Politics Report: 12 Days in 2023 That Changed San Diego

My kids hate the 12 Days of Christmas song. It features a lot of birds and they can’t comprehend what you would do with so many birds as gifts. But it’s a handy conceit for an end-of-the-year/holiday Politics Report.

Here are the 12 Days in San Diego Politics this year that will affect our public affairs for many years to come.

March 23, 2023: Hughes Pleads; Returns $9.4 Million to City of San Diego

The district attorney ended her investigation into commercial real estate broker Jason Hughes by announcing he had agreed to a guilty plea of misdemeanor violation of the state’s conflict of interest laws. He had represented himself as volunteering as the city’s real estate advisor without ever disclosing he was trying to get the city to purchase two buildings and he had a contract with the sellers of the buildings to share in their profits if the deals went through.

The misdemeanor provoked groans that he got off easy. But he had collected $9.4 million in undisclosed fees from the deals he pushed and he had to return it.

He claims he told former Mayor Kevin Faulconer he would try to get paid and Faulconer endorsed his effort. The day brought some closure to the 101 Ash Street scandal but the city ended up buying the building outright and still has not finalized plans on how to redevelop it.

It’s still not clear what Faulconer knew and when.

March 26, 2023: Nathan Fletcher Makes a Surprise Announcement

Probably one of the biggest days in San Diego politics this century. It was a Sunday. Several weeks before, Fletcher had announced he was running for state Senate and he already had the support of Senate President Toni Atkins, who was vacating the seat. He had just taken the oath for a second term as county supervisor but the opportunity for him to go back to Sacramento was too good and lined up too well. As frustrated as his supporters at the county may have been, they knew they had tied their interests to a uniquely ambitious and capable politician and this is part of the game.

But then, suddenly, over the weekend, on Twitter, he announced he was going to abandon the Senate campaign and take time off from his job as a supervisor to pursue treatment for alcoholism and post-traumatic stress.

It provoked an outpouring of support for his decision. Political allies and friends lauded the admirable move to prioritize mental health and family over career ambition.

A story, however, was about to come out that would upend San Diego politics. Fletcher had not announced another change he had made: He resigned as chairman of the Metropolitan Transit System. That agency had fired an employee on the same day he announced his Senate run and she was about to sue the agency and Fletcher alleging that he sexually harassed and assaulted her.

It would kick off a scandal at MTS that is still raging. Two major questions remain unanswered: What happened to Grecia Figueroa, the communications specialist who made the accusations? Was she, as Fletcher’s lawyer said, a willing participant in “consensual interactions” with Fletcher? Or was she the victim of assault and harassment?

And why did MTS fire her?

Since this day, Nathan Fletcher has not made a public appearance of any kind: no press conference, no interview, no informal social media posting, nothing. The most prominent politician just vanished. After a few days, as the scandal settled in and outrage flowed, he announced in a formal statement that he would resign.

April 25, 2023: Monica Montgomery Steppe Announces Run for Fletcher Seat

The City Councilwoman ended up winning the seat setting up a major race for her City Council post. We wrote about it last week. This week, Rev. Shane Harris decided not to run after all and to endorse Montgomery Steppe’s former chief of staff, Henry Foster.

May 5, 2023: City Offers Up Civic Center to Developers

Mayor Todd Gloria had raised the hopes of local architects that the six square blocks of downtown land around the decrepit City Hall could be transformed into a lasting marvel of civic design. But by May, the city had decided developers could actually bid on each different plot if they want.

The city actually only got one bid: a proposal to transform the notorious 101 Ash Street tower into apartments. What actually became clear is the mayor is aiming to do whatever he can to get a new City Hall built. And that likely means selling or leasing the other plots of land to separate investors if necessary for the highest price possible so they can gather enough capital to finance a new City Hall tower without asking taxpayers to sacrifice anything.

Anything, that is, except a grandiose vision for a renowned civic center.

May 15, 2023: Fletcher Officially Leaves Supervisor Seat

By the end of that incredible week in March, Fletcher had announced that he would leave his main job as supervisor after all. For undisclosed reasons, he wanted to stay on several weeks, a decision that fueled speculation he would change his mind and try to save his career through the scandal.

He stayed true to his word, though, and resigned officially on May 15, 2023.

May 18, 2023: MLS Announces Expansion to San Diego

After the Chargers left San Diego, the debates and fights about what would happen to the stadium land in Mission Valley consumed San Diego politics.

San Diego State University dithered at first but then laid claim to the land, fighting off a group of investors who hoped to bring Major League Soccer to a new development. SDSU officials promised they too could bring the highest level soccer to San Diego. And this year, they delivered.

The Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians joined with an British-Egyptian billionaire to pay the enormous entry fee to Major League Soccer’s LLC and launched San Diego FC.

Here’s my take on what it meant.

July 10, 2023: LAFCO Gives Green Light to Agencies to Leave Water Authority

A lot of people learned what the Local Agency Formation Commission was this year. The agency handles disputes and updates about where one government begins and another one ends. It’s also one of the few remaining major government entities in San Diego where Republicans still had governance control.

