By Kate Callen
The first time I saw Richard Nixon, I was five years old, and I thought he was creepy.
We were watching the first 1960 Presidential debate. Nixon looked cold-blooded. My parents didn’t trust him. Over the next 13 years, the more I saw of him, the more he creeped me out.
Then, on August 9, 1973, when he tearfully bid farewell to his staff before flying into the void, my heart ached for him. Yes, he was atrocious. But I didn’t want to see him publicly disgraced.
Nixon’s fall came back to me when I heard reports that Mayor Todd Gloria was loudly booed at public holiday festivities last weekend.
These included tree lightings in La Jolla and at December Nights in Balboa Park (where Gloria has instituted paid parking). When Council President Joe La Cava introduced Gloria at the La Jolla ceremony by praising his work ethic, the crowd erupted in jeers.
This would not be unusual in East Coast cities like New York and my hometown of Philadelphia, where Eagles fans once booed a man dressed as Santa Claus. In San Diego, this is unheard of.
Legions of people may feel Gloria deserves this. I’m not one of them. I believe there are others who should endure the shame.
I first grasped that Gloria was devious in 2013 when, as District 3’s City Council rep, he double-crossed my North Park community by allowing Jack-in-the-Box to proceed with a blatantly illegal construction. (Yes, Todd, we still remember.)
When he ran for mayor in 2020, I crusaded against him. A Rag post I co-wrote with Uptown activist Tom Mullaney warned voters about Gloria’s slippery character, saying, “Community leaders across this district can cite too many examples of [Gloria’s] broken pledges and jettisoned agreements.”
Five years later, the rest of San Diego has learned why we opposed him so vehemently. Todd Gloria could be the worst mayor in the city’s history. His string of civic disasters – starting with 101 Ash Street and ending (to date) with bait-and-switch trash fees – has been compounded by his Nixonian megalomania.
I take a back seat to no one in distaste for Gloria. But I don’t blame him personally. I blame the powerbrokers who knew he was not executive material but pushed him forward because they could manipulate him. Which they did. Now San Diego is in serious decline, and they own that.
Prominent civic and business leaders lured Gloria into a job for which he was clearly unsuited. He once envisioned himself on the national stage. Instead, he may be at the end of his political career, and it’s hard to picture his life outside politics.
Meanwhile, the puppeteers who created this mess will skate away, paying no price and suffering no ignominy.
Except that we know their names, and we will be watching.
The Rag is reporting on 2026 city races by focusing on who gives how much money to which candidates. We have pointed out contributors who were instrumental in the rise of Todd Gloria. We will continue to do that.
If you’re running for office, and you take cash from people who used Gloria to do their bidding, what does that say about you?
Gloria’s backers are ultimately responsible for all that has gone wrong in San Diego under his leadership – the plundered treasury, ballooning city fees, crumbling infrastructure, besieged neighborhoods. Let’s hold them accountable.
Well, Kate, could you name those people for us? I must not be the only one who isn’t aware of who you are referring to.
The Building Industry Association and its lobbyists and members, the attorneys and lobbyists who represent; developers and real estate interests, many members of the Chamber of Commerce; the local and state Democratic Parties, who have championed state control of local land use policies that are, in my opinion, contrary to San Diego’s best interests. Advocates for high-density, high-rise development in residential neighborhoods, including YIMBY Dems, Circulate San Diego and related groups that are funded by the development industry and related industries.
This is a prime example of the “big money” contributions that elected Todd Gloria and have kept him in power, https://voiceofsandiego.org/2022/09/12/that-100k-to-mayoral-campaign-from-chosen-sports-arena-developer-was-news-when-he-gave-it/
Mike, the Rag’s election coverage is “following the money” by including the names and backgrounds of big contributors in each race. This is public information taken directly from campaign disclosure reports. We will flag those donors with longstanding ties to Gloria, as we did in our December 2 post on the District 2 Council race:
https://obrag.org/?s=josh+coyne
From La Prensa:
“Additionally, Gloria benefited from over $1.7 million in expenditures made by three independent committees set up to support his re-election campaign. The committees, named California Progress for All, Big City San Diego, and San Diegans for Fairness paid for billboards, television and digital ads, and direct mailings for Gloria.
