San Diego, CA
PERSPECTIVE: Browning Used Brown Voice to Mock Vargas
By Arturo Castañares
Publisher
A rowdy rally organized by labor leaders outside of the San Diego County Administration Building on Tuesday morning meant to garner support for the appointment of their preferred candidate to become the County’s new Chief Administrative Officer turned into a harsh attack on Board Chairwoman Nora Vargas using Spanish slang words that seemed more like crass cultural (mis)appropriation and not-too-subtle racism.
Among the rally speakers was Brigette Browning, the head of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, a group of 135 local unions representing a combined 200,000 workers.
Browning, who is a White, non-Hispanic woman, began her comments with a greeting in Spanish to the group that included many Hispanic workers, but then she used two slang comments that were used to demean Vargas, the first Hispanic to ever serve on the County Board of Supervisors.
“Buenos dias, so, I want to talk about our Chair, the Chingona,” Browning said mockingly to open her remarks in front of a large group of union workers.
Vargas has a wooden plaque that hangs over her County office door that defines “Chingona” as a woman who is “intelligent, fearless, and can get things done.”
The plaque also includes “Boss” or “Badass” in the definition.
Ironically, the plaque was a gift from one of Vargas’ friends from their membership in HOPE; Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, a nonprofit nonpartisan group dedicated to ensuring political and economic parity for Latinas.
Surely they meant that as a term of endearment and empowerment.
But Browning used the slang term in a derogatory and mocking way toward Vargas.
“[Vargas] says she’s here for workers, but she’s making backroom deals with [Supervisors] Desmond and Anderson, and that doesn’t sound like someone who’s supporting workers to me,” Browning added in an increasingly casual tone with a hint of an accent which isn’t part of her usual speech style —a form of “brown voice” where non-Spanish speakers mimic or use mock accents, à la Taco Bell’s commercials with the infamous talking Chihuahua with it’s cringy “Yo quiero Taco Bell!
Browning then criticized Vargas for announcing that San Jose labor leader Cindy Chavez would not be interviewed for the CAO position after La Prensa San Diego discovered and reported that she was the favored —but arguably unqualified— candidate last year as Nathan Fletcher was resigning from the Board amid a sexual assault and retaliation lawsuit.
Chavez, who is finishing her second term on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, previously served two terms on the San Jose City Council and lost her bid for San Jose Mayor in 2022 but has never held an administrative position of the scope of managing the County’s 20,000 employees and its $8 billion annual budget.
Previously, Chavez served as the leader of the Bay Area’s Labor Council, a group representing 90 unions and over 100,000 union members in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, and is a close ally of both former Assemblywoman and now statewide labor leader Lorena Gonzalez and her husband, former County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
“You know, Cindy Chavez had my job, she was the head of the Labor Council, and she is a fierce woman who would do anything for workers,” Browning added, giving the impression Chavez preceded her here in San Diego when in fact she had a similar position in the Bay Area.
Browning went on to call the Board’s decision to remove Chavez from consideration for an interview for the position as “some bullshit.”
Then Browning said she wanted to start a chant among the group.
“No mames, Nora!” Browning started chanting to the group. “No mames, Nora,” she repeated with the group repeating it, too.
“You’re not a Chingona for us, sister,” Browning said to close her remarks.
For non-Spanish speakers, “mames” is a conjugation of the Spanish verb “mamar” which literally means to suckle or breastfeed.
The term “no mames” is very crass slang used contextually in both positive and negative ways and roughly translates to “you have to be kidding me”, “no way”, “stop messing with me”, or even “screw you” and, in the worst context, can refer to performing oral sex, depending on the setting.
The way Browning used the term to attack Vargas was not only vulgar and unprofessional, but it was weaponized to demean Vargas, a native Spanish speaker who grew up both in San Diego and Tijuana.
Browning, who graduated from the private Catholic University of San Diego High School (now Cathedral High School near Del Mar) and UC San Diego in La Jolla, lives in a 114-year-old historic Victorian home in Chula Vista originally built by wealthy banker and civic leader Greg Rogers in 1910. Rogers served on the City’s first City Council after Chula Vista was incorporated in 1911.
And Browning’s husband, Daniel Rottenstreich, is one of the busiest—if not the most connected— political consultants in the region, running the campaigns of County District Attorney Summer Stephan, SD City Attorney Mara Elliott, and even an independent expenditure campaign for Todd Gloria’s 2020 election, to name a few.
