S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , the county Board of Supervisors district one seat is up for special election. We'll hear from some of the candidates and talk about the issues. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. The primary election for district one county supervisor is less than one month away. So if you live in the South Bay , you can expect to see ballots in the mailing box starting this week , KPBS South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter Cory Suzuki took a close look at the top candidates in the race. Here's that story.
S2: The election is for the district one seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. The district represents the South Bay , which includes Chula Vista National City , Imperial Beach , and parts of San Diego. That seat has been vacant for two months now. That's because in December , County Chair Nora Vargas suddenly stepped down. We still don't know exactly why she resigned. That decision is left voters in the South Bay without a county representative. It's also split the board along party lines , leaving two Democrats and two Republicans. But in April , voters in the South Bay will finally get to choose a new supervisor to represent the region.
S3: Top of mind is the sewage crisis. It's the biggest environmental and public health emergency in the nation right now.
S2: Paloma Aguirre is the mayor of Imperial Beach. She's a Democrat and a candidate for the open seat. She says the cross-border sewage flows polluting the Tijuana River valley should be a top priority for the county.
S3: We know now , because of the requests that I made to the centers for Disease Control coming down and assessing the families that 70% of our families in South County have a family member that has become ill or have become ill themselves.
S2: Aguirre says she wants county public health officials to look closer at how the sewage crisis is affecting students in South Bay schools. She says she would also push for the county in the city of San Diego to consider forming a joint powers authority that would focus on treating the river. Another priority for Aguirre is how expensive it is to live in San Diego County. She wants to improve wages and benefits for county staff and explore new protections for renters across the region.
S3: Housing production is one of the multi-pronged strategy to begin addressing this housing crisis and prevent homelessness. It's not just housing production , period.
S2: Aguirre has been critical of some recent decisions by the Board of Supervisors on immigration , including a new policy that strengthened the county's sanctuary laws. She wants the county to focus more on funding legal aid programs to help people facing deportation , and other services for new immigrants and refugees.
S3: We also need to put our money where our mouth is , so the county needs to increase the resources that nonprofits need to provide enough services , especially around legal counsel.
S4: Immigration is a federal issue. The county should be focused on county services.
S2: Another leading candidate is John McCann , the mayor of Chula Vista. McCann , a Republican , thinks the county should be cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
S4: We need to be able to allow our jails when there is a warrant to be able to give that to the federal government. We need to be able to work collaboratively on public safety issues with our federal law enforcement , and that only makes our immigrant community safer as well as our community as a whole safer.
S2: McCann also wants the county to prioritize the homelessness crisis. He says the county needs to review its spending and consider building a new set of shelters.
S4: As mayor of the City of Chula Vista. I have taken the regional lead to get homeless off the streets like Aguirre.
S2: McCann also wants to address the cost of living in San Diego County. His plan is to oppose raising taxes and other fees. He's critical of the board's recent decision to explore new sales tax. To offset potential cuts to federal funding.
S4: The county needs to go through and look at how they can become more efficient and work more effectively.
S2: Two other leading candidates in the race , Vivian Moreno and Carolina Chavez , did not respond to interview requests by KPBS deadline. Moreno is a San Diego City Council member and a Democrat. She represents the neighborhoods of San Isidro , Nestor , and Barrio Logan. In campaign statements , she says she wants to make housing more affordable and improve public safety. Chavez is a city council member in Chula Vista and also a Democrat. She represents the northeast quadrant of the city. In campaign statements , Chavez says she wants to focus on job creation , funding law enforcement and expanding supportive services for unhoused people. There are also three other candidates on the ballot Luis Fuentes , Lincoln Pickard and Elizabeth Effort. They haven't raised significant funds and have a limited campaign presence. The special election will take place on April 8th , unless one person wins more than 50% of the vote. The top two candidates will move on to a runoff election in July. Mail in voting begins this week.
S1: That was South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter Cory Suzuki. He joins me now to talk more about the upcoming special election , and to dig a little deeper into the issues on top of voter's mind. Corey , it's always good to have you in studio.
S2: Hi , Jay. Thanks for having me. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So the county's district one includes the South Bay region as well as parts of the U.S. Mexico border area.
