San Diego, CA

Coronado Council Race Turns Bitter as City Politics Shift Left

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2024

Coronado Council Race Turns Bitter as City Politics Shift Left

The city of Coronado, a carefully tended enclave of Americana tucked between naval bases at the northern tip of San Diego Bay, is so beloved by residents, one is running for city council on a platform of keeping the town exactly as it is.

“My motivation for running for city council is to maintain Coronado as that little slice of paradise for future generations to enjoy,” council candidate Mark Fleming wrote on his campaign website.

But Coronado is changing anyway. And one major change—a rapid rise in the number of registered Democrats—has raised the stakes in local politics and ushered in a new era of partisanship and sharp-elbowed campaigning.

The latest example: Earlier this month, Christine Mott, a Democratic city council candidate, filed complaints with the county district attorney and the state Fair Political Practices Commission alleging that Republican Mayor Richard Bailey was unfairly—and illegally—maligning her and a fellow Democratic candidate in an election recommendation email designed to look like an official government document. 

The complaints come amid a campaign marked by back-and-forth attacks in local news publications, accusations of underhanded tactics unbecoming of a proudly patriotic city and complaints of partisan bias in local community groups on social media.

“This campaign cycle has been less friendly than recent campaigns,” said Fleming, a first-time city council candidate whose campaign centers on his promise to maintain Coronado “as that little slice of paradise.”

“Frankly, I’ve been a target of some of it myself,” Fleming said. “There’s a lot of partisan politics that has weighed into our local community.”

A decade ago, voter registration in Coronado was roughly two to one in favor of Republicans. Since then, the number of Republicans has declined and Democrats have almost pulled even.

Control of both the mayor’s office and the city council is at stake. Both parties have endorsed candidates, and several issues—especially affordable housing, the environment and support for local schools—have become the subject of intense debate.

Mott’s FPPC complaint stems from an Oct. 6 email sent by Bailey to recipients of his newsletter. The email, headlined “Mayor Bailey’s Election Recommendations,” includes endorsements in local and statewide races, along with a red-letter “City Council Warning” urging readers not to vote for Mott or fellow Democrat Laura Wilkinson Sinton.

The email slams Mott for being politically inexperienced and “profiting off the backs of Coronado taxpayers,” a reference to a lawsuit Mott helped to file last year that stopped the city from chopping down five pine trees near a lawn bowling court.

The email calls Wilkinson “off-putting,” ignorant about important local issues and dishonest about her leadership role in local nonprofits and her work as a cannabis entrepreneur.

At the top of the email is a letterhead image that features an image of a crown surrounded by the words “51st Mayor Coronado CA.”

Mott’s complaint claims that the letterhead image, which resembles the city seal of Coronado, illegally misleads voters by giving them the impression that Bailey’s personal election preferences are endorsed by the city government.

“Your average Joe who receives this email might think this is a legitimate email from the city endorsing three Republican candidates and trashing and defaming two female Democratic candidates,” Mott said. “These are the kind of terrible political tricks Laura and I are dealing with.”

Bailey called Mott’s accusation “frivolous.” He said he created the letterhead image years ago using a free online graphics app called Canva. “Every elected official at local, state and federal office endorses candidates, and this is no different,” he said. “I suspect they’re upset I shared their record and experience with voters.” 

Bailey said it is Democrats, not Republicans, who are lowering the tone of Coronado’s election. “When they can’t campaign on their record or experience, they tend to resort to silly accusations,” he said.

Republicans in the race pointed to recent Democratic attempts to tie them to a controversial San Diego megachurch that drew protesters when it started a satellite congregation in Coronado earlier this year.

A political organization affiliated with the church recently issued a guide to voters that includes endorsements of several Republican candidates in Coronado races. Left-leaning contributors to local social media groups were quick to trumpet the guide as evidence of right-wing extremism in local Republican politics. “The administrators on those Facebook sites jumped right on that,” Fleming said.

All four endorsed candidates told local news organizations they never sought the church’s endorsement and weren’t contacted by its representatives. Several condemned the church’s message and asked it to withdraw its support.

