Chula Vista Mayor John McCann faces school board Trustee Francisco Tamayo in the Nov. 3 general election, with the winner set to serve a four-year term leading San Diego County’s second-largest city.
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McCann, a Republican, is the lone member of his party on a council otherwise composed of Democrats.
McCann, a four-term former council member who owns a real estate business, is running on fiscal restraint, homeownership and continued development of the bayfront. Tamayo is running on ethics reform, housing for essential workers and greater accountability for public spending on the bayfront.
Council members and the mayor are limited to two terms. Under the city’s current charter, a mayor or council member who has served two consecutive terms must wait at least one year after their second term ends before running for the same office again — a provision that was also in place under the 2000 charter, which governed when McCann first took office in 2002. That means McCann, who has held a seat on the Chula Vista City Council or in the mayor’s office for the better part of two decades, is eligible to seek another term.
The mayor’s annual salary is $161,519, according to the city — a benchmark that typically increases annually under the city’s charter and is tied to the salary of a Superior Court judge.
In the interest of consistency, each candidate was asked the same three questions. They covered a package of 13 proposed charter amendments brought forward by a labor union, as well as the role of outside interests at City Hall, the rising cost of living for residents, and how residents will benefit from development on the bayfront and in the University District.
Each candidate was also given the opportunity to raise an additional issue of their choosing.
John McCann
McCann, the incumbent and a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, is seeking another term. He is running on a record he said has kept the city financially stable without layoffs, service cuts or tax increases.
On the charter package, McCann said he was “proud to have stood up and successfully defeated” the proposed pay increase for council members that was part of charter amendments proposed by the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA). He said the amendments came forward without any public meetings, Ethics Commission analysis or Charter Review Commission assessment.
“Chula Vista deserves transparency, not special-interest backroom deals,” he wrote.
McCann said he made two motions — one to send the amendments to both city commissions for public review, and another to remove the proposed salary increase. He said neither motion drew support from any other council member.
He also pointed to the union’s campaign spending, saying LIUNA spent a half-million dollars helping elect the current City Council and city attorney. In the primary, he said, the union spent $160,000 supporting his opponent, who he said raised only $10,000 himself.
McCann, 58, also took aim at Tamayo’s school board record.
“My opponent voted to lay off teachers, cut funding for special needs students and decrease the number of campus Police Officers,” he wrote. He said Tamayo then voted himself a 300% pay raise, bringing his salary to $36,000.
On the cost of living, McCann placed much of the blame on the state. He cited taxes, regulations and mandates that he said drive up the cost of gasoline, electricity, housing and groceries. He said the city cannot change those policies but can avoid making the problem worse.
He said he would continue opposing unnecessary tax and fee increases and insist on balanced budgets. On housing, he called for streamlined permitting, fewer delays and control of excessive development costs. He noted the city has approved more than 1,000 homes for first-time homebuyers. He also said he would pursue state and federal funding rather than turning to local taxpayers.
“City Hall cannot control every cost, but it can control what it taxes, charges, spends and regulates,” he wrote.
On development, McCann described the Gaylord Pacific hotel and convention center as one of the most transformational projects in the city’s history. He said it created more than 3,000 construction jobs and now provides more than 1,200 positions. He said it is the start of a 500-acre bayfront master plan that includes parks, walking trails, restaurants and open space.
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“This is Chula Vista’s decade,” he wrote.
He said the University District would allow students to pursue higher education, workforce training and good-paying jobs without leaving the city. “Development should strengthen our city, not simply make it bigger,” he wrote, adding that growth requires planning for roads, parks, schools and public safety.
McCann did not raise an additional issue.
McCann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and attended the Navy Supply Corps School. In addition to his four terms on the City Council, he has served as a school board member, city planning commissioner and city housing commissioner.
Francisco Tamayo
Tamayo, 45, an IT and cybersecurity director for Calbright College and a Chula Vista Elementary School District board trustee, is running for mayor on a platform of ethics reform, homeownership for working families and public accountability for the city’s bayfront investment.
On the charter package, Tamayo acknowledged that the Laborers union has supported his campaign, saying its members build the city’s homes, schools and infrastructure. He said he has voted against supporters’ wishes on the school board and would do the same as mayor.
“But support from any group has never bought my vote, and it never will,” he wrote.
“The problem with the charter package was the process,” Tamayo wrote, adding that 13 changes to the city’s constitution should never move forward without full public review.
As mayor, he said he would require any proposed charter amendment to go through the Charter Review Commission and public hearings before reaching the council or the ballot. He also called for a stronger, more independent Board of Ethics and for disclosure whenever an outside organization provides policy language to the city.
He proposed a rule that “no mayor or council member, or their spouse or family business, should profit from a project they voted to approve.” It would include disclosure before every vote and a five-year ban on family businesses selling or managing property in projects an official helped approve.
On council pay, Tamayo said any raise should be tied to making council seats full time. He said it should be approved by voters and take effect only after the next election for each seat.
On the cost of living, Tamayo said housing is the biggest cost families face. His Chula Vista Heroes Housing plan would use city-owned land to build entry-level homes that teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses can own. He said the city’s current approach offers rentals only, which doesn’t let working families build equity.
He also said he would expand rental assistance and scam protection for seniors, and push to expand affordable childcare because “families with two working parents shouldn’t have to choose between a paycheck and their kids.”
He added that with rooms at the Gaylord Pacific resort starting around $400 a night, the hotel “isn’t built for Chula Vista’s working families.” He also said its visitors are not yet reaching businesses on Third Avenue.
“I want the Bayfront to succeed. But a public investment this large deserves public accountability,” he wrote.
Tamayo said he would require an independent, public review of bayfront finances before any bond refinancing vote. He would also publish an annual report on revenue, debt payments, jobs and local hiring. In addition, he called for more free public access at the bayfront, apprenticeship pathways for South Bay workers and a workforce housing overlay in the University District.
As an additional issue, Tamayo highlighted public safety on the city’s east side. He said the area has grown faster than the services that support it “while current leadership continues to make plans and no action.” His Chula Vista Heroes Plan would build an east-side police substation and fully staff Fire Station 10 in Millenia.
Tamayo has been elected four consecutive times since 2014 to the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Education, where he serves as vice president. He is director of IT and cybersecurity at Calbright College. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and a master’s degree from Pittsburgh State University.