S2: It has smaller cities like Imperial Beach and National City , larger cities like Chula Vista , and also , of course , parts of San Diego. And then I think too , just as a whole. Um , I think there are there are many residents in district one who feel like it's a part of the county that just hasn't gotten kind of the same amount of attention that other parts of the county have. That sort of the central San Diego area and North County have gotten. But I think that's a lot of people feel like that's starting to change now.
S1: Well , so tell us more about what the role of the county supervisor entails and what they do. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Well , um , county supervisors , I mean , I think it's this role that a lot of people , um , maybe don't have the best sense of. I think for a lot of , uh , a lot of voters , a lot of the time , the city council , local officials , uh , local elected officials are sort of the ones that , uh , take that have the greatest focus on them. Um , folks like the mayor and your local city council member. But county supervisors are also really important. I mean , in San Diego County , they oversee a massive budget that rivals the city of San Diego's. They oversee , uh , programs , federally funded and state funded programs like Medi-Cal and the foster care system. Although the county has some limited control over how these programs run , the supervisors also have much more kind of direct governing power when it comes to the unincorporated areas of the county. These are places that don't have their own city council or mayor. Um , and there the county serves actually as the effectively the local government for residents of these areas. So they they play a really big role there , running services like trash collection and zoning and permitting. And then the county government also includes really important agencies , elected officials and agencies like the San Diego County District attorney and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. And then when it comes to district one , the supervisor here represents the South Bay. It also includes San Diego neighborhoods like Barrio Logan , South Park , Nestor , and San Isidro. South Park is sort of like the furthest north that district one stretches and then also again unincorporated areas like Spring Valley and Bonita. District one does not include Coronado. So , um , that's that's a separate , uh , separate county. District. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Well , you you had information about many of the candidates in your piece. Can you tell me a bit more about some of the other leading candidates in the primary ? Yeah.
S2: So , um , as we heard in the story , I mean , I was able to sit down with both John McCann , Mayor Chula Vista , and Paloma Aguirre , the mayor of Imperial Beach , both sort of , um , some of the top candidates for this position , two of the other top candidates that have been able to raise substantial campaign funds and have also gotten significant endorsements are Vivian Moreno , who's the district eight city council member in San Diego. She represents San Isidro , Nestor , Barrio Logan. Those are sort of all neighborhoods that fall into her district. And then another leading candidate is Carolina Chavez , a city council member in Chula Vista. She represents district one , which is sort of the northeast corner of the city. So on the eastern side of Chula Vista , both of them are also leading candidates in this race.
S1: So you reached out to them for an interview.
S2: Both Vivian Moreno and Catalina Chavez did take time to answer our voter hub sort of candidate quiz questions. So they took time to answer some specific questions that we had for them that voters will be able to starting this week , take a look at online and match their sort of how they would answer or how they would handle specific issues. They'll be able to match their preferences to those of the leading candidates in this race. And so Vivian Moreno and Carolina Chavez , their answers will show up there. But unfortunately , they didn't take the time to sit down with us to have more extended conversations.
S1: Well , you did mention endorsements so far. Who are the candidates that have received major endorsements in this race ? Yeah.
S2: So when it comes to the endorsements in this race , there have already been some really substantial ones. Um , when it comes to the Democratic endorsements , those have sort of been split between the two leading Democratic candidates , Paloma Aguirre and Vivian Moreno. Paloma Aguirre has already received some of the major endorsements when it comes to Democratic candidates. She's received the county Democratic Party's endorsement , which is sort of the umbrella of the Democratic Party in San Diego , in the county. She's also received some major union endorsements from the San Diego County and Imperial Counties Labor Council and the county workers union SEIU 221. She's also received some endorsements from a really influential and longtime local leaders like , uh , Steve Padilla , former Chula Vista City Council member and now state senator. And then Vivian Moreno has also received some significant endorsements as well. I'm thinking about the additional union endorsements that she's received from organizations like Laborers International Local 89. And she's also been endorsed by some of her colleagues on the city council in San Diego , like Shani Rivera. And she's also received some endorsements from significant political figures in the South Bay , too , like state Assembly member David Alvarez. And then John McCain has received his own share of endorsements. You know , he has been endorsed by the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors. He's also been received the official Republican Party endorsement for San Diego , and then has been endorsed also by some law enforcement associations , including the deputy sheriffs Association.
