Barbara Bry

When we scheduled the January meeting, we assumed we would be dealing with two competitive races - San Diego Council District 1 and City Attorney. But because Joe LaCava has withdrawn from the race, following a brief statement from Barbara Bry, the Club quickly and overwhelmingly endorsed her candidacy for San Diego City Council, District 1. 

The quick and decisive nature of the City Council endorsement was more than made up for in our consideration of San Diego City Attorney. We heard statements and responses to our questions from four candidates and proceeded to balloting. Following our Standing Rules, when no candidate received 60% of the vote, we went into overtime balloting. Because we had so many members voting, we quickly moved through printed ballots, to the backs of handouts and finally to cut-up construction paper for ballots. Special thanks go to Councilmember David Alvarez and former Democratic Party Chair Maureen Steiner who helped to ensure that ballots were properly distributed to members in an efficient manner.

After four votes - and nearly 500 ballots cast, no candidate crossed the required threshold, so "No Endorsement" was declared. Following a motion, and consideration of several amendments to the motion. the Club declared Gil Cabrera, Rafael Castellanos, and Mara Elliott as Acceptable.