Republicans also complained that Democratic candidates are allowed to comment freely on local social media groups and even post advertisements, while Republicans are sometimes blocked or face insulting backlash from commenters.

Democrats countered that Republicans have used deceptive online tactics such as a recent so-called “push poll” that asked participants in a local social media group their opinions about local races using questions that were worded to favor Republicans and provide unflattering information about their rivals.

“We have found ourselves time and time again facing attacks from conservative groups and their many-armed octopus branches,” Mott said. “I’m running to bring respect and dignity back to Coronado.”

Thad Kousser, a political scientist at University of California, San Diego, said elections often become more partisan, intense and bitter when communities experience rapid change, including changes in political preference. “When the stakes for control for a city get high, both sides get motivated and mobilized,” he said.

Kousser said Coronado is the last remaining majority-Republican city in coastal San Diego County. Like many affluent coastal constituencies, it began trending blue following the election of Donald Trump. “Trump’s elevation as the voice of the Republican party really flipped many moderate voters,” he said.

If current trends continue, Kousser said Coronado could become majority Democratic in just a few years. “It’s part of the long-term trend that we’ve seen in California,” he said.

Whatever the electoral future holds, it’s not inevitable that Coronado will split along partisan lines. For all their rancor toward one another, candidates in this year’s officially non-partisan election mostly agree on key issues. All vow to tackle the Tijuana River sewage crisis, shore up the city’s stormwater infrastructure and seek a balance between growth and preserving the city’s small-town character.

Candidates in both parties also pointed to Coronado’s longstanding ties to the military as an inspiration to keep the tone civil.

“This is a Navy town. Honor matters,” Wilkinson Sinton said.

“Coronado is a very special place,” Fleming said. “You can’t go many places in the U.S. where you feel the level of patriotism you see in Coronado. It crosses party lines.”

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San Diego, CA

One killed in fiery three-vehicle crash on 805 freeway in San Diego

Published

11 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

One killed in fiery three-vehicle crash on 805 freeway in San Diego

A person was killed Sunday in a fiery three-vehicle crash on the Jacob Dekema (805) Freeway in San Diego, authorities said.

The crash occurred at 4:22 a.m. Sunday on the northbound freeway south of Miramar Road, the California Highway Patrol reported.

At least one vehicle struck the center divider and caught fire, the CHP said.

The numbers one through five lanes of the northbound freeway were closed at 6:01 a.m. for an unknown duration.

No further information was immediately available.

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San Diego, CA

Veterans weigh in on U.S. involvement in Iran

Published

23 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Veterans weigh in on U.S. involvement in Iran

“It seems pointless. They change the reason for aggression against Iran daily,” Army Veteran, Forest Gray said.

Gray was among dozens of protestors who gathered at Memorial Community Park in Logan Heights Saturday calling for an end to the war in Iran.

Seeing the conflict play out is personal for him. Gray served eight years in the front lines in the Middle East.

“I fought in Iraq and you know, everyone wears the uniform, and gets deployed, we kind of expect and accept that we have to put our lives on the line, but ideally it should be a sense for a greater good. I don’t see what greater good there is here,” Gray said.

Gray is not alone.

Jonathan Chavez who served in the U.S. Marine Corps at Miramar Base in San Diego also disagrees with the U.S. involvement in Iran.

“No one wants these wars, no one has asked for these wars. Public opinion in this country is also very clear, the vast majority of Americans do not support these conflicts,” Chavez said.

Some Iranian Americans took a different stance last week, as hundreds took the streets of Clairemont.

“It was a feeling of euphoria knowing that my people are free, knowing that a dictator that has ruled Iran with iron fists for well over 37 years, has been killed, has been pushed out of the power and we can have a democratic Iran,” Bobby Shah told NBC 7.

Despite the sentiment, Saturday’s protest was hosted by an organization opposed to war in the Middle East.

They used signs and chants to make their stance clear: Stop the War in Iran.

Watching from a distance we found Marine Corps Veteran Chris Mondestin.