S1: Well , you know , Paloma Aguirre mentioned the sewage crisis as one of her top priorities. She recently penned a letter to the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency calling for a Superfund designation , which has been just an ongoing effort there.
S2: I mean , we saw just within the last few months , County Supervisor Tara and Lawson Riemer reach out to the EPA to try to get a Superfund designation as well , and that the EPA decided not to pursue whether to investigate the Tijuana River Valley for a Superfund designation. So that's one avenue that county supervisors can take reaching out to federal agencies. Um , during our story , Mary Aguirre also mentioned that she was one of a number of local officials who reached out to the CDC to try to get them to look at the sewage crisis as well. There are sort of two other main , um , steps that we've seen in in recent months as well. There's been a county program that's dedicated to funding air purifiers that are going to households in the South Bay , in places like San Isidro and Nestor and Imperial Beach , places where people are potentially breathing in. Some of what we know now are at times harmful gases , hazardous gases like hydrogen sulfide. And , um , that is sort of one way that the county government can directly affect people's lives. Can , can , can send households a piece of equipment that they could use to , to keep their households a little bit safer. And that's something that we've seen. That's a program that we've seen expand in recent months. And , um , Mayor Geary is one person who has said that , um , that she would look at continuing to expand that and continuing to increase county funding for for programs like that. I should note that every candidate that I've talked to has supported increasing the amount of county funding that's going to public health measures to help support people who are facing some of these public health risks in the neighborhoods around the Tijuana River Valley. So that's not something that is limited to any one candidate. But um , Mayor Aguirre being , um , the a local elected official and Imperial Beach has been sort of , one of the leaders , the local leaders at the forefront of the the push to to address the sewage crisis.
S1:
S2: Also on that list , as I think many have made clear , was a big part of the the November election cost of living. A lot of people , I think , are thinking about their place in the South Bay and how the region is becoming more expensive , just like the rest of San Diego County. But , um , in a in an area where , you know , in some neighborhoods , places like Imperial Beach and National City , uh , have have historically been a little bit more affordable and people have been able to have these really deep family roots. And now I think more people are sort of feeling like they are wondering what comes next and , and what their places in the South Bay as it continues to , to grow and to have this new focus on it. And , um , also , uh , homelessness in the cost of housing. Those are both , I think , big issues that are on voters minds as well. And immigration too. I mean , San Diego County is a binational region , and the South Bay is really , I think , in many ways at the heart of that relationship. And so at least on the US side of the US-Mexico border. And so I think that , um , those are all issues that many voters are , um , have been thinking about for months now. Um , and , and are really going to going to play a key role in how this race is decided. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , you definitely laid out all that's at stake here. You know , local elections don't often get as much attention as state and national races. Is there a concern that voter engagement will be low ? Uh , especially since this is a special election.
S2: You know , I have talked to advocates who are worried about this. And I do think this is something that , um , we should all be watching closely. I mean , we know that when there's not a presidential election happening on the ballot. Voter turnout falls. It happens almost every every time , consistently. And the fact that this is a is not even a regular election happening in November , around the time when people expect to be voting , but a special election that's taking place in the spring , I think that that is going to create even more of , uh , another , another potential barrier that that might lead to less people turning out. And then I think , uh , you know , one advocate that I spoke to about this , uh , Sebastian Martinez , who is a , um , a longtime advocate for people who are unhoused in the in the South Bay. And , um , he is sort of thinking about to just how the election that led up to November and the campaigns that led up to the November election , that that was just such an intense election. And emotions , I think , for , for so many people have remained high I afterwards as the the federal government changed hands as a new administration took to cold. And Sebastian is one person that I spoke to who really wonders how many people are just sort of feeling tired , and who may be feeling like they are not going to turn out to vote , just that they might not that this might not be the time for them to vote. But I will say what those advocates who have talked about this have told me is that , I mean , elections are always important , and this election especially is going to be , I think , a really significant one , too , despite the fact that it's not happening during a presidential race , it is really going to be one that decides what the Board of Supervisors looks like for another four years. This incredibly powerful and influential position when it comes to San Diego County and when it comes to California. So I think that for for everyone in San Diego County. We should all be paying very close attention to this election and how it turns out , because I think it's it's going to really shape the the next few years to come. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , it is definitely something we'll be looking out for. I've been speaking with KPBS , South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter Corey Suzuki. Corey , thank you so much.
