In the city of San Diego, the number of Latino voters has risen by more than 70 percent since 2005, to more than 120,000. That’s about 18 percent of the San Diego voting population.

There are now enough Latino voters in the city of San Diego to be the margin of victory or defeat in an election, and San Diego politicians are paying attention.

La Prensa San Diego recently spoke with mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer, and takes a look at where he stands on issues important to Latinos.

Background

Faulconer is the current longest serving city councilman. He won his council seat in 2005 in a special election following the Strippergate scandal and Michael Zucchet’s resignation. Prior to being elected, Faulconer worked in public relations for more than a decade, and was student body president while at San Diego State University.

Faulconer worked closely with Jerry Sanders during his tenure as mayor, and has received Sanders’ endorsement for the position.

Achievements include his work on a voter-approved comprehensive pension reform ballot initiative, his campaign against a sales tax hike in 2010 (voters also rejected the increase), and his efforts in passing a retiree health care reform package that saves taxpayers by $800 million over 30 years. Faulconer also highlights his efforts to increase street repair, nix pay raises for council members and his work on the voter-approved Mission Bay Park Initiative, which requires some of the money generated from hotels in Mission Bay Park be reinvested in the area.

Minority contractors

San Diego has historically had a poor record of contracting with minority-owned businesses, and that’s only begun to change in the last few years, according to the city’s business diversity report.

“It’s very important to me as mayor that we’re putting San Diegans back to work, and that we’re particularly providing opportunities to our minority contractors and small businesses,” Faulconer said.

He cited his work with Councilman Tony Young in creating a restricted bidding program that would break up larger contracts into smaller pieces worth less than $500,000. The City Council also implemented a certification program for San Diego-based small businesses. Companies that received the certification won far more construction dollars than in previous years.

Following these measures, the city awarded triple the amount of contracts to small, local businesses, which in turn boosted contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses.

“That’s something I’m going to continue to expand, because I don’t want that work going to companies not in here in San Diego,” Faulconer said. “I want our businesses, our neighbors, to be able to bid and win these contracts, and put people back to work.”

Managed competition

In 2006 San Diego voters approved a process called “managed competition” to allow private companies to bid for jobs providing city services, though it wasn’t implemented until four years later.

Critics of the process maintain that savings were largely attained through unsustainable employee cuts and unacceptably low service levels. Former Mayor Bob Filner halted the bids while impact studies were conducted.

The next mayor of San Diego will determine whether or not the bids resume.

Faulconer has repeatedly said the program works, and that it could save the city millions. He also maintains the program is good for small business and minority contractors.

“Competition allows our city employees to compete with the private sector to save money, and allows the private sector and small businesses to compete and also have the opportunity to earn money,” he said.

Faulconer did concede that some fine-tuning of the process may be necessary, but he contends that managed competition provides the best services at the best value.

Pension reform

Faulconer was a co-author of the comprehensive pension reform ballot initiative, Proposition B, which lowers annual pension payments by freezing the portion of city workers’ salaries that factor into their pension payouts. The initiative, which is projected to save nearly $1 billion over 30 years, also calls for the city to switch to 401(K)-type retirement plans for all new city hires except police officers.

According to a study by the nonpartisan think tank Economic Policy Institute, higher income workers are much more likely to participate in 401(K)s than ordinary workers struggling to pay the bills. And while white workers were slightly better off when it comes to retirement savings in 2010 than they were in 1990, Hispanic workers (along with workers who are young, female, black and/or single) were worse off.

Faulconer said he doesn’t see the switch to 401(K) plans doing potential harm to middle class workers or minorities.
“Most San Diegans, and most people in the country, have a 401(K)-style retirement that works,” he said. “We have to make sure we are providing a program of fair salaries and benefits to employees — and we have great employees — but also one that we can afford.”

Minimum wage and jobs

Last year Faulconer opposed a prevailing wage law in San Diego that guarantees higher wages to private contractors working on city projects. He also opposes interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed ballot measure to increase San Diego’s minimum wage ahead of the statewide wage hike.

California’s minimum wage is set to increase from $8 an hour to $9 by July 1 and $10 by Jan. 1, 2016. Faulconer opposes the bill, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, and said it will force businesses to hire fewer workers. Pro-business groups including the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the restaurant industry also object to the bill.

Instead, Faulconer said he would focus on creating quality jobs and growing business opportunities. He wants to make it easier for small businesses to get started.

Specifically, he would stream-line the permitting process and provide other incentives for businesses to set up and grow in underserved neighborhoods, including San Ysidro.

“Some of the best opportunities for economic growth and development — and to take advantage of the great innovative clusters we have in San Diego — are in neighborhoods south of the 8, where we have opportunities, we have land,” Faulconer said.

The candidate’s jobs plan focuses on five critical areas, or IDEAS: invest, develop, educate, attract and streamline. Highlights of the plan include inking a long-term deal with Comic-Con, tripling the region’s exports by 2024, cutting red tape at City Hall, finding summer jobs for 2,500 students and initiating a campaign to help fill vacancies at the San Diego Police Department with military veterans.

Racial profiling

Recently, community members and organizations have spoken up about perceived police racial profiling among the San Diego Police Department.

Faulconer said there is no place for racial profiling, and as mayor he would not tolerate it. He said he would help bolster trust between communities and the department with a return to community-oriented policing. That means taking officers out of patrol cars and putting them back on walking beats within neighborhoods.

In order to do that, the mayoral candidate intends to rebuild the department by improving recruitment and retention. The San Diego Police Department is about 130 officers short, and Faulconer would cast “a wide net” to achieve the “most inclusive and diverse” police force in the nation, he said.

Faulconer has won the endorsement of the San Diego Police Officers Association.

Cross-border issues

Faulconer said he sees the area from Northern Baja California to Orange County as one “mega-region” where not only goods, but intellectual capital should flow smoothly. Many local business leaders have suggested that marketing San Diego and Tijuana as one region can help attract jobs.

Faulconer said he would focus on the completion of the second and third phases of construction at the San Ysidro port of entry, aimed at easing border wait times. A study by the San Diego Association of Governments estimates that the U.S. and Mexican economies lose an estimated $7.2 billion each year due to wait times at the border.

The candidate has promised to work with the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. and other regional partners to increase trade with Mexico and the Pacific Rim by 100 percent within five years and 300 percent in 10 years.

“I will beef up our presence, our Office of Financial affairs, making sure we have best and brightest people who understand how to do business on both sides of border, and that relationships with Mexico are strong,” he said.