REGION — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on May 2 voted to move forward with a special election to fill the District 4 seat being vacated by Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
The board, previously voting for Fletcher’s immediate resignation amid sexual assault and harassment allegations from at least two women, unanimously approved the resolution to hold a special election to replace him.
According to county officials, if no candidate receives a majority vote in the Aug. 15 primary election, then a special general election will be held on Nov. 7.
The resolution will be formally presented during the board’s May 23 meeting.
On March 26, Fletcher announced on social media he was abandoning his state senate campaign and entering an out-of-state treatment facility for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol abuse.
Over the next few days, Grecia Figueroa, a former San Diego Metropolitan Transit System employee, filed a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit against Fletcher.
Fletcher, a Marine combat veteran, publicly admitted to having consensual interactions in an extramarital affair with Figueroa but denied the allegations outlined in her complaint.
Hours after news broke of Figueroa’s lawsuit, former UCSD student Amanda Mansoorbakht came forward to SanDiegoVille claiming Fletcher sexually harassed her in 2015 while she worked as an intern for his veteran-specific nonprofit, Three Wise Men Foundation.
Fletcher subsequently resigned as chairman of MTS and announced his resignation from the county Board of Supervisors effective 5 p.m. on May 15.
Since the Board of Supervisors cannot remove Fletcher, a duly-elected public official, the members weighed three remaining options: appointing a replacement, holding a special election or appointing an interim representative until the county had a special election.
After dozens of District 4 constituents spoke during Tuesday’s public forum, the board chose to hold a special election rather than appointing a replacement to serve out the remaining three-and-a-half years of Fletcher’s term.
“Today, we are at a crossroads,” said Chairwoman Nora Vargas. “To be honest, none of these options are ideal. It’s really unfortunate we’re here and going through this process. I can’t support the appointment process because of the amount of time left.”
One caveat to the board’s decision: If Fletcher opts to remain on the board despite his planned departure date in May, the supervisors’ action would essentially be void. According to a county attorney, the board has no authority to remove Fletcher from office, and it is up to Fletcher to decide when his resignation will take effect.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, representing District 3, expressed concerns about a special election not being democratic due to traditionally lower voter turnout and how the county will conduct outreach to low-propensity voters in the county’s most progressive and diverse district.
“How can we make sure we have someone who champions those views?” Lawson-Remer asked. “I’m very concerned about an election in the middle of summer in an off-year when we could end up with 10%-15% of voters at the polls. None of the options allowed genuine democracy to happen.”
Lawson-Remer also moved to allocate $750,000 toward more public outreach, but Vargas did not accept the motion.
According to Michael Vu, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, under state and federal law, the county must conduct outreach to low-propensity voters and provide fliers, mailers and other media in various languages.
Supervisor Jim Desmond, representing District 5, said a special election is the best path forward, allowing District 4 residents to determine the representative to replace Fletcher.
“If we can spend $2 million on security (for Fletcher), we can spend $5 million on an election.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