S2: Thank you so much , Jade.
S1: You can follow more of Corey's coverage or learn more about this upcoming special election on our Voter Hub at PBS.org. Coming up , how a shift to the right in national and state voter trends could affect the special election.
S5:
S1: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. We're continuing to cover the special election for the district one seat on the county Board of Supervisors. While it's an off year election , a lot could be at stake , including a possible shift in the balance of power. So how could this race impact county politics moving forward ? Carl Luna joins me now. He's a political science professor at San Diego Mesa College. Professor Luna , it's great to have you back.
S5: Nice to be back , Jade. Thank you.
S1: Thank you. All right , so currently , the board is split between party lines to Democrats , to Republicans. And , you know , whoever's elected in this upcoming race will really determine the balance of power for the next few years.
S5: Recently , the board was voting on things like new policies to apply state law to the sheriff's office , uh , dealing with federal law enforcement and immigration. And that was setting up a little bit of a standoff between the board and the sheriff's office. If you change the party makeup , you might discover that the policy changes and the sheriff can cooperate with the federal government more. I mean , it's just little things like that , right up to the fact that the Board of Supervisors presides over an $8 billion plus budget. It's the size of the budget of the state of Iowa. In Iowa , dozens of people decide how to spend that money. In San Diego , it's five. So whoever's on the board wields a lot of fiscal power.
S1:
S5: Term limits have changed that. What you tend to see with a Democratic majority is slightly more liberal policies when it comes to housing support , dealing with the homeless , immigration , uh , dealing with , uh , social welfare programs. The Republican dominated board tended to like to keep as much money available for a rainy day. Even if the rain didn't come , the Democrats were more likely to want to spend money. That being said , you have not seen the level of polarization at the San Diego County Board level that you've seen at the national level by far. So the policy shifts will be significant to a degree , but they're not going to be earth shattering , most likely. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you you mentioned the budget. And last year , the Board of Supervisors approved an $8.5 billion one. Do you think budgeting and government revenue is a factor for many voters.
S5: Most San Diego voters probably don't pay much attention to the Board of Supervisors , because most of what they do is pretty much pro forma feeding the county machine. But the county also provides is the portal for state federal social welfare programs across the entire county. And most of those , they're pretty much set in how you have to spend the money at the federal and the state level. Their job is to keep the lights on and the doors open to the buildings and the people who have to take carry out these functions. But in an age of tightening federal budgets and a lot of people being slashed at the federal level , it's going to be much more challenging for whoever's on the Board of supervisors to continue to provide the level of services San Diegans are used to , and indeed would like more of. Right.
S1: Right. Well , last month , County Supervisor Tara Lawson Reamer said federal spending cuts could take a toll on San Diegans and some of those services the Board of Supervisors oversees.
S5: The only problem is you don't know what the cuts are going to be because one , the Congress is still working on the budget , but and second , the Doge in Washington's cuts keep getting rescinded by the courts. So this makes it very difficult to plan. Uh , how rainy a day or how bad a scenario do you want to start to factor in ? And soon , with budget the times to renew coming up , they're going to have to make a decision from the state to the county level. Just how much to commit to spending and any cuts will mean the reductions in social welfare spending , reductions in initiatives on transportation , on housing. And let's not even get into the potential issues that arise from the border.
S1: Well , you know , there's been a lot of turnover on the Board of Supervisors , and Democrats really want to hold on to the district one seat.
S5: Republicans have been very successful at electing people to the Board of Supervisors who just stay there. Now , Nathan Fletcher was elected to the Board of Supervisors. A Democrat , he was taken out by a personal scandal. Uh , the Board of Supervisors , a member of Robert's , was taken out by a scandal. And now a member. Vargas has decided to drop out. Even though she won an overwhelming re-election because of the negative climate that she's experiencing. She fears for her safety , that of her family and people around her. Uh , Democrats keep winning seats and then having a hard time filling them out for the entirety of the term. Uh , otherwise there wouldn't be an issue right now , this would maintain itself A32 Democratic board into the foreseeable future. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S5: Now you get you get some. Chairman. One district member , uh , Fletcher resigned. You had a conflict until a San Diego city councilman managed to take the seat. This time around , you have a mayor of IB ? Uh , Mayor Aguirre , who is fairly well known across the South Bay City Council member , uh , Chavez Moreno from San Diego and Chavez from Chula Vista. So you've got three top tier Democrats running. Uh , so this could be a more competitive race than you've seen in some of the other races where , like Nathan Fletcher basically walked into it and then self-destructed. Mhm.
