Control Of County’s Board Of Supervisors Hinges On Third District Race
Speaker 1: 00:00 The outcome could change the political balance of the San Diego County board of supervisors for the first time in recent memory. It's the race for County supervisor in the third district, incumbent Republican Kristin Gaspar faces, Democrat, Tara Lawson reamer, a first time candidate and an economist who worked in the Obama administration, KPBS reporter. Steve Walsh has the story. Speaker 2: 00:24 The world changed dramatically after the March 3rd primary, right after the two candidates were chosen for the general election. COVID-19 thrust the County health system into the spotlight at times. Incumbent Kristin gas bar has been at odds with the County still very early on in the pandemic in June gas bar was publicly calling for the County to loosen restrictions on backyard gatherings. Speaker 1: 00:47 It was really easy to look back at any point in time during this pandemic response and point to okay, we'll in this month, uh, we may have felt a different way, but we've learned a lot over time. Speaker 2: 00:58 She's still pushing for San Diego County to make its own reopening plan. As the virus continues to spread, Speaker 1: 01:05 We need our local control back from the governor. California is a large diverse state and the thought that we can treat every County exactly the same way with this peanut butter approach is the wrong Speaker 2: 01:19 Caspar says she suspended her campaign during the summer to concentrate on the COVID-19 response. She says, that's one reason why, even as an incumbent, she's trailing her challenger, Terra Lawson reamer in fundraising, early on Lawson Riemer, who is an attorney in college professor at UCS SD says she repurposed her phone bank so they could perform wellness checks for seniors in the district. Lawson reamer is also critical of the county's response, but for a different reason, not having enough staff on hand to handle the pandemic, even after a hepatitis, a outbreak two years ago, Speaker 1: 01:54 But they just didn't have the resources. There had been an underinvestment in staff for so long that they, they just were not able to keep up with the demand and they just did an extraordinary job with the limited resources they had. So that frankly fundamentally falls on, um, you know, the prior leadership and the County board Speaker 2: 02:14 Aside from potentially turning the board of supervisors from red to blue. The third district is likely to tip the balance of power on the regional planning agency, SANDAG where gas bar now has a seat. SANDAG is creating a 30 year plan, which concentrates on mass transit and moves away from road widening projects, gas bar. Once those road projects, Speaker 1: 02:35 How much more are we willing to dedicate solely into mass transit while continuing to ignore the rest? How about we start looking at a balanced way to make those events? Speaker 2: 02:46 The county's climate change plan is ended up in court. Lawson reamer is running on replacing it with what she calls the gold standard of climate change plans, but she hasn't taken a position on sandbags plan. First thing you have to do Speaker 1: 03:00 Is a feasibility study. You know, how's this going to impact how we live and work? Is it really going to bring the solutions that we need to do our community? Um, and then as well as an economic study, you know, what's going to be the impact economically in terms of job creation Speaker 2: 03:14 In the latest campaign finance report, Lawson reamer brought in an extra $162,000, more than gas bar actors, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin recently held a virtual fundraiser for her Lawson. Reamer says Fonda is supporting candidates who take a strong stance to stop climate change. During the recent debate gas bar criticized the amount of money coming in from the service employees international union local two 21 say the union is trying to take over the board of supervisors Speaker 1: 03:44 Is not the time to siphon precious tax dollars. Uber to labor union box Speaker 2: 03:50 Lawson reamer says she's proud of her union support. Instead Lawson Rieber continues to hammer away at gas bar support of the Trump administration, including trips to the white house. Speaker 1: 04:00 And my opponent has been a strong supporter of Donald Trump since day. Number one was one of his earliest endorsers Speaker 2: 04:07 District runs up the coast from Solana beach to Encinitas and up to 15 from the eighth Escondido once reliably Republican, it now has more registered Democrats. The third district is the best hope for Republicans to hold a three to two majority on the County board of supervisors. After a second seat, went to Democrats in the primary. Speaker 1: 04:28 Joining me is KPBS reporter, Steve Walsh and Steve welcome. Hi Maureen district three already switched from Democrat to Republican in 2016. When Dave Roberts was defeated by Christian gas bar, why would a switch back to Democrat be such a big deal this time? Speaker 2: 04:48 Because this time around Maureen, uh, the Democrats would take a three to two majority on the County board of supervisors for the first time in a, in a generation. Now the second district and the fifth district, they're already very solidly Republican. They're expected to remain that way, but the remaining two seats that seat that covers the South Bay, the first district is really a race