1. In April 2025, Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer proposed raising county taxes by as much as $1 billion per year. Do you think this is necessary or wise?
Over the last several years, the county of San Diego’s budget has increased from roughly $6.2 billion to $8.63 billion. This is a 40% increase in less than 10 years. Revenue has been steadily increasing from property taxes. But working families can’t afford another tax, so it is not wise or necessary to raise them by $1 billion. The county clearly has a spending problem. But with the right leadership, we can fix it.
As the mayor of San Marcos, managing the city for the past eight years, I know how to carefully balance the needs and wants of a diverse community with competing priorities. In San Marcos, we didn’t wait for an economic downturn or a budget crisis. Instead we proactively established the LEAN department (Leading Efficiency, Accountability and eNgagement) that focuses specifically on enhancing operational efficiency and resident services.
At a time when families across our county are wondering if they’ll be able to pay their bills and buy groceries, their county government should be doing everything in its power to be lean, efficient and effective with their existing tax dollars.
It would be helpful for residents to have an accounting of what has been accomplished by the county in the last several years with that 40% budget increase. Homelessness continues to rise, basic infrastructure needs to be fixed or replaced and public safety departments need more resources.
However, some supervisors have managed to fully fund pet projects and programs the county shouldn’t even be involved in. The fact is, far too many communities are suffering and lack the basic services they deserve because the current county leadership is leaving them out of the discussion, especially in unincorporated areas like Fallbrook, Bonsall, Borrego Springs and Valley Center.
2. In December, three of the five supervisors used what was described as an “accounting scheme” to access millions of dollars in county reserves to pay for bonuses to county workers. Should the old policy of requiring four votes to tap into reserves have been followed?
Yes, the reserve policy requiring four votes should have been followed. Instead, we had a board majority that forced county bureaucrats to find them a “budget loophole” utilizing “fund transfers” to spend our reserves on one-time bonuses, pet projects and single source contracts. Due to this frivolous spending, the county now has less than two months of operating expenses on hand. This puts our county in jeopardy should we face a large fire, flood, earthquake or even another pandemic. This action was wrong. Residents are fed up with backroom deals and politicians who ignore clearly defined policy. This is what I intend to change as a county supervisor for District 5.
3. Lawson-Remer wants to weaken the voter-approved law limiting board members to two terms. Do you support this change?
I do not support this change. The voters of San Diego County voted overwhelmingly for term limits in 2010 — over 68% said “yes.” We should trust and respect their decision, not override it. Additionally, I believe that supervisors voting to increase their own term limits is wrong. This action is self-serving and it’s something residents in this county do not support.
4. What other issue affecting county residents deserves much more attention?
Every day I speak to county residents and they are asking me to get the county back to focusing on the basics. They tell me the current board majority has lost sight of that mission and I agree with them. Everybody wants to live in a safe community with a good quality of life. They want their roads to be paved, not crumbling. They expect to have quality fire stations, sheriff’s substations and accessible parks. We can manage all of these items within the current county budget if we have leaders willing to stay in their lane and focus on the constituents they were elected to serve — not the constituents they hope to serve in their next office. I’m running for supervisor to bring that focused leadership to all of the 700,000 constituents who call District 5 home.
Go to jonesforsupervisor.org for more information about the candidate.