San Diego County District 2 Supervisor Joel Anderson is seeking a second term on the Board of Supervisors and is running against Gina Jacobs. Anderson, R, 64, is a former California state senator and assembly member.
From Alpine, Anderson said he is the only supervisor that lives in unincorporated San Diego and his biggest challenge is that all his colleagues live along the coast.
“The likelihood of them knowing where Lakeside is, let alone Boulevard or Pine Valley is little to none,” he said.
Anderson said he believes it is remarkable what the county has been able to accomplish, but many people, because they live in a city, do not understand what a supervisor does.
“While we have some impact on the city, our number one job, is we are the only government for the unincorporated, and 600,000 people live in the unincorporated. Whether it is Bonita, Spring Valley, Ramona, or Fallbrook, these are all unincorporated areas. And yet, we are excluded from any regional governments. Look at SANDAG. Eighteen cities have a vote, and we did not even have a seat at the table. Supervisor Nora Vargas lives in Chula Vista, Monica Montgomery Steppe lives in San Diego, Jim Desmond lives in Oceanside, and Terra Lawson-Remer lives in Encinitas. I am the only one that lives in Alpine, and the only one that lives in unincorporated,” he said.
Anderson said if he were not elected in 2020, there would be no representation in the unincorporated San Diego.
“The challenge I have all the time is all they can imagine is what is in their city. They have no idea what is in our rural communities. Lakeside is roughly 54,000 people, Del Mar has 4,000, and they have a vote at SANDAG. There are six cities smaller than Lakeside and they all have a vote. In my first two years it was my goal to get us a seat on the advisory board. Now, we have a seat there, and if reelected I am going to focus on changing the law to give us a vote,”
Anderson said this is why unincorporated areas have no real bus services, trolley, or mass transit even though the county and the state say without mass transit, you cannot build homes.
“When I got elected, my district had 50,000 homes by right that we could have built, but my colleagues voted with the Climate Action Plan to reduce us to zero. And we all know we need housing. And yet, there is not going to be housing in the areas that make most sense. Building skyscrapers on the beach, I do not think is the best way to go. Many folks I represent are blue collar, and they must drive to their worksites, and there is no bus service to those worksites. They are only looking at this from an inner-city standpoint. They are not looking at it to serve the whole region. So, my voice has been important,” he said.
Anderson said he lives in an area where he endured the Cedar Fire, Horse Creek Fire, Witch Creek Fire.
“All these fires impacted it. In the Cedar Fire,20 years ago, we lost 2,000 homes in my old senate district and a few people died. One of the first things I did was get a 19-99 helicopter for San Diego that fights fire at night. We never had night capacity. Whenever the sun went down, firefighters could only fight on the ground. Now, we have the capacity to fight it by air 24/7. For me, that was a huge victory for those who live in the unincorporated,” he said.
Anderson said his goal as supervisor was to help the homeless crisis.
“I am proud to announce that in the point in time count, the only tool we have in fighting homelessness, my district is the only district that reduced homelessness by 27%. We made huge inroads in reducing homelessness. Is it finished? No. Is there more work to be done, absolutely. But nobody got double digits in reduction. I am very proud of those things I have done in just three short years, and I am the minority on the board. It is three Democrats, and three votes control everything on the Board,” he said.
Anderson said in his senate district, he had the most refugees west of the Mississippi. And the same is with his seat on the board of supervisors.
“We have been doing this a long time. Traditionally, the county until they came into the community, and then they started to prepare, and it was horrible. But when the last round of Afghans came here, and we received 2,000, and we had a community of 4,000, I wrote a board letter to the county to prepare, and put in place, all the resources we were going to need. For the first time ever, it was the smoothest transition because I had gone through it before. And I knew when they brought in the Afghans, they were going to come to my district. That made sense. If you are trying to assimilate into a new country, and new culture, people will go where they have family and friends that understand them and can help them transition,” he said.