Contributions to Gloria and the independent committees included hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers, labor unions, and businesses with direct interests before the City.”
https://laprensa.org/gloria-had-5-1-campaign-funding-advantage
I remember Todd’s betrayal on that Jack in the Box very well and I’ve been opposed to him since. The only difference is that I still blame him as much as you blame his enablers. Just because he is weak-willed, doesn’t me he’s not guilty of corruption.
At the end of the day Gloria made a choice who to lie in bed with, so I don’t feel sorry what so ever.
I agree. No sympathy at all from this taxpayer/resident.
The word I use to describe Todd Gloria is, “SMARMY.” I think it fits him perfectly!
Again I ask, is there a recall Todd Gloria campaign, and if there isn’t, why not? Even if it wasn’t successful, it would send a huge message. But it’s starting to sound like it just might be successful. I’ve only seen a change.org recall petition, but that’s not an official recall campaign.
Gloria is a lame duck. He is termed out at the end of 2028, and the race to succeed him will begin in earnest next year. So he will become increasingly marginalized. A much better way to send a message would be to support a candidate who isn’t getting money from Gloria’s cronies (see the list in Paul’s message above). When the time comes, we will all have to dig deep if we want to take back our city. We can’t do that on the cheap.
Gloria may be a lame duck but he continues to creep me out, genuflecting to his funders ( mainly developers) every waking hour.
Zero sympathy for him- but then I’m from Philadelphia, and have now moved back- priced out of OB after fifteen years. Boo, hiss.
Although Todd Gloria is characterized as a lame duck, he is diligently doing the bidding of the real estate development industry to weaken the San Diego Municipal Code and building laws protecting San Diego’s historical buildings so smarmy lawyers can appeal every historical designation to the City Council to strip away historical designation everywhere in the City of San Diego. These historical buildings provide the only true affordable housing in the City of Sand Diego and have been a thorn in the side of high density apartment developers for many years. The time to paint the target on the culprit is now while there is still time to save our historical buildings for our future.
Well said!
I agree with you, Ron. We cannot give Todd any leeway here. The buck stops with him as the supposed head of our city. That’s what being a leader is all about. Assuming responsibility; something Gloria is incapable of doing.
That said, when we get a majority of council members elected next year who are community advocates, we will be able to overturn Gloria’s disastrous administration. He will be the emperor with no clothes. At that point, he most likely will depart office before his term is over since his clout will have been diminished, leaving him naked and exposed.
I fear the train has left the station. The 20′ lot next door to the Bankers Hill duplex my Mom was raised in, zoned for two units, now has a four story, nine unit stucco box of efficiency studios (12′ wide x 35′ tall) with zero off-street parking. When the “imaginary” Transit Hub maps were published, it was a 1/2 mile radius for high density, but now it’s a one mile walking distance. In Point Loma/ Ocean Beach that only leaves a block or two in Sunset Cliffs & in the wooded area, that cannot be similarly strip mined. Who in their right mind would buy a home here, knowing you may be surrounded by mid-rise apartments sans parking? The answer will increasingly be “not me”.
Gloria has ruined San Diego, but along with those looking cash out, some agree with his actions for other reasons. The San Diego City Council should have someone stand up and gain support to neuter his remaining 3 long years in his term. Who, if anyone will stand up? Hoping its Raul Campillo, who has been opposing some of the more egregious actions against the citizens of San Diego.
Kate, you made me laugh with the Eagles fans booing Santa Claus. I had a dog like that.
We should start a list of all the times and ways Mr. Gloria abandoned D3 residents before he moved up to abandoning residents citywide.
Remember his big press conference when he ‘opened’ a dog park next to Ward Canyon – and two private homes? Within a year, dozens of dogs injured their feet on the groundcover. Within two, it became a locked, long abandoned city lot now full of weeds.
