Opinion: Voters must rein in San Diego County board’s hard-left turn

Two races for supervisor will play a key role in deciding San Diego County’s finances and politics over the next four years. For these officially nonpartisan seats, turning a 3-2 Democratic majority into a 4-1 supermajority would further advance the left-wing turn the board took over the past year.

As the editorial noted, last Dec. 9, Montgomery Steppe joined two other Democrats, Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer of District 3 and Paloma Aguirre of District 1, in passing an accounting scheme that tapped reserves to pay one-time bonuses of about $1,000 to county employees. Then, on April 21, the three initially backed using deceptive ballot language to get county voters to support what became Measure A on the Nov. 3 ballot. It would extend term limits for supervisors from eight to 12 years and create the veneer of “independent” oversight of budget, audit and ethics issues.

Montgomery Steppe also backed Measure B, the half-cent county sales tax increase built on grand promises that are unlikely to be kept. Voice of San Diego reported the coalition pushing the measure to the ballot included Service Employees International Union Local 221 and Cal Fire Local 2881 County Firefighters. This suggests the real goal is providing funding for county employees’ pay and pensions.