Editorial:

Historically, the race for the County Board of Supervisor campaigns draws very little attention. It is rare when an incumbent loses a race. And rarely do we get worked up over these races with the exception of when Bill Horn is up for election. When Bill Horn runs, you can count on us to support just about anyone who campaigns against him. However, Horn continues to win, despite his many shortcomings.

This year’s Supervisor race is dramatically different than past years. Supervisor Pam Slater-Price chose not to run for re-election, opening up District 3 for a fresh face on the board. The County Board of Supervisors is a decidedly Republican bastion that has thwarted any Democratic or minority attempt at election. This Board needs balance. We believe that Solana Beach Deputy Mayor Dave Roberts, a Democrat with bipartisan support and strong environmental credentials, along with support from the LGBT community, brings all of the things to the table that the County Board of Supervisors’ needs – diversity.

In Supervisorial District 2, the contest is between the incumbent Dianne Jacob and perennial candidate Rudy Reyes. We still remember the case of a young woman’s claim of rape in El Cajon. Even back then, Supervisor Jacob (1998) was way too quick to place the blame on immigrants and led the charge to scour the back hills for illegals. The results were vigilantes shooting innocent immigrants who were camping in the back country. It turns out the victim did not want the real culprit identified so she blamed a Hispanic. We cannot endorse Jacob nor can we endorse her opponent Reyes. No endorsement for District 2.

The race for Supervisor District 1 where Greg Cox, a Republican, is up for re-election is an interesting situation. Cox has always been responsive to the community and he has surrounded himself with an equally responsive staff that has always been there to help. Cox has done right by the community but what tips the scale in his favor was his successful effort to change the way the district maps will be drawn up in the future.

One of our biggest issues with the County Board of Supervisors has been that redistricting has been left to the discretion to the Board. This has resulted in safe cozy districts that enhanced incumbents’ chances for re-election (see Bill Horn). Cox led the effort to take this process out of the hands of the Board and put in the hands of the community. For this action alone Cox has earned our support. Cox could have stayed with the status quo, but he heard the community and he did the right thing.

His opponent for this seat is Brant Will. Brant Will is an unknown running for office in a decidedly Hispanic district, South San Diego. You would think that it would have been incumbent upon him to reach out to the Hispanic community by talking with the oldest Hispanic paper in this district, La Prensa. The first and last time we heard from Will was after we published our initial voter guide, last week, where we recommended Cox for District 2. He sounded a little peeved that we hadn’t reached out to him. We figure if you want something, like our support, the candidate should reach out to us.

We have no idea what Will was thinking, it may be that as a Democrat he, like many other Democrats, took the Hispanic community for granted. Or it could indicate that Will does not have a clear grasp of the Hispanic community? We don’t know, all we know is that to win an election in the South Bay you need the Hispanic vote, something that escaped Will.

We Endorse for County Supervisor: Greg Cox and Dave Roberts