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T he C oast News - I nland E dition
Roberts fends off character attacks by Abed, Gaspar in race for supervisor seat By Steve Puterski and Aaron Burgin
REGION — The first of a potential two-round political battle reaches the midway point Tuesday in the race for the District 3 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Dave Roberts, a Democrat, takes on challengers Sam Abed, mayor of Escondido, and Kristin Gaspar, mayor of Encinitas, both Republicans in the primary. The supervisor seat, however, is a nonpartisan office. Abed and Gaspar have taken Roberts to task for an office scandal and county policy violations, which cost the county $310,000 last year to settle. Roberts’ lack of an explanation gave Abed and Gaspar their opening to challenge the incumbent, the pair said. The two challengers have hammered home the allegations made by three former staffers in Roberts’ office as they hope to upend Roberts Tuesday. Abed and Gaspar’s attacks on Roberts’ integrity and trust has been a driving force in each campaign. Roberts, however, said his efforts on the campaign trail have produced positive feedback from voters, who he feels have moved on from the scandal. “From my vantage point, I have seen the negative campaign by both my opponents has gotten traction,” he said. “My audiences are very supportive of my four years of work, and they want me to continue solving problems that matter. They don’t want to talk about a short time period where I had personnel issues.” Roberts said his opponents have yet to challenge his record in office because his efforts have produced results from mental health facilities, opposing landfills next to rivers and overdevelopment, and the county becoming one of a handful in the country to have a triple-A rating from all three credit agencies for the past four years. His financial acumen, Roberts said, is yet another strongpoint for the incumbent. “In 2013, the county for the first time, got a triple-A bond rating,” Roberts said. “That is my strength. My strong fiscal background, working in the Pentagon on the airport budget, creating the Tri-Care Military Health Care System, which has a strong fiscal component to it. “I haven’t heard from either of my opponents one thing they want to do. All they seem to do is want to talk about is personnel issues from over a year ago. From what I’m hearing from my constituents, is they are voting on the issues.” Roberts, though, said the attacks on him are down from his first campaign running for supervisor four years ago (12 negative mailers in 2012 to eight this cycle). In addition, he was surprised at Abed and Gaspar’s attacks on each other, as both have traded barbs over Abed’s parking lot and Gaspar’s claim of being an educator opposed to a volunteer. Nevertheless, Roberts said his record and experience, which also includes being appointed as a health policy advisor for the administrations of presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, is what set him apart. But to survive the race means questions and consistent claims of a lack of integrity for Roberts. He stressed the matter is behind him, took responsibility and said he cannot discuss the matter in greater detail as it is a confidential personnel issue. Abed said he was the first to call for Roberts’ explanation, and when none was provided, he announced
Dave Roberts his candidacy last summer. Gaspar followed in the fall and both quickly began taking shots at Roberts’ credibility and integrity. As mayor of the largest city in the district, Abed said he doesn’t want a “corrupt” supervisor to represent his city, so he decided to join the race. “We have a different political philosophy and I didn’t have an issue with that, until story after story, scandal after scandal came out,” Abed said. “It was really a shock. It reminded me of (former San Diego mayor) Bob Filner. Dave Roberts just ignored it and think he didn’t do anything wrong.” Gaspar echoed Abed’s sentiments. “My expectation is that elected officials should be held to the highest standard of ethics and integrity,” she said. “It is disappointing how he managed his office.” The challengers, meanwhile, have said little about Roberts’ record on the issues up to date. Abed stressed he is the most qualified candidate heading into Tuesday’s primary and November’s general election. He said Roberts’ lack of trust with the voters coupled with his crossover appeal to independents and democrats make him the strongest choice. In addition, Abed said his experience on the board of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), is another star on his record. “None of my opponents have the experience on the SANDAG board,” Abed said. “That is a $1.4 billion budget. This position is very important. You are talking about the fourth largest county in the nation. I’ve dealt with billions of dollars in budgets and I think the voters will clearly see, bottom line, is I have one opponent (Roberts) who doesn’t have any integrity and the other opponent (Gaspar), who is shady on integrity doesn’t have the experience. I wouldn’t have said that about Gaspar until she sent those lies (in political mailers).” However, Gaspar has also chided Abed for his explanation of a controversial parking lot, which he said was targeted by the state for a lack of storm water mitigation. Abed said the matter was drummed up by a political rival during his mayoral re-election campaign in 2014, and after the city said his lot met the requirements, paid $75,000 to pave the lot to kill any speculation of wrongdoing. In addition, Gaspar has repeatedly questioned Abed’s role in the recovery of Escondido, the district’s largest city. She said the city’s financial health, which has seen four consecutive years of surpluses, is based more on the recovery of the economy than any policies or direction implemented by Abed. Regarding his parking lot, Abed stressed he was in compliance with
Kristin Gaspar
