Politics is in the air again as the race for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors seat in the fourth district heats up.

The fourth district, made up of La Mesa, Lemon Grove and a big portion of central San Diego including parts of the College Area, will see several candidates vying to be the next supervisor.

Incumbent Nathan Fletcher, serving his second year as chair of the board, is facing Reopen San Diego co-founder and La Mesa resident Amy Reichert and LinkedIn diversity inclusion coordinator Sidiqa Hooker in the June 7 primary. The top two vote getters in the primary square off in the November general election.

College Times Courier recently reached out to the three candidates with an array of questions. All the candidates were given the same questions.

1. Why are you running for office to represent the people in District Four?

Fletcher: We are making real progress on the big challenges facing San Diego families — and I won’t let anyone take us backwards. We must continue to fight forward for more affordable housing, fewer homeless San Diegans suffering on the street and safer communities in every corner of our county. There are signs of progress everywhere — we are building 1,109 new affordable homes, created Mental Crisis Response teams to get at homelessness’ root problems, launched Community Choice Energy for clean power and lower utility bills, and are raising wages on local infrastructure projects so skilled San Diego workers get paid fairly. I’m honored to be endorsed in this race by the Democratic Party, Planned Parenthood and San Diego County Firefighters. We can’t allow the forces of division to paralyze our progress and drag us backwards. I am fighting forward to build the better San Diego working families deserve.

Reichert: As the co-founder of ReOpen San Diego and a mom, I fought tirelessly for the safe reopening of schools and businesses. During that time, I met many parents, small business owners, first responders, and medical healthcare workers who said they do not feel listened to or represented by Supervisor Nathan Fletcher even though they voted for him. As a La Mesa resident, as soon as I learned the boundaries of District 4 were redrawn, I knew I had to run for supervisor. I am stepping up to hold Nathan Fletcher accountable for all the harm he caused San Diego and perhaps more importantly, I hope to protect San Diego from his future policies that have been divisive and politically motivated.

Hooker: I’m running for office to assist and improve the quality of life in the District 4 community, which is the community I grew up in and have a personal connection with. I am a native of San Diego as well as City Heights; this is the district where I spent my high school and college years volunteering for an after-school tutoring and golf training program. I still contribute my time today volunteer tutoring and am currently an interview panelist for underserved college bound students. District 4 is where my heart lies. I have great memories growing up in my district, but I noticed right away where there could be improvements that would positively impact my community. I grew up in a part of town where there weren’t many thriving businesses which resulted in a lack of funding for educational resources, which led to underperforming schools. I was bussed out of my district so that I could receive a better educational opportunity. But I don’t want today’s generation nor families to have to leave where they live to get the opportunity they deserve. I want to help curate better opportunities within their own community where they live. More jobs with competitive salaries, schools with adequate funding, and safe thriving neighborhoods, right here in our district.

2. What do you see as the number one issue facing residents in District Four?

Fletcher: Working families are getting squeezed and slammed by out-of-control housing costs. I am fighting in every way I can to build more homes San Diego families can actually afford — and we are seeing initial signs of real progress. This year alone, we are on track to issue 1,600 building permits for new housing — a 50% increase from the prior year. There’s over 1,000 new affordable homes under construction right now on county-owned land, with many more on the way. The need is great, but we are making progress every day. Our new initiative to make vacant county land available for new affordable housing construction is showing great promise. We are converting nine large lots already and more will be made available soon. Recently, I announced a new push to encourage more local cities to join our effort so we can put affordable housing on publicly owned land on a large scale that can make a real difference. The cost of housing is such a squeeze and stress on working families — and we’re not going to give up on this fight.

Reichert: Homelessness (See question 4).

Hooker: I’m seeing several issues facing District 4. The one that really needs to be addressed is the cost of living.

3. Do we have a major affordable housing crisis in San Diego? If you feel we do, how best to fix it?

Fletcher: Absolutely – I detailed specific solutions above. Every day, I’m pushing for urgent action to build more affordable homes, speed up construction and raise wages for local workers to help families keep pace with the rising cost of living in San Diego.

Reichert: Yes. Everyone reading this has probably had friends or family leave the state because they can’t afford to buy a home here. Unfortunately, the county is not responding adequately to this crisis. Instead of a viable solution, they tear down single-family homes in residential neighborhoods, such as the College Area, to build “affordable housing.” But what about the people who want a single-family home to raise their families? Not everyone wants an 800-square-foot unit next to the trolley tracks that will cost the county $800,000 per unit to build. We must allow sensible growth that preserves and protects our environment. Let’s put forth a solution that helps the planet and the people.

