San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe took turns criticizing City Council candidate Martha Abraham for accepting support from San Diego United Communities, a group of residents frustrated by many large development projects and fed up with current leadership at City Hall.
The group is nonpartisan but has endorsed and advocated for City Council candidates and they oppose the two incumbents. Abraham is a Democrat.
Abraham’s campaign consultant, Jared Sclar, previously told Voice of San Diego that any activity undertaken by the group was “independent of Martha’s campaign.”
Elo-Rivera took issue with that: “She’s shown up with them time and time again,” he said at a downtown press conference on Thursday alongside other Foster supporters County Supervisor Montgomery Steppe, attorney Geneviéve Jones-Wright and residents.
The speakers criticized San Diego United Communities for how the group has characterized the city’s land use and housing decisions and two cartoons that depict Foster and Montgomery Steppe.
“Either it’s a failure in morality, in being able to disassociate yourself from people who are doing things you don’t believe in, or it’s a failure in leadership because you don’t have the leadership capability to get people to act the right way who are standing beside you and supporting you,” Elo-Rivera said.
Montgomery Steppe said the group “masquerades as a non-threatening coalition of neighborhoods” but promotes racist images and rhetoric directed at Black leaders in San Diego.
Sclar and Abraham provided a written response: Elo-Rivera ought to look in the mirror.
“It is not surprising that establishment politicians who created the mess at City Hall today continue to attack Martha. For him to lecture anyone about a ‘failure in leadership’ is ironic given the record of City Hall over the last 6 years,” she said in an email statement.
Patty Ducey-Brooks, spokesperson for San Diego United Communities, said Abraham is not a member of the group and that the group endorsed her because of her plans for the district.
Ducey-Brooks said elected officials should respond to criticism respectfully and professionally, but instead they attack.
“But nobody’s judged by their color, by their background, by their characters, by their history. They’re judged by their contributions to doing good in the community. And that’s what’s wrong with our politicians today. It’s not about doing good. It’s about demeaning people, criticizing people, agendas,” she said.
County Nursing Facility Director Resigns
The leader of the county nursing facility embroiled in recently disclosed misconduct cases has decided to leave that post.
Erin Chancler, who has served as administrator of the Edgemoor skilled nursing facility since 2020, announced this week that she is departing the county effective Oct. 16.
“After almost eight years with the county, I have decided to step away from my role as administrator of Edgemoor Distinct Part Skilled Nursing Facility,” Chancler wrote in a Tuesday announcement obtained by Voice of San Diego. “This was not an easy decision and one I made with a great deal of thought and with all of you in mind.”
Asked about the nature of Chancler’s departure, county spokesperson Tim McClain wrote that Chancler resigned to “pursue another opportunity.”
“The county thanks her for her years of service and dedication to Edgemoor residents,” McClain wrote.
He did not clarify whether the county has selected an interim leader for the facility.
South Bay Lawmakers Take a Victory Lap
State Assemblymember David Alvarez and state Sen. Steve Padilla are celebrating big legislative victories this week.
Among Alvarez’s wins: Getting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on his bill allowing community colleges to start offering bachelor’s degrees, a boon for Southwestern College.
Padilla is cheering Newsom’s sign-off on his bill limiting mark-ups on detention center commissaries and property tax exemptions for those facilities.
Hinch broke down the action in Sacramento plus the latest on the National City mayor’s race in this week’s South County Report.
Read the full South County Report here.
County Supe Wants to Slow County Email Purges
County Supervisor Joel Anderson wants to change the county’s policy of automatically deleting most staff emails after two years.
In the wake of a Voice of San Diego story spotlighting the county’s purge of emails that might have shed light on the lead-up to a criminal case against a former county contractor, Anderson is proposing that the county hold onto all emails and text messages for at least five years at next Tuesday’s board meeting.
Anderson’s pitch calls for county staff to later return to the board with options to update the county’s retention policy and to share associated costs.
Anderson pushed to increase the county’s earlier 60-day retention policy in 2022 but said he now regrets not demanding a longer retention period. A five-year email retention schedule would match the city of San Diego’s policy.
“That transparency keeps everybody honest,” Anderson said. “That’s why it’s so important to me that we do five years.”
Hear more from Anderson: Anderson is set to dish on recent county drama at our Politifest event on Saturday. Among the hot topics: a proposed charter reform measure, that county contracting debacle and recent issues in the county’s Behavioral Health Services Department.
Politifest Kicks Off Today!
We are kicking off our annual festival of politics today with two separate election events.
Politifest North County is taking place today at the Harding Community Center. We’re hosting a conversation with San Diego County Supervisor candidate Kyle Krahel and a debate between the San Marcos mayoral candidates. That event starts at 6 p.m.
Down south, we will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center for two mayoral debates for candidates in National City and Chula Vista. That event starts at 6 p.m.
You can get your tickets here.
And of course, the main event is on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the University of San Diego. We have some great debates and conversations on the schedule. We hope to see you there!
About that Vacant Theater in Balboa Park
Decades ago, the 3,600-seat Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park was a bustling concert and theatrical venue. Now one nonprofit’s years-long effort to revive the roughly 90 year old amphitheater has ended.
The Union-Tribune reports that the city on Thursday notified Save Starlight it was abandoning what had been ongoing lease negotiations to take over the site, which has in recent years hosted weeds rather than events. Save Starlight has recently handled some maintenance work, particularly trying to keep out would-be trespassers. This means the city will take over security and maintenance for the facility in the midst of a budget crisis.
Mayor Todd Gloria says he isn’t giving up on a Starlight revival.
“The Starlight Bowl is a landmark of Balboa Park and a beloved part of San Diego’s history,” Gloria said. “This part of the park should be cared for, active and welcoming to the public — and my administration is focused on practical steps to make that happen.”
Learn more: Our Lisa Halverstadt took a dive into the facility’s history back in 2016 when the eventual leader of Save Starlight sought to oust the former city lease holder.
In Other News
- There’s now a second lawsuit challenging a controversial Emerald Hills development. (KPBS)
- A downtown day center that has long served as a hub for homeless San Diegans to get mail, do laundry and use the restroom is officially closed. (Union-Tribune)
- A new poll found that county voters are skeptical of the county’s proposed charter reform measure’s pitch to extend a potential third term to county supervisors – and more supportive of a proposed half-cent sales tax hike. You can read up on the measure here. (10 News, Voice)
- The families of three people murdered at the Islamic Center of San Diego have sued San Diego Unified School District over its refusal to turn over records that could reveal whether there were warning signs the district may have flagged with one of the teen shooters. (Times of San Diego)
- Suicides are an epidemic in law enforcement and the San Diego Police Department is a pioneer among agencies trying to help struggling officers. (CBS 8)
- Local transit fares increased effective Thursday for the first time since 2009. (NBC 7)
- The Justice Department sent five grand jury subpoenas for voter information to the county Registrar of Voters from June through mid-September. (inewsource)
The Morning Report was written by Mariana Martínez Barba and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.