As politics on the SANDAG board have grown increasingly contentious in recent years, with conservative board members working against transit- and climate-oriented priorities, the same has happened with council decisions on who to send to the board. In the past, appointments were quiet affairs that typically resulted in mayors representing their cities.   However,  that has changed this year.

Earlier this year, the Republican majority on the Escondido City Council rejected Democratic former Mayor Paul McNamara’s attempt to appoint himself to the seat. The city went months without a representative.  The City of Vista couldn’t agree on who to appoint to SANDAG, so it didn’t appoint anyone.

National City’s Council appointed Councilwoman Luz Molina as the city’s representative on SANDAG. Mayor Ron Morrison, a conservative, nominated Councilwoman Ditas Yamane as the representative, but the Council rejected his appointees and chose Molina instead.  And the Imperial Beach City Council appointed Councilman Jack Fisher as the city’s rep on SANDAG despite a strong public desire for  Democratic Mayor Paloma Aguirre, who has more experience,  to be appointed.

Regional planning is too important to be politicized and we should all demand that our elected officials act in the best interests of the community by appointing qualified, experienced representatives to SANDAG.