San Diego County board Democrats on Tuesday voted to put major governance reforms on the November ballot that, if approved, will give supervisors more power.
The reforms, championed by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, would give supervisors a potential third term, the power to approve the hiring of top county officials and to fire them with a super majority vote. The measure would also create two positions that report to the supervisors: an auditor and budget analyst.
Republican Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond — who voted against the measure — protested a series of last-minute changes before Tuesday’s vote. The changes included the addition of a severability clause to shield the measure from potential legal challenges, a residency exemption for supervisors that has been removed and a plan to add the county public defender to the list of posts that could be appointed by the board.
Anderson implored Lawson-Remer to postpone Tuesday’s vote to give supervisors, the public and the county counsel more time to review the proposal.
“I want to make sure that when I vote for this it doesn’t turn into a deal down the road where people say, ‘Why in the heck did you vote for Ash Street?’” said Anderson, referencing the costly city of San Diego real estate debacle.
Lawson-Remer said board members will get to dive into the details further at a required second vote now set for May 19 and emphasized that a charter implementation committee will work out the nuts and bolts if voters approve the measure. She also expressed excitement about continuing the march toward the ballot.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to get incredible input on the charter reforms from so many community groups and leaders who individually have very different political backgrounds but collectively are for the greater good for the people who live and work in San Diego County,” Lawson-Remer wrote in a statement.
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