Browning has come under fire —mostly by La Prensa San Diego— for having had a conflict of interest when she testified before the San Diego City Council in support of the Midway Rising development team that was selected by Mayor Gloria to rebuild the Sports Arena site into a $2 billion mixed-use project.
The Midway Rising team had already paid Rottenstreich more than $200,000 before Browning used her labor union clout to push for selecting the developer who had enriched her and her husband without properly disclosing their mutual conflicts.
By the way —and probably not coincidentally— Rottenstreich was also the consultant who ran the campaign which Midway Rising owner Brad Termini gave $100,000 to for Gloria’s 2020 election before being selected for the multi-billion dollar project.
This is a well-connected, wealthy White woman who called a Latina a “Chingona” before taunting her with a chorus of “No mames!”
So is this an isolated case of Browning attacking a rising Latina leader?
Nope. In fact, she went after two Latinas in the same week.
Browning has been making calls to City Councilmembers in National City to get three votes to dump Port Commission Sandy Naranjo who has been battling with the Port since last fall when her colleagues concocted reasons to censure Naranjo just before she was to become Chair of the Port’s Board.
Naranjo has defended her actions as simply asking tough questions about the Port’s in-house lawyer who maintains a law practice and business interests outside of his official Port duties.
Browning and Naranjo, who have known each other for years, got sideways three years ago after Naranjo met with Browning to tell her she would be creating a consulting firm to help teach people how to organize community support after having worked as a union organizer herself for years.
Naranjo claims that Browning turned against her and has been behind a move to oust the Commissioner before her term is up in December.
We know Browning contacted National City Mayor Ron Morrison to seek his support for ousting Naranjo, but if three or more members of the City Council agreed through Browning to take an action, that could be a violation of the state’s Brown Act which bars a majority of a public body from agreeing beforehand to take an official action at a future public meeting.
The agenda for next Tuesday’s City Council meeting in National City now includes an action item to review Naranjo’s term on the Port. Browning seems to have succeeded in getting three votes to do as she commands.
That’s two Latina leaders who both grew up in the South Bay under attack by the same White labor leader at the same time. Coincidence?
Browning has become the most powerful union leader in San Diego. She holds the job that was previously held by Lorena Gonzalez, who went on to serve in the State Assembly before becoming the leader of the California Labor Federation in 2021.
Her use of Spanish slang to demean and attack Nora Vargas is wrong, offensive, and uncouth.
Even if the attack had come from a Latina it would have seemed inappropriate in the context of the public discourse about serious public business. It would have looked petty and boorish.
But coming from an entitled professional White woman who is non-native Spanish speaker, the words she used were offensive and demeaning when leveled against a Latina.
If Browning had invoked language traditionally used by the Black community to attack a Black elected official she would have been called out immediately.
There should not be a lower standard when dealing with Latinos. We are not Piñatas to take swings at for entertainment.
This was wrong. It should never have happened. Period.
As the oldest Hispanic news outlet in San Diego, we believe Brigette Browning owes Nora Vargas —and the entire Latino community— a sincere apology and we should all remember to disagree, not only without being disagreeable, but without resorting to base personal and cultural attacks on our community.
Watch video from the rally starting at 14:40 and you decide:
San Diego, CA
The gun violence that has taken place in the last two days is prompting San Diego community members to take action.
As local members of the Jewish community celebrated the first day of Hanukkah, they joined in solidarity with those impacted by the tragedy in Australia.
Meanwhile, other members of the community honored the lives lost to gun violence.
Despite the somber and tragic events that have unfolded in the last two days, the community is holding strong.
San Diegans are choosing to focus on the light rather than the darkness.
“Our job is not just to spread light with words, but with actions,” Rabbi Yossi Tiefenbrun, Director of Chabad of Pacific Beach said.
As members of the Jewish community gathered at Liberty Station Sunday night to kick off the first day of Hannukah by the lighting of the menorah, their hearts are with their brothers and sisters in Bondi, Australia, where two attackers killed at least 15 people in a shooting during the Jewish holiday celebration.
“Personally, it’s been a very difficult day. The Rabbi in the city of Australia was a classmate of mine. We grew up together in London, England. So waking up to that kind of news was devastating,” Rabbi Yossi Tiefenbrun said.
The tragedy in Australia comes just hours after a gunman opened fire at Brown University, killing two and injuring at least nine others.
