Brian Jones, Casey Gwinn in CD 52 Fray?… If you missed it, Santee City Councilman Brian Jones has filed committee paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for an open Duncan Hunter seat (see Friday’s post).
Following the Jones news, Red County/San Diego reported that former San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn is also looking at the seat. Casey moved to East County a few years back (having lived in San Carlos, pretty close already, as in a couple of blocks) and some at the time were anticipating he’d be running for Jay La Suer’s termed out 77th AD seat in 2006. That clearly didn’t happen. Has enough time elapsed since his SD days?
I consider Casey a friend and a stand-up guy. I have to urge caution here, in the extreme sense. East County is not the City of SD and those that live here don’t just know it, they pride themselves on it. I’ve written before that any of the "Big City" councilmembers whose names have been mentioned for CD 52 would have their teeth handed to them in a coffee cup in East County. The same goes for Casey.
Anyone having any baggage associated with the City of SD’s pension debacle or other messes — warranted or not — and not viewed as an agent of change while in office…well, they’d better have some good dental insurance. East County voters will say in spades, "Don’t come out here and think you’re gonna run things the way you did downtown."
Yes, it is true that the current Hunter seat includes portions of San Diego City. It’s simply not enough.
With all due respect to Casey, the only Gwynn by any spelling that has a chance of winning a Congressional seat in East County is Tony.
UPDATE: Casey Gwinn puts the rumours at Red County (and several others I have heard in the same vein) to rest. He is definitely not in the race. Here are his comments. – Barry
Should the GOP Take on Aguirre?… Speaking of the San Diego city attorney, the SD Reader last Thursday printed in its entirety a speech given in April by the current one, Mike Aguirre. It’s a long but worthwhile read. First, yes, Aguirre is a Democrat and Casey Gwinn is a Republican. Yet, Mike is considered by many as an agent of change in the City of San Diego, regardless of partisanship. He also has a reputation for questionable litigation, recklessness, self-import and media chasing, to name a few faults.
On occasion I see a bumper sticker, "Recall Aguirre," and I hear those in GOP circles talking of 
who will step up and challenge Mike in his likely re-election bid. Chris Reed in the Union-Trib’s America’s Finest Blog has made it somewhat of an e-crusade to out Aguirre while wondering e-loud when San Diegans will wake up to the truth of Mike. The prior mentioned faults are vulnerabilities that many folks see as eventually leading to Big Mike’s big downfall.
The speech printed in the Reader sheds some light on Aguirre, and why the public and ultimately the voters — if not many in San Diego’s leadership — view him positively. Check out these tidbits:
"You get the prison guards lining up their pension benefits, negotiating with Jerry Brown, and then Gray Davis. And sometimes I almost think there’s a connection between political endorsements and the bestowing of benefits on the political…on the unions. You know what I mean? I don’t want to, of course, make any rash allegations. But you understand that when you give municipal unions, and employee unions, the kind of access that they have. That is, they run the election, they endorse the candidate. They then sit down with their endorsed candidate, who is now the elected official, and they negotiate their benefits. Where is the management? Who’s on the management side of that equation? Nobody."
"What do we hear from our friends in the business community? Save the Chargers! You know, now, now in San Diego, I can go along with saving the seals, you know, or saving the puppies. But save the multimillion-dollar football players, who are not getting enough money? You see, it’s insane."
"The labor unions come at the City every year, two years, three years, and they stay, there’s no term limits. And they rig the system. I am a liberal Democrat. I represented César Chávez and his union when he died. Okay? I was a UC Berkeley student body president. Okay? I’m not saying this because I’m anti-union. I swear what I’m saying is true. It is absolutely wrong to have the labor unions…controlling the whole process, year in and year out. Jerry Brown is the person who put that system into effect when he was governor. It did not used to be that way in California. It is something that has not worked. The government has been captured by these labor unions. I don’t know if that’s the way it is at the state level, but in San Diego, that’s the way it is. And they have used their power to strangle the ability of government to provide simple services. Last year we spent $15 million on our Qualcomm football stadium so the Chargers could make $70 (million), and $2 million maintaining all the streets and roads in San Diego. Two million dollars!"
When a guy like Aguirre shows up at the conservative, libertarian-leaning Adam Smith of California last year and gets a standing ovation, it’s not because he’s a liberal Democrat, it’s because he’s viewed as one of the few willing to stand up and have the guts to take on those that got the City into the mess in the first place, even if the council majority was (and is) controlled by his own party.
Am I a Mike Aguirre fan? I’m sure some will construe this post in that regard.
What I am is a realist. Faults or not — and Mike has some biggies — the voting public, including many Republicans, perceive him as a chief instrument of change…along with Mayor Jerry Sanders. Many have read of the Aguirre negatives and look past them, caring even less about the real role of the city attorney’s office and whether Mike is overstepping his bounds.
Political reality — if not Mike fandom — tells me that a GOP which has supported mayoral and council candidates on a platform of reform is going to have a heck of a time running a campaign against a reformer.
Republicans should focus resources on additional City Council seats.
Here’s a link to the full Aguirre speech, which the Reader entitles "Tail Wags Dead Dog."
Florida Gov. Crist Endorses Anderson Divestment Bill, sort of… On Thursday, Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s AB 221, which would divest CalPERS and CalSTRS of financial interests in 
businesses with ties to Iran, unanimously passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee. On it’s way to the floor, Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorsed the legislation.
Well, ok, technically, Crist indicated his support for a bill that would divest Florida of its holdings in Iran-tied businesses, while further saying he is sending a letter to the nation’s 49 other governors asking them to consider similar actions in their states. Since one of the letters is going to Arnold, it’s pretty much de facto support for the California legislation…isn’t it?
At any rate, here’s a link to the Miami Herald story online, including the full text of the letter to all of Crist’s peers.
Have a great week!