The four candidates running to replace San Diego Councilwoman Marti Emerald met at a forum Wednesday night and agreed on most of issues, from not using public money on a football stadium to boosting homeless services to making San Diego a sanctuary city.
The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, was at the San Diego First Church of the Brethren in the Fairmount neighborhood. It was civil and fast paced, with the four Democratic candidates answering questions from journalists and the audience.
Emerald, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election in District 9, which includes Alvarado Estates, City Heights, College Area, El Cerrito, Kensington, Mountain View, Rolando and Talmadge.
The four vying to replace her in the June 7 election are Ricardo Flores, Emerald's chief of staff; Georgette Gomez, associate director of the Environmental Health Coalition; Araceli Martinez, a family law and education rights attorney; and Sarah Saez, policy and program director for United Taxi Workers of San Diego.
All the candidates agreed on several questions. All opposed using public funding to build a new stadium for the San Diego Chargers, and all opposed building a stadium downtown. All said they would support making San Diego a "sanctuary city," meaning it would not prosecute immigrants who are living here illegally.
All said they want to use the city's recently passed Climate Action Plan to support lower income neighborhoods.
Gomez said because of her work with the nonprofit Environmental Health Coalition, she's ensured the plan's language specifies that low-income neighborhoods receive the plan's benefits first, including increased access to public transportation and energy-efficient buildings.
Both Gomez and Saez said the transportation plan passed by the San Diego Association of Governments needs to better fund public transit projects to help San Diego achieve its climate action goals.
Flores said if elected he'd work with the Metropolitan Transit Service to improve public transit access. Martinez said she would better educate district residents about the climate plan and encourage them to do their part by recycling.
One point the candidates diverged slightly on was whether the city should allow refugees and other immigrants who are in the country legally but lack citizenship status to vote.
Flores said he was not sure but does support allowing 17-year-olds and felons to vote.
"At the end of the day, we are all part of this big ship called San Diego," he said. "All of us need to have a say in the direction of that ship."
Gomez said yes, she believes "everybody that is part of our community deserves a voice."
Martinez said she "believes in the rule of law," and that you should be 18 and a citizen to vote.
Saez said she "100 percent supports" allowing non-citizens to vote.
"I believe in the rule of law, but not all laws are just," she said.
The candidates also were asked what idea they'd take from another city and put into practice in the district.
Martinez said she'd like to adopt the composting and recycling that goes on in Seattle.
"I think that focusing on the environment and increasing compliance with environmental regulations would benefit the city tremendously," she said.
Flores said he likes Philadelphia's use of the 311 program, which a San Diego councilman recently proposed.
"Right now if you're living in the city of San Diego, you're calling about 10 different numbers to get services, for a light or a street, you've got to call these different numbers," he said. "At some point we're implementing this system where you'll call one number, 311."
Saez said the city needs to get money out of politics.
"It's eroding our democracy locally and nationwide," she said. "That is the root. I think you start from there. You really systemically change our system."
Gomez chose improving the public transit system.
"There are many other cities, major cities, that have an amazing first-class transit system, and I want to see that in San Diego," she said.
The council district the four seek to represent is more than 50 percent Latino and is divided between wealthier and whiter neighborhoods such as Kensington and Talmadge and the more diverse and lower income City Heights neighborhoods.
In the past, more Kensington residents have turned out to vote — 62 percent in the last general election. This year all of the candidates are Latino and three of them grew up in or live now in City Heights, so community activists hope the voter turnout will increase throughout the district.
With four candidates running, it's unlikely the race will end in June with one getting more than 50 percent of the vote. That means the top two vote-getters will square off in the November general election.
