The two City Council candidates vying to represent some of San Diego’s most polluted neighborhoods near the U.S.-Mexico border each tried to position themselves as the change candidate during a forum Wednesday.
Read more Body camera video offers a rare look inside an immigration raid at a NY factory
Antonio Martinez and Gerardo Ramirez are competing in the Nov. 3 election to replace Vivian Moreno, who is termed out in District 8, which includes Barrio Logan, Nestor, San Ysidro and the Tijuana River Valley.
The forum was hosted by the League of Women Voters, MANA de San Diego and the San Ysidro Community and Economic Development Corp.
Neither of the candidates are political outsiders.
Martinez, a San Ysidro School District school board member, finished first in the primary with 5,375 votes. He’s been endorsed by the county Democratic party.
Ramirez, chief of staff to outgoing Moreno, finished second in June and has been endorsed by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Building Industry Association and a large construction labor union.
In response to a question about how they would differentiate themselves from their opponent, Ramirez called Martinez a career politician, while Martinez painted Ramirez as a city bureaucrat.
“We don’t need any more career politicians,” said Ramirez. “We need more community leadership.”
“I’m not a city bureaucrat, and the fact is my opponent has worked at City Hall for 10 years,” said Martinez.
Many of the questions focused on what could be done to bring development and activities to the area.
Ramirez said he often hears concerns about parking in the area, but also a lack of business corridors. He said that District 8 hasn’t received the same degree of help as northern parts of the city.
“And we continue to have corridors that have been looking the same for the past 20 years, the past 25 years,” he said.
Martinez said that San Ysidro Boulevard is a “ghost town,” but should be a thriving border crossing. He said there could be mixed-use development.
“I want to work with the San Ysidro Economic Corp. and see how we can start creating a catalyst to create more economic development along the corridor,” he said.
Read more Justice Department directs states to hold on to 2024 election records as it seeks their voter data
District 8 is one of the areas most impacted by the Tijuana River sewage crisis and candidates discussed the impact in response to various questions through the forum.
Martinez said the crisis should have been tackled “yesterday” because the toxins being breathed in have the potential for long-term health effects.
“And the fact that the city hasn’t done anything, hasn’t collaborated with the county, for me is unacceptable,” he said.
Ramirez said the region is impacted by both the sewage crisis and the air pollution from trucks idling as they cross the border. In the northern part of the district, the waterfront is polluted by ships.
“District 8 is one of the districts that suffers the most out of pollution,” he said.
Martinez said maintenance in northern parts of the city in other council districts have a funding mechanism in place. His commitment is to put similar funding mechanisms in place for District 8 so it gets its “fair share” from the city.
Ramirez proposed that rather than asking people to go downtown to city hall, that they instead send letters indicating whether they like something.
“We have to make it easier for people to get involved and easier for people to work together and push back against City Hall and the system because divided, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Martinez said he wanted to work with other cities in the southern region to get their “fair share” from agencies like the San Diego Association of Governments and the Metropolitan Transit System. He said that if voters are satisfied with their neighborhoods, roads and the city, then they should vote for his opponent.
“Because you’re going to get eight years of the same, but if you see what I see and you smell what I smell and you feel the way I feel, then it’s time to vote for change and we’re ready for it,” he said.
Ramirez said that politicians promise everything, but asked if people want someone who has been at City Hall and actually balanced a budget for years. He also pointed to growing income inequality as a problem.
“They’re not actually saying anything, and we’re done with that,” he said. “We need to change the system.”
Read more Trump list of US-designated ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ in Latin America grows to 21
