Levine: Distractions in the local Democratic party – The San Diego Union-Tribune

In this contentious election year, I kept having a feeling that something wasnt right within my local chosen political party.

While the Democrats had an overwhelming presence in the victory lane, it was not without some collateral damage. Did the San Diego County Democratic Party squander some of the wealth it inherited from the voters in 2020?

Harvey Levine

(Courtesy photo)

During the election cycle, the signs of dysfunction emerged in the heated battle between two Democrats who had earned their way into the final round for San Diego mayor, after a contentious three-way contest in the March primary. Instead of counting their blessings, the party leadership, after choosing Todd Gloria as their flag-carrier (as is their privilege), then set out to attack the other Democrat. After running a strong campaign to beat out Scott Sherman (the sole Republican), Barbara Bry found herself to be the target of animus from the party leadership.

This questionable policy of bias in the party leadership presented itself in vivid colors over the past few weeks as a cavernous divide materialized within the incoming San Diego City

Council. With an 8-1 Democratic majority in the new council, their first task was to select a council president. Normally, this is not a contentious matter, but this year two candidates vied for this important leadership role.

While initial polling indicated a 5-to-4 preference for Councilmember Jen Campbell over Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, the party leadership again exercised its political muscle to push for the latter. Once again, the party leaders stated their preference by endorsing Montgomery Steppe. But they didnt stop there. They mounted a campaign to pressure the council members to pull their support away from Campbell. And they reached out to the party faithful to flood all the council members with requests to support Montgomery Steppe. This was followed by what might be called malicious attacks on Campbell, from members of her own party. This is madness.

Surprisingly, after nearly seven hours of public testimony during the council meeting, with some 300 speakers, mostly against Campbell, the final tally was unchanged. Campbell emerged as the winner in a 5-to-4 vote.

But, was there actually a winner? Does Campbell now have to lead under a cloud of hostility from four of the other council members and from the party leadership? Was this dispute necessary, and was the ethically-questionable power politics in good taste?

Delving further into the morass, there is a common thread that weaves its way through. And its a serious one. Its the question of addressing apparent inequality attributed to the diversity of the San Diego population. Montgomery Steppe and her supporters, including the party leadership, were out in the open about their intent to raise the level of attention to inequality issues to a Red Flag Alert. This can also be traced back to the Gloria-Bry contest. One cannot read a statement from Gloria or Montgomery Steppe that does not refer to the residents south of I-8. Have they given any thought to how this plays north of State Route 52? Will Gloria be the mayor of San Diego or just south of the 8?

Certainly, this is a sensitive concern. We must not belittle the economic and social disparity in certain geographical areas of the county. But we must ask if our elected officials and party leaders should focus on economic and racial issues in one segment of the city, to the extent that they blot out concern for any of the citys other major issues. Is it not a form of racism to insist that only a Black person or person of color can lead the city government? This is apparently what caused the confrontation on the city council and its not in the best interests of the entire population. It is critical that we have diversity on the council and in the mayors office, and we do have that. That diversity is awesome. But we have other issues in San Diego as well.

We need leaders that can handle real estate acquisitions and management. We need to address housing and transportation on a large, systemic level. We have to get serious and creative on homelessness, affordable housing, public safety and habitat preservation. We have to find the right balance between high rises and spreading development between short-term rentals and vacation restrictions between rail transit, roads and bikeways. These are important to the people throughout the City of San Diego, including Rancho Bernardo (and the adjacent City of Poway as well).

It is incumbent upon the mayors office and the city council to vigorously address inequities and obstructions to opportunities that continue to block any ethnicities, races or gender from their place in society and economic justice. That should be an underlying concern of any government or business entity. But it cant be their sole reason for being. Political leaders must make this policy an integral part of the larger challenge to address all of the issues and to assure that competent, dedicated people are in charge.

A Rancho Bernardo resident, Levine is a retired project management consultant and the author of three books on the subject.

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Levine: Distractions in the local Democratic party - The San Diego Union-Tribune