Heck, we even boo our own team- the Phillies. Love them, but it keeps them on their toes.And other teams dread coming to our stadium we boo them so loud.
Booing is a fine way to express one’s opinion except in Congress and the Executive branch. There some decorum would be nice.
Gloria has his sight set on the Governor’s office. At this point it’s all about doing favors for anyone who will get him there.
Thank you for the article.
However, I do have to take one exception – I don’t give Mayor Gloria a pass simply because others enabled him. He participated willingly because it advances his political career. I believe Gloria, along with others in his administration, and others on the Council, have not only overlooked harmful actions, but have effectively rolled out the red carpet for those who have pillage our neighborhoods throughout San Diego with the express purpose of personal and corporate financial gain. Our Mayor should be held accountable,; and the lack of integrity which has permeated throughout his administration needs to be actively exposed and highlighted.
It is a sad commentary that people in a holiday crowd booed him. Folks came to the event for a happy celebration, and the fact that it turned into booing the Mayor speaks volumes. While that kind of public spectacle is unsavory, we also recognize where it comes from. Since the inception of his tenure, everyday taxpaying residents have been consistently discounted by this administration. When we feel dismissed long enough, we resort to making our voices heard loudly, and thereby more publicly.
As Mayor, Todd Gloria needs to recognize that he is ultimately responsible for the outcomes of his governance.
Since I moved to San Diego years ago I have been heartsick to see what the politicians and developers have done to our San Diego. I think there is a place in hell for these short sighted, greedy people. They are really destroying our area. How dare they think they have the right to do this. We need some air, not to be Crammed together. I am tired, please people we must Save San Diego for the generations to come.
So true. How do we beat a corrupt system? A council person said at a meeting that single family homes are not the future. Who really believes that squishes everyone in little apartments will improve the life of the ‘tenants’? The government of California has turned against the people of the state. They are not even pretending that we the people are worthy. We are well, collateral damage. The goal, more people, more tiny liviing spaces, less parking. I think everyone who wanted to live in OB and had to settle for something east of 5 should sue the city of San Diego for not ‘giving’ them what they want. Beach living at a really cheap price, even if it does not pencil out for the developer/owner.
The city council has done the most harm with wage mandates, fees, over hiring city roles, and mismanaging the budget. Sean Elo-Rivera in particular has moved forward the worst fiscal and economic policies to date. The city council has overridden the mayor a few times. The root cause of our disfunction is group think on the city council as all are captive to union special interests. We need to stop voting these type of people in and focus on more centrist candidates that help enact abundance liberalism policies that will hep the city build more housing, infrastructure, and attract more economic growth.
Yes, they certainly deserve to share equal blame – council and Gloria. Two huge problems, first, these people have no skill-set to run the 8th largest city – they are totally inept. Second, there is no accountability for the “decisions” they make. And yes, Elo is absolutely the worse, and least qualified.
In a variety of social media platforms, negative comments about Gloria run 10:1. He is widely despised. And he deserves it for all the reasons cited.
So how the hell was he re-elected?
There was an imperfect, yet ethical and decent candidate opposing him last time. He lost.
If you are a voter and you voted for Gloria a second time, then YOU are the problem. There was plenty of evidence that Gloria was a corrupt failure before the election, and yet he won.
I’m disgusted with Gloria, but my special anger is for repeat voters who don’t use their brains when they cast their vote. Mindless, uninformed people who don’t look beyond his Party affiliation when they vote. Or his sexual orientation, or his skin color.
Don’t vote for a candidate because he is or is not brown, because he is or is not gay, or because he is or is not a Dem. None of these indicate qualification for office.
Vote for the person and his/her policies. Vote for Person, not Party.
I think Gloria was re-elected because most voters don’t pay that close attention to local news except what they see on the tv, which in the San Diego market is very conservative, and even then, local TV news is not typically about real journalism.
