In June 2024, longtime county worker Ebony Shelton became the first Black woman to hold the position as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), becoming the county’s CEO with power to hire and fire most county staff. She had been unanimously selected by the board of supervisors to replace Helen Robbins-Meyer after a lengthy hiring process.
The power Shelton has, including the ability to hire her deputy and the head of the Health and Human Services Agency, could be taken away on Nov. 3, when voters decide on Measure A, a proposal seeking to change the charter of the county.
Proposed by county board chair Terra Lawson-Remer, the measure would extend the term limits of supervisors from two four-year terms to three, establish independent budget analyst and independent auditor roles, require the public disclosure of spending and performance data and require the board of supervisors to confirm the the CAO’s appointment of some senior county leaders.
“I see it as a sandwich measure,” said Ellen Nash, chair of the Black American Political Association of California (BAPAC). “They all should have been separate measures on the ballot.”
Nash supports the extension of the term limits of supervisors because she believes the supervisors have been properly managing the county which operates on an $8 billion annual budget, serving 3.3 million residents. But she takes issue with the curtailing of the power of the CAO.
She said the board showed its confidence in CAO Shelton when it hired her, so additional oversight of her management of the county is unnecessary.
Republicans Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson, the two out of five supervisors who opposed the measure see it as “self-serving,” as it seeks to extend the supervisors’ term limits. It’ll extend the current maximum term limits from 8 years to 12, supplanting what 68 percent of the county’s voters approved in 2010.
Lawson-Remer declined an interview with Voice & Viewpoint on the matter. Instead, her office forwarded an earlier release where she said the proposal “was never about one person’s wish list,” adding, “it was a public process shaped by stakeholders from beginning to end.” “We listened, we made changes, and the final package is stronger because of it,” she said.
A long, drawn-out CAO selection process a few years ago influenced the measure
Dr. Kyra Greene of the Center on Policy Initiatives, a supporter of Lawson-Remer’s proposal, told the Voice of San Diego in April that the surprise selection of Shelton as CAO spurred the proposal. She said the process was not transparent, and there wasn’t enough stakeholder participation.
When Robbins-Meyer said she would retire as CAO in 2023, the Board of Supervisors reportedly turned to former Santa Clara supervisor Cindy Chavez to fill the role. Unexpectedly, the board halted the hiring process for a new CAO when chair Nathan Fletcher resigned following allegations he sexually assaulted an employee when he served as chairman of the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). A judge cleared Fletcher of the allegations in 2025. The board said it would focus on filling Fletcher’s vacant District 4 position before resuming the process.
After Monica Montgomery Steppe filled Fletcher’s District 4 position by winning a special election in 2023, it emerged that Chavez — the favorite of local labor unions SEIU Local 221 and the United Domestic Workers Local 3930 — was no longer the pick for the role. Voice & Viewpoint reported in 2024 that the labor unions rallied outside the County Administration Building to condemn the closed-door meetings, which they believed ruled out Chavez from the CAO role.
When former board chair Nora Vargas announced Ebony Shelton as new CAO in May 2024, the supervisors had unanimously agreed to the decision. That included Lawson-Remer who was vice president of the board, though she had told Times of San Diego that she needed more transparency in the hiring process.
Proponents say Measure A would make the county more efficient and transparent
If voted in, the independent budget analyst would make revenue projections, evaluate budget documents and advise supervisors on fiscal matters regarding the county. Lawson-Remer believes this would make budgeting and spending of the county’s $8 billion annual budget transparent.
The independent auditor would assess county programs including test ones, and services. It would also publish them for public evaluation. Both the budget analyst and auditor would report to the Board of Supervisors.
For now, the CAO, along with county departments and groups is responsible for preparing and presenting the proposed budget each May. Once it’s passed, the CAO, through the Chief Financial Officer’s office, monitors the budget and provides quarterly reports to the Board of Supervisors.
The measure would also establish an ethics commission that would investigate ethics complaints against elected county officials and make the findings public. Supervisors would appoint members of the commission and empower it with subpoena power to order witnesses to testify.
“This is not about politics,” said Jack McGrory, a former San Diego city manager who supports the measure, at a rally for the proposal. “This is about good government.” He said the county has become a “much more complex organization than it was 40 years ago.”