Hooker: We absolutely have an affordable housing crisis in San Diego. Many families find that purchasing property let alone renting property in San Diego is unaffordable and out of reach. One of the resolutions to fix the affordable housing crisis is to get rid of the mandates that are preventing housing developers from building at the rate that’s needed to address the rapid population growth. Rent control is not a long-term solution, this results in frustrated landlords; causing them to take their housing off of the market, thus making rentals more competitive and driving the rent up higher for everyone. What we need to consider is building more property, diversify the type of property that is built, get rid of the mandates that slow the building process down, consider rezoning, and lastly become transparent with our voters on what voting for certain legislation means for them long term.

4. What is your answer to the homelessness problem impacting various parts of San Diego?

Fletcher: Homelessness is our top focus at the county, and we are doing so much to tackle the crisis all across the region, but the innovation I am most excited about is our new Mobile Crisis Response Teams, which are showing great promise. These are teams of mental health clinicians and counselors, not just police, who can be deployed on mental health 911 calls to assist and treat people experiencing real mental health and drug abuse challenges. Already, these teams have helped nearly 1,000 San Diegans who are suffering from severe mental crisis, the vast majority of whom are homeless, and we are working furiously and fast to expand the program so we can help even more.

We are also making significant investments to really get at the root of the homelessness crisis, not just offer emergency response. We’ve opened new crisis stabilization centers, drug treatment facilities and dramatically expanded our focus on mental health care. Those are the long-term homelessness solutions we’ve always needed, but never had before under the County’s old leadership. Together with the immediate steps we’re taking to add shelters and increase mental health emergency response, we’re starting to see real signs of progress on homelessness.

Reichert: Right now, we are seeing homeless encampments that have become colonies. We must ramp up our outreach using more homeless outreach teams staffed with social workers and mental health professionals. We should jump into action as soon as domestic violence victims, teenage runaways, and people who cannot afford to pay rent find themselves on the street and provide them with help. For the homeless who struggle with addiction and mental health issues, my experience as a Celebrate Recovery leader comes to the forefront of my heart and mind. In my experience, one of the worst enemies of an addict is an enabler. We have seen a rise in homelessness while the government spends record amounts to provide beds. Let’s face the fact that some (not all) do not want to go to shelters, and the government has become the worst enabler by throwing money at the problem and, in many cases, making the situation infinitely worse. We must compassionately offer a loving bottom line that says people cannot build colonies, use drugs openly, and we don’t want people to die on our streets. A compassionate society does not let people sleep and die in the street. It isn’t too late, but these people need us right now. We need to act swiftly before this problem spills over into every neighborhood in San Diego.

Hooker: Homelessness is such a complex issue and there isn’t just one resolve to address it. However, the lack of improvement and rapid growth of homelessness is sobering. What we’ve been doing isn’t working. San Diego is known for a significant population of active-duty military residents, ironically a significant amount of our homeless in San Diego are war veterans. There is clearly a disconnect. Another major factor that is long overdue is addressing the mental health crisis within the homeless population. I think it’d also be a great idea to look at what other cities and states are doing correctly. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel; we need to observe what is working in other regions and model that success.

5. How do you feel local officials have handled COVID as it relates to lockdowns, school closures etc. over the last couple years?

Fletcher: Together with the county’s top medical experts, I worked every day, seven days a week, from the moment COVID-19 hit to slow the spread and save lives. I gave it everything I had because I knew we had to take the threat seriously. We mounted one of the most effective COVID-19 responses in the nation. More than 93% of San Diego County residents are now vaccinated. San Diego County has half the COVID-19 death rate of Florida. We delivered over $85 million for small business recovery. We fought hard to protect the most vulnerable communities at greatest risk. As a result, we saved thousands of lives. One of the biggest challenges was the deep division and dangerous disinformation constantly undermining our attempts to stay united and follow basic science. Despite that, most San Diegans showed incredible resilience and united in inspiring ways during the toughest of times. I hope we never forget that and summon that same spirit of purpose and community as we tackle the serious challenges we’re facing right now.

