Mission Valley News is sponsoring a forum for the public to hear from candidates running for the County Board of Supervisors 4th Supervisorial District. The forum will be held Thursday, May 27 from 4-5 p.m. at the Mission Valley Branch Library, 2123 Fenton Parkway, San Diego.

April 14, 2010 (San Diego) – All five members of the San Diego Board of Supervisors are conservative Republicans, including Supervisor Ron Roberts, who has held office for nearly 20 years. Though incumbents’ seats are generally considered safe barring a scandal, Roberts may be vulnerable due to changing demographics in his district and a formidable pack of Democratic candidates running for his seat. In fact, the Fourth Supervisorial District now has a hefty majority of 127,000 registered Democrats and only 87,000 registered Republicans, as well as 67,000 who decline to state party affiliation.

Four Democrats say that Roberts has lost touch with his constituents and has failed to represent the needs of families, working people, the poor, and the middle class. Democrats vying to replace Roberts are Shelia Jackson, president of the San Diego Unified School Board, Juan del Rio, affordable housing advocate, journalist/community activist Steve Whitburn, and retired teacher Margaret Moody.

 
Democratic Candidate, 4th Supervisorial District
April 14, 2010 (San Diego) -- As a housing counselor, Juan del Rio voices alarm over seeing many hard-working families falling into poverty. “This past year has seen a 70% increase in people without permanent housing in our County and all indicators are the situation is going to get worse,” he says. “So many people, who never thought they would be homeless, are turning to shelters and food banks, but while charities and the cities in San Diego County struggle to keep up with the overwhelming demand for services, the County is MIA!”
Del Rio is running on the bilingual slogan “The One Voice for the Poor/La Unica Voz para los Pobres.” He calls incumbent Ron Roberts “entrenched” and believes the Supervisor has “lost his perspective because he feels invincible.”

Democratic candidate, 4th Supervisorial District
April 14, 2010 (San Diego)--A teacher for 24 years in the San Diego area, at 75 years of age Moody placed her name on the ballot because she feared Supervisor Ron Roberts would run unopposed after Assemblywoman Lori Saldana announced she was pulling out of the race due to a death in her family and Councilwoman Donna Frye also opted not to run. She now is urging voters to support any of the other three candidates in the race.

UPDATE FEB. 23:  The Board has voted unanimously to outlaw project labor agreements through an ordinanance, instead of putting a similar measure on the ballot. 

February 20, 2010 (San Diego) – San Diego's Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to place a ballot initiative before voters that would ban project labor agreements (PLAs). PLAs, adopted in other jurisdictions but not by the Supervisors, mandate that government contracts for public construction projects go to contracts that hire union workers.  

Supporters of PLAs say they are needed to assure that jobs will go to local workers paid decent wages, not cheap labor imported from elsewhere.  Opponents contend that outlawing PLAs will cut costs and save money for cash-strapped jurisdictions.

SAN DIEGO -- (December 16, 2009) – The Campaign to reform San Diego County government announced today it has passed the next crucial milestone for appearing on the June 2010 ballot when the San Diego County Registrar of Voters qualified the signatures this week.

Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler found that the measure qualified for the ballot after her office projected the campaign to have submitted 118 percent of the required 77,837 signatures needed to appear on the June ballot.

Supervisor discusses other concerns in exlusive interview with East County Magazine

“I don’t think anybody in Alpine really understands the magnitude of this.” – Supervisor Dianne Jacob

December 10, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – In an exclusive interview with Supervisor Dianne Jacob, East County Magazine obtained new information about the impacts of Sunrise Powerlink on Alpine. In addition, Jacobs disclosed that SDG&E has refused the County access to a new 350 page document filed with the California Public Utilities Commission disclosing potential environmental ramifications of the proposed high-voltage power line.

November 16, 2009 (San Diego) – Organizers of an initiative to require term limits for San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors will hold a press conference tomorrow to announce that they have gathered approximately 120,000 signatures—far more than the 77, 587 required to qualify for the June ballot, East County Magazine has learned.

“We know that the signatures are good, because they’ve been verified by the Registrar as they’ve been collected,” Evan McLaughlin, spokesman for the campaign, told East County Magazine this evening.

By Kyle Serzen
 
June 26, 2009 (San Diego)--The San Diego County Board of Supervisors lit up some controversy during its meeting on Tuesday, which included two medical marijuana issues. The first was a resolution passed unanimously 5-0 to allow patients to apply for a medical marijuana ID card beginning July 6th. The Board also passed a measure asking County Counsel to draft language prohibiting marijuana dispensaries in the County’s unincorporated areas, by a vote of 4-1.

 
 
"The City and County never asked the fire departments. We are very disappointed," -- August Ghio, President, San Diego Fire Chiefs Association
 
By Miriam Raftery
 
March 5, 2009 (San Diego)--Why didn't a city and county that have suffered through the worst wildfires in California history request funds through the federal stimulus program for any fire protection projects?

February 2009 (San Diego)--The County Board of Supervisors will deliberate February 25 whether to ease permitting requirements for installing industrial-scale meteorological testing units (MET towers) on private and county properties. The county is also debating the turbine ordinance to allow for more options, such as industrial-scale turbines on private property or more than one turbine per lot, including the smaller scale turbines.

By Miriam Raftery

December 7, 2008 (San Diego) — A unanimous vote by the San Diego Board of Supervisors in November requires the County's Chief Administrative Officer to provide county-sponsored legislation making it easier for residential power customers the ability to sell surplus solar energy back to utility companies.