Candidates For San Diego City Attorney Emphasize Experience

The race for San Diego city attorney is one of the most competitive in the city this year, with five candidates vying to lead what is often called the most important law firm in town. Along with the race for mayor and City Council District 1, the city attorney's race is likely to determine the partisan direction of San Diego for the next four years.

The city attorney traditionally does not advocate policy, instead giving neutral legal advice to San Diego officials and departments. In practice, however, a city attorney's political leanings can manifest themselves in the kind of counsel they give, and the office can have significant influence on policy. The office also prosecutes misdemeanors, including less serious crimes of of domestic violence and fraud.

Mara Elliott, one of four Democrats in the race, already works in the City Attorney's Office as a chief deputy. She advises the City Council's environment and audit committees and worked on the city's landmark Climate Action Plan.

She began her legal career in education and public transit law, then moved to the County Counsel's Office. Since 2009 she has worked for City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, a Republican who cannot run for re-election because of term limits. Elliott said the city attorney cannot be one dimensional, and that her background in municipal law is best suited to the office.

"We really need to have a knowledge base in just about everything that office does, because things will slip through the cracks if you don't," she said. "We're dealing with very complex issues: Chargers stadium, aging infrastructure, pension reform, police misconduct. You have to have some experience in everything, and I'm the only person in this race that has that."

Gil Cabrera, another Democrat, also said the next city attorney should have a breadth of experience. He runs his own law firm advising small- to mid-sized businesses, serves on the Convention Center board and was the chairman of the San Diego Ethics Commission. He said his work on the Ethics Commission proves he can be truly independent.

"You have to be able to speak truth to power," Cabrera said. "Sometimes you have to tell a mayor, council and others, 'This is not a road you can go down because there's legal issues, or it's illegal.' That's the difference in terms of my experience versus really anybody else's at the table."

Rafael Castellanos, a Democrat and a San Diego Port commissioner, said the city would benefit more from an attorney with his background in real estate and land use law than a litigator.

"Litigation is not a strategy for an organization to succeed," Castellanos said. "It's something you have to do because of a dispute. But good planning, good strategic operations, good risk management — that's how organizations succeed. And that's the type of approach the city attorney should have as a true general counsel for the city."

Castellanos argued some of the biggest issues facing San Diego — a downtown Chargers stadium, a Convention Center expansion, affordable housing — involve real estate and land use, and that he could provide better legal counsel to city officials on those issues.

A relative latecomer to the race is public interest and environmental lawyer Bryan Pease. He has sued the city of San Diego in the past on free speech rights and protecting the La Jolla seals, and sometimes won. He said he would go against the mayor and City Council when he feels it is necessary, earning him a comparison to combative former City Attorney Mike Aguirre.

Pease, a Democrat, said he would bring a similar philosophy to the City Attorney's Office, but would be much easier to work with.

The only Republican in the race is Robert Hickey, a deputy district attorney who has prosecuted a number of high-profile murders in the office's gang unit. He said his prosecutorial experience will be important as the City Attorney's Office takes over a growing number of crimes downgraded to misdemeanors under Proposition 47. Beyond his legal experience, he said he would bring the office strong leadership.

"If you power (your deputies), you'll get the best work you can out of your people," Hickey said. "And if they know you have their back and you support them and you're their leader, you'll get better work out of them and create this environment where they'll appreciate their role."

Hickey is endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party, the conservative Lincoln Club and the San Diego Police Officers Association. He also has the support of Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the four Republicans on the City Council.

The San Diego Democratic Party declined to endorse any of the four Democrats in the race.

Elliott won the endorsements of her colleagues at the San Diego Deputy City Attorneys Association and Save San Diego Neighborhoods, a group that advocates for greater regulation of short-term vacation rentals.

Cabrera is endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters and the Municipal Employees Association.

Castellanos has support from San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association and a number of neighborhood Democratic clubs.