Sam Abed the law and gained the necessary city approvals. “The Union Tribune … misled the public and it was media hype,” Abed said, referring to a Jan. 24 article. The lot was already “semipaved” with crushed concrete when Abed went to the city to determine if it needed to be fully paved. The city came back to the mayor saying that it was in compliance with their standards. “My opponent in the mayor’s election went to the (state) water board,” Abed said. “We are not friends with the water board on a policy level because they are overreaching and putting a burden on affordability of housing. As a citizen, I would have fought with that because it’s a judgment call. I didn’t want to deal with it so I paid $75,000 to do (it). It was done ethically.” Abed said his record consists of improving the bond rating to AA-, attracted nearly 1,000 new businesses to the city plus the jobs associated with those businesses, created an $8 million surplus, brought about $1 billion in investments and lowered the crime rate by 22 percent in 2014. “This has been a major turnaround for the city of Escondido,” he added. “Some people tell me it’s a historic turnaround. I think that’s why I will be elected to the county and nobody has that kind of record. “Encinitas is a dysfunctional city politically because they are dealing with the wrong issues. Banning plastic bags and Styrofoam cups. There are more important issues such as affordable housing and public safety.” Abed also referred to Gaspar’s stance of being an educator instead of volunteering at schools. In addition, the accusations of her mailers against Abed have struck a nerve. “This is just all lies,” he said. “I understand she is desperate and I have never accused anybody of those kind of things. The people know I am leading in this race and we are responding with the facts. I’m the only candidate with experience, integrity and leadership.” Gaspar, who has positioned herTURN TO RACE ON 11
JUNE 3, 2016
Political expert weighs in on race for District 3 By Aaron Burgin
REGION — A local political expert said that while the scandal made District 3 Supervisor Dave Roberts vulnerable to his competitors, several factors play in his favor — incumbency, the time delay between the settlements and the election, partisan politics and the presidential primary election. As an incumbent, Roberts can run on his record, which includes projects and services he has delivered to various communities within the district, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. And time, Kousser said, appears to have dulled the effect of the scandal, which threatened to derail his re-election hopes a year ago. Roberts faces challenges from Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed. “I think the scandal is the only reason there is a competitive race this year,” Kousser said. “But the scandal looks much worse a year ago than it does today. There is still enough material for his opponents to put on a campaign flyer, but all charges were dropped against him, and the time delay has given Roberts a chance to explain his side of it to voters and move on, which didn’t look possible a year ago.” Gaspar said she believes that voters will hold Roberts accountable, despite the length of time that has passed between the scandal’s peak and the primary election. “People need to demand more from elected officials,” Gaspar said. “The fact is that when all is said and done, we are talking about a half-million dollars of taxpayer money to settle these legal claims, and that to me is unacceptable, considering the many needs we have for the region. “I strongly believe it is time we don’t dismiss these issues, that we hold our elected officials to a higher standard, period,” Gaspar said. Kousser said the dynamics of the presidential primary also could help Roberts, a Democrat, advance to a runoff election against one of the two Republican candidates. With the Democratic presidential nomination still in the balance, California Democratic voters are much more likely to participate in the primary than Republicans, whose party have all but selected Donald Trump as the party’s presidential candidate. Those voters will likely be more willing to forgive Roberts for previous transgressions, he said. “I think (the primary) is going to boost up the vote for Dave Roberts because the democratic (presidential) campaign still matters,” Kousser said. “Hillary Clinton’s campaign is going to run strong ‘Get Out
the Vote’ efforts, and that all makes things look better for Roberts. If this were a race that really excited the Republican Party, you could potentially see two Republicans reach the runoff, as you saw a few years ago during the primaries.” Moving beyond June 7, Kousser said that the makeup of the district’s demography would suggest that Roberts’ biggest threat in a runoff would be Gaspar, who has positioned herself as the type of moderate candidate that has succeed-
This is a business-friendly, environmentalist and socially liberal territory, or ‘leave us alone and let us surf.’” Thad Kousser Political Science Professor, UCSD
ed in Coastal North County races and in the third district. “She is not as polarizing a figure as Sam Abed, and generally county supervisors are not running based on their international immigration policies,” Kousser said of Gaspar. “She is positioning herself as a moderate and a pragmatist, essentially running the same campaign as Roberts four years ago. Her pitch is that she is untainted by scandal.” Gaspar said that she believes her election performance in the 2014 Encinitas mayoral election demonstrates her crossover appeal, and that her ability to work well with the voting majority on the council as the political minority bolsters that notion. “It is important to note that I was the first elected mayor in a largely Democratic city running as a Republican, which demonstrates I have crossover appeal,” she said. “I am really proud of the support I have in the community.” Given the scandal, though, Roberts said he doesn’t feel like the underdog and expects to advance through to the general election in November. One advantage, perhaps, is he is running against two Republicans, who may split hardline voters leaving the democratic base for Roberts as well as moderate republicans and independents. Roberts said the voters are concerned with the issues affecting quality of life, a leader who provides a strong economy and environment, among other issues. “I think people will TURN TO EXPERT ON 11