Opinion: I’m on the Board of Supervisors, and I won’t let the Nathan Fletcher scandal set us back
Commentary piece written by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer. Click here to read this article on The San Diego Union Tribune website.
Lawson-Remer is vice chair of the San Diego County Board of
Supervisors where she represents District 3.
She lives in Encinitas.
Nathan Fletcher has submitted his intention to resign from the county Board of Supervisors and I welcome his swift departure — which my colleagues and I have urged to be immediate — following the accusations of sexual harassment and assault in his role as a chair at the Metropolitan Transit System. So many of us are shocked, saddened, appalled and angry. But the trajectory of our work transforming the San Diego County government to serve our community and tackle our region’s most pressing challenges will not slow down.
Our Board of Supervisors will not be derailed by the scandals of one
man, and instead remains focused on addressing our region’s structural
scandals, systemic crises decades in the making. We’re focused on the
scandal of gun violence plaguing our communities by holding gun
manufacturers accountable for profiteering off the lives of our
children. We’re focused on the existential climate crisis that
threatens us all with wildfires, droughts, and rising sea levels, by
stopping sprawl and accelerating to 100 percent renewable energy for
our region.
We’re focused on the scandal of homelessness
and human suffering on our streets by investing in behavioral health
care and expanding shelters and rent subsidies and housing. We’re
focused on skyrocketing housing costs that force our children to move
away and our seniors onto our sidewalks, by building affordable homes
on vacant county land. We’re focused on the scandals of poverty and
inequality and fixing an economy that’s squeezing middle-class and
working families, by fighting for workers, fair wages, access to child
care, and better opportunities in the green economy sector and the
caring economy.
We’re focused on the scandal of toxic
ocean pollution that contaminates our beaches and coastlines by fixing
our aging stormwater and sewage infrastructure. We’re focused on the
scandal of a dire lack of mental health and substance abuse services
for people in crisis throughout our region, by building new medical
facilities and training thousands of new behavioral health care
workers. And we’re focused on stopping radical politicians taking away
control over our own bodies, by protecting our rights to reproductive
freedom here in San Diego County. For decades, we suffered from a
tremendous scandal of complacency and underinvestment by the old San
Diego County Board of Supervisors, and those decades of failed
leadership left us with vast work to do.
I am so proud of
the tremendous progress we’ve made since my colleague Supervisor Nora
Vargas and I were elected in 2020 and flipped control of the Board of
Supervisors to a Democratic majority. The next representative for
District 4 will certainly be a vital partner in continuing this work.
If anything, Fletcher’s departure may accelerate our efforts by
creating a space for new community leaders deeply rooted in the values
of District 4 to step forward.
The Fourth District is the
most politically progressive supervisorial district in San Diego
County, with more than twice as many registered Democrats as
Republicans: 49 percent and 20 percent, respectively. It is the most
ethnically diverse cross-section of our region — 13 percent
Asian/Pacific Islander, 10 percent Black and 33 percent Latinx — and
is home to the communities that represent the heart of Black political
power in our region. The District 4 communities have also historically
been the hotbed of pro-LGBTQIA+ organizing and advocacy, electing a
slew of LGBTQ “firsts,” beginning with Chris Kehoe. The next District
4 supervisor, rooted in the values of this community, can and will
join us in leading a transformative agenda for San Diego County. On
May 2, our board will decide whether to fill the District 4 seat by
appointment or special election. I strongly hope that my colleagues
and I can agree on an appointment, so we can get back to business as
quickly as possible in tackling the systemic scandals facing our
region. But whether by appointment or by special election, there is
little doubt that the next District 4 supervisor will be a Democrat
rooted in the values of this diverse and historically progressive
community.
We have so many residents ready to step up and
provide the leadership our region deserves. We will not let one
salacious scandal distract our focus from tackling the structural
scandals, and advancing our substantive work serving the county of San Diego.