By Nora Vargas Staff and Wire Reports
Tuesday is the deadline to cast ballots in the special election to fill the District 1 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors necessitated by Nora Vargas鈥 late-December announcement that she would not serve her second term, despite winning re-election in November.
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann topped the field of seven candidates in the April 8 primary, drawing 43.58% of the vote. Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre earned the other spot in the runoff by finishing second with 31.62%.
District 1 consists of three cities 鈥 Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City 鈥 15 neighborhoods in San Diego, including East Village, Mountain View and San Ysidro, and six unincorporated communities, including Bonita, East Otay Mesa and a portion of Spring Valley.
Aguirre is a Democrat and McCann is a Republican. The Board of Supervisors is technically a nonpartisan governing body, like all local government boards in California.
The current makeup is split between two Democrats 鈥 Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe 鈥 and two Republicans, Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond.
Aguirre told City News Service she is 鈥渞unning to bring change to county government, to fight on the side of working people and start getting results we all need 鈥 fixing the sewage crisis, lowering energy rates and fighting crime in every community.鈥
Born in San Francisco, Aguirre has called Southern California home since 2001 and has been Imperial Beach鈥檚 mayor since December 2022.
She has been outspoken on the U.S.-Mexico border sewage pollution problem, which has led to closed beaches, along with causing serious health issues for some residents.
Aguirre said she鈥檒l 鈥済et the county off the sidelines鈥 by funding infrastructure, demanding Superfund designation from the Environmental Protection Agency and 鈥渢reating this as the public health emergency it is.鈥
McCann, a Navy veteran and Chula Vista native first elected as that city鈥檚 mayor in 2022, said on his website that Chula Vista鈥檚 wildfire response has 鈥渄emonstrated his ability to protect residents in times of crisis.鈥
McCann鈥檚 platform includes increased funding for law enforcement, and 鈥渇ighting to lower the cost of living by cutting government waste, opposing unnecessary tax hikes, and blocking burdensome policies like the mileage tax and (San Diego Association of Governments) tax.鈥
In response to the border sewage problem, McCann said he has 鈥渂een actively working with local, state and federal officials to secure funding for infrastructure improvements, hold responsible parties accountable and push for long-term solutions to stop the flow of toxic waste into our waters.鈥
Active registered voters in District 1 have until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when the polls close, to cast their ballots. Ballots went out the week of June 2, and voters have been mailing them in or leaving them in county drop boxes since then.
Currently, seven voting centers are open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, 13 voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, go to sdvote.com or call (858) 565-5800 or toll free at (800) 696-0136.
City News Service contributed to this article.