By Angelo Haynes
On Thursday evening, Sept.24, challenger Martha Abraham and incumbent Henry Foster III met at a community forum at the St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Paradise Hills to engage in a moderated discussion on the issues affecting voters in District 4. The forum was organized and coordinated by the Paradise Hills Foundation (PHF), a non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification of the Paradise Hills neighborhood and to improving residents’ quality of life.
Projects for PHF include: neighborhood cleanup and hauling efforts, arts funding (e.g. public murals), improvements to the main street of Paradise Hills (Reo Dr.), garbage cans, signage improvements, and home exterior assistance to elderly or indigent neighbors.
Nichelle A. Wentz, the president of the PHF, was on hand and stated that while many other community concerns affecting District 4, such as policing, Foot note 7 and small business development seemed to garner greater attention, issues affecting the Paradise Hills neighborhood were neglected. The Paradise Hills branch library for instance hasn’t had a capital improvement from the city in over 40 years. For Wentz, this forum was an opportunity to bring attention to her neighborhood and give residents a chance to ask candidates questions before the election.
All public questions participants had at the venue were to be written down and submitted to forum organizers in advance; these questions would then be read to the candidates at the end of the session. PHF organizers stated that this method of questioning was intended to screen for repetitive questions and to organize community concerns into topics to ascertain any patterns or themes for voters in the community.
The stated intention of this style of forum was to make it fair, informative and civil with no personal attacks, interruptions, or knowingly false statements allowed. The forum moderator asked the same questions to each candidate with Abraham and Foster each receiving equal speaking time, including one candidate-specific question for each of them.
The forum started with brief 2-minute introductions and a rapid-fire section to open the proceedings. Each candidate was asked who their major campaign donors are. Foster referred to an online list of donors and stated that long time San Diegans were donating to his campaign. Abraham responded by saying her major donors are residents of District 4, families, and friends.
The forum’s questions centered mainly around issues in Paradise Hills, but covered the gamut ranging from capital improvements, infrastructure and public safety, to the City budget, equitable funding, housing development, and mass surveillance.
Both candidates were also asked if they would commit to participating in more forums organized with other community organizations in other neighborhoods in District 4 prior to the election. Both stated they are willing and able to participate.
When asked what the three most important issues facing Paradise Hills are and what actions they would take in their first year to address them, each candidate had this to say:
Foster: “I think infrastructure is a major issue, including all or our streets, roads…and our storm water system… and our sidewalks.” Foster also stated that the community plan in Skyline and Paradise hills is 20 years out of date and needed updating.
Abraham: “It’s important that we prioritize resurfacing and repaving our roads…. Another complaint is pedestrian and street safety; there’s a lot of speeding in our neighborhoods.” Abraham then stated that most people want speed bumps and leadership that collaborates with others to create solutions and bring equity to D4.
Both candidates identified themselves as community champions for equity, infrastructure improvements, and business revitalization with vacant storefronts being priorities.
When asked about their positions on replacing SDG&E with a public utility, and how would they get better rates for customers, this is what each candidate had to say.
Foster “I’m going to start with replacing SDG&E. At this current moment, if you look at what just happened with trash, I am not confident that the city of San Diego is in a position to take on something such as the grid from SDG&E. So that’s my top concern. So, am I there to say, hey, let’s go and take over the grid? Absolutely not — I think there’s more conversations to take place.”
Abraham: “Our gas and light bill is way too high, I live by myself and my bill is almost $200, and I definitely feel the frustration the we all feel with SDG&E, I don’t have a lot of confidence in this council in knowing there has been work done to really work on getting our bills down. So, we really need to evaluate what’s been done. Speaking with SDG&E, are there resolutions there to bringing our bills down? And if not, then we have to consider other options.”
The forum moved into more turbulent waters when the candidates were asked more difficult questions about their experiences and respective campaigns. For Foster it was the Juneteenth verbal altercation last year between him and D4 resident Kenny Key, a leader in the San Diego United Communities group. Many supporters in the crowd guffawed and bristled at the question.
Foster: “That video, that 30 second clip—what you actually see is not a city council member. What you see is a man. What you see, as I said, is a husband that has been married for 26 years; that has a son and a brother. And so that day, the manner in which I was approached, I was literally accosted in the street. All I heard was someone yelling and screaming my name and running towards me, and I could not make it to my car.” Foster stated that he was acting in self-defense and that what occurred there was “survival” in his terms. He went on to say he does not communicate this way to the council, nor any other constituents.
For Abraham she was asked how the outcome of the Radio Towers project in Emerald Hills would affect her ability to represent all of the district and her experience to effectively fulfill the role and her responsibilities.
Abraham: “I think my experience as a nurse really translates to being in public office. I am a public servant, and being an elected official is also being a public servant. in the hospital. We have problems, we create solutions and we implement a system to make sure that those we’re getting the outcome that we want. It’s a very similar process.”
She went on to describe her experience advocating for a Black woman who was breastfeeding and not being heard by other medical staff in the hospital, stating that her work in City Hall would be no different.
Abraham and Foster both noted that D4 is under resourced with many residents having to leave the community to acquire healthy food. Both candidates seemed to support Project New Village, a community non-profit established in 1994 to serve as a community hub for developing greater wellness through neighborhood based agricultural cooperatives and a mobile farmers market. Both candidates wanted to find other ways of reducing food scarcity in the community while avoiding the gentrification trap of allowing large corporate grocery chains to establish business in D4.
For more information about Project New Village and the Paradise Hills Foundation readers can visit: https://projectnewvillage.org/ and the PHF can be found on their facebook page and https://phf92139.org/.