It’s very easy to get re-elected when you are an incumbent and you have the mainstream groups for your party supporting you. So, despite how bad we know Todd Gloria is, most voters didn’t know or didn’t care enough to vote against him.
Thanks Ken P. I won’t do my usual lengthy rant about conservative SCOTUS allowing elections and political whores to be bought. Gloria has a (D) after his name but it means nothing. 100% of the (R) party has been bought and paid for, & an increasing number of the (D) party is selling out. Media is consolidating thanks to billionaires who would rather not pay their fair shares of taxes and happily invest $1M in an election if the return is $10M. We can only hope the future brings us a well informed electorate, truthful campaigning, and results like NYC and Miami.
Didn’t Todd Gloria get started in politics as chief of staff for former Dem Congresswoman Susan Davis who was annually on the AIPAC-junket gravy train? The Reader’s gone: how quickly we forget.
Wasn’t replacing Susan Davis in Congress Gloria’s initial plan, but then he got tired of waiting? So he raised tons of money and got elected Mayor after the disastrous short run of Dem Mayor Bob Filner. Plenty of responsibility to go around. No sympathy here.
Excellent article! Time to do away with the Strong Mayor form of city government so that one person, no matter who they are, can’t screw up everything like he has!
Kate shouldn’t you be asking for Gloria’s tax returns instead of convincing us we should feel sorry for him? Gloria, Elo Rivera, Whitburn, Moreno and La Cava are somehow poor victims that are just morally powerless and have no other choice but to profit from the destruction of America’s Finest City? Please!
Kate this article is contrarian to almost all the brilliant work and everything you have ever written. I have had tremendous respect for you, but that has now been displaced greatly by this defeatist article.
Acquiesce, just roll over and take it San Diegans. We should all continue to accept it, because it will be over soon, is wholly un-American, stands contrary to dissent and is a slap in our collective constitutional face.
Gloria legislated the creation of the Gloria Hole of corporate corruption to fast-track party contributions and generate his own personal wealth with impunity, void of any empathy and has done it all in the most obnoxiously arrogant way possible. Go talk to 15 random San Diegans and all 15 will not hesitate to tell you of their animus against Gloria and the Corrupted council.
We have NO representation Kate, so please for the love of God, stop propping up Party puppets as somehow being populists that they are most surely not. Campillo is lying in wait I am sure undoubtedly eyeballing his run for Mayor so the Party can continue to hoodwink voters with impunity. We can almost rest assured that this outcome has been the result of think tank strategies laid out long ago by the One Party Rulers.
Mateo, I’m really glad you wrote. Two things compelled me to produce this post. The first is a belief that we should feel compassion for people who suffer public disgrace, whatever the cause. I think this is a humanist stance (and probably a personal quirk).
The second and more compelling reason is that Todd is the fruit of a poisoned tree with deep roots: powerbrokers finding weak vessels to achieve nefarious ends. They knew how inept he was, but they didn’t care. They were determined to get everything they wanted, even if it meant wrecking this city. How despicable.
When Todd had real power, I criticized him relentlessly. That power is waning, and as it does, the rich fat cats are lining up other weak vessels to wreak even more damage. It’s what they’ve always done, and it’s how they keep getting richer and more powerful.
At this moment, when public disgust with City Hall is off the charts, and big elections are on the horizon, we can break that cycle. My pragmatic focus now is on candidates who take money from the fat cats. Imagine if campaign contributions from Gloria cronies became red flags that drove voters to other candidates. It could happen.
I am hell-bent on moving forward. That said, I’m sorry you’re disappointed, and I hope I can win back your good opinion.
Thx much, Kate, for expanding on your thoughts on the Mayor’s decline in popularity, and his failure to understand (or acknowledge and act on), the wide-spread public disapproval of many of his policies, especially paid parking and trash fees, which I think pushed thousands of San Diegans into the anti-Todd campl
Forgiveness is something someone needs to earn. Forgiveness requires admission, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, remorse, and restitution.