And it was where the Rainbow and Fallbrook water districts had to go to seek a split from the San Diego County Water Authority. LAFCO had to decide if it was a reasonable request and how much the agencies should have to pay the Water Authority.

In July, LAFCO’s board authorized Fallbrook and Rainbow to leave, if their voters approve, and pay $5 million per year for five years each to the Water Authority.

Fallbrook and Rainbow voters did approve the decision to move to the Eastern Water district, an agency that is part of the massive Metropolitan Water District, which was long a rival to the San Diego County Water Authority.

While the split will have immediate financial implications for the San Diego water world, it had much larger significance for the history and trajectory of the Water Authority. For almost 30 years, the Water Authority has been relentlessly borrowing money and investing it major infrastructure projects, like sweater desalination, and in purchases of Colorado River water from the farmers in Imperial Valley.

All that investment has made San Diego’s water supply extremely reliable. But very expensive. Fallbrook and Rainbow left for cheaper rates. It was a sign that we may have reached the limit of what San Diegans are willing to pay for reliable water.

The Water Authority and its allies got legislation passed that will essentially end future secessions like these by requiring voters across the county to approve them. But the high water rates discussion is not over and the Water Authority is now seeking all kinds of creative ways to relieve pressure on its ratepayers.

July 10, 2023: Union-Tribune Sold to Notorious Hedge Fund

July 10 gets two votes. It was also that day that then Union-Tribune editor and publisher Jeff Light got a call informing him that LA-billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong had sold the newspaper to Alden Global Capital, the most feared hedge fund in the newspaper-buying business.

You can read the blow by blow of how big that transaction was in this piece we ran in October.  

Immediately, dozens of well-known reporters, editors and other newsroom employees vanished. The company abandoned its lease in a high-rise downtown.

“So, for the first time since the founders of the San Diego Union unloaded a printing press off a ship from San Francisco and set up shop in Old Town in 1868, the city’s newspaper doesn’t have a headquarters. All that’s left is The San Diego Union-Tribune logo, gracing the top of a downtown skyscraper until a crew gets up there to remove it,” wrote our contributor, Andy Donohue.

Every few weeks, we get a new, depressing update. Next week, the Union-Tribune with print its final Spanish edition, the U-T En Español.

If you care about a region’s politics, public affairs and its ability to comprehend challenges and address them, you have to care about the quality of its journalism.

July 11, 2023: Faulconer Runs for Supervisor

Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer just can’t quit politics. After leaving the mayor’s office, he ran for governor. It didn’t go very well. Rather than take the opportunity to go make some money or get into the lucrative job of hosting a very popular podcast on local public affairs like I do, he decided he would really like to be county supervisor.

The new county district lines put Point Loma, Faulconer’s home, in the same district as County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer. Faulconer wants to prevent her from taking a second term. His decision to run for the seat is the biggest challenge to an incumbent supervisor I have seen.

If he wins, the balance of power on the Board of Supervisors will shift from a Democratic majority to a Republican one. The stakes are high but Lawson-Remer is no slouch.

July 28, 2023: Hasan Ikhrata Announces Resignation

SANDAG has been in turmoil since 2016 when our investigation revealed the organization was misleading the public about how much money it was set to bring in from a countywide sales tax.

Led by Faulconer, SANDAG’s board hired a Los Angeles veteran of transportation planning, Hasan Ikhrata to come and propose big things and force the region to face the reality of its commitment to contain carbon emissions and yet make it easier to get around San Diego.

But in July, Ikhrata announced he would leave by the end of the year. Here was my take on his promise and the reality that he ran into.

Nov. 1, 2023: Siblings Indicted

No two people were more deeply enmeshed in San Diego Democratic Party politics than Andrea Cardenas and her brother Jesus Cardenas. Andrea Cardenas is a Chula Vista City Councilwoman and Jesus Cardenas was something of a Swiss Army Knife in party work. You could hire him to do anything and the party and candidates and special interests did hire him to do a lot of things.

The district attorney in November accused both of them of working with one of their clients, a cannabis dispensary to defraud the federal government and collect a COVID-era relief loan based on lies.

The allegations sent chills through San Diego politics. Cardenas had already resigned as chief of staff for San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn because of concerns about conflicts of interest. It brought to light other potential angles of investigation.

Andrea Cardenas remains on the Chula Vista City Council as she holds to her hope to defend herself publicly.

Dec. 4, 2023: Elo-Rivera Re-Elected Council President

On Montgomery Steppe’s last day at City Council, she voted for her ally, Sean Elo-Rivera to get one more year as Council president. Four colleagues bitterly opposed his re-election and let him know in a somewhat surprising reveal of animosity on the all-Democratic City Council.

This set up a fascinating 2024. Will Elo-Rivera and his opponents get further apart or mend some bridges and who takes Montgomery Steppe’s seat?

It’s been great to be with you this year. We have had a lot of changes at Voice of San Diego but I’m proud of how we’ve managed them and delivered important, impactful reporting. Thank you for your support.