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Congressman Darrell Issa Calls It Quits! (Another One Bites the Dust)

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The Hill’s senior staff writer Scott Wong was first on Twitter with the news this morning, linking to a story posted by the liberal news site OCDaily.net saying Congressman Darrell Issa was going to announce his resignation. 

A few minutes later, Politico officially broke the story.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will not seek reelection, he announced Wednesday — the latest sign of a growing Democratic wave in this year’s midterm elections.

Issa, first elected in 2000, served as the House GOP’s chief interrogator of the Obama administration as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier this decade. But the political environment in his Southern California district shifted rapidly in recent years: Issa only won reelection by just over 1,600 votes in 2016, while Hillary Clinton carried the traditionally Republican seat in the presidential election by 7 percentage points.
  [Read more…]

It’s Time for Lifeguard Ed Harris to Jump in and Rescue Residents of San Diego City Council District 2

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It’s time for Ed Harris – the lifeguard union chief – to jump in and rescue the citizens of San Diego City Council District 2.

Why do they need rescuing?

Well, consider this: The next election – the June Primary – is less than five months away and incumbent Lori Zapf is up for re-election. Zapf, a Republican, faces a district where registered Democratic voters outnumber registered Republicans by nearly 9,000. That ought to make her very vulnerable come November.

Yet, Zapf faces a field of weak challengers. All of them – and here is where OB Rag makes enemies – from Bryan Pease to Jordan Beane to Jen Campbell – they all have political flaws that make them unable ultimately to mount the District 2 seat in city council chambers downtown.

And that’s why Ed Harris – who once sat in that chair for the District – needs to dive in, enter the race and give Zapf a run for her mone   [Read more…]

Will San Diego’s ‘Fake Homeless’ Issue Be a Winner for a 2018 City Council Campaign?

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The weather has turned angry. It’s raining and blustery outside as I’m writing this. It’s a bad time to be a human living without a roof over their head.  

I’m also angry. I’ve just seen a video of a supposedly leading Democratic candidate for City Council who seems to think she can win by fanning the flames of hate towards our city’s homeless.

Here’s the money quote from District 2 candidate Dr. Jen Campbell, speaking to a group on Thursday, January 4:

“You see all those panhandlers on the corners? They’re probably not even homeless! They’re just pretending they are. They’re begging. Do they have a license? I doubt it. In the city they have to have a license. Is anyone checking that? No. We don’t have enough police!”

UPDATE: Dr. Campbell has issued a statement apologizing for her remarks. I’ve posted her remarks as a standalone story.   [Read more…]

San Diego 2018: What the Democratic Party Leadership Must Do

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The times, they are a-changin’.

Last weekend, the Union-Tribune editorial board called out the leadership of the county’s Democratic Party for enabling men who sexually harass women. You can’t know how weird it felt to have read the dead tree version of this editorial and having to admit it read like something I could have written.

In years past, I would have just chalked up such criticism to the urgings of the UT’s Republican masters looking to stir the pot. By putting their criticism in the context of what’s been happening nationally with high profile cases of sexual harassment and boorish behavior, the UT showed me this was more than partisan sniping.   [Read more…]

Carr, Geraci Believe a Democrat Can Top Waldron in the 75th Assembly District

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By Rick Mercurio / Alianza North County

Two democrats are gearing up to challenge incumbent republican Marie Waldron next year for the 75th Assembly district, which has traditionally been a safe seat for conservatives. Waldron is currently serving as the Assembly’s minority floor leader and is in her third two-year term after serving 14 years on the Escondido city council.

Eric Carr and Alan Geraci hope to harness the political activism that has been sweeping the nation, including North County, and turn that energy into an electoral upset.
The 75th encompasses Escondido, San Marcos, Valley Center, Fallbrook and southern Riverside County.   [Read more…]

Duncan Hunter Vapes While Opponents Organize

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By DWeisman/Escondido Grapevine

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th Congressional District) has been a walking horror show for years, and generations if one harkens back to his dad from whom he “inherited” the once-safe Republican congressional seat.

