{"id":477413,"date":"2026-09-27T13:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T13:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477413\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T13:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T13:44:24","slug":"in-district-4-council-forum-henry-foster-and-challenger-martha-abraham-clash-on-surveillance-housing-and-city-hall-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/477413\/","title":{"rendered":"In District 4 council forum, Henry Foster and challenger Martha Abraham clash on surveillance, housing and City Hall \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Democrats battling to represent southeastern San Diego neighborhoods on the City Council clashed over surveillance cameras, housing policies, leadership styles and the city\u2019s budget deficit during a Thursday night debate.<\/p>\n

District 4 incumbent Councilmember Henry Foster and challenger Martha Abraham are facing off in what could be an extremely tight Nov. 3 runoff. In the June primary<\/a>, Foster edged Abraham by just 12 votes: 9,138 to 9,126.<\/p>\n

The two agreed on many issues during the debate, including the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades and economic development in District 4 and particularly the neighborhood that hosted the debate, Paradise Hills.<\/p>\n

But they also criticized each other frequently and disagreed on many issues, prompting frequent cheers and boos from more than 100 residents who attended the debate at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.<\/p>\n

On surveillance cameras the city uses to help fight crime, Foster said they should be eliminated for privacy reasons, while Abraham called such a move premature.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mass surveillance,\u201d Foster said. \u201cI think we need to take those cameras down immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham agreed that there are growing concerns about how cameras are used, but she said more analysis is needed to prove they are a bad idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumbers don\u2019t lie,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can present a case that it\u2019s something that might not be needed in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham criticized Foster, who chairs the council\u2019s budget committee, for allowing millions in climate equity fund money to be taken away from low-income areas like District 4 to plug the overall citywide budget hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year for the last three years, under our current leadership, that funding has been stripped away and transferred into the general fund,\u201d she said. \u201cMoney is taken away from our communities that\u2019s supposed to upgrade our parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CandidateCandidate Martha Abraham, whose opponent is Councilmember Henry Foster III, speaks during a candidate forum in City Council District 4 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Paradise Hills on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Foster stressed that the climate equity fund was designed to supplement projects that were short of funding, not to fund entire projects.<\/p>\n

Foster touted his role as budget committee chair, contending he has worked well with his council colleagues during the last two budget cycles to fight the mayor on key cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I do a fantastic job of collaborating,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had to take on the mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abraham said the battling among\u00a0council members and the mayor hasn\u2019t solved the city\u2019s fundamental budget problems, it\u2019s just been an embarrassing show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had the most dysfunctional last two budget cycles that we have ever had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Abraham said Foster\u2019s handling of the budget illustrates a key difference in their leadership styles, contending he makes loud and colorful speeches in the City Council chambers but doesn\u2019t truly accomplish much.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to have someone screaming and shouting from the dais but not actually producing any solutions,\u201d she said of Foster.<\/p>\n

She said District 4 needs access to fresh and healthy food, safe places for children to play and more businesses so residents don\u2019t have to leave the district for basic services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t keep living like this,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want the basics. That is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster countered that attack by focusing on his experience at City Hall compared with Abraham, a neonatal nurse who is new to politics and government.<\/p>\n

\"CouncilmemberCouncilmember Henry Foster III, whose opponent is Martha Abraham, speaks during a candidate forum for City Council District 4 \u2014 the seat he currently holds \u2014 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Paradise Hills on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Foster served as chief of staff for former Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe before running for her former seat in 2024 after she was elected county supervisor.<\/p>\n

Since joining the council, he has written city ordinances that have become law and helped write a voter-approved ballot measure that created a new watchdog panel for city police.<\/p>\n

Abraham said her experience during medical emergencies would serve her well at City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work in a profession where we are having to solve problems quickly \u2026 and save people\u2019s lives as we collaborate with each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Both candidates also announced ambitious new policy proposals.<\/p>\n

Foster said his council aides are crafting a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan for infrastructure upgrades across District 4 that will be released next month. Abraham said she would create a coalition of neighborhood councils if elected.<\/p>\n

Foster addressed a question from the audience about his behavior in a video<\/a> posted online last year where he could be seen arguing with a constituent, calling him a punk and telling him \u201cgo to your mama\u2019s house\u201d repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Foster said the video isn\u2019t representative of how he talks to constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was literally accosted in the street,\u201d Foster said. \u201cI turned around and dealt with what was in front of me. What\u2019s not shown in the video is the way and the manner in which I was approached.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two candidates also disagreed about the benefits and risks of the city\u2019s rolling updates to neighborhood growth blueprints called community plans.<\/p>\n

Foster said some long overdue updates in District 4 could spur new housing and economic development. Abraham stressed that such plans typically include aggressive upzoning that most residents oppose.<\/p>\n

District 4 includes Encanto, Skyline, Paradise Hills, Emerald Hills, Oak Park, Chollas View, Webster, Valencia Park and many nearby neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the public attend a candidate forum between Councilmember Henry Foster III and challenger Martha Abraham at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Paradise Hills on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (Kristian Carreon \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Democrats battling to represent southeastern San Diego neighborhoods on the City Council clashed over surveillance cameras, housing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[204,181,23,205,100,13,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-477413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-election","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-local-politics","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}