S1: Mhm.
S5: What turned to flip the board was the fact that long term Republicans have been termed out , and then the underlying , uh , changes in those and those districts allowed a Democrat to be elected. So usually it's more of a matter of what Democrat gets elected now in these districts. But John McCann , the mayor of Chula Vista , is a moderate Republican , kind of stands out from what you see for national Republicans and even state Republicans. So he might actually have a shot at if there's a low turnout election and Democrats are really breaking up their vote between different candidates. Uh , he might have a shot of winning , though more than likely a Democrat will win in the end.
S1: You alluded to this earlier , but historically , the Board of Supervisors has been led by a white Republican men. It's become more diverse in recent years. Um , but we could soon see a shift. Can you take us through that history ? Yeah.
S5: Well , prior to the 1990s , it was basically five white guys who were ran the Board of Supervisors in LA. They would call their Board of Supervisors that looked over like 10 million people. Uh , the the five little kings , let's say , in San Diego was the five princelings. You had a diversity. A woman was elected to the Republican ticket. And then slowly , you've seen Democrats being able to get in into and then hold seats. But only over the last ten , 15 years per se. And the real problem has been Democrats holding the seats has been the candidate they picked , actually being able to stay in to complete their two terms. Uh , the question that we have to see going into this special election and future elections , though , is the country as a whole is shifting , right ? California in 2024 shifted right. And will that trickle down into even the Board of Supervisors races , where you see either Democrats having to become more moderate or moderate , Republicans being able to be competitive for the first time in 20 years ? Mhm.
S1:
S5: Will it become nationalized ? So far I'm not seeing indications of that. You're not. That doesn't seem to be a lot of national money coming into their national attention , but all it takes is one tweet out of the Oval Office. To make anything a national issue for the betterment of San Diego would be nice if this stays off the national radar. So people in the South Bay can make a decision based on their own needs , not on the needs of advancing a national agenda.
S1: Well , the Board of Supervisors meetings are also becoming notorious as a as a local example of political incivility. KPBS actually did a review of public comments back in July. Depending on who fills this seat.
S5: The board has tried to take some efforts to minimize that. People can only speak for a limited amount of time. They can basically get a red card , like in soccer and be taken off the field for a while. But you haven't really addressed the online environment , all the the social media posts that can make life miserable. Plus people showing up outside of people's houses. Until we've had a local and statewide discussion about this , how do you both balance the needs of the public to have input , but the ability of people to do their jobs ? Uh , any candidate who wins elected office is going to face some variations of the same. Maybe a Republican would face less than a Democrat. But then again , if , uh , say Mr. McCann won and he was a moderate Republican , he'll be attacked by the right wing as being a rhino , and that could make his life miserable. At some point , people have start to question , is it really worth even being in elected office ? Hmm.
S1: What else stands out to you about this district ? One seat.
S5: It would be good for the county board to finally get to a state for 4 or 8 years , where there are no special elections. Special elections weakened the board because that until you get through the special election , you've got a two , two , uh , board , which doesn't allow things to really move forward even easily. And whoever comes in in the special election , the question is , will they be there through the next election cycle ? They could be vulnerable. It doesn't make it easy to have consistency for the voters will to play out over time.
S1:
S5: Will Mr. McCann benefit from that rightward tilt we saw in California ? Remember that at the presidential level , Democrats got a lot less votes in 2024 than they got in 2020. And you're seeing some of that in city elections. And you saw that with the mayor of San Diego , who actually had a more challenging race for reelection than one would have thought. What has that level of , um , moving toward the center to the right made it through to the streets of Chula Vista and Imperial Beach.
S1: Professor Luna , thank you so much as always.
S5: Always nice to speak with you.
S1: And just a reminder , you can follow the latest on the district one special election on our voter hub at KPBS. Org. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
