With less than a week before the final day of voting for the District 1 San Diego Board of Supervisors seat concludes, candidates Paloma Aguirre and John McCann took to the stage on the evening of June 23 to answer remaining voter questions in a forum hosted by BAPAC and Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The summer election is a result of neither candidate securing a majority vote during the April primary. Turnout was 18% districtwide, with Republican Chula Vista Mayor John McCann leading at 42% and Democratic Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre following with 32%.
The last day for residents to cast their vote by mail or in person is July 1.
The outcome of this race will decide the political majority on the currently deadlocked four-member Board of Supervisors. Since losing their Democratic majority with Chairwoman Nora Vargas’s departure, the board, now split evenly between two Democrats and two Republicans, has been unable to advance votes on partisan issues like immigration, healthcare, and food security.
The first supervisorial district includes the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, National City, as well as communities like Barrio Logan, East Village, Golden Hill, and more. Additionally, District 1 includes the unincorporated areas of Bonita, East Otay Mesa, Lincoln Acres, Sunnyside, and La Presa.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors oversees an $8.5 billion annual budget, directing the flow of critical social services for county residents, such as public health, housing, law enforcement, and infrastructure.
The forum at Steam Academy on Monday evening drew a crowd of about 75 people from Spring Valley and surrounding neighborhoods. Key items candidates discussed included infrastructure improvements, the cross-border sewage crisis, immigration policy, equity, affordable housing, budgets, small business opportunities, public safety and more.
Forum moderators shuffled through open-ended and “yes, no, or I don’t know” questions for the candidates. Cheryl Phelps, Communications Director for the regional ACLU, began the first line of questioning.
“Will Black Lives Matter in your policy making?”
“Yes” Aguirre answered.
“No” said McCann.
“Next question, is systemic, institutional and structural racism a problem in our county?”
“No” said McCann.
“I am leaning towards yes,” said Aguirre, “but I need to consult data, so I would say I don’t know.”
Candidates were also asked about their thoughts on merging the unincorporated area of Spring Valley, which is currently split between two supervisorial districts, into one unified district. McCann answered affirmatively, whereas Aguirre said she would want to see how the community feels first.
In terms of their track records as elected officials, Aguirre highlighted how she led her city in securing $600 million in upgrades for South Bay’s wastewater treatment plant to address cross-border sewage from the Tijuana River Valley. She also spoke on how she has lowered utility bills by 5% for working families and created a Parks and Recreation Department for Imperial Beach.
“I have always put community first in every decision I’ve made as councilmember and as mayor, and that is the same approach, energy and urgency that I’m going to bring for District 1 as a county supervisor,” said Aguirre.
Meanwhile, McCann spoke out about his economic success as mayor and councilmember of Chula Vista, such as balancing his city’s budget with “no service cuts, no layoffs and fully funded reserves” and helping oversee the development of the Gaylord Hotel, which created volumes of union jobs and is slated to bring in $475 million annually into the region.
McCann also spoke in opposition to the county raising taxes to cover costs. “We need to make sure that we keep costs low, and the government is one of the main drivers in keeping costs you have high,” said McCann.
For more information on the District 1 Supervisor race visit the San Diego Registrar of Voters wepbage: Sdvote.com