“For every shooting, for every death, there’s a family behind that. There are friends, there are loved ones,” Carol Landale said.
Sunday also marks 13 years since a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, killing 20-first graders and 6 staff members.
“When will this stop… When will the powers of this world say enough?” Rev. Penny Bridges, Dean, St. Paul Cathedral said.
The annual vigil of remembrance for the victims of gun violence was held Sunday night at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
“In this festive time of advent and festive season of Hanukkah, we call on our loving and living God to bring peace to our world, to end the evil of Gun violence,” Rev. Penny Bridges said.
With violence erupting on the first day of Hanukkah, the head of security for the Jewish Federation said they are working with other law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of everyone in the community.
“I think it’s important for everyone to know that there are no articulated threats in our area we just have to be situationally aware,” Bill Ganley, Community Security Director for the Jewish Federation said.
San Diegans are standing strong in solidarity for one another, hoping for a brighter future ahead.
“We will fight with light whenever there is darkness,” Michael Sclar, who attended the menorah lighting said.
In a statement to NBC 7, The American Jewish Committee of San Diego said in part, “Sadly, this is not an isolated incident, and while we are horrified and devastated, we are not surprised…Hanukkah is time for joy and light and this year, we hope others will join us as we light our candles in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community. Because antisemitism is a threat to all of society and if we fail to push back against this evil hatred, everyone is at risk.
PACIFIC BEACH (CNS) – Two San Diego police officers who were on foot in a Pacific Beach intersection were struck tonight by a car operated by a wrong-way driver who was believed intoxicated.
The crash occurred at 8:25 p.m. Saturday in the intersection of Thomas Avenue and Mission Boulevard, San Diego Police Department Officer Anthony Carrosco told City News Service.
The suspect’s Honda Civic was eastbound in westbound lanes when it struck the on-duty officers, Carrosco said. It was unclear what the officers were doing in the roadway.
One officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken by ambulance to a trauma center, he said. The other officer was not injured.
The man driving the Honda was arrested for suspicion of felony DUI, Carrosco said. The man’s name and age were not immediately released.
The intersection was closed for the investigation, he said.
Copyright 2025, City News Service, Inc.
Sez Me …
We should have known better. I’m an idiot for not guessing that making sense out of the College Football Playoffs would be about as pleasurable as getting a colonoscopy with a rusted rake left out in the snow.
As far back as I can remember — and those of us over 50 know this Unsocial Media’s Generation’s memory goes back a week — I’ve been shouting from the rooftops that we must have a college football playoff.
(Although I will admit to not spending much time on rooftops lately, now that TV antennas have gone the way of the carburetor.)
A four-team tournament was a good start, but obviously not large enough. When it went to 12, it appeared to be the ideal number. Those who bitched over not making the final four now were going to get a chance to prove themselves on the field of play.
The big deal today is Notre Dame being left out of the top 12, with James Madison and Tulane getting in because the system allows conference champions. Notre Dame is independent, thus no conference — in football only.
This is a real shame.
As you know, I’m no fan of the Irish. Up to this minute, they’ve been privileged beyond belief. Both ND and Miami finished with 10-2 records, but the Irish lost to the Hurricanes in the opener, and by the time the selection committee made its final list, it took head-to-head into account. Which is the way it should be, when both teams finish with the same records.
Pouting Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, whose school has chosen not to appear in a menial (for them) bowl game, says few schools ever have had a more successful run than ND.
The programs the Irish beat in that 10-game span had an overall record of 55-65. Historic.
Despite all that, ND was one of the few teams that seemed capable of winning the national title. It certainly belonged in over Alabama, but the SEC has special powers.
The Irish will be in it soon enough. I suspect the tournament will balloon to 16 teams. The problem now is that with NIL and rampant portal transferring, we have parity as we’ve never had it before. And that’s not a good thing. It will be much harder for the James Madisons of the world to make it.
But this isn’t basketball. It doesn’t deserve to be in.
The Dukes lost 28-14 to Louisville, their only power conference opponent (and not a good one). And they’re a three-touchdown underdog to Oregon in the tournament. Notre Dame and Oregon would be close.
