By Macy Meinhardt, Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
With elections concluded and year-end meetings winding down, San Diegans settling into the holiday season received a surprised message from San Diego Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas on the afternoon of Dec. 20.
“I’ve decided to conclude my tenure as County Supervisor, completing my first term this January 6, 2025. Due to personal safety and security reasons, I will not take the oath of office for a second term.” her statement reads.
After a sweeping campaign where the supervisor won back her seat by 62% of the votes, Chairwoman Vargas was set to take another oath of office alongside her supervisor colleagues on Monday, Jan.6.
As the first Latina to be elected to serve as supervisor, Vargas’ 300 word departure statement reflects on her 30 years of service to the county. Chairwoman Vargas served on the 12-member California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) board and spent seven years on the Southwestern College Governing Board, South County San Diego’s only public higher education institution.
Chairwoman Vargas’ departure also comes closely after a controversial vote by the county in December to reaffirm their status as a sanctuary city. Vargas initiated the resolution, which seeks to narrow the county sheriff’s department’s ability to pass inmate information off to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement in deportations.
The meeting brought large crowds out to the December meeting in opposition to Vargas’s resolution. Drawing the likes of Alex Jones’s ‘Info-Wars’ associates, public comment grew so hostile and disruptive towards supervisors, Chairwoman Vargas made the decision to enforce patrolling officers to take everyone out of the room and instead be ushered in to speak one at a time.
Vargas reprimanded members of the public for meeting disruption during an item that discussed funding immigration shelters in March 2024
PHOTO: Macy Meinhardt/ Voice & Viewpoint
Members of the public hurling offensive comments, threats and conspiracy theory rants at supervisor members, especially Vargas, has been the status-quo of board meetings in the last few years. Notably, polarity in local government functions picked up as the county enforced covid-19 restrictions. Opposing members compared the supervisor board to the works of Nazi’s and the Taliban. Since then those sentiments have appeared to stick and be regurgitated during meetings and online when it comes to many other orders of business enacted by the supervisor board.
As of press time, Vargas has not produced further comments to the media about the reasoning of her leave, other than “personal safety and security” reasons.
Last year, the University of San Diego’s Violence, Inequality and Power (VIP) Lab produced a report that shows threats and harassment of elected officials disproportionately impact women in the county. Surveying hundreds of local officials and thousands of tweets, the research found that 82% of female officials report receiving threats and harassment compared to a 66% rate of their male counterparts. Additionally, 61% of women say they have considered leaving public service because of it compared to 32% of men.
The replacement mechanism for how the board will choose to fill the vacancy remains up in the air. The board is currently split by 2 Democratic members and 2 Republican members, making it unlikely that the board will unanimously agree on a single person to appoint on the board. This will mean the county will have to invest in a special election in the coming months.
The now vacant District 1 supervisor seat oversees roughly 600,000 residents in the South Bay. The last time the county held a special election was in 2024 to replace District 4 Supervisor Nathan Fletcher. It was estimated to cost the county about $5 million. Local figures who are already propping themselves up for the position include San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, Chula Vista Councilmember Carolina Chavez, and Chula Vista Mayor John McCan.
