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Goldbeck, Reichert align in race for county supervisor
At a forum that often seemed more a collegial discussion than a political debate, county supervisor candidates Janessa Goldbeck and Amy Reichert weighed in on the county’s role in tackling homelessness, handling behavioral health services and caring for foster youths — often expressing more shared views than opposing ones.
Goldbeck and Reichert aired their views on foster care, homeless solutions and guaranteed income at an event at the Copley-Price Family YMCA in City Heights on Thursday in the race for the seat Nathan Fletcher just vacated.
A third candidate, Monica Montgomery Steppe, did not attend the event, sponsored by the People’s Association for Justice Advocates, citing disagreement with organizers’ decision to sell some tickets.
“Charging money for this event disadvantages the very people it is supposed to be aimed at helping: San Diego’s most vulnerable,” she said in a statement Thursday. Her campaign declined Friday to comment beyond her statements on Twitter.
Shane Harris, the group’s founder, said participants could attend for free or purchase one of 20 “premium” tickets for $10. He said the proceeds were donated to the YMCA scholarship fund and provided a copy of a $200 check to the organization.
“It’s unfortunate that Monica Montgomery Steppe did not address her concerns to me before she went public with them,” Harris said in a statement.
The three candidates are vying for the seat left open after Fletcher resigned this week amid a lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct against a staffer at the transit agency whose board he led.
Reichert, a Republican, is a founder of the organization ReOpen San Diego and challenged Fletcher for his seat in November. Goldbeck, a Democrat who ran in 2020 for the congressional seat now held by Sara Jacobs, is a Marine veteran and CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. Montgomery Steppe, also a Democrat, is San Diego City Council President Pro Tem and represents city District 4.
On Thursday night, asked how the county should expand its staff to meet the need for more mental health workers, both Goldbeck and Reichert agreed that keeping existing employees and improving their pay should be a top priority.
“I know that you are understaffed and overworked, and under-appreciated; we have to take care of our existing county workers who are doing this tough work,” Reichert said, adding that the county should also invest in more crisis stabilization centers for patients facing mental health emergencies.
“Amy is totally right, the first step is investing in competitive compensation and benefits for workers,” Goldbeck agreed.
Although the county recently
hiked wages for its behavioral health staff, she said the raise won’t keep up with inf lation and also called for benefits such as loan forgiveness and mortgage assistance.
The candidates diverged somewhat on how to address senior homelessness. Reichert called for offering more hotel vouchers to seniors, while arguing that “able-bodied men should go to work.”
Goldbeck praised a new county program that provides rent subsidies to help seniors keep up with rising rental costs: “It is so much cheaper and humane to keep people in their homes than to re-home them once they’re in the street. So let’s keep that going and make it permanent.”
Both said they would be reluctant to create a county homeless commission, after Harris posed the possibility. They cited concerns about adding new government structures but said people who have experienced homelessness should be better represented on existing bodies such as the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
They disagreed whether the county should have withheld $3 million in Social Security benefits from foster youths whose parents had died. Goldbeck said the funds should have gone directly to the foster children, while Reichert argued the government could rightfully withhold the money if it used it to pay for their care.
And they diverged on a question about proposals to provide guaranteed income to foster youths transitioning to independence. Reichert said she preferred spending money on education and trade school, whereas Goldbeck called for stipends to help them pay for essentials.