KPBS Midday Edition

Santee City Council Calls Out Nathan Fletcher

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Pat Finn / Producer

Published February 17, 2021 at 10:32 AM PST

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher speaks to reporters at the opening of San Diego's Vaccination Super Site in downtown San Diego, in this photo taken Jan. 10, 2021.

Nathan Fletcher, the chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, was chastised last week by members of the Santee City Council over his remarks about leaders of the movement to recall Governor Gavin Newsom.

Condemning his use of “divisive rhetoric,” the Santee City Council last week voted 4-0 to send San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher a letter calling on him to apologize and to step down as board chair.

The reason? Fletcher's participation with allies of Governor Gavin Newsom in a January 12 virtual news conference about the effort to recall the governor.

At that event, Fletcher said, “There is substantial evidence that those who are leading this recall effort are linked and associated with neo-Nazis, with white supremacists, with right-wing militia groups . . .” , charges which were later validated by reporting from the Los Angeles Times.

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Fletcher has said he was not talking about all those who back the recall of Newsom. The city council noted that Santee continues to "reject hate in all its forms."

Santee, has made efforts in the last few years to overcome its reputation as a haven for white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members. Those efforts seemed to come to naught last May with incidents of a shopper in a Santee store wearing a Klan-type hood and another shopper with a swastika on his mask.

Michael Smolens, columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune joined Midday Edition Wednesday to discuss the story.

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Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Pat Finn

Pat Finn previously served as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and KPBS Evening Edition. Finn began her career in broadcasting at KTLA and KCET in Los Angeles. In 1979 she became KPBS’ Public Information Director, then Director of Advertising and Promotion, Program Director, and Director of Broadcasting. She oversaw the station’s local and national productions, including the one-hour documentary Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar, and Child Protective Services, a one-hour look inside the San Diego County agency responsible for the welfare of at risk children. Both programs also aired on public television stations nationwide. Finn has earned honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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