) to build it or tell us about how he would handle issues in addition to his one passion.
IMHO, we need someone who is Progressive, has name recognition, has government administration experience, and experience in a city-wide size race. A woman would cancel any ability to frame her as a Filner-like abuser.
Lori Saldana and Donna Frye meet those “requirements.” Donna seems firm in her resolve not to run and Lori has started an exploratory committee.
Does anybody else see the propaganda put out by our media? First the U-T strongly suggests that if DeMaio switches from Congress to the mayoral run, he is displaying lack of character and flipflopping personality traits. The next day (Wednesday) they run an editorial praising him for being a statesman. They (the UT) are so good at twisting events and words it’s scary.
I just did something I rarely do – read today’s edition of the U-T. And now I see that the UT was clearing the field for Falconer, who apparently is their chosen One to be mayor. I stand corrected. Devious be the ways of the UT establishment I guess.