Two candidates, one seat McCann is a lifelong resident of Chula Vista. He often credits his success to his mother, whom he described as a strong, single mother who worked at the former Rohr Aircraft Corp. in the city’s west region. He is an Iraq War veteran and has more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He earned a master’s degree in economics from San Diego State University.
Voters have elected him six times over the past two decades, including for the Sweetwater Union High School District board, City Council and mayor. He has served on multiple boards and commissions, including the San Diego Association of Governments, the Metropolitan Transit System and San Diego Community Power.
The father of four owns property management businesses, McCann Family Properties in Chula Vista and Coronado Shores Co. Inc. in Coronado. Both are valued at more than $1 million, according to filings of his economic interests.
Aguirre was born in San Francisco and raised in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She returned to the U.S. to further her education and love of surfing. She became the first in her family to graduate from college, later earning a master’s degree in marine biodiversity and conservation from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her love for the ocean shaped much of what she would go on to do. Aguirre worked for the environmental nonprofit Wildcoast and the International Community Foundation. In 2016, she also worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker in Washington, D.C., as a Sea Grant Knauss fellow with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, focusing on drafting and passing legislation aimed at reducing waste in oceans. She first joined the City Council in 2018, later being elected Imperial Beach’s first Latina mayor. She also serves on the California Coastal Commission.
Their priorities and voting record Both candidates said their records prove they’re the best fit for the Board of Supervisors, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Aguirre, a Democrat, said she has the vigor to fight for the working class and tackle their most pressing needs, which include being able to pay their rent or having more affordable housing options.
In the virtually built-out Imperial Beach, she and her council colleagues have had to get creative to meet their state-mandated housing quota – more than 1,300 units by 2029. The city, like several others across the county, is behind. But projects are getting approved. City leaders have greenlit developments that set aside dozens of units for low-income residents and seniors.
Other housing projects will bring a community center, commercial space and a public park to an area that has never had one, and incentives, such as giving tenants electric bicycles and rent reductions if they forgo a car. These projects have not gone without pushback. Several critics have argued that Aguirre’s promotion of high-density, low-income housing is changing the character of the small, coastal community and impacting property values.
Aguirre voted for controversial tenant protections against no-fault evictions, after several residents testified that they had been served with eviction notices and feared becoming homeless. The ordinance, which went into effect last month, was criticized by some landlords as going too far and by some tenant advocates as not strong enough.
Following the bleak pandemic years, Aguirre also pushed for the return of community events, but worsening sewage pollution has hampered some efforts to revive Imperial Beach as a tourist destination. That’s why Aguirre has made it her cornerstone issue. Aguirre has spent much of her professional and political careers seeking fixes to plug Tijuana’s leaky sewage system, which has plagued South County communities for decades. She’s worked with officials across all levels of government to raise national awareness about the issue and secure resources.
Last year alone, Congress approved investing an additional $250 million toward wastewater infrastructure fixes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed residents about their ailments related to pollution exposure.
“We have never had as much progress as we’ve had on the sewage front as we had in the last two years, and it’s been a collective effort, but it’s because we’ve been relentless and fearless in our approach,” Aguirre said, adding that as supervisor, she will ramp up pressure on environmental agencies.
McCann, a Republican, said he will prioritize public safety for District 1 as he has done for Chula Vista. Throughout his time on the City Council, he has championed hiring more police officers and has secured raises for them. The most recent effort came in February, when he voted for a spending plan to add six new officers, a police captain, overtime pay and purchase much-needed equipment.
He supports building a police substation in Chula Vista’s east region, an effort the city is now exploring. As a council member, McCann supported temporarily shutting down the beloved, but troubled Harborside Park after it was overrun with illegal homeless encampments. But when the closure was extended, McCann successfully pushed for its reopening with security measures.
Chula Vista had also adopted one of the strictest homeless encampment bans in the county. He and his council colleagues confronted months of criticism for limiting where homeless people could stay without first having sufficient local shelter beds. But McCann said the city has made progress in the last few years: opening a bridge shelter, which individuals are allowed to enter by referral only, and purchasing a motel the city plans to convert into homeless housing.
Chula Vista has unsuccessfully lobbied to attract a full-service university for decades. A plan to bring SDSU’s film department to Chula Vista tanked during McCann’s first year as mayor. But late last year, officials approved a new deal: SDSU will offer nursing courses at a soon-to-open new library complex and a nascent film production company is tasked with building a media hub and virtual production studios.
As leaders of neighboring cities, the mayors have worked together on several issues, including sharing animal control services and jointly advocating to end the sewage crisis. But with less than three months until the runoff, the dynamics are likely to change.
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