This is not Ray Ellis’s first campaign for City Council. In fact, of the seven candidates running for city attorney and City Council District 1 that I’m interviewing as part of a series of podcast conversations, Ellis is the only one who has run for office before.
He lost in 2012 to Sherri Lightner, now the City Council president.
“I learned it was a real uphill battle to run against an incumbent,” Ellis said.
I asked if, upon reflection, he would do it again.
“We’ve certainly benefited from having done it before,” he said.
Ellis is also the only one so far to maintain enthusiastic support for the plan to remake Balboa Park once championed by philanthropist Irwin Jacobs.
Ellis did say, though, that the mayor and City Council’s decision to spend $2.1 million on a rushed effort to keep the Chargers in town was a mistake.
Next week, we’ll round out the series with Robert Hickey, the Republican deputy district attorney running for city attorney. Let me know if you have any questions for him.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Stream it here.
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