In 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board gave San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer a D- to express our general disappointment. We’ll grade him a final time when he leaves office in December, but his potential successors aren’t waiting that long.

In separate interviews, we asked four mayoral hopefuls to grade the mayor. Their responses were telling, both in the grades that they gave and in the ways that they answered. Democratic Councilwoman Barbara Bry demurred and declined at first, and asked if we had asked other challengers the same question. When we said we had, she said she’s “very disappointed” in Faulconer, especially how he initially chose secret meetings with the SoccerCity developers over a more public process to discuss the future of the former Chargers stadium site in Mission Valley. Democratic Assemblyman Todd Gloria said there’s things that “undoubtedly deserve an F” and that the Faulconer adminstration’s handling of a deadly hepatitis A outbreak “is worthy of a G.” He also said he’s reluctant to criticize Faulconer too much because “leading a major American city is going to invite criticism.” Councilman Scott Sherman, whom the mayor has endorsed, gave his fellow Republican a C+ because he’s done well in some areas but “hasn’t been aggressive enough” in others. Democratic community activist Tasha Williamson gave him a “negative F ... because he’s all mouth ... a mouthpiece ... and has not been courageous.”

Their answers speak to their campaign strategies and leadership styles ahead of a March 3 primary election in which the top two vote-getters will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff election. Bry is cautious and deliberate, focused on a message of greater transparency. Gloria is quick with informed answers and quips alike, and judicious as well. Sherman tries to tell it like it is but doesn’t get into a lot of specifics. Williamson holds nothing back. She thinks San Diegans are being played by people in government.

Faulconer will second-guess the grades he gets, but here’s what’s certain: The city of San Diego is at a crossroads and the next mayor will need to be a stronger, more decisive leader from day one than Faulconer was. Housing costs are higher than ever. Homelessness remains a huge problem. No one has any clue how to handle the proliferation of short-term vacation rentals. The city’s vaunted Climate Action Plan has to be revisited to ensure the many ways it promises to meet its clean-energy goals are realistic. Then there’s this balancing act: Other city unions want the raises the police received in 2017, but the city faces several years of budget shortfalls.


Into this mess come Bry, Gloria, Sherman and Williamson. Bry is running to change a culture of secrecy at City Hall. Gloria is running so the San Diego story that allowed his mother — a hotel maid — and his father — a gardener — to work hard and afford a home doesn’t end with their generation. Sherman is running to talk about important issues “in a different light” and because others asked him to jump in at the filing deadline so the Republicans could field a candidate. Williamson is running because no other candidate looks like her or speaks forcefully to women of color and people in poverty.

So who should be mayor? And who shouldn’t?

Williamson has the energy and passion to lead. Her complaints about the San Diego Police Department have turned a spotlight on how officers do their jobs and the need for community policing. She’s a firebrand. But that also cuts against her. We wonder if she has too much of a learning curve to move the levers of government as quickly and efficiently as they must move in 2021 and beyond.

Sherman could be a counterbalance to a largely Democratic City Council, the kind of GOP mayor San Diegans have elected before. His approach to building — less regulation and less taxpayer-subsidized housing — is honed, but his campaign isn’t. For years, he’s famously used a chalkboard on his desk to count down the days until he’s gone from City Hall. It’s fair to wonder about his commitment.


In our view, Bry and Gloria have the best handle on the city’s complex issues, the best vision for a better San Diego and the best leadership potential.

Bry’s call for open government will resonate with voters frustrated by secret meetings and questionable real estate deals (namely 101 Ash Street and 1401 Imperial Avenue). Her call for a new City Hall? Not so much. Ultimately, for us, her list of accomplishments couldn’t match Gloria’s, and her inability to win lasting support for her short-term vacation rental policy makes us wonder whether she can be a coalition builder to move her agenda forward.

Gloria’s achievements, background, character, demeanor, experience, passion and proven ability to lead give him a clear edge in our view. Plus he’s already shown he can do the job. He was the city’s interim mayor for eight months and in that span helped develop the city’s ambitious Climate Action Plan. As a two-term councilman, he oversaw the city’s Budget Committee for six years, some of them during the recession. Should another recession come, he seems best poised to help the city navigate it. Even when we disagree with Gloria, such as on the controversial Senate Bill 50, which would have allowed greater housing density and more construction across California, he expresses his position so well and thoroughly, while also acknowledging the other side’s concerns, that his ability to grasp and explain complex issues — and defend difficult decisions — elevates his candidacy above the others.

We endorse Todd Gloria for mayor of San Diego.


See all of our endorsements.

Read our candidate interviews below.