San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is considering major revisions to county governance. The reforms could include converting the leader of county operations into an elected mayor.
How we got here
Sixteen years ago, the largest union of county employees and Democrats took significant efforts to put term limits on the five supervisors who oversee the county. The all-Republican Board of Supervisors had stayed in their jobs for an extended period of time without serious challenge.
The push succeeded and slowly Democrats have come to achieve a solid majority on the five-member Board. Now they are rethinking term limits, among many other things related to how the county is governed.
Supervisor Lawson-Remer has been working with unions and the Center on Policy Initiatives to overhaul the county.
What could change
They are considering a ballot measure that would put an elected official in charge of county operations, essentially acting as mayor of the county.
They want to extend term limits for supervisors and possibly install other offices and programs that they say would make how the county works more transparent. The measure could put term limits on the sheriff and change the roles of other countywide elected offices, like the treasurer or county assessor, especially if there's a new elected county mayor.
Lawson-Remer and her allies were not quite ready to talk about the full plan because it’s incomplete, but they acknowledged these discussions to Public Matters partner, Voice of San Diego.
A measure could go on the ballot countywide as soon as June. It could help Supervisor Lawson-Remer extend her time in office, but she said it’s much bigger than that.
“Community, civic, religious, business, union and arts leaders have been clamoring to make our county more transparent, effective and accountable — and I think they’re right,” Lawson-Remer said in a statement. “Now we’re working together to reform the county charter to better serve San Diego County residents during these volatile, unpredictable times.”
The charter is essentially the constitution of the county and only voters can change it. This would be the biggest change to county operations in a century.
