This Documenters Voices article was written by David J. Bohnet, a student journalist at San Diego City College’s City Times. They’ve outlined the positions of San Diego mayoral candidates that are of specific interest to students.
The mayoral race in San Diego heats up as the political campaigns enter the final weeks before Election Day.
Climate change and the environment are at the forefront of many voters’ minds this election season, with 51% of respondents to the City College Community Agenda survey listing it as one of their priorities, according to Oct. 1 data.
Based on the first of two scheduled debates, held Sept. 17 and hosted by ABC10 News, both incumbent Todd Gloria and challenger Larry Turner hold strong convictions about the direction of San Diego.
The pair sparred over a number of issues, including affordable housing, homelessness, public safety and infrastructure – many of which have been on the minds of the City College community, according to the City College Community Agenda.
Gloria defended his record and laid out his plan for the future of San Diego under his continued leadership.
Turner, who served in the Marine Corps and spent time working with the San Diego Police Department, would be stepping into his first public office if elected.
As with the presidential debate on Sept. 10, City Times Media listened to this debate, identifying statements from the candidates that describe their plans for their potential administration. CTM listed these statements below, categorized by issues in the City College Community Agenda.
CTM did not list statements made by the candidates that did not address their plans or that were directed at the other candidate’s plans. The goal was to identify what the candidates wanted to accomplish.
The City College Community Agenda is an ongoing survey of City community members, in both English and Spanish, asking what issues and questions they want candidates to address as they compete for their votes. If you have not submitted your issues and questions to the survey, please do so today.
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Members of the board of trustees and city officials join acting Community College District Chancellor Greg Smith, fifth from left, in striking the dirt during the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of San Diego City College’s future housing complex, Oct. 20, 2023. Photo by Luke Bradbury/City Times Media
Housing and Homelessness
Gloria:
“Our safe sleeping sites are wildly popular with folks who would otherwise decline services, and if we can get them into our sites, we can start to wrap them around the services that address the underlying causes that are homelessness and get them into permanent housing.”
Turner:
“I would just tell you that we don’t have a housing crisis in San Diego. What we have is an affordable housing crisis in San Diego. Also, I’m a real big proponent on purchasing homes and the city doing what we can to make that happen for people.”
San Diego City College students Tanner Frank and Dahlia Davis walk along campus during the first of two storms that will hit San Diego beginning Thursday, Feb. 01, 2024. Photo by Marco Guajardo/City Times Media
Climate Change and Environment
Gloria:
“We’re making a transition right now, and we’re building a network piece by piece, where we have installed these bike lanes. This is a work in progress, and it is important for us to do it, not just to keep San Diegans safe, but to meet some of our very important climate action plan goals that require us to try and envision a future where San Diegans have choice.”
Turner:
“In Hillcrest, a number of businesses aren’t having parking there anymore in front of their stores. And I would just tell you – talking about the environment side of it, I’m going to tell you that when we get rid of lanes, the number of cars have not decreased. You’re allowing for more cars emitting more emissions while they’re waiting in more traffic and they’re driving around longer, looking for parking. We’re already ranked the worst city in the United States for parking.”
San Diego City College student Melissa Zuñiga, 24, reaches for cooked white rice in the Knight’s Table Food Pantry, Tuesday, January 30, 2024. This is Zuñiga’s last semester at City College. Photo by Keila Menjivar Zamora/City Times Media (Keila Menjivar Zamora)
Economy and Taxes
Gloria:
“I’m the son of blue collar workers, a hotel maid and a gardener who I know exactly how hard it is to make ends meet in a town as expensive as San Diego, and that’s why I’m using this opportunity as mayor to fight against rate increases, to oppose new taxes, and importantly, build housing, because people our population is still growing.”
Turner:
“I’d oppose giving the mayor more money through a tax increase, to ask the citizens of San Diego to pay double the sales tax because right now we get 1%. He’s asking to double that on the backs of the hardworking people of San Diego.”
Protests for Black Lives Matter continue ten days after the killing of George Floyd. Protestors wore face masks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Melisa Cabello-Cuahutle/City Times (Melisa Cabello-Cuahutle)
Criminal Justice
Gloria:
“Our officers know that I support them and that I’ll continue to give them the resources to do their jobs effectively. We can both prevent crime from happening and we can make sure that we have a world-class police department that can respond to it.”
Turner:
“We need to have a behavioral health unit in San Diego (Police Department) that’s able to tackle the increasing, sadly, number of mental health crises we have in the city that oftentimes police aren’t the best ones to handle. Additionally, social workers, we need to go out there and bring more of them into working with the police.”
What about the rest of our most important issues?
College Affordability and Access
The candidates did not address this during the debate.
Gun Control
The candidates did not address this during the debate.
Healthcare and Reproductive Rights
The candidates did not address this during the debate.
Civil Rights and Inequalities
The candidates did not address this during the debate.
Immigration Reform
The candidates did not address this during the debate.
KPBS will host the second debate between the two candidates on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m.
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