Chula Vista political observers had a nickname for Michael Inzunza during his race to represent the city’s third council district: “The Energizer bunny of candidates.”
By his own tally, Inzunza knocked on 12,000 doors during his campaign, spent 50 hours accompanying police, fire and emergency responders on the job, collected endorsements from virtually every organized labor organization in town and spent close to $80,000 in campaign funds.
The work paid off. Inzunza, a lobbyist for local school boards, appears headed toward a landslide victory, currently leading his opponent, human resources administrator Leticia Munguia, by nearly 40 percentage points. He said he plans to bring the same non-stop energy to the City Council when he takes office in December.
That could mean big changes, because Inzunza said he sees a lot in his city that needs fixing.
“I’m not going to wait,” he said. “It seems that a lot of what has been happening in Chula Vista has not worked.”
Inzunza said he will press for policies that could dramatically reshape how the city grapples with some of its most pressing problems, including homeless encampments, crime, lack of housing and lack of high-paying jobs.
Crime and homelessness. First up, he said, “I want to create a homelessness task force, not just for Chula Vista but for all of South Bay,” to ensure the entire region is coordinating policies and not just “kicking the can down the road.”
At the same time, Inzunza said he wants to stiffen the city’s approach to homelessness and prioritize the needs of beleaguered small business owners and “the working-class family whose neighborhood has crime increasing and a lack of safety in the park.”
“We have an encampment ban [in Chula Vista] but there’s not vigorous enough enforcement of it,” he said. “You can be compassionate, but you have to be responsible for enforcing city laws and rules to protect the public.”
Inzunza said he would leverage state Proposition 36, the newly passed tough-on-crime ballot initiative, to compel chronic drug users to seek treatment and crack down on retail theft and other quality-of-life crimes. “Other Democrats try to keep face and give this image of anti-police and that sort of thing,” he said. “That’s not the kind of policymaker I am.”
Middle-class housing. Inzunza said he planned to tackle his city’s housing needs by pressing not only for more affordable units but also for what he called “middle-class housing” aimed at “people who can prosper and grow their family with two to three kids and want to get into a 2,500-square-foot house.”
Pointing to vacant land near the city’s southeastern border already owned by developers, Inzunza said he would seek to fast-track subdivisions of single-family homes, not the kind of high-rise apartment buildings currently dominating housing construction in nearby San Diego. Density “brings crime,” he said.
“South Bay has the fastest growing middle class in San Diego [County],” Inzunza said. “I don’t want my city to build affordable housing just because we need affordable housing…Theres a market for [higher priced homebuyers]. We need to cater to them.”
Higher education and high-tech jobs. Not yet sworn in, Inzunza said he was already at work on the third of his three top priorities: Expanding high-tech jobs and higher education opportunities. He said he planned to attend a meeting Friday at San Diego State University with Mayor John McCann and state Assemblymember David Alvarez to discuss “potential extended university opportunities in South Bay.”
Inzunza said he doesn’t think it’s fair that white collar workers in Chula Vista have to commute to Sorrento or even Temecula for biotech and other lucrative careers. “I’m hoping we can set aside land and facilities in our city to attract those jobs,” he said. He said he envisioned Chula Vista becoming a South County rival to San Diego’s “golden triangle” cluster of tech companies and research centers near the University of California, San Diego.
“I didn’t run for office to be part of the status quo,” he said. “If I’m going to run for office and I wasn’t happy with how the council was providing services, I need to do something different.”
Rooting for the home team. Longtime teacher Cesar Fernandez, currently on track to win the race for Chula Vista’s fourth City Council district, said his highest post-election priority would be bringing attention, resources and respect to what he described as an unduly neglected corner of his city.
“I’m territorial to a fault,” Fernandez said in an interview shortly before the election. “I like to root for the home team.”
The fourth district encompasses a mix of residential and industrial neighborhoods in southwestern Chula Vista. The district includes some of the city’s lowest income and hardest pressed neighborhoods. Harborside Park on the district’s west side made headlines two years ago when it had to be closed and fenced off because of persistent homeless encampments and crime.
A demand for equal treatment. Fernandez said residents he talked to during the campaign were universally fed up with crime and homelessness and indignant that their corner of the Chula Vista lacks amenities other parts of the city take for granted. “They see beautiful parks on the east side and we don’t have that,” he said. “They want more [parks] and we want to keep them clear of homeless people.”
Fernandez said he would look for vacant lots that the city could buy and turn into parks. He said he also favored the city’s recently enacted homeless encampment ban and would seek to require drug users to enter treatment, especially in comprehensive programs that go beyond standard 30-day rehab facilities.
Jobs and greater transparency. Another top priority, he said, is expanding job opportunities for blue collar workers living in his district. Fernandez said he plans to work with the developer of the massive Bayfront hotel project to ensure that local residents are prioritized for jobs. “I want career tech pathways,” he said. “I want Chula Vistans to work in Chula Vista. Not everyone goes to college.”
Fernandez said he also plans to continue a practice started by his predecessor on the council, Rachel Morineau: Encouraging more community input via “coffee with the council member and community forums to further identity the immediate needs of constituents.”
The race for district three was by far the hardest fought and most divisive in South County this election season. Tens of thousands of dollars poured into the race from labor unions and real estate interests. A non-stop barrage of attack ads persisted right up to Election Day.
Now that the election is over, both candidates appeared ready to lay down arms. Fernandez’s opponent, former Chula Vista City Council member Rudy Ramirez, said he called Fernandez on Wednesday to concede the race “and wished him well and offered my services…He was grateful and appreciated the call.”
Fernandez, too, said he’s ready to look forward. “I want to be a champion for public safety and for working class folks in my district,” he said.