ENDORSEMENT: Barbara Bry for Mayor of San Diego

The two candidates for San Diego Mayor are both Democrats and agree on many issues, but the differences they do have are substantial and consequential for the future of San Diego.

Barbara Bry and Todd Gloria differ on their approaches to homelessness that has left more than 4,800 people living on the streets or shelters near downtown, impacting their own health and safety as well as that of the families that live in nearby Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, and East Village.

Todd Gloria served on the City Council for eight years from 2008 to 2016 and, when he was running for his second term in 2012, vowed his agenda was “ending homelessness in Downtown in the next four years”, yet still here we are.

Now, after four years in the California State Assembly, Gloria wants to be the Mayor with his new goal of “ending chronic homelessness”. Unfortunately, that promise rings hollow.

Long-time homelessness expert Father Joe Carroll says he told Gloria back in 2012 that his approach to dealing with homelessness would make things worse not better, but Gloria refused to listen.

Barbara Bry has taken a hard look at homelessness and her approach to dealing with mental health and drug addiction – the root causes of most chronic homelessness – as well as the economic issues that push some into short-term houselessness, is a more comprehensive approach that will lead to truly helping people get back on their feet and under a roof to call their own.

Barbara also opposes the statewide approach pushed by Gloria that would take away local control for planning decisions to protect our local neighborhoods from investors that want to build mini-dorms and short-term rentals next door to single family homes.

But one of the most drastic differences between them is their positions on a new state law that will allow more adults that are convicted of committing sex acts with minors between 14 and 17 years old to avoid having to register as a sex offender.

In August, Gloria voted for SB145 that allows judges to decide if an adult between 24 and 27 years old, – man or woman – that commits any sex act with a minor as young as 14 must register as a sex offender, lowering the existing standard that nearly all such predators would be automatically required to be in the public database so we can know when a felon convicted of such crimes moves into our neighborhoods. Barbara opposes the new law.

We applaud our local Assembywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher who spoke against the law, when she said “I can’t in my mind, as a mother, understand how sex between a 24 year-old and a 14 year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registerable offense.” She was right and Todd was wrong, but now he claims anyone that criticizes his vote for that law is biased.

We acknowledge that Todd Gloria is a person of color, describing himself as “a Native American, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Dutch, gay guy, and the son of a hotel maid and a gardener” in his State of the City address when he served as Interim Mayor in 2014, but we cannot make an endorsement based solely on skin color, sexual orientation, or his parents‘ backgrounds.

And on that last point, we must call Gloria out for exaggerating his parents’ seemingly humble backgrounds for his own political gain.

La Prensa San Diego was the first to report that Gloria conveniently – but very curiously – left out that his parents haven’t worked those jobs since before he was born, and he claims he doesn’t come from “wealth and privilege” then also says his parents “were able to buy a home and send both their children through college.”

Many hard working families in our community have and still work as maids, gardeners, restaurant servers, construction workers, and many other blue-collar jobs, but they still can’t afford to buy a home and send their own children to college.

If Gloria doesn’t think that being able to buy a home in San Diego and pay for your kids’ college is wealth and privilege, then he should go visit some of the many working-poor families that can barely survive in this community. Gloria’s comments are out-of-touch with the progressive social justice agenda he claims to support.

Gloria continues to refer to his parents by the jobs they had when they were young instead of celebrating that they went on to higher-paying careers that enabled them to achieve the American dream.

We should celebrate the achievements of our parents, families, and community, not put our loved ones down and diminish their accomplishments.

Barbara has a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard, has been successful in business, worked as a young newspaper reporter, and has promoted women in the life sciences and biotech industries. On the City Council she has worked to expose and fix the troubling financial problems that face our city. She has the experience and track-record to get things done.

Gloria has still not answered for his involvement in the huge financial mess of the 101 Ash building that could end up costing taxpayers over $200 million dollars.

After reviewing the records of both candidates, and inviting both for interviews (Todd did not agree to an interview, Bry did) we believe Barbara Bry is clearly the better choice for Mayor of San Diego.

We will continue to celebrate those that do good for our community and hold accountable those that fall short.

In this election, we believe Barbara Bry will better lead our city into a brighter and more prosperous future for all San Diegans.