Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow has been chosen to lead San Diego County\u2019s newly created Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit, a specialized team that will litigate against scammers and predatory businesses across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy own family\u2019s experience helped inform my legal path, and I really want to help make sure that working class people can make it during tough economic times,\u201d Snow, 48, said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this a long time, it is my passion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new consumer watchdog unit, which gives the county additional power to sue companies in civil court, was proposed<\/a> by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who said there is a countywide need for stronger consumer protections against scams, hidden fees, unsafe products and pollution.<\/p>\n In March, the Board of Supervisors created the unit on a bipartisan vote, with Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson joining the three Democrats. Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican, voted against the proposal.<\/p>\n Recruitment for the position was open for two months and included broad outreach to over 100 organizations, according to a county spokesperson.<\/p>\n Seventeen candidates applied for the role and five were interviewed. Ultimately, Snow was selected to lead the unit, which will eventually have up to 30 full-time employees.<\/p>\n Named Consumer Advocate of the Year by Consumer Attorneys of San Diego in 2019, Snow brings over 20 years of experience in consumer protection and affirmative litigation. Aside from her role as mayor of Lemon Grove, she was most recently a professor in practice at the University of San Diego School of Law, where she created and directed the Housing Rights Legal Clinic and pursued consumer protection and housing enforcement cases.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had a magic wand and could create the perfect job for my lawyer life, this would be it,\u201d Snow said.<\/p>\n The consumer protection unit will use California\u2019s Unfair Competition Law to take legal action against bad businesses \u2014 a power that was previously granted to just the San Diego District Attorney and the Attorney General.<\/p>\n Lawson-Remer\u2019s push for the unit prompted a turf war<\/a> with District Attorney Summer Stephan, who said the proposal was duplicative of the work done by her office\u2019s own consumer protection team, called the Economic Crimes and Consumer Protection division.<\/p>\n