Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Republican's new best friend on the San Diego City Council.

Four years ago the voters of District Three voted for a Councilmember that they felt would continue in the path of Christine Kehoe and Toni Atkins and be a voice for Democratic values on the Council. Of course there were those who were saying "Caveat Emptor" and were supporting Stephen Whitburn. They felt that Mr. Gloria's views could be prone to mailability for the right prize. However those gripes were shunted aside with the response that at the end of the day Todd would do the right thing by San Diego and that a little pragmatism is best in a city that has a Republican strong Mayor. 

For a while that was the case as Todd pushed for stricter guidelines on new Wal-Mart Supercenters within city limits but not for an outright ban in 2010 and for the creation of a permanent shelter in Downtown but things began to change once redistricting happened. With the addition of Downtown to D3 and the removal of City Heights to D9 there seemed to be shift by Todd to be more pragmatic than usual. 

When Tony Young announced his departure from the Council and Todd declaring his intent to succeed Tony as Council President there were fears among Democratic observers that somehow Tony would broker his vote to support Republican Kevin Faulconer since he was seen at GOP's best friend on the council. 

Yet at the 11th hour Faulconer backed down and Todd unanimously became Council President and many breathed a sigh of relief. Yet some observers were a little concerned that perhaps a deal was brokered and the terms may have been something big enough to let the GOP backdown without a fight.

Fast Forward to this past Monday and yesterday and perhaps the terms of the brokered deal was the Port vote and to act as a firewall to New Mayor. 

It is possible, especially with Kevin acting as the de facto leader of the GOP on the council and both he and Todd have friends in common like consultant Jennifer Tierney, who recently headed up the Bonnie Dumanis mayoral campaign and is the consultant for both Kevin and Todd tool.

If anything there seems to be more leadership coming from David Alvarez than Todd among the Democratic council members and is more and more being seen as the adult in the room. 

After all it was Alvarez who nominated the openly Democratic candidates for Port Commission and has been the most consistent vote on the issues that Democrats care about like living wage jobs, open and accessible government and the environment. Also his seemingly close relationships with Marti Emerald, Sherri Lightner and the Mayor have given him increased leverage and power in City Hall. 

In fact it is within the realm of possibility that we could be seeing a 5-4 council with the GOP running the table thanks to their new best friend. 

I mean after all, you do need a lot of money to run for Congress, right?


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