This week, I sat down with County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe for a special VOSD Podcast interview. We chatted about her time as a San Diego City Councilwoman and her plans for the county. That interview will be in your feed on Friday.
The chisme: Montgomery Steppe shared some important insight about the Council District 4 seat and its role in City Hall politics. She also shared who she is supporting to replace her.
So far there are five candidates in the race. The special primary is on March 5, 2024. Here are the candidates:
- Chida Warren-Darby, director of the Office of Boards and Commission for Mayor Todd Gloria’s office. She founded a Black lifestyle publication and worked as the managing editor of The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint, a family business and the city’s largest African American publication.
- Henry Foster III served as chief of staff for Montgomery Steppe. He is a third generation resident of the district and he worked in the construction industry.
- Tylisa Suseberry, a legislative staffer. Suseberry has worked in local government and the state Senate.
- Shane Harris, a civil rights activist and small business owner.
The district includes the neighborhoods of Emerald Hills, Encanto, Lincoln Park, Mountain View, Oak Park, Valencia Park, Paradise Hills and more.
Our Scott Lewis spoke to some of the candidates about the race. Here’s what they had to say.
On the Race
“It’s going to be an interesting race,” Montgomery Steppe told me. She’s going to support Foster because he can provide the community the confidence of a continuity of leadership, she said.
He also has what it takes to be a strong voice for the district, she said.
“District 4 in the city has always had a strong voice,” she said. “And if the voice of District 4 is strong, then the voice of the council is strong.
“I know that to be true from these last five years and being in partnership with him in running the district, understanding the city. The challenging constantly, it just has to happen. It just has to, even when it’s uncomfortable, that challenge has to be there so that everyone gets what they deserve. I think that he’s the person that can do that.”
Baby Come Back
It’s safe to say San Diego’s water divorce has been a messy breakup.
Remember: The Fallbrook Public Utilities District and Rainbow Municipal Water District are leaving the San Diego County Water Authority to purchase water from Riverside. This separation has been messy and many tried to block them from leaving, but last month, the Water Authority’s board voted to let go by dropping a lawsuit against the divorce.
Our MacKenzie Elmer reports that some members want to break up the breakup. Five board directors of water districts in San Diego, Otay, Vista and Santa Fe wrote a letter to the board’s leadership to request that the board rescind its earlier decision.
Read about the water chisme here.
Where Things Stand at MTS
We have so many questions.
We’ve been following the scandal involving the Metropolitan Transit System’s former chairman, Nathan Fletcher, and employee Grecia Figueroa who accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Catch up here.
In the latest VOSD Podcast, Scott Lewis and I chatted about where things stand at MTS. We reported on Wednesday that the agency got hit with a new claim.
The chief information officer for MTS claims the agency retaliated against her because of her lack of cooperation in the wake of the scandal. Emily Outlaw claims the agency’s managers misled the public about when they had learned about Figueroa’s accusations against Fletcher.
The Union-Tribune reported that Outlaw’s attorney withdrew the filing in an attempt to resolve the issue with MTS informally.
We went through the claims and questions we have about the scandal and the agency’s actions. Listen to the full episode here.
Note From Me
We’ve got some special reporting weeks coming up. During the last week of the month, our reporters will review what we learned this year. Then during the first week of January, we will roundup some of the biggest stories we will be following in 2024. Subscribe to the Morning Report so you don’t miss the stories.
If you have any feedback or questions, you can reach me at andrea.lopez@voiceofsandiego.org.
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