Four candidates seeking to represent San Diego’s South Bay on the City Council would bring to City Hall contrasting types of experience, different priorities and varied solutions to the city’s budget crisis.
Their battle is viewed as so wide open with just over eight weeks till the June 2 primary that the county Democratic Party declared each of the four candidates — all Democrats — qualified but declined to pick one.
The winner of a November runoff between the top two finishers in June will replace termed-out Vivian Moreno as representative for the district, which includes Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro.
Venus Molina, who leads her opponents in campaign donations, has worked as a City Hall staffer for more than two decades and has written crucial city legislation like the 2022 street vendor ordinance.
She says her experience, which includes working for council members both south and north of Interstate 8, is key at a time when San Diego needs to make budget cuts that require intimate knowledge of how the city functions.
“You need someone right now who’s not on a learning curve,” Molina, 50, said this week.
Local real estate agent Rafael Perez is running with the opposite message. He says being able to tell voters he’s not a career politician puts him in a strong position.
“There’s a citywide distrust in local government,” he said this week.
Perez, 44, says he’s still managed to change people’s lives as an outsider by lobbying successfully for two recent state laws on accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, making them available for sale and easing rules for unpermitted ones.
Two candidates are laying claim to knowing the district and its needs best: Antonio Martinez, a longtime San Ysidro school board member who has run unsuccessfully for this seat twice before, and Gerardo Ramirez, Moreno’s current chief of staff.
Martinez, 41, said this week that he’s spent his entire life in District 8 and has seen the area get cheated of its fair share compared to other parts of the city.
He’s been actively involved in his community since college, including stints on the San Ysidro Community Planning Group and Recreation Council. In 2024, he easily won re-election to the school board.
“I know the district better than any other candidate, and I know how to get things done,” he said.
Ramirez, 31, was raised in the district by a single mother who worked cleaning homes. He attended local public schools and says the area needs a leader who thoroughly understands the South Bay.
“A lot of our communities have a lot of potential, but we’ve always lacked opportunities,” he said.
On the city’s budget crisis, the candidates have different solutions in mind.
Ramirez wants to save millions by shrinking the number of highly paid middle managers at the city, a problem his boss — Councilmember Moreno — has focused on more than anyone else at City Hall.
He also wants to thoroughly evaluate homelessness spending to determine what’s working and what’s not.
Ramirez said he could support raising fees or taxes, but not until after the city’s leaders have shown they’re newly able to manage existing resources effectively.
Martinez said part of the solution must be bringing leases of city properties up to market rates and securing more state and federal funding for crucial programs and projects.
Perez said no single member of the council can solve the budget crisis single-handedly, but he could find ways to “stop the bleeding.”
Molina said the city must begin charging more with its leases and that spending on outside contracts should be carefully examined for potential savings.
She said it would be hard to increase any more fees, with residents still reeling from water rate hikes, new trash fees and paid parking at Balboa Park. But she said more cuts would also be hard.
“You can’t continue to cut personnel and not affect services,” Molina said.
Of the four candidates, Molina expressed the most support for a possible 2028 ballot measure to raise the city’s sales tax. She said such a measure would fail in 2026 but that voters might feel more open to the idea two years from now.
Perez said he’s open to the idea but added that it would need thorough study before anything should be presented to voters.
Martinez said his support or opposition would be based on whether city labor unions support it.
Ramirez said he’s open to the idea, but that it must wait until after city leaders have regained the public’s trust.
Perez said his top priority for the district is pollution in the Tijuana River Valley, suggesting that a joint powers authority of local governments should be created to address the problem.
Molina’s top priorities are infrastructure and affordability issues, warning that federal cuts to health care and other services will soon make a big local impact.
She said being a single parent and homeowner struggling to make ends meet makes her keenly aware of the the affordability challenges residents face.
Ramirez said his top priorities would be getting District 8 its fair share of city services and funding while keeping the cost of living as low as possible for local residents.
Martinez said affordability is his top issue, but he added that many commercial corridors in District 8 badly need an economic boost.
Martinez lives in San Ysidro, Ramirez in Otay Mesa, Molina in Ocean View Hills and Perez in Sherman Heights.