Last week we introduced to our readers four of the nine candidates running for San Diego City council seat 4 to replace Tony Young who resigned his seat with two years left. Due to the relatively short time frame of the campaign and due to the number of candidates running we felt, for the our first time ever, that a questioner would be the most efficient way to introduce the candidates.
We limited our questions to four with the hope that their answers would provide a brief glimpse as to who the candidates are. We know that a questioner is not the perfect format to achieve our goal of introducing the candidates but we felt that this would be unbiased and an opportunity for the candidates to give the readers an unvarnished view of who they were.
Last week we introduced Sandy Spackman, Barry Pollard, Myrtle Cole, and Bruce Williams.
The other five candidates for one reason or another did not respond to our questioner. While we can not provide you with answers to our questions, we felt it would be a disservice not to list the remaining candidates with a short bio about each.
The remaining candidates are: Blanca Lopez-Brown, Monica Montgomery, Ray L. Smith, and Tony Villafranca.
Blanca Lopez-Brown:
Blanca Lopez Brown is a mother of four and resident of the 4th District for over thirty years. She is currently the President of the Board of Trustees for the Lemon Grove School District. Ms. Brown is a preschool director and a businesswoman, holding a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Cultural Diversity, as well as a Masters Degree with specialization in Early Childhood Education.
As a Councilmember for the 4th District, Blanca will focus on a balanced budget, a strong reserve, and the delivery of essential services to neighborhoods that are healthy, safe and walkable for children and adults alike. She will focus on the city’s strengths, calling on the will and collaboration of community members to be actively engaged in building the kind of communities in which they can live, learn, thrive and prosper.
Monica Montgomery:
Monica L. Montgomery is a practicing attorney, specializing in financial services,. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science from Spel-man College in Atlanta, GA and a Juris Doctor from the California Western School of Law.
Ms Montgomery vows to be an advocate economic development, safe communities, and education. She will encourage innovative economic policies to foster job growth, community investment, and responsible redevelopment for Fourth District communities. Our communities must also be safe for our families and support public safety initiatives to reduce crime, protect residents, and prevent the tragic loss of life too many of us have witnessed and felt.
Ray L. Smith:
Pastor Ray L. Smith was born and raised in Southeastern San Diego. Pastor Smith is the Senior Pastor at United Missionary Baptist Church which he has served for the past eleven years.
Pastor Smith was the Executive Director of Triple Crown Youth and Adult Coalition, a program that provided training and jobs for at-risk youth and adults. Ray also created “High Hopes,” a community service provider re-entry program for the formerly incarcerated; assisting them in their transition back into the community as viable citizens.
Pastor Smith pledges to be a strong voice in the fight for better Public Health and Safety, Business Development and Gainful Employment.
Tony Villafranca:
Tony Villafranca a Businessman specializing in Real Estate and is the lone Filipino American candidate. He sees himself as a highly motivated, analytical, self-managing real estate professional with over 18 years’ experience in the field.
One of his immediate goals is to address the very serious problem of crime while also helping bring a sense of pride back to District 4.
“As long as we have this violence, we cannot promise change, or growth and development of small business in our District.”
Election Day is March 26. If no one candidate achieves 50%+ there will be a runoff election between the two top voter getters.
Bios and information taken from various websites.