Todd Gloria
Gloria in 2022
37th Mayor of San Diego
Assumed office
December 10, 2020
Preceded byKevin Faulconer
Acting
August 30, 2013 – March 3, 2014
Preceded byBob Filner
Succeeded byKevin Faulconer
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 78th district
In office
December 5, 2016 – November 30, 2020
Preceded byToni Atkins
Succeeded byChris Ward
President of the San Diego City Council
In office
December 3, 2012 – December 10, 2014
Preceded byTony Young
Succeeded bySherri Lightner
Member of the San Diego City Council
from the 3rd district
In office
December 8, 2008 – December 5, 2016
Preceded byToni Atkins
Succeeded byChris Ward
Personal details
Born
Todd Rex Gloria

(1978-05-10) May 10, 1978
San Diego, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)San Diego, California
EducationUniversity of San Diego (BA)

Todd Rex Gloria (born May 10, 1978)[1][2] is an American politician serving as the 37th and current mayor of San Diego since 2020. As mayor, he is the chief executive officer in the city of San Diego. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Gloria was first elected to public office representing District 3 of the San Diego City Council. He was president of the nine-member council from 2012 through 2014. In his role as council president, Gloria served as interim Mayor of San Diego from the August 2013 resignation of Mayor Bob Filner until the March 2014 inauguration of Mayor Kevin Faulconer.[3] Gloria was then elected to represent California's 78th State Assembly district, which encompasses much of San Diego. While in the Assembly, he served as House Majority Whip.[4] In December 2020 he became the 37th Mayor of San Diego.[5]

Early life

Gloria and his family grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, where he attended Hawthorne Elementary School. In 1989, he was a finalist in then-San Diego mayor Maureen O'Connor's "Mayor for a Day" program.[6] His father was a Production Controller at General Atomics.[7] All four of his grandparents moved to the area because of their involvement with the military. Todd Gloria comes from a Filipino, Dutch, Puerto Rican, and Native American background.[8] He is a member of the Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Gloria completed his college education at the University of San Diego, where he was the student body president.[9]

Career

U.S. Congresswoman Susan Davis had been Gloria's political mentor since they met in 1993, when Gloria was a freshman in high school. Davis was the director of the Aaron Price Fellows Program, a leadership program for high school students that focused on civic education and cross-cultural understanding.[10] Mayor Gloria has spent the majority of his entire professional life serving the public.[1] He began his career at the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency, and proceeded to join the office of Susan Davis as a community representative.[11] In 2002, Gloria became Davis's district director,[10] a position he held until his election to the City Council in 2008.[12] Gloria also served as a San Diego Housing Commissioner from 2005 until 2008. Openly gay, he is also a former chairman of the San Diego LGBT Community Center and was a resident panelist on San Diego's Prostitution Impact Panel.[13]

In 2012, he was elected as the President of the City Council. A year later, after Bob Filner resigned from office, he took office as the interim mayor.[9] He was then elected as a representative of the 78th District of the California State Assembly, and rose to the position of the Majority Whip. He established legislation addressing issues in San Diego such as housing and homelessness, gun violence, and global warming.[14] He was the vice chair of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus.[14]

San Diego City Council

Elections

Council Member Todd Gloria speaking to the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Gloria ran for the District 3 seat on the San Diego City Council vacated by the termed-out Toni Atkins in the 2008 election. He received a plurality of votes in the June 2008 primary, leading to a November run-off election against fellow Democrat Stephen Whitburn, a former journalist, community activist, and ally of then-District 6 Councilmember Donna Frye.[12][13] Gloria defeated Whitburn with 54.3% of the vote.

