Multiple sources have confirmed for the Politics Report that San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has been pushing interest groups, including local unions, to reconsider their support of Councilmember Henry Foster if not outright drop him.
He has described Foster’s downfall to them as his No. 1 political priority.
It’s part of an ongoing surge of support for Foster’s opponent Martha Abraham. We’ve reported on the firefighters dropping Foster and throwing support to Abraham. This week, she announced the Chamber of Commerce was supporting her — and we’ve learned the Downtown Partnership also jumped aboard.
But the mayor’s involvement is an interesting twist. By all accounts his overt support of Abraham may not be that welcome to her.
Here’s the mayor’s chief of staff Paola Avila filming Foster during an exchange he was having with press on the day the news about the trash fee fiasco was settling in.
Avila told the Politics Report that the mayor was speaking right after Foster and she wanted him to be prepared to respond to anything Foster said. That turned out not to be needed.
“The mayor’s priority is running the city,” she said.
What Does Abraham Stand For
Abraham’s politics are not easy to categorize.
She’s very much running as an outsider. In one recent social media post, she claimed “an entire establishment [is] working against us.”
But in another recent post, she proudly trumpeted her endorsement by the chamber. It’s hard to think of a more establishment force in local politics.
The specific policies she’ll fight for when and if she gets to City Hall aren’t clear. Abraham’s messaging has focused on empathy, integrity, transparency and accountability — rather than specific goals.
The one policy area she’s been clearest on is development. Abraham has posted many videos of her speaking at City Council meetings on the topic of housing. She has lambasted councilmembers as being in the pocket of developers.
Abraham makes several points when it comes to development. She believes southeastern San Diego has been over-densified and the available infrastructure (from sewer to parking) doesn’t support the new housing that has been built or is in the process of being built. And she also believes too much subsidized housing has been placed in her district and that it needs to be spread out evenly across the city.
Her website also talks about access to parks, environmental justice and economic opportunity.
Downtown Partnership Goes for Abraham
At a recent debate, Foster dropped what seemed like a random attack on the Downtown Partnership.
“I’m going to take on the Downtown Partnership,” he said. “The Downtown Partnership does great work downtown. Great work. But do you know what the Downtown Partnership and certain organizations are doing? They’re looking at taking SCPA away from our district.”
SCPA is the School for Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned magnet school in southeastern San Diego that attracts students from across the city. The school district was openly looking for a site downtown to relocate the high school, in part to make sure students could be closer to other arts organizations, higher education and internship opportunities.
The group of leaders trying to reimagine the future of the Civic Center downtown hoped maybe that school could be part of it.
But as our Jakob McWhinney reported a few weeks ago, the district has all but dropped out of that discussion. The most prominent member of the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education, Richard Barrera, had no interest in continuing the discussion. He was certainly not interested in being part of the joint powers authority coming together between the city and Community College District, which is looking to take over the Golden Hall space.
“When it comes to what we would get out of being part of a partnership that includes governance from the city, I just don’t see it,” Barrera said.
The real story there: Barrera is running for state superintendent and the district hopes voters approve Measure M, yet another school bond and property tax increase. (In this case, it would essentially extend an existing tax that is expiring.) He probably doesn’t want a discussion about whether that money would help the city renew downtown to hurt the bond’s chances.
Either way, Foster’s beef probably isn’t just about SCPA. The Downtown Partnership officially endorsed Martha Abraham on Sept. 28.
City Unions Squabble About Flock
We are renowned worldwide (in downtown San Diego) for our extensive (poorly archived) collection of mailers. Below we will provide a sampling of this season’s best so far. Now that ballots are coming out, the volume of mailers will increase exponentially.
This one sent in the San Diego City Council District 4 race has caused some friction between two groups of city employees: the managers and the cops.
Here’s the mailer: This was paid for by the Municipal Employees Association, the largest union of city employees.
But it was the other side of the mailer that provoked umbrage.
See that part? “Dozens of police officers used Flock to stalk ex-romantic partners.”
Here’s the backlash: The San Diego Police Officers Association did not like that. President Jared Wilson sent over this statement.
“None of the misconduct cited involved San Diego police officers. Which is why I’m shocked that the union representing 911 dispatchers, parking enforcement officers, and investigative aides — many of whom use this technology every day — would send out this mailer. Attacking fellow public safety employees with a reckless smear is desperate, irresponsible and counterproductive,” Wilson wrote.
The backlash backlash: Michael Zucchet, the general manager of MEA responded with his own statement.
“Our union believes that the human public servants in the San Diego Police Department are a better investment in public safety than an expensive AI mass surveillance contract. And to be clear, our mailer did not even mention (let alone attack) any San Diego police officer or any other city employee. We simply stated factually that across the country there are many documented cases of police officer misconduct related to Flock technology,” Zucchet wrote.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who has been himself advocating against Flock, blasted the union as well.
“Pretty amazing that an association representing human employees is weighing into an election in favor of an AI-powered tech company that would love to ultimately replace their own members,” Elo-Rivera said.
We hope you’re coming to Politifest tomorrow at the University of San Diego! Should be a great day (and the rooms will have air conditioning.) Check out all the information here. There is still room for you. If you have any ideas or feedback for the Politics Report, send them to scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org or will.huntsberry@voiceofsandiego.org.