Residents cast their votes at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters on Election Day. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz
It’s hard to imagine it, but somehow the San Diego region grappling with an unprecedented public health and economic shock over the novel coronavirus will nonetheless have to conduct an election cycle in a few months.
What was the focus of the San Diego political world less than a month ago is now an afterthought.
Yet on a number of levels, the election we’re about to have will bear little resemblance to the one we imagined having at the start of 2020.
Time for a new message: In the months ahead, every political race in town will come down to voters deciding which candidate is best suited to solve the dire crisis facing the city of San Diego and the broader region.
Agency budgets are being ravaged just as service needs skyrocket. Some are much better prepared than others – cities, for example, are much more dependent on sales and tourism taxes than the county.
Topics that have always played a role in local politics, but which don’t usually carry the day, have just become central. Who will best protect small businesses from shuttering, or provide a path to reopening for those that already have? How can a local city, or the county, ensure residents have access to health care, or that workers are guaranteed paid sick leave? What service levels can a government maintain when projected budget deficits become immediate shortfalls overnight?
As recently as Election Night, this cycle was taking place in the middle of the longest economic expansion in the country’s history. Just a few weeks later, it’s a different world.
In that new world, will anyone care with which development-focused acronym (Remember YIMBY vs. NIMBY???) mayoral candidates choose to associate themselves?
Candidates with different backgrounds will nonetheless be able to make the case that they’re best positioned to deal with the new world. But it’s hard to believe any of them could simply roll out the same message they had settled on before anyone knew what the coronavirus was.
Time for a new campaign: But it isn’t just what candidates say that will obviously need to change. How they reach would-be voters just underwent a radical change as well.
Think about your standard, get-out-the-vote operation, where volunteers and candidates gamely go door to door to high-propensity voters to shake their hands, give them a flyer outlining their positions and ask for their vote. Can you even imagine that sort of personal interaction taking place on a regionwide scale just a few months after we were mandated not to associate with our closest friends and family?
How do campaigns fundraise, if the sorts of boozy affairs in wealthy donors’ backyards for a few dozen would-be contributors can’t go forward? Remember coffees?
It’s not an unsolvable problem. But it’s certainly a big change from the way things have always worked.
Padilla Puts the Virus in Perspective
Chula Vista Councilman Steve Padilla became maybe the most visible San Diegan to test positive for the coronavirus on Saturday.
Contemplating the number of people with whom he had interacted in the two weeks preceding his diagnosis – both at Chula Vista Council meetings, on Election Night, at other public affairs and in his role as chair of the California Coastal Commission – made it clear that the virus had already spread far beyond the number of confirmed tests we were hearing. Padilla also flew home from a Coastal Commission meeting last Friday, after he was already demonstrating symptoms.
But if his diagnosis showed the virus was everywhere, the mid-week news that he had been hospitalized and hooked up to a ventilator demonstrated just how serious the virus is.
“My body is fighting like hell to battle this thing,” he told us on Monday.
That was before he began struggling to breathe, causing him to seek additional care, according to a statement released by Ashleigh Padilla, his daughter.
We talked about Padilla and tried to digest these overwhelming days in this week’s podcast.
A Time for Leaders
From Scott: We live our lives in stories. It’s the story we tell ourselves. It’s the story we tell others. It’s the story we hear and follow about what’s happening in the world.
In moments like this, the public story is particularly acute. The story abruptly stops being a background discussion you can pay attention to if you want. It shifts to becoming intensely relevant to everybody’s lives and livelihoods. The story becomes everything. And so you always, in moments like this, see people arise who help us understand the story we are in right now. What part of it are we in? What is the next chapter? Who is the villain? What is the conflict and when will it be resolved?
They weave what’s happening into your life so you want to go through the story with them.
On the national level, for example, we have met Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. He has been effective at explaining what’s going on and why. On the other hand, President Donald Trump, has not.
There are others who arise who make clear decisions about what’s going to happen and then they explain them and lay out other tactics. They give guidance and direction and to the extent people understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, they can be compelling. You can want to follow them.