But that’s just too damn bad. …
Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is the most dour head football coach at any level I’ve seen. You can sit this guy down in front of “Blazing Saddles” and he’s watching “Camille.” …
Curt isn’t winning the national title, but he’s done a helluva job at Bob Knight’s school. Come to think of it, he’s Bob without the chair. …
The Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, who is leaning at the tape as the worst head coach to win a Super Bowl, worked all week with the Philly offense. Jalen Hurts had a 31.2 passer rating vs. the NFL Team That Used To Be Here on Monday night. Smokey Gaines, where are you? That’s 31.2 more than a dead man. …
Daiyan Henley tackling Tony Jefferson after his overtime pick vs. the Eagles was wise. But because it was OT, even if Jefferson had fumbled it away and Philly recovered, the game would have been over. No extra possessions allowed in OT. …
Philip Rivers, 44, who last played football in 2020, should stay as far away from the NFL as humanly possible, perhaps have another child. Alas, he can’t help himself. …
Philip has been signed by the Colts, moving his Hall of Fame eligibility up five more years — which could mean a few more kids. …
But he’s going to play. Probably Sunday. You know that. …
In fact, I’m certain Philip eventually will become the first great-grandfather to play in The League. …
Philip has to be in better shape than Justin Herbert, no? …
Jim Harbaugh is right. Herbert is a superhero. …
Patrick Mahomes is a great quarterback. But he is a lousy quarterback under pressure. Always has been. Except there’s more pressure now. Still, if the Judases give him time to throw Sunday, adios J’s. …
With that offensive line protecting Herbert the way Sarajevo cops guarded Archduke Franz Ferdinand, it remains a wonder the Judases can win a game. But it’s December, when defense matters. …
Told you. Joe Burrow is Andrew Luck waiting to happen. …
The only games the NFL should play on Christmas Day are the ones the athletes and coaches bought for the kids to open. …
Todd Bowles, we know you can cuss. Try coaching better before driving the bus over your players. …
Bill Johnston, for 39 years publicist for the NFL Team That Used To Be Here, and serving for the last nine with the Padres, is retiring. He learned from the best, Rick Smith, a bulldog, and Bill had that attitude as he battled relentlessly beside wife Ramona through her two-decade battle with Huntington’s Disease. One of the finest men I’ve known. …
Sherrone Moore has been fired as Michigan’s football coach because of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Sherrone then lost it and got thrown in stir for stalking and home invasion. Lane Kiffin still has time to change his mind and go to Ann Arbor. …
The Michigan job is near the top. Great history. Unlimited resources. …
USC’s Makai Lemon was the best receiver I saw all year. So he won the Biletnikoff Award. Amazing. Others agreed with me. …
The Padres have signed reliever Daison Acosta. Now there’s one with some teeth. …
The Padres and Diamondbacks will meet in Mexico City April 25 and 26? Why? Plenty of Mexican food here, and Richardson’s in Phoenix is the best Mexican in America. OK, international games are stupid. …
Now in his second year in the Fox booth, Tom Brady is getting better as he tries to earn all of that 10-year, $375 million salary. It’s what happens when Bill Belichick tells him what to say. …
Happens every week. During Steelers-Ravens, the officials screwed the Ravens into Fort McHenry. …
Officials finally got something right. They called 19 accepted penalties on the pathetic Falcons Thursday night vs. the Bucs. Atlanta still won. …
Hey, Bicycle Mayor and His Ham & Eggers: Have you taken a ride south on Kettner toward the I-5 South onramp, featuring the Rick Schloss bump? Hope you have four-wheel drive. What a disgrace. Welcome to San Diego, rental car users. …
Jeff Kent was a good baseball player. I never considered him a Hall of Famer. Still don’t. …
Army-Navy. Fastest game. As though Randy Jones were pitching. …
I was at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which, I believe, makes me eligible for the FIFA Peace Prize. …
How can whistles be that clean?
Two bus drivers, four students hospitalized after school buses crash head-on in Idaho
Illinois Court of Claims goes digital with e-filing and remote hearings
AwardsWatch – Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) Awards: ‘Sinners’ Named Best Picture
Iowa National Guard identifies 2 soldiers killed in ‘ambush’ in Syria
Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs facing rebuild after missing NFL playoffs for first time since 2014
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Video: Rob Reiner and His Wife Are Found Dead in Their Los Angeles Home
Biden officials go silent when asked about Afghan refugee program after guardsmen shooting
South Korea indicts ex-leader Yoon over power plot provoking North
BBC Verify: Videos show impact of mass drone attacks launched by Ukraine and Russia
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Epstein Testimony Nov. 3
-
Alaska1 week agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas1 week agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington6 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Iowa2 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Miami, FL1 week agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World1 week ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