It is not incumbent upon you Kate, nor us, to foolishly grant unearned empathy, and unmerited mercy to someone still in the commission of committing ever worsening atrocities in violation of his oath of office and contrarian to the will of the Public everyday; specially for someone as arrogant as Gloria.
I have mad respect for you Kate. Your articles are incredibly well researched and you articulate your positions in ways most readers would if they were as eloquent as you are, myself very much included. You’re a humanist with empathy and that is a benevolence that should only be afforded to those San Diegans forced, through no fault of their own and through what can only be described as callous authority and willfully malicious legislation, to die in the streets.
Todd Gloria poisoned “the” tree to enrich himself and the corrupted cabal, to fulfill his political ambitions and placate his little man syndrome he so obviously and arrogantly suffers from.
Please refer to Gloria’s entire agenda on the State Assembly Housing Committee. An agenda for which this publication seems to all too often gloss over and never paid much attention to out of it’s blind party loyalty; even though there were San Diegans paying close attention like myself, screaming bloody murder, and fire, fire everywhere!
Gloria’s disdain, if not outright hatred for OB, the beach communities and San Diegans that can think for themselves is palpable. Gloria has literally taken action reflecting that malice. One can draw lines and see the deliberation of Gloria’s actions and can and reasonably should, consider them to be spiteful, hurtful, and in a lot of cases flat out dangerous with no regard to public safety. It is impossible to surmise anything other than the fact that Todd Gloria literally hates San Diegans save his fellow thieves and corporate Johns.
Kate, you like us, are one of the frogs in this pot, and the water has been coming to a boil for quite some time. Todd Gloria has no intention of doing anything but cranking up the heat and continues to do this all of his own volition, and with soul crushing impunity.
Todd Gloria doesn’t give to shits about your humane forgiving nature, and he never will.
Damien is just getting started and it gets worse everyday that we walk past this standard and accept it as if we do live in an Authoritarian state.
It is foolhardy, and smacks of battered wife syndrome and Stockholm syndrome to suggest that Todd Gloria is really a “swell” guy, when you know he is more greasy than his hair is, has proven wholly untrustworthy, dishonest, disloyal to the Public. Todd Gloria is the problem and he is the ipso-facto leader of the San Diego Democratic Party.
I did not see the article as defeatist. In fact, I was impressed with her lack of animosity. She did point out that his enablers are going to walk away laughing, while we pay the bill. He has been incredibly destructive, some of the damage will last for a very long time, but let’s not lose sight of those who put him there. Kate, and the staff here at the Rag are following the money and laying it out very clearly. They should be commended for that. I look forward to their coverage of the next election. But I too, would like to see Todd’s tax returns.
“We’ll get ’em next time, so accept the irreversable destruction that keeps escalating,” is not an option with this much time on the clock.
I’m not a Gloria fan, but if not Todd, then whom? We lack viable candidates, and will continue perpetuating the same messes. I voted for Gloria as the best of the worst options, and he was way better than Filner and slightly better than Faulconer, but am greatly disappointed in the state of the city on his watch. The BIA has steamrolled our neighborhoods with shoddy construction, the major liability lawsuits, the devastating flood damage, and the endless FEES. It’s not all Gloria’s fault, for example, 101 Ash St was Faulconer’s mess, and some funding cuts are due to federal and state cuts. But San Diego deserves better. Who can help us thrive as Americas Finest City??
Tammy, we all have a responsibility to be informed voters. I hope you will attend meet and greets for candidates for the even-numbered districts during next year’s election campaign. Even if you don’t live in one of these districts, we all have learned by now that how councilmembers vote affects us all.
We must get a majority of community advocates on the city council to overturn Todd’s disastrous agenda.
If you wish to find out more about issues, I recommend you go on the website: SanDiegoComeback.com . Get to learn about the issues and candidate solutions as well.
Together we can do this!
Also, I hope you will fill out the survey on Repealthefees.com. Let’s take back our power as informed voters!
One thing sorely missing from politics at the local, state and national level is consequences for incompetent and/or corrupt acts. Politicians should expect that.