You endorsed Jan Goldsmith over fellow Democrat Mike Aguirre for city attorney. What is the one thing Aguirre did the past three years that most troubled you?
The job of a city attorney is to represent the interests of the city as a whole and not get involved in the politics of the moment. That's why I support Jan Goldsmith over our current city attorney. As a judge, Goldsmith has proven that he can apply the intent of the law with fairness and objectivity. As long as the office of the city attorney works independently to provide the city with the best legal advice, and stays within our budget, we can move the city forward on strong legal footing.
Who should be the next City Council president and why? Does this job interest you?
The City Council president is a critically important position of leadership. I have confidence in my colleagues and I firmly believe that we all possess the qualities needed to handle a position of this magnitude. I will support a consensus-builder who can come to workable solutions in times of disagreements among council members, with an approach to prioritize the city's financial and policy challenges above all partisanship and personal differences. Any council member, including myself, would be honored to serve.
You've made an issue of the vast amounts of raw sewage dumped into the ocean just across the border. Do you have any reason to hope Baja California officials will ever make a good-faith effort to clean this up?
We need strong leadership on both sides of the border that can work toward real solutions. Water quality at the border is such a complex combination of problems it requires a binational solution. Tijuana Council member Juan Ramon López Medina is joining me in taking an aggressive leadership position to get more national attention on both sides of the border to solve this problem. He has expressed strongly that the city of Tijuana is prepared to do its part to solve the problem. The progress we are making is encouraging. I feel confident that a think tank involving the leading scientists on the subject, the environmental community and policy-makers will develop a strategy that will begin to correct the years of neglect.
You're on the California Coastal Commission. Critics say the commission staff is hostile to the Poseidon desalination plant. What is your view?
There are critics on both sides of this debate. Every major development, especially those on our coastline, requires careful deliberation. I believe Coastal Commission staff is passionate about protecting the coastline, which is what we should expect from an organization California voters created to protect our coast. Through a very public process, commission staff and commissioners have been steadily working through all the issues associated with this project. Balancing our needs to satisfy regional water demands with protecting coastal resources is not a simple issue and needs to be fully vetted. This debate is healthy and more often than not leads to the right solution. I think we'll end up approving an improved project because of this tough process. We need a desalination plant for San Diego, but we also need to protect our coast.
NEXT WEEK: Democratic 52nd Congressional District candidate Mike LumpkinThe U-T puts a public figure on the Hot Seat. Please send us your questions and who you would like to see on the Hot Seat to dialog@uniontrib.com.
