Endorsement: Will Moore for San Diego City Council, District 1

Will Moore, a candidate for San Diego City Council in District 1.

By The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board

Feb. 3, 2020 2:29 PM PT

Joe LaCava and Will Moore — two of eight candidates who want to succeed Barbara Bry in the north coastal District 1 San Diego City Council race — are the clear standouts in a crowded field.

It’s high praise as theirs is the largest field in five open, competitive City Council races on the March ballot. It’s also crucial because qualifications are as important as ever at City Hall. By December, the nine-member council will have just one person with more than two years in office. Joining that senior member, there will be three council members with two years’ service as elected officials, five new council members, a new mayor and perhaps a new city attorney, making experience and expertise vital.

LaCava, a civil engineer, and Moore, a small business attorney, plainly deserve the two spots in the November runoff election in District 1, based on their achievements, background, character and demeanor. LaCava has lived in Bird Rock for 35 years and served on nearly 30 boards and committees. Moore has lived in Carmel Valley for 15 years. His community service includes being an officer of the Rotary Club of La Jolla Golden Triangle.

On policy, though, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board prefers Moore. Reasonable people — including some on our board — may disagree on some issues, but we generally found his positions to be more nuanced and to signal a greater ability to listen to all views and work toward compromise.

While LaCava wants to “shut down” short-term vacation rentals, Moore said they should be scaled back to a person’s primary residence and a carveout should be applied to Mission Beach. While LaCava wants a citywide moratorium on electric scooters, Moore said that goes too far. And while LaCava said the possibility of revising the California Environmental Quality Act is “kind of a non-starter,” Moore said, “Ultimately we’re going to have to do CEQA reform,” because the law can inhibit construction.

Moore also takes a more holistic view of the police department, which some critics accuse of racial profiling because of traffic stop data showing black drivers have been stopped and searched more than any other race in recent years. LaCava said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit “came in on a good note,” but that shaken confidence, especially in communities of color, “kind of makes me wonder.” Moore said discussion of the chief should include the data point that San Diego is the safest big city in American history as the city and nation are at near-historically low crime levels. Yet Moore also said, “We have communities in this town that don’t have the level of trust that you need to call the police and have the law enforced,” showing that he takes criticism seriously and that something must change.

Lastly, LaCava didn’t just oppose Senate Bill 50, the needed but now-dead legislation that would have allowed higher-density housing near transit and job centers and fourplexes across much of the state where there is now only single-family zoning. He said there “isn’t any kind of change [to it] that I would’ve supported.” Moore, on the other hand, called the bill “a strategic mistake” but said of its most controversial component, “I think there probably will have to be some amount of intervention from the state to help us out, to smooth out the processes.” Moore seemed more reasonable.

We believe he has the right approach for a rough moment in San Diego when there is a serious housing shortage, rents are ridiculously high and too many people are homeless. Moore said this fraught moment requires “aggressiveness and seriousness and a break from the way we’ve traditionally done things in the city.” We couldn’t agree more.

We hope both advance, but we give Moore the edge over LaCava in City Council, District 1.

See all of our endorsements.