Reichert: Many people from all walks of life and political beliefs including nurses, doctors, teachers, business owners, and myself have openly disagreed with the county’s Covid response. San Diego was one of the most locked-down counties in the state, but we did not have better outcomes than counties that remained open. These open counties allowed their children to thrive and small businesses to survive. My campaign’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Mariah Baughn, M.D., is a pathologist at a major hospital group in San Diego County. I have consulted with Dr. Baughn to create a targeted response to COVID-19 that takes public health, mental health, and personal freedom into account when creating future county policies on this issue.

With it, I would:

1. Keep schools open.

2. Protect elderly and vulnerable populations.

3. Keep beaches, trails, parks, and playgrounds open.

4. Recognize natural immunity.

5. Prepare for hospital influxes.

6. Do not test asymptomatic people.

7. Stop pushing vaccine mandates for children out of misplaced fear and anxiety.

8. Allow businesses to remain open.

9. Delineate hospitalizations “from COVID” versus hospitalizations “with COVID.”

10. Keep government buildings, services, and meetings open to the public.

11. Lead with hope and courage, not with messages of fear.

Hooker: I always understood that COVID was a real virus and I never questioned that. However, I would have liked to have seen more consistency with deciding which brick and mortar establishments were reopened and which ones were not. Once we finally got a grasp on who was most vulnerable and how to protect them; I would have liked to have seen the mental health of our youth and college students considered more and more relaxed mandates for local entrepreneurs and local businesses that were affected during lockdowns while keeping residents safe.

6. What is one issue in District Four you want to tackle if elected that you feel does not get enough attention?

Fletcher: We need more focus on fundamental economic fairness in our county and our country. Working families are struggling with rising costs, stagnating wages and our economic policies are still too focused on helping those at the top. As County Supervisor, I’m fighting to support unions in their push to raise wages and ensure access to healthcare. We passed the Working Families Ordinance to add more apprenticeship training programs and pay family-sustaining wages on local infrastructure projects. We need to do more. No one who works full time should live in poverty.

Reichert: Homelessness (see questions 2 and 4).

Hooker: I want to address public safety in District Four. It’s so important that families within their communities feel safe. This looks like adequate law enforcement, well-lit streets and safer roads.

7. There is a lot of division in politics these days between the two top parties. How can we get more politicians to reach across the aisle for the good of their constituents?

Fletcher: I’m proud that 93% of the proposals I’ve brought forward on the County Board have passed with bipartisan support and I was unanimously selected by my colleagues for a second year as Chair of the Board of Supervisors. Working together to solve problems is what service has always meant to me from my days in the US Marine Corps to my time in the Assembly when I brought people together to pass Chelsea’s Law. But the division and disinformation being sown out there is very strong and very real. I’m fighting every day to stop those reactionary forces from slowing our progress and taking us backwards.

Reichert: I love this question! We must start with leadership that does not hide behind social media, engage in name-calling, and use “F” bombs in front of and directed at constituents. My opponent Nathan Fletcher has done all these things for the past two years. He has also sent 10 fundraising emails and mass texts calling me the worst names possible. I promise to be a listener and to bring people together.

Hooker: As a diversity and inclusion coordinator, I understand the importance and the need to bring people together from various backgrounds into one space. With a variety of thoughts present, it allows everyone to consider ideas they haven’t had before. Bringing this same concept into the political space will alleviate a lot of the political tension we’ve seen within the last couple of years. The reality is, both parties have valid points and positive efforts they are trying to contribute for the greater good. It’s about knowing how to set one’s pride aside and be willing to have a mature conversation. What you’ll find is that there’s more similarities that most are willing to admit. Ultimately, it’s about actually listening to what the communities within the district are saying that they need and addressing it.

8. What is one good thing you would say about your opponents running for the seat?

Fletcher: My opponent is a passionate public speaker. I only wish she (Amy Reichert) had used her public speaking skills to help us keep people safe during COVID, instead of railing against vaccines and spreading disinformation that put people in harm’s way.

Reichert: Nathan Fletcher is very good at raising money for his campaign. I have met Sidiqa Hooker and she is passionate about her beliefs – I like that in people I meet.

Hooker: I respect Amy Reichert’s overcoming some personal challenges and her desire to make San Diego a cleaner place. I appreciate Nathan Fletcher’s military service to our country; I also believe his wife Lorena is a strong woman.

Editor’s note: This article will appear in print in the May 13 edition of College Times Courier and May 27 edition of La Mesa Courier.

Feature image credit: Pixabay.com

– Reach editor Dave Thomas at [email protected].