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Politics

Candidates Spar Over Open Seat On The Board Of Supervisors

By Alison St John / Reporter
Published September 25, 2012 at 11:25 AM PDT
This story was published more than 12 years ago.
Candidates Spar Over Open Seat On The Board Of Supervisors
For the first time in 20 years, voters will elect a fresh face to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors this November. The candidates for the Third District sparred at their first forum this week.

Steve Danon and Dave Roberts are fighting a spirited race for the Third District seat to be vacated by Pam Slater-Price. They fired salvos at each other during their first forum since the primary, a debate put on by the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce.

The audience was highly engaged, clapping and cheering for their candidates, and the candidates revealed two very different visions of life as a county supervisor.

Development is one area where Danon and Roberts differ.

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Danon, who is chief of staff for Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray, said he’d work to create jobs by streamlining permitting for developers.

“It should not take years for them to get permits," Danon said, “We must set the example with the new Department of Planning and Development Services to expedite permits."

Roberts accused Danon of being financed by special interests.

“Special interests that are supporting him because they want to bring large developments to the back country and I think that’s wrong." Roberts said, "As your supervisor, I’m going to protect your neighborhoods from rampant development.”

Steve Danon takes a strong stance against the $1 million discretionary fund that each supervisor has to spend, which some call a “slush fund." He said it should be eliminated. Dave Roberts said it’s a neighborhood investment tool and community groups would be poorer without it.

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Danon attacked Roberts for raising taxes and fees while on the Solana Beach City Council, and touted his endorsements.

“I am proud to earn the endorsements of some of San Diego’s top business leasers,” he told the audience, “Joe Panetta with Biocom; Linden Blue, the co-founder of General Atomics, the one who created the predator; and Malin Burnham, who is a philanthropist and businessman.”

Roberts is running as a Democrat and has the endorsement of several prominent Democrats, such as former City Councilwoman Donna Frye and former state Senator Dede Alpert. However, he is also endorsed by Republican incumbent supervisor, Pam Slater-Price.

Slater-Price is stepping down after two decades on the county board. San Diego Supervisors manage a $5 billion budget.

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Politics North CountyPolitics, Democracy and Elections News
Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
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