As a child, Andrew Deddeh remembers listening to political stories from his uncle, former assemblyman and California State Sen. Wadie Deddeh — the first Iraqi-American elected official in the United States — from 1967 to 1993.
The younger Deddeh said those stories were always inspirational and because of those tales, he knew that someday he would be involved in politics.
“I was always inspired by him,” Deddeh said about his uncle.
That day has come.
Deddeh, 34, initially filed papers to run for Chula Vista District 1, but after surveying the landscape in that race, he said he decided to try his chances at the Chula Vista city attorney seat.
Deddeh becomes incumbent Glen Googins’ first opponent in eight years, which partly is the reason Deddeh said he decided to seek the city attorney position.
“I remembered that he (Googins) ran unopposed in 2014 so I decided that I will run (against him) and at least we can talk about the issues,” Deddeh said. “At least it will make him (Googins) a little more responsive to the residents.”
The main issue Deddeh wants to discuss are the city’s handling of illegal marijuana dispensaries around the city.
Deddeh, a lifelong Chula Vistan, said he cannot understand why it’s difficult for the city to come up with an effective way to shutdown illegal dispensaries.
He said the current method of civil litigation against illegal dispensary owners takes up too much time and is not effective. Deddeh said as the city attorney, he would favor criminal prosecution for both dispensary owners and their landlords.
“My goal is to shut them down” he said. “We are going to let everyone know that we mean business.”
Another issue Deddeh is campaigning on is that he wants to safeguard taxpayer resources by discussing solutions for Chula Vista’s millions of unfunded pension liabilities. He said he does not have immediate answers and that the city council is the one to make any decisions with the pensions but he wants to sit-in on that discussion.
Deddeh said he also wants to review the management of lawsuits to prevent costly lawsuits from diverting funds from more pressing needs.
The city attorney candidate points to the $1.2 million discrimination lawsuit the city lost to former Deputy Fire Chief Jim Garcia in Jan. 2017. Weeks after Garcia won his case, he filed a defamation claim against the city, alleging that an official statement the city put out to the media about the case was defamatory.
In July 2017, the city settled that defamation claim for $900,000 in addition to the $1.2 million Garcia won in his discrimination suit. The city’s total payout to Garcia was about $2.1 million.
“When I look at some of the decisions that were made in particular with the Jim Garcia issue, I said ‘That was almost like legal malpractice’,” he said. “The fact that something so ridiculous just cost taxpayers an additional $900,000. It’s something that could have been prevented. Somebody either reviewed the publicity statement and OK’d it or no one reviewed it and that was ridiculous.”
Deddeh’s legal expertise is in labor and employment law for San Diego-based law firm Gordon & Rees where he represents businesses and management in employment and labor disputes as well as general business law matters.
“What I bring is experience with labor and employment issues and litigation,” he said. “I’m a new perspective and I will be more focused on providing residents with the representation that they deserve.”
Deddeh said being related to his uncle Wadie tells voters the type of person they will be getting on the dais.
“Do I think you should vote for me just because of that? No. But it definitely shows you where I come from, what my family history is, what our strength is and what our character is.”