Hunter and his mentor, President Trump, actually have a lot in common. They’re blowhards. They’re caught somewhere between ineffective and impotent. They shill. They lie. They’re under federal investigation and probable indictment.

Every day Trump says and does horrible and disconcerting stuff. Monday, it was Pocahontas slurs in front of Navajo code talkers and a portrait of Indian-killer Andrew Jackson, along with the appointment of a guy who wants to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as its director.

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Help Wanted: A 21st Century San Diego County Sheriff

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What if San Diego had a leader in law enforcement who could see beyond warehousing the homeless? What if we had a Sheriff who wasn’t proud of the fact our jails are dumping grounds for the county’s mentally ill humans? What if we could find a way past the “us versus them” mentality, where fear drives the relationship with the government agency touching the most lives?

The question for voters in the 2018 election for County Sheriff shouldn’t be “what if;” it should be “why not?”

California’s electorate has (over and over and over again) spoken up. The days of lock ‘em up and throw away the key are over. Some of our public servants don’t like that idea. There are plenty of reasons to believe current Sheriff of San Diego County, Bill Gore, is one of those people.   [Read more…]

County Jail Deaths Don’t Matter in San Diego

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The decision of the county’s police oversight group to not look into the deaths of twenty-odd human beings should serve as a reminder of how true justice is a much rarer commodity than most people realize.

As part of my research into the upcoming elections for County Sheriff and District Attorney, it’s been made clear to me that oversight of the agencies vested with the power of arrest and the administration of justice is largely an illusion.

On one level this is about the frailties of humans; peer pressure to maintain the integrity of the tribe in the face of constant threats. The unspeakable cruelties of injustice are seemingly compartmentalized away from public view so the ongoing–and often misguided–crusade against crime can continue.   [Read more…]

County Elections Matter: Matt Strabone’s Campaign for Assessor/Recorder/Clerk

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Will the Blue Wave of victorious Democratic party candidates in recent elections include San Diego?  

The incumbent office holders of down-ballot county seats are hoping they’ll fly under the progressive radar come June 5, 2018. That’s because candidates in San Diego County can win outright –avoiding a November runoff– with a simple majority vote. Though county contests are technically non-partisan, the reality is local office holders at the county level are among the last local bastions of Republicans.

A smaller turnout and the older, more conservative profile of primary voters has all-but-assured an indefinite tenure for county positions like Assessor/Clerk, Sheriff, and District Attorney. And, when they’re ready to retire, they simply quit mid-term, ensuring a carefully groomed deputy appointed by five white Republican County Supervisors will have the advantages of incumbency in the next election.   [Read more…]

County Government Laid Bare

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Part I: Who knew the race for San Diego County Board of Supervisors could be so hidden, so mysterious?

County government leaders have gotten negative press lately with charges of complacency … neglect … elitism … callousness … and worse!  But that hasn’t stopped a vigorous set of candidates from vying for a seat on the tarnished Board of Supervisors.

What an intriguing mystery! It’s time for girl-crusader-for-good-government Nancy Drew to do some sleuthing.

She’s got five big questions about county government.  And she’s got a few question for the candidates whose eyes are glued on the June 2018 primary election.  All she wants are the facts, ma’am.   [Read more…]

2018: Time to Clean House in County Government

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Imagine, if you will…

A place in California where a single official believes he has the power to turn back the clock on same-sex marriage… A place where investigations into the deaths of people in jail are dismissed… A place where elected officials get to pick their successors…

…A place where a politician can pick up the phone and order police retaliation on people whose views he doesn’t share… A place where hundreds of millions of dollars sit undisturbed while homelessness spreads unabated, while a single elected official can pledge $150 million for a sports stadium.

Welcome to San Diego County, a place where the basic functions of government have morphed into fiefdoms of neglect and a culture of corruption prevents transparency.   [Read more…]

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