Tuesday, the Board votes. Here’s what’s at stake, and how you can help before then. 

A San Diego woman's doctor ordered a cancer screening. Her insurance company's algorithm said no, without a human ever opening her file. She appealed. She waited. She paid out of pocket. And there was no local agency with the power and focus to fight that battle for her.

She's not alone. Stories like hers are why this Tuesday, March 24, the Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to create San Diego County's own Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit. and why I need your voice before that vote happens.

Click HERE to submit an E-Comment

What we're creating — and why it matters now

The shady companies and scam artists that have been ripping off San Diegans, the insurers denying care, the impersonators targeting our seniors, have been counting on one thing: that nobody with real power will come after them.

For years, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was the backstop. Now the Trump administration is dismantling it and handing those corporations exactly the free pass they've been waiting for. When Washington walks away, we have a choice: step up or step aside.

San Diego's new Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit is how we step up. A dedicated team of attorneys and investigators with one mission: to protect San Diegans and make wrongdoers pay.

Here's what they'll be empowered to go after:

• Scams targeting seniors and veterans — last year, San Diego seniors lost $108 million to fraud. A hundred and eight million dollars were drained from people on fixed incomes while the perpetrators kept operating.
• The American and Mexican companies poisoning the Tijuana River — fouling our beaches, sickening our troops, shutting down our coast — and operating with impunity, until now.
• Junk fees, denied insurance claims, predatory lenders, and landlords breaking the law — every case the system has been too slow, too stretched, or too uninterested to take on.

And here's what this costs you: nothing. No new taxes. No cuts to other programs. This unit will be funded by penalties from the companies that break the law — money we already have sitting in a restricted account, legally required to be used for exactly this purpose.

Los Angeles has one of these units. Santa Clara has one. San Diego is the last major county in California without one. That changes Tuesday — if we speak up.

Three ways to make your voice heard on Tuesday:

• Submit a public e-comment
• Call into the meeting in support
• Show up on Tuesday morning and speak in support

Nobody should have to fight these battles alone. That's what we're here for.