These are the types of leaders I have noticed. They are the storytellers and the generals. Great leaders have to do both well but they usually have a strength on one side.
It must be very awkward to be a candidate at a time like this. You want to respect, for the good of all, the person currently in charge. But you also want to be seen. You don’t want your opponent — who may be the person in charge! — to demonstrate clearly they are better suited for this than you.
Neither mayoral candidate has demonstrated much interest in standing out either as a storyteller or potential general. Among other candidates, a general wash-your-hands style of guidance giving has caught on.
So this is a slight nudge: People want to know why things are happening and where we are going and why. Candidates can help with that. They can offer constructive alternatives. People want you to demonstrate what kind of decisions you would make were you put on the spot the way current leaders are.
This isn’t the time to be shy. People can tune you out if they want. But they have a lot of time on their hands right now and trust me, they are really into this story.
How not to do it: This is a mindbending column — not in a necessarily good way. It’s not the fault of the writer, the U-T’s Michael Smolens. It was a good piece. It just felt like a maze of passive aggressive between-the-lines attacks. Is County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar talking about Supervisor Nathan here? No? Does Darrell Issa think this is all a hoax?
The whole thing is has an intense “who-is-she-or-he-really-talking-about-here?” quality.
Anyway, this is not the time to be subtle and cryptic. If you have something to say, let’s do it. Conflict can be fine and helpful as long as it starts from a place of basic respect.
Issa Doesn’t Think It’s a Hoax
This week, Ammar Campa Najjar who is running against Darrell Issa for the 50th Congressional District, highlighted a questionable statement Issa had included in a fundraising mailer. Issa wrote: “Make no mistake, the left is manufacturing crisis after crisis, in an attempt to whip the American people into a frenzy. From wildfires to sea level rise and even the outbreak of viruses, we’ve lived through all these disasters before.”
We asked Issa’s campaign to explain what that meant and never heard back. The U-T’s Charles T. Clark did, though. Issa told him that he didn’t actually say “coronavirus.” So he was just talking about, like, random viruses. Not the one that has changed everything about our lives.
He later tweeted his own concern about this particular virus — the one he was definitely not talking about before.
“As the #Coronavirus situation continues to unfold, please stay safe, protect yourself, and listen to officials such as @CDCemergency. We’ll get through this, but staying healthy is priority number one,” Issa wrote.
Everyone Did Horribly on the Elections Contest
It seems like a 50 years ago that we put up the Great Voice of San Diego Primary Elections Contest. But we’re finally ready to determine the winners. Six (6!) people won this round. They each missed three of the questions.
Here were the questions and the right answers.
San Diego mayor: Choose over or under for Todd Gloria, 40.5 percent. — OVER
San Diego mayor: Which two candidates will make the runoff? — TODD GLORIA AND BARBARA BRY
53rd Congressional District: Choose over or under for Georgette Gomez, 14.5 percent. — OVER
50th Congressional District: Choose over or under for Carl DeMaio, 22.5 percent. — UNDER
County Supervisor District 3: Choose over or under for Kristin Gaspar, 44.5 percent. — UNDER
County Supervisor District 3: Which two candidates will make the runoff? — KRISTIN GASPAR, TERRA LAWSON REMER
Measure A: Choose over or under YES, 56 percent. — UNDER
Measure C: Choose over or under YES, 55 percent. — OVER
County Supervisor District 1: Which two candidates will make the runoff? — BEN HUESO, NORA VARGAS
Presidential primary: Will Elizabeth Warren get a higher percentage of the vote in San Diego County than in the state as a whole? Yes or No. — NO
The six winners:
Dave Gatzke
Cong B Dinh
Danny Fitzgerald
Steve Silverman
Dan Kempf
Chris Cate
They all win lunch with us but since we can’t eat lunch anymore with people, tough luck for them!
If you have any feedback or ideas for the Politics Report, please send them to scott@voiceofsandiego.org or andy@voiceofsandiego.org.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
