A prominent county official is alleging that County Supervisors Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson-Remer illegally obstructed his bid to become the county’s top bureaucrat.
Michael Vu, who served as the county’s registrar of voters before being promoted to assistant chief administrative officer in 2021, filed a notice informing the county of his allegations this week. Vu alleges that Vargas claimed he didn’t have the right racial background for the post and that Lawson-Remer sought to orchestrate the appointment of a Democratic strategist as his No. 2.
Both Vargas and Lawson-Remer dismissed Vu’s claims. Vargas denied that she made the statements that Vu’s attorney alleges she made to Helen Robbins-Meyer, the county’s former chief administrative officer, while Lawson-Remer deemed Vu as the latest “disgruntled employee” to pursue legal action after not getting a job.
The backdrop: Vu’s claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, follows a tumultuous months-long search for the county’s top bureaucrat and a costly demotion for Vu soon after the county’s new top bureaucrat took over this summer. His allegations also offer a window into the tension surrounding a process that drew significant backlash.
What’s next: The county has 45 days to investigate Vu’s claim and to decide whether to offer him a settlement or deny his claim, a move that would likely lead to a court battle.
Get You Politics Fix
If you are dealing with major FOMO because you didn’t make it to this year’s Politifest, you’re not alone.
Our annual politics summit brings together officials, experts and candidates to debate and discuss the region’s top issues. From a spicy debate between the candidates running for San Diego city attorney to a discussion about whether felonies are the answer, we’ve got it all.
Wondering what you missed? You can watch or listen to the recordings here.
The Mayoral Debate
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and challenger Larry Turner faced off during a televised debate Thursday hosted by KPBS and Public Matter partners, Voice of San Diego and inewsource.
Here are some highlights, but you can watch the debate here.
On homelessness: Turner is not a fan of the city’s safe campsites. If elected mayor, he said he wants “them to stay in there for the shortest amount of time until we get the beds for them.” Turner believes the city should have a shelter bed for every person on the street.
Gloria said he believes things have gotten better since the city adopted a ban on camping. He plans to continue pursuing plans to open a 1,000-bed shelter at Kettner and Vine and safe parking.
Public safety: Turner, a police officer, mentioned that it took police officers an hour to respond to his report that someone was attempting to steal his car in Ocean Beach.
Our Scott Lewis participated in the debate and asked Gloria if he regrets supporting the vaccine mandate for police officers. This decision has been looked at as the biggest reason for a lack of trust between officers and the mayor. Gloria said, no, he has no regrets.
The January floods: “Going forward we have a real challenge, and this is something that we have to learn from, because the climate is changing and I do believe we’ll experience events like this going forward,” Gloria said, adding that the city can learn from what happened and do better.
Turner said he would have handled things differently, even “breaking some rules” and driving a bulldozer to get rid of trees blocking stormwater channels.
In Other News
- Check your bank statements from 2015. If you bought gas in Southern California you could file a claim to get a portion of a $37.5 million settlement California negotiated with trading firms accused of manipulating gas prices. (Union-Tribune)
- Volunteers in San Diego smuggle naloxone – an overdose drug that saves the lives of people addicted to fentanyl – into this Tijuana clinic that struggles to access the drug. (KPBS)
- Around 400 flights at the San Diego International Airport remain grounded through Thursday night due to weather. (CBS 8)
- San Diego’s downtown business community wants the City Council to grant the mayor special emergency powers to act in the homelessness crisis. That could allow the mayor to sign contracts worth up to $5 million without council approval. (Union-Tribune)
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control will be in South Bay conducting door-to-door public health surveys related to the Tijuana sewage crisis between Oct. 17 and 19. (Union-Tribune)
- Hotel Del Coronado workers plan to vote to strike Friday as its two-year contract supporting 800 workers is due to expire at the end of the month. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego’s marine layer – a wall of clouds that form over the Pacific Coast – protected much of coastal San Diego from the heat wave striking the inland county right now. The excessive heat warning should stick around through Monday. (Fox 5)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Andrea Lopez-Villafaña and MacKenzie Elmer. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
“San Diego’s marine layer – a wall of clouds that *form* over the Pacific Coast –”
in Britain perhaps, but in the USA, the verb should be “formS”.
“a discussion about whether felonies are the answer, we’ve got it all.”
YES, FELONIES! felonies for all of *them*, that’s the final answer!
(doesn’t that sound a little like the Orange One?)