More than a week after Election Day, a winner is emerging from a tight City Council race in Imperial Beach.
Jack Fisher currently has a 103-vote and 3-percentage point lead over incumbent Councilman Mark West.
This has been one of the closest elections in San Diego County. On election night, West led by fewer than 20 votes. As more ballots were counted, Fisher jumped ahead to a small lead the next day. Throughout last week, West and Fisher remained within 20 votes of each other.
But that changed over the weekend as Fisher, a former professional body boarder and current chef, extended his lead.
“It’s been pretty surreal to be honest,” Fisher said. “I’ve been very cautiously optimistic.”
On Wednesday, West said he left Fisher a congratulatory voicemail.
“It looks like Jack is probably going to win,” he said.
Fisher now stands to be Imperial Beach’s first ever District 2 City Council representative.
This is the first district election in the city’s history. District 2 encompasses the northern portion of Imperial Beach’s coastline and a large part of the center of town.
One big campaign issue was the city’s ongoing evaluation of its contract with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. The cost of the contract is increasing faster than the city can afford. In fact, the city has had to cut the Fire Department’s budget to cover the contract.
As a result, the city formed an ad hoc committee to evaluate the contract and look into alternative policing methods that cost less money.
While both candidates opposed a reduction in public safety spending, West said he was concerned that the cost of the Sheriff’s Department contract was bankrupting the city, a statement West stands by.
However, he believes a small “conspiratorial group” used those comments to inaccurately connect West with the “Defund the Police Movement,” and that partly cost him the election.
“My statement in saying that the sheriff’s contract is going to bankrupt our city somehow looped me into the defund the police narrative and that is not what I was advocating for,” West said.
Fisher credits his victory partly to his campaign’s ground work.
“I think a lot has to do with myself and the team behind me,” he said. “We got out and knocked on hundreds of doors. I was very visible in the community.”
Fisher won’t be the only newcomer to the Imperial Beach City Council.
In District 4, which represents the southeastern part of Imperial Beach, union representative Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez defeated his opponent Will Nimmo.
Like Fisher, Leyba-Gonzalez credited his victory to maintaining a constant and visible presence in the district.
“I campused the entire district four times with door hangers,” he said.
Leyba-Gonzalez said his campaign team and a team of volunteers from the labor union he works for, LiUNA Local-89, were a big help.
More importantly, Leyba-Gonzalez said neighbors connected with his campaign because of his working-class background.
“I believe all along individuals are able to relate to me because I’m just like they are,” he said. “I’m a working-class individual who wants to make a difference in my community.”
November 12, 2020 at 08:13AM
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2020-11-11/two-fresh-faces-prepare-to-join
Two fresh faces prepare to join Imperial Beach City Council - The San Diego Union-Tribune
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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