Editor’s note: This is the first of our candidate endorsement editorials. In coming days, we will also weigh in on other city elections in San Diego and Chula Vista and for county supervisor.
In deciding who to endorse to succeed San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott — Chief Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert or Assemblymember Brian Maienschein — a key consideration is one’s view of the incumbent as she wraps up her eighth and final year on the job. Though Elliott was honored in her first term as California’s Public Lawyer of the Year, the Gloria istration and some City Council have signaled concerns about her legal work.
It’s fair to look at the complaints and wonder if other elected leaders’ gripes are largely driven by Elliott not being pliantly cooperative with their agendas and attempting to keep the blame for the city’s Ash Street fiasco squarely on the council and former Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Her independence served San Diegans well in 2020 when she refused to rush through negotiations with San Diego State University over SDSU West despite pressure from Faulconer and then-Council President Georgette Gómez to rubber-stamp SDSU’s planned development of the former Qualcomm Stadium site. Given how often City Hall has botched major decisions, the impatience with her methodical review was baffling.
Elliott has strongly endorsed Ferbert and has been among the many who wonder about Maienschein’s suitability as city attorney, given the fact he has not been a practicing attorney for many years.
Maienschein says that’s a non-issue. He cites his ability to get bills ed in Sacramento and his eight years as a City Council member. But in an interview Tuesday with editorial board , he especially emphasized the depth of his from the San Diego establishment, which he contends broadly gives low marks to Elliott — and by extension, Ferbert.
Yet after nearly three decades of embarrassing city screw-ups, should voters even see the of the San Diego establishment as a positive factor? How many of that establishment have an accomplishment even remotely as impressive as Elliott’s pioneering use of gun violence restraining orders (GVROs)? Ferbert has worked well with Elliott on this and other issues and vows to maintain the City Attorney Office’s “independent, arm’s-length relationship” with other parts of City Hall. In contrast, Maienschein can sound like he sees the job as being akin to the 10th seat on the City Council.
We have concerns about one case of Ferbert’s work. She is proud of having done the legal analysis for the city’s Unsafe Camping Ordinance, which currently exists in a legal gray area pending the Supreme Court’s consideration of the legality of clearing homeless encampments. This legal question has resulted in lukewarm enforcement of the camping ban, which is not ideal and has led some to question the intent of the law. But the mayor and a council majority wanting the measure left her to execute their vision.
In an interview Monday, she came across as confident, informed and determined to leave her own mark as city attorney, not be the equivalent of a third Elliott term. She wants to launch a “housing protection unit” to preserve existing affordable housing — a worthy cause in a city that’s been too blithe about such events as the 2017 demolition of a 332-unit apartment complex in Rancho Peñasquitos and has done little to adequately protect about 70,000 affordable apartments that may be imperiled by developers looking to build more lucrative homes. She also plans to strengthen consumer protections against financial scams and to target companies not following fair pay laws. And she vows to continue the incumbent’s aggressive use of GVROs to keep the public safe, noting the tactic’s value in averting a potential tragedy in Rancho Bernardo last month.
The editorial board endorses Heather Ferbert for city attorney. She is much better-qualified and more likely to be an independent voice in a city government in perpetual need of such voices.
