ELLIOTT: I WILL HELP LEAD THE CITY WITH A STEADY HAND
Q:How will you ensure a sports arena redevelopment proposal or any other city deal does not suffer from the same inattention as the 101 Ash Street debacle? A:
I inherited the 101 Ash Street debacle, but I’ve analyzed the deal thoroughly as I lead the legal team working to recover taxpayer funds. The disturbing way this project was handled does not reflect my approach to large-scale projects. Since being sworn in as city attorney, I’ve made the city’s legal work and taxpayer protections smarter, stronger and more effective.
That’s why I sweated the details, and took the heat for it, when the city negotiated the SDSU West deal. I personally oversaw the transaction and kept City Hall and the public informed each step of the way with 20 memos and reports, plus providing updates at City Council meetings to explain the transaction’s progress. The resulting deal protects the public and ensures SDSU West will benefit all San Diegans.
One of my strengths as city attorney is my hands-on, results-oriented management. I interview every person we hire. I know the strengths of each employee, and assign teams to major projects based on their skill sets. We have almost 180 attorneys in the office, each with a full caseload, making it impossible for me to be involved in every project, or to review every piece of advice. I personally focus on the projects that are most risky to the city, and this includes large land deals, like the sports arena redevelopment project, energy franchise negotiations and cleaning up 101 Ash Street. My goal is getting the best deal possible for the taxpayers.
Q:
Describe the relationship you expect to have with the City Council in 2021. A:
I will continue to work closely with the City Council to protect San Diegans in the COVID-19 pandemic, by keeping families safe, helping small businesses survive, and ensuring civic priorities like fighting homelessness and the Climate Action Plan remain on track.
The council will be kept well-informed of our progress in fixing the 101 Ash Street mess and of the legal ramifications of every land-use and policy decision they make.
My mission will be the same as in my first term: the council has a big vision, and their lawyers ensure that vision follows the law. Occasional friction is expected, but that’s healthy in a democracy, and why the City Charter has checks and balances.
In my first term, I worked with council members on COVID-19 response, affordable housing and climate action, to name a few priorities. The council has been supportive of my office, too, notably our pioneering gun violence restraining order program that removes guns from people who pose shooting threats and our safe storage of firearms ordinance.
For the first time next year, the council will have attorneys specifically assigned by me to help them with their initiatives, because improving coordination between City Council and city attorney makes city government more effective for all our residents.
I will continue to sit with the council every Tuesday, and collaborate as frequently as desired. Civility is a priority, and my style is to try and find common ground. I’ll be there to help the new council hit the ground running and succeed.
Q:
How will you approach short-term vacation rentals in 2021?
A:
San Diego deserves what so many other cities already have: clear, understandable regulations that protect neighborhoods and allow reasonable home-sharing by responsible owners.
Addressing short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) was a priority when I ran in 2016, and remains a priority now. Just months after becoming city attorney, I provided a legal opinion that STVRs are not legal because they are not specifically defined in city laws and City Council action was needed to get reasonable regulations on the books.
Since then, a short-term rental ordinance was passed, only to be repealed after industry political pressure. That was disappointing to San Diegans who have pleaded for years for common-sense regulations. My office is now working closely with council members on a new ordinance, and I’m hopeful this time the council will act — and stand its ground. It’s way overdue.
If San Diego had an ordinance regulating STVRs — as most big cities do — we would be able to crack down on party houses by simply pulling their permits and shutting them down. We could fine irresponsible
owners up to $5,000 under a new state law that applies to cities with clear regulations.
My office has tried to fill the void by prosecuting the worst of the worst, as we recently did when we shut down a COVID-19 party rental house in Banker’s Hill. But each prosecution requires months of work and courts are backlogged. Prosecuting even a dozen STVRs (and there are thousands) is not practical or cost-effective for taxpayers.
Q:
Who does the city attorney represent? Who is the city attorney’s client?
A:
As an independently elected city attorney, members of the public expect me to fight for them and speak out if there is wrongdoing. I’ve been their advocate when billions in taxpayer dollars were on the line in city real estate negotiations and when malfeasance has been uncovered at City Hall.
This independent role is critical because I cannot be fired by the mayor or council for speaking out to protect the public interest or taxpayer dollars. I am ultimately accountable to the people of San Diego.
Under the state Constitution, the city attorney is also a prosecutor, a role in which I represent the people of the state of California. To meet this mission, I advocate for policies that protect the public, such as when I created California’s first gun violence restraining order program. Under this nationally recognized program, more than 600 guns have been removed from people who posed a threat to themselves or others, including people who threatened to shoot up workplaces and schools. It has helped keep San Diegans safe.
Finally, the city attorney is the chief legal adviser to the city. While I advise the mayor, the City Council and city departments, the best interests of the city take precedence over their own individual interests. The advice I give has to be based in the law and defensible in court. City officials may not always like the answers I give them, but my job is to do what’s right for San Diego, not what’s politically convenient.
Q:
What will be your top priority, if elected?
A:
My top priority is continuing to protect San Diegans and guiding the city as we deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
I’ve been a public attorney for more than 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything that compares with this pandemic. Guiding the city in this trying time is the No. 1 mission of my office. And as a mother with school-age sons, I can’t say enough about the commitment our staff and attorneys have shown to our city during the COVID-19 pandemic while working remotely and caring for their own families.
The pandemic has touched nearly every aspect of our work. From writing ordinances that shield families from eviction and allow small businesses to stay af loat to establishing emergency child care for first responders, our office moved quickly to ensure San Diegans are protected.
In 2018, my office launched a concerted crackdown on dangerous independent living facilities where elder and dependent San Diegans are abused and exploited. Despite the pandemic’s challenges, our investigators continue to report to the field in personal protective equipment to protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable.
With pandemic-related stressors mounting, we’ve seen a near three-fold increase in the number of suicide-related gun violence restraining orders since March compared to the same time period last year. Our gun violence prevention work has never been more important.
I will continue this work with a renewed focus on protecting the public and helping lead the city through these tumultuous times with a steady hand.