Even though he was not part of the protest, he also opposes the war saying the conflict should stay between Iran and Israel and the U.S. should stay out of it.

“It’s real scary. It’s real scary because I know there’s a lot of people that are truly against this war, but they don’t have much of a voice. That’s why I was kind of happy to see this, because we do have a voice. We just got to speak loud,” Mondestin said.

He also worries about the effects the war could have on the country’s safety, economy, and relationship with countries in the Middle East.

According to Iranian Diaspora Dashboard from UCLA’s Center of Near Eastern Studies, about 600,000 Iranians live in the U.S. and about half of them are in California.

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San Diego, CA

San Diego’s ‘nude’ beach going strong nearly 50 years after it was outlawed

Published

1 day ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

San Diego’s ‘nude’ beach going strong nearly 50 years after it was outlawed

Nearly 50 years ago, the city of San Diego put an end to the nation’s first municipally recognized “clothing-optional” beach, banning nudity on a 900-foot strip of shoreline at Black’s Beach.

But today, beachgoers continue to stroll, sunbathe and frolic buck naked on that stretch of sand, in defiance of the law.

I can attest to this illegal behavior, having witnessed it myself. Let me explain.

During a recent visit to San Diego with my girlfriend, we came upon Black’s Beach at the base of 300-foot cliffs below the Torrey Pines Glider Port. No sign at the parking lot alerted us to the beach’s history. As we set down our beach chairs, we spotted two fellow beachgoers strolling by, sans bathing suits. And then a couple more lounging in their birthday suits. And then a few more.

“Didn’t you research this beach before we came?” my chagrined girlfriend asked.

Cue me, looking befuddled. Had I done my due diligence, this is what I would have learned.

The counterculture days

It was the 1970s in San Diego. Antiwar protesters marched in the streets. The Earth movement and the hippy-themed musical “Hair” were all the rage. “Nature freaks” roamed the city, said Carol Olten, a historian for the La Jolla Historical Society.

Amid the counterculture vibe, the San Diego City Council voted in 1974 to create what is believed to be the nation’s first “clothing-optional” beach. Secluded at the base of 300-foot cliffs and hard to access, Black’s Beach was the prime spot for it.

But a first-anniversary party at the beach — attracting more than 15,000 nude and semi-nude folks, playing volleyball, tug-of-war and wandering beyond the designated 900-foot boundaries — sparked opposition, primarily from wealthy homeowners on the bluffs above, who complained of drug use, sexual deviates and smoking. (No such problems existed, according to newspaper coverage and lifeguards at the time.)

Following a citywide advisory vote that favored banning nudity, the San Diego City Council ended the “clothing-optional” zone. Fines began at $15.

Who was Black’s Beach named for

William H. Black, a “rich guy” who made his money from oil in Texas, bought about 250 acres on the bluffs above the beach, according to Olten. “His two main interests were thoroughbreds and fancy cars,” she added.

Maddie Jarrell, left, from Carmel Valley, and Blake McDevitt, right, from Cardiff, walk up the path from Black’s Beach in La Jolla in October 2019.

(Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Enforcement of the nudity ban

California is home to 32 nude beaches, according to Californiabeaches.com. The website notes that public nudity is banned across the state, but enforcement is mostly limited to state beaches. Black’s Beach, which is on city land, borders Torrey Pines State Beach. Neither San Diego police nor state park rangers would disclose how often they patrol or cite nudists at Black Beach, but locals say it is very rare. Even the city’s tourism agency mocks the enforcement of the nudity ban, saying on its website that “the only real deterrent” to going nude at Black’s Beach is “the hike to get there.”

Running from the law

Enforcement of the nudity ban has never been a high priority, but in March 1994 police rushed onto the beach in force, with a helicopter buzzing overhead. A suspected car thief had scaled down the cliffs, with police in hot pursuit, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. To lose his pursuers, the thief shed his clothes to blend in among the nude sunbathers. When that didn’t work, he tried to swim away but was caught shivering in the surf.

“We arrested him naked,” a police spokesman said.

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