All Politics Is Local

By Kate Callen

Last night, when presidential election returns started going horribly wrong, my sister said to me, “Don’t try to spin this. You always do that.”

Guilty as charged. When life ruptures, I look to Stoicism, to the belief that while we can’t control our fate, we can control our reactions to it. But this moment is too searing for that balm. The shock needs to wear off. That will take time.

What to do as we struggle to breathe again? Right now, it might help to turn away from the national conflagration and look closer to home at some encouraging local election results.

Here are local trends that augur well this Wednesday morning:

Todd Gloria’s re-election will turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. As a well-financed incumbent, he should have trounced any challengers. But he’s only 9 points ahead of first-time candidate Larry Turner, whose yard signs blanketed the city.

Gloria’s prospects of fleeing San Diego for Washington DC are over. If he found it vexing to be mayor in his first term, he’s in for much worse next term. Two reasons:

First, Measure E, the proposed city sales tax hike, appears headed for defeat, as does Measure G, which would raise the county sales tax to pay for transportation and infrastructure. Both initiatives were promoted with expensive media blitzes.

If those results hold, the local electorate will have delivered a powerful vote of no confidence in City Hall and SANDAG. Without that new money, city and county coffers will run dry quickly.

Second, and most encouraging, San Diego will finally have an independent Ethics Commission, and just in time.

The current margin of 72% for to 28% against signals a sea change. Yes, voters returned incumbents to office, but voters don’t trust them. Massive disgust with rancid deals that serve cronies – 101 Ash, Midway, Ketter & Vine – has crested over.

A reboot of the Ethics Commission will need close attention and public participation. The Mayor and every Councilmember must be pressured to do this right.

If Heather Ferbert wins the City Attorney race as expected, she must make this an early priority. She also will need to move quickly on her proposal for a “housing protection unit” to preserve affordable homes.

Finally, on the critical issue of housing, there is good news from the north. In the race for mayor of Encinitas, challenger Bruce Ehlers is leading incumbent Tony Kranz by 52% to 48%.

The Coast News Group reports today that early results “indicate a changing of the guard as candidates from a newly ascendant political coalition hold significant leads over their Democratic-backed counterparts.”

In the News Group’s analysis, the uppermost issue for Encinitas voters has been “the tension between state housing mandates and local control on their minds.

Ehlers has centered his campaign on reinforcing local control over development decisions and opposing state-imposed housing policies he deems excessive and impractical.”

Responses to our “worst ADU in San Diego” contest indicate that excessive housing policies are an uppermost issue county-wide. And a newly ascendant political coalition, led by Neighbors for a Better San Diego, is marshaling citywide support for sustainable growth and greater community input.

So let’s take a breather. Then let’s get back on track. We have a lot of work to do.