Arturo Castañares
Publisher

When San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas announced last week that she will not be taking office for her second term on January 6th, she set into motion political maneuvering among possible replacements for a coveted political seat that has only been up for grabs once in the past 29 years.

Vargas, who claims she’s resigning to protect her personal safety, is stepping down just weeks since winning re-election to her second four-year term after first being elected to the seat in 2020 to replace Supervisor Greg Cox who had held the position since 1995.

The five-member Board of Supervisors oversees the functions of over 20,000 employees and approves an annual budget of over $8.4 billion.

Although most cities and special agencies like school boards have limitations on making appointments to fill vacancies without an election only when less than half of a term remains during a vacancy, the County’s governing charter gives the four remaining Supervisors the option to appoint someone to fill the remainder of her full term or to call a special election.

But, with the entire length of Vargas’ term remaining, the public would be robbed of a say in selecting their representative if three or four Supervisors select someone themselves.

Last year, when then-County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment made by a female employee of the region’s transit agency, there were more than three years left of his second term when the remaining members —of which three remain now— decided to call for a special election to allow the public to choose Fletcher’s replacement.

The winner of that election, then-San Diego City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe, is now on the Board of Supervisors and will be voting on whether to appoint or call an election.

Of course, after the Fletcher experience, it would be unusual —if not entirely hypocritical— for the Board of Supervisors to decide to fill the vacancy through a political appointment process that would give the new member a free ride into one of the most powerful and important elected positions in our region without any voter approval.

Vargas’ district encompasses all of the south areas of the County, including National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, and the South San Diego areas of San Ysidro, Nestor, and Otay Mesa along the border. 

Allowing the public to choose their own representatives is the most equitable way to ensure fair representation on important issues like the Tijuana River Valley pollution, preservation of open spaces, and managing the growing impacts of undocumented immigration as federal agencies release thousands of migrants in the area.

To add to the already complicated situation, this week a national legal group founded by Trump insider Stephen Miller sent letters to hundreds of elected officials, including Vargas, threatening them with possible prison time for supporting "sanctuary" policies that block local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Vargas put forward a sanctuary policy two weeks ago that narrowly passed on a 3 to 1 vote leading to protests that ended up shutting down the Supervisor's public meeting. The issue of how to deal with the influx of undocumented immigrants will surely be a hot topic when choosing Vargas' replacement.

There are already at least three local elected officials putting themselves forward as potential candidates for the anticipated election which will most likely take place in April with a runoff three months later if no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the Special Election.

The first candidate to formally announce her intentions is San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno who represents District 8 which includes the South San Diego areas of San Ysidro, Nestor, and Otay Mesa that overlap with Vargas’ district, as well as Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, and other San Diego areas near downtown that are outside of the County seat.

Moreno, a Democrat, was re-elected to her second term in 2022 and will be termed out of office in 2026. If she were to win the Special Election, the City Council could fill her vacancy by appointment or call a special election to fill her seat sometime later this year.

Another potential candidate is Chula Vista Mayor John McCann who was elected in 2022 after serving 16 year on the Chula Vista City Council and four years on the Sweetwater Union High School District. Chula Vista mades up over half of Vargas’ district.

McCann, a Republican and Navy Reserves Commander, won a hard-fought campaign against Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar in a race that set a new record as the most expensive mayoral campaign in the City’s history. Although McCann was outspent and faced a two-to-one Democrat to Republican advantage, his win left him as the only Republican serving on any of the South Bay’s City Councils.

A third candidate rumored to be gearing up to run is Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre. 

Aguirre, a Democrat elected to the City Council in 2018 then Mayor in 2022, has strong support among labor unions and Party officials. Although twice elected, Aguirre only received 2,666 votes for Mayor in 2022 and 3,345 votes for City Council in 2018.

Other potential candidates who are not currently elected officials are former State Senator Ben Hueso, a Democrat who lost his campaign for County Supervisor against Vargas in 2018, and perennial candidate Alex Galicia, a Republican who recently lost his campaign against Vargas in the November election.

The stakes are high in this race because the winner will determine which Party has majority control on the Board of Supervisors for at least the next two years when two of the five seats will be up for election.

The winner of this Special Election would likely go on to serve two terms on the Board of Supervisors and play a major role in shaping decisions facing not just the South Bay, but the entire region.

The remaining Supervisors, especially Montgomery Steppe who herself was elected in a special election, should give deference to the voters to choose their own representative. 

The South Bay area has a deservedly defensive posture toward the rest of the County after a long history of enduring a landfill, car junkyards, two energy power plants, sewage from Mexico, and, of course, a lack of investment by the Port for 50 years until the new Chula Vista Bayfront resort was finally approved and is now under construction.

South Bay residents should have the opportunity to consider their choices for Supervisor and choose their leader themselves.

A Special Election is the only way to provide a transparent and equitable resolution to the vacancy created by Nora Vargas’ resignation.

Although potentially costing several million dollars, a special election is the most democratic way to give everyone in the county fair representation.