This post has been updated.
The San Diego County Democratic Party will be weighing a proposal Tuesday night to change its rules to allow chair of the party to collect a salary.
It wouldn’t immediately make current Chair Will Rodriguez-Kennedy the paid leader of the party, but he has been left off the discussion. Supporters of the move say it has been discussed for years and would allow the party’s leader to focus on the party’s growth and fundraising without being distracted trying to make a living. Opponents say the proposal has been rushed through without proper notice.
In an email Monday to the party’s Central Committee, 48 members, including several elected officials, wrote that the chair role has become a demanding, year-round position.
“Allowing the Executive Board to set compensation—and requiring the Chair to receive the same benefits as other Party employees—would help the Party retain capable leadership while treating the position with the seriousness it requires,” they wrote.
Cynara Velazquez, a former party leader, wrote to the Central Committee that things were going too fast.
“This is exactly the type of proposal we should want to get feedback on, allow input into its creation, consider various alternatives — not shove through wording crafted by very few individuals, as fast as possible, in violation of the notification policy,” she wrote.
San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said he is supportive of the idea and used to discuss it with former Chair Becca Taylor. Others said it was close to happening when she was chair, but the discussion stopped when she died in a tragic motorcycle accident in 2024.
“Becca shared how much time it took to do the job right and how much more time she would like to give the role and that was always at tension with being an ordinary person who needed to work,” Elo-Rivera said.
He said it would be important to make sure there were no conflicts of interest and that the chair remains more loyal to members than donors.
“One of the Democratic Party’s biggest weaknesses is the assumption that the Party is too often beholden to who contributes the most rather than its grassroots members. That has to change or there will be no point in professionalizing the Party,” Elo-Rivera said.
The rule change would only allow the party’s executive committee to begin to develop a plan and proposal.
Rodriguez-Kennedy told Voice he will continue to serve as chair no matter what happens.
“I trust the brilliant and passionate leaders of our Party who serve on the Central Committee and in elected office to come to a fair decision and continue to have my focus and the focus of our intrepid staff on the election in November where we intend to take back Congress and elect an amazing Democratic slate that will fight for a more prosperous and just San Diego County for all,” he wrote in statement.
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly identified who Velazquez was representing. It has been updated.
