On Tuesday, Jan. 17., current members of the Chula Vista City Council will publicly winnow the candidates who would be their colleague.
Thanks to former councilman Steve Padilla’s ambition and desire for greener pastures in the State Senate, his exodus left District 3 without a council representative. For now.
Rather than letting residents of the city’s third district select their own representative in a special election, the council chose to choose for them.
Convincing four people to let you become a legislator ought to be considerably easier—and cheaper—than running a campaign and convincing voters.
Seventeen people applied to for the opportunity to make their case for a council seat. Some of them include:
Douglas Wolf, the Republican who made a run for the same council seat in 2020 and for a place on the Chula Vista Elementary School District Board. He lost both attempts.
The owner of Mathnasium in Eastlake says he wants to bring a police substation to the east side and bring large employers and more jobs to the city.
Real estate agent Nimpa Akana wants to bring a four-year university to the city and wants to work alongside different groups to include the Filipino community. “Filipinos are the largest Asian group in Chula Vista, full of richness and eager to work with Chula Vista,” she writes.
Democrat and Communications Director for County Super Visor Nora Vargas Devonna Almagro wants to address the usual issues we hear candidates promising to tackle—affordable housing, public safety and a “resilient”economy.
Victor Lopez, owner of a small public affairs firm and the executive director of the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, has lived in District 3 only since September last year. Nevertheless, the lifelong Chula Vista resident writes he thinks a multi-use sports facility for youth and high school athletes would bring more tourists and revenue to the city. He also wants to “give law enforcement all the resources and tools available” while at the same time working with the city manager to “maximize” the city’s operating budget while “minimizing” overhead.
These are just four of the 17 who want to shape District 3 and the city of Chula Vista. The public can view these and other applications on the city’s website via the City Clerk’s office.
