SAN DIEGO — San Diego County residents will vote this fall on a package of proposed changes to the county charter, including a provision that would allow members of the Board of Supervisors to serve up to three four-year terms instead of the current limit of two.
Supervisors Paloma Aguirre, Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe voted Wednesday to place the measure on the November ballot, while colleagues Supervisor Joel Anderson and Supervisor Jim Desmond opposed it.
The package will not include term limits for the sheriff, district attorney and other county elected officials, who currently have none, following an amendment from Montgomery Steppe.
Additionally, there will be no change to the requirement that supervisors live in the districts they represent, officials said.
According to Lawson-Remer’s office, the approved charter reform package will still require a second reading as part of county procedure.
Anderson introduced a counterproposal that would have eliminated a provision allowing the board to confirm and remove senior staff hired by the county’s chief executive, while also creating independent oversight protections for contracts and administration.
His proposal would have removed the expansion of supervisor term limits. The board rejected Anderson’s counterproposal in a 3-2 vote, with Anderson and Desmond voting in favor. Desmond then proposed placing both measures on the November ballot, but that motion also failed 3-2.
Lawson-Remer previously said Anderson’s proposed amendments “keep the title of reform, but hollow out many of the parts that would actually make government answer to the public.”
“People across San Diego County spent a year helping build a reform package that would finally bring stronger oversight, transparency, checks and balances, and accountability into county government, but the minute accountability started applying equally across county government, carve-outs started appearing for some of the most powerful offices,” she said.
Both items were carried over from Tuesday after board Chair Lawson-Remer was absent following the birth of her daughter. Participating by teleconference on Wednesday, Lawson-Remer said voters “are smart (and) know what accountability looks like.”
“Our job today is to give them something real,” she said.
Lawson-Remer first proposed the charter reforms in April, including an independent ethics commission, an independent budget analyst, an independent program auditor — all reporting to the supervisors — and consistent term limits across county elected offices.
The board voted after hearing public comment and debating both proposals.
Assessor Jordan Marks said charters and laws “should never be written by those in power to benefit themselves.”
“When unchecked authority is created today, that same authority can belong to somebody (who) is untrustworthy tomorrow,” Marks added.
“To me, this is pretty much a farce,” Desmond said, describing Lawson-Remer’s proposal as “one of the most deceitful and self-serving efforts I’ve seen in my time in public office.”
Anderson, who sought to delay a vote to allow more time for review, said it was important to protect the chief administrative officer’s authority over administrative leadership.
“Filling potholes shouldn’t be political,” Anderson said. “Our job on the board is to set the bar, and staff’s job is to achieve the bar.”
Anderson left Tuesday’s meeting early after the discussion of the competing proposals was delayed, saying the move denied residents who attended an opportunity to speak on the issue.
Supporters said the reforms are intended to “strengthen accountability, transparency, stability, checks and balances, independent oversight and effective government.”
The proposed changes would be required to be implemented in a “revenue-neutral” manner, meaning no new spending or service reductions.
Former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory said the county’s governance structure “has not kept pace with its size and complexity.”
Desmond previously said he supports an ethics commission, program auditor and independent budget analyst, but called the proposed three-term limit for supervisors “the worst form of politics and self-serving politicians.”
County Sheriff Kelly Martinez backed Anderson’s revised proposal, saying it “strikes the right balance.”
“It respects the authority already established in the state constitution for independently elected officials, including the sheriff, district attorney and assessor-recorder-county clerk, while ensuring that political considerations do not overstep into county operations and good governance,” Martinez said.
District Attorney Summer Stephan and Marks also endorsed Anderson’s proposal.
Lawson-Remer said the original reform package was intended as a long-term effort to “build a stronger and more accountable county government for future generations,” not to benefit or target current officeholders.
Wendy Gelernter, a leader of Take Action San Diego, recently said: “the public can draw its own conclusions about why powerful insiders are working so hard to keep voters out of this conversation.”
Aguirre said Wednesday the charter reform initiative moves the county “in the right direction” and emphasized that voters will make the final decision in November.
“This board is not making that final decision today,” Aguirre said.