between two Democrats at this point, making the third district, the swing district here, the decider for this election. Speaker 1: 05:17 Okay, well, besides the county's climate action plan and the county's handling of the Corona virus, what are some of the other issues in this race? Speaker 2: 05:26 Well, homelessness is a huge issue. Um, it's still related to the, to the Corona virus. The County will have to decide what to do with the people who are living in the convention center right now, gas bar objected to a plan that, uh, would, uh, w where the County was going to apply for state funds to buy a hotel in Lamesa, uh, to house homeless. After the local officials objected. Now, Loston reamer says that she would have supported that idea. They both want to put more money into more longterm solutions to people from returning to the streets though gas bar has criticized Lawson reamer saying that that Lawson reamer at least thinks that the County has enough money to fund just about any project and that she's not being fiscally constrained. Speaker 1: 06:10 Well, as you told us, Kristen gas bar was an early occasionally ardent supporter of president Trump. The president is not widely popular in San Diego. So how much of an issue is Trump in this campaign? Speaker 2: 06:24 Oh, well, it's, it's a huge issue. Lawson reamer has tried to tie a guest in the Trump administration, really, since the beginning of the campaign. Now, Trump is still popular among his base, but this really is not shaping up to be a base election. So the Republicans can't get gas bar over the hump in a district that is now majority Democrat, and there's a lot of enthusiasm on the part of Democrats to remove Trump from office. So gas bar has tried to distance herself from Trump while Lawson reamer keeps hammering away and mailers and other and other opportunities to tie her to the Trump administration. As you can imagine, given the district Gaspar has tried to paint herself as more of a moderate who will work with anyone Republican or Democrat saying that she has supported working with the governor and, and her fellow fellow supervisors. Speaker 2: 07:15 The problem is that she hasn't done that in some very high profile cases, supporting the lawsuits like we've seen supporting the Trump administration's position on immigration. And she spent a lot of time on COVID-19 response, but mainly she's been out there as a voice for reopening faster than the state and the rest of this, the supervisor's support. So it's making it harder for her to be seen as a moderate. And it's making her look a little easier for Lawson reamer to paint her as someone who is tied to a unpopular policies by the Trump administration, Speaker 1: 07:49 Besides climate activists like Fonda and Tomlin, who's endorsing Terra, Lawson dreamer. Speaker 2: 07:55 Well, she has a tremendous amount of a union support from SEI you and the other unions unions. Um, she has the governor. She has a Nathan Fletcher, uh, supervisor and Loraina Gonzalez. You know, again, you know, gas bar has claimed that, uh, that she will work with RS and DS, even putting Nathan Fletcher in an ad and Fletcher and Lawson reamer responded with a press conference where Fletcher said the gas bar is actually very difficult to work with. So you, uh, you can tell where we're Nathan Fletcher support lies. Speaker 1: 08:24 Why is there such a fundraising difference between gas bar and Lawson reamer gas bar as the incumbent would normally be way ahead in fundraising? Is it really because gas bar took a break from campaigning for a couple of months? Speaker 2: 08:37 No. I mean, that's what she claims they they're both doing well. Lawson reamer has a super pack set up by SciQ. Now that's helped her gas bar has an influx actually of about 20 over $25,000 from the County GOP. That's helping gas bar Lawson reamer is, is from a politically family. Now she's a first time candidate herself. It has certainly helped her in fundraising, her, her family as well known in democratic circles. Her father, Larry is a well known consultant. People like Tony Atkins and Susan David say they first met Lawson reamer as a child. Speaker 1: 09:12 Now back in 2016 supervisory district threes, the results there were too close to call for more than a week after the election is the situation in this same place that we could be heading into that kind of situation again. Speaker 2: 09:28 Well, maybe, but you know, Roberts was in the middle of a scandal and that probably helped create an opening for guests bar in, in what is a district that has really more Democrats than Republicans had this point. It could still be close. The law will allow votes postmarked by election day to come in 17 days after the election that we have a lot of votes coming in already. And we have to let some hundred 37,000 people that have already voted. And it looks like already that turnout is going to be higher this time than it was in 2016. And keep in mind in the primary guests by received the most votes, but the two Democrats split their vote. So Terra Lawson reamer in Escondido city council, woman, Olga Diaz actually received more votes than gas bar. If you put the two totals together, it's going to make it a somewhat uphill battle for an incumbent, which is gas bar's position. At this point, Speaker 1: 10:20 I've been speaking with KPBS reporter, Steve Walsh, and Steve, thank you very much. Speaker 2: 10:25 Thanks, Maureen. Uh,
