In San Diego’s City Council District 4 race, it’s deja vu all over again.

I went digging through ye olde SD Free Press archives and found articles I’d written about a special election held in 2013. You’d be surprised how little has changed.  

The current drama traces its roots back to when rising political star Tony Young (2005-2013) resigned from the D4 Council position (he was also council president at the time) to become CEO of the San Diego-Imperial Counties chapter of the American Red Cross. His tenure lasted 14 months, and the reasons for his departure remain murky.   [Read more…]

As I’ve said for many months now, there are no more important election contests on June 5 than the various County of San Diego positions. The news over the past couple of days, starting with the Board of Supervisors’ pandering to nativists, to scandal after scandal with the Sheriff’s office and bs going on all the way down to the Assessor’s office proves my point.

The County Board of Supervisor met in closed session yesterday and voted 3-1 (Cox voted against, Roberts was absent) to submit an amicus brief in support of the Trump administration’s lawsuit challenging California’s legislation on deportations.

Considering that the deadline for submitting such a brief passed on April 6, you could easily say this was just some posturing. Someday–if the lawsuit gets appealed–the document might be useful, except that courts generally ignore these filings.   [Read more…]

The San Diego City Council is moving to close a term limits loophole allowing incumbent District 2 Councilwoman Lorie Zapf to run for a third term in the upcoming elections.  Current law allows sitting council representatives to reset the clock on term limits when their districts shift due to redistricting.

The Council’s Rules Committee voted lasted week to have the City Attorney draw up a charter amendment closing the loophole for consideration by voters in the November elections. If approved, it would take effect in 2020.

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf would not be eligible for a third consecutive four-year council term if the proposed change was already in place. It’s been more than 25 years since an incumbent councilperson has lost an election in San Diego.   [Read more…]

National City’s ballot measures for the June 5 election have become a battleground for competing groups in the labor movement, as a splinter labor group led by UFCW President Mickey Kasparian injected $50,000 into the contest in support of a measure extending the tenure of Mayor Ron Morrison.  

There is a gendered subtext to this development, as it can easily be argued this support comes from an organization led by a man with a controversial background and will be used to deny political power to progressive women.  

The monies will be used in support of Measure B, which sets term limits for City council members but creates a loophole resetting the incumbent Mayor’s tenure, allowing him to continue past a voter-approved limit set in 2004. Kasparian’s union put up $25,000, for the effort as an Independent Expenditure PAC, and an equal amount came from Laborers International Local 89.   [Read more…]

San Diego’s interim District Attorney Summer Stephan has received an award from Crime Victims United as their Southern California District Attorney of the Year on Monday.

Local media coverage at CBS8, the Times of San Diego, and KUSI consisted of lightly edited versions of the press release issued by the public relations staff at the District Attorney’s office.

Not noted in the local coverage of Stephan’s award was the campaign being led by the awarding group to place a measure on the ballot rolling back portions of criminal justice reforms enacted by the legislature and California voters in recent years.   [Read more…]