In the 2012 election, Gloria ran for re-election unopposed and was re-elected in the June primary.[15] As of his second term, District 3 included the neighborhoods of Balboa Park, Bankers Hill/Park West, Downtown San Diego, Golden Hill, Hillcrest, Little Italy, Mission Hills, Normal Heights, North Park, Old Town, and University Heights.[16]

Tenure

Gloria and San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer at a San Diego Comic-Con event in 2014

Gloria was chair of the city's Budget and Finance Committee from 2011 to 2016. Gloria represented San Diego on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Board and SANDAG, where he chaired the transportation committee.[17] As the Council member for District Three, he also took charge in the merger of multiple homelessness organizations in the city of San Diego. By doing so, Gloria aimed to unify San Diego's allocated resources in the fight to end homelessness in the city.In December 2012, at its first meeting after new members took office, Gloria was unanimously elected to serve as Council President, replacing retiring President Tony Young.[18]

On December 10, 2014, the city council voted 4–5 on a motion of whether to reappoint Gloria as council president for the new term, with Sherri Lightner joining the four council Republicans to defeat the measure. The council then voted 7–2 to appoint Lightner as council president, with Gloria and David Alvarez in opposition.[19]

Interim Mayor

Upon the resignation of Mayor Bob Filner on August 30, 2013,[20] Gloria became the interim mayor of San Diego, with limited powers.[21] This made San Diego the second largest city in the United States (after Houston) to have an openly gay mayor at that time.[22][23] He served until March 3, 2014, when mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer was sworn in. While serving as interim mayor, he remained the City Councilmember for District 3 and retained the title of City Council President; however, City Council President Pro Tem Sherri Lightner carried out the duties of the Council President.[24] Gloria was considered a possible candidate to replace Filner but chose not to run.[25]

As interim mayor, Gloria reversed several of Filner's actions. He ordered city police and zoning code officers to resume enforcement actions against medical marijuana,[26] re-hired lobbying firms in Sacramento and Washington that Filner had fired,[27] and ordered public records be made more quickly and easily available to citizens.[28]

Gloria's administration authored and released a draft of the San Diego Climate Action Plan.[29]

California State Assembly

Gloria at Balboa Park's 100th anniversary, 2015.

On April 7, 2015, Gloria announced that he would run in 2016 for the California State Assembly 78th district seat held by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, who was termed out. Gloria was immediately endorsed by Atkins and by Sarah Boot, who had previously announced her own candidacy for Atkins's seat but withdrew upon Gloria's announcement.[30] While running for State Assembly, Gloria promoted the city's climate action plan.[31] On November 8, 2016, Gloria was easily elected over his relatively unknown Republican opponent with the second-highest margin of victory in San Diego County.[32] He was easily re-elected in 2018 with over 70 percent of the vote in both the primary and the general elections.

Shortly after assuming office in 2016, Gloria was chosen by Speaker Anthony Rendon to join Democratic leadership in the Assembly as Assistant Majority Whip.[33] In January 2018, he became Majority Whip.[34]

Mayor of San Diego

Gloria (front left) meets with Vice President Kamala Harris (front right) in 2021

Campaign

Gloria announced his candidacy for mayor of San Diego in 2020 on January 9, 2019. Gloria's campaign focused on issues such as the housing crisis, affordability, public transportation, and climate change.[35][36] Gloria was endorsed by several politicians including Governor Gavin Newsom, former Governor Jerry Brown, and San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott.[37]

On August 20, 2019, Gloria won the San Diego County Democratic Party's endorsement vote, allowing the party to spend money on behalf of his campaign.[38] Gloria received 70% of the votes, exceeding the 60% required to win. Fellow democratic rivals Barbara Bry and Tasha Williamson won 14% and 3% of the votes respectively.[39][40]

In August 2019, Gloria was accused of collecting funds for his 2020 re-election campaign to the State Assembly before filing his intent to run with the state in violation of state law.[41][42] Gloria claimed this was a technical oversight and filed the relevant paperwork the next day.[43]

With the Mayor being a "voter-nominated" office in San Diego, Gloria and Bry advanced to the general election as the top two vote getters from the primary.[44] He was then elected mayor in the November 3 election, making him the first Native American and Filipino-American mayor elected in a US city of over a million people and the city's first mayor of color and the city's first openly gay mayor.[45][46] He was sworn in on December 10, 2020.[47]

Tenure

Infrastructure

To revitalize the infrastructure of the city, Gloria proposed a budget for Fiscal Year 2023 called the “Ready to Rebuild” proposal. At just under $5 billion dollars total, the budget increased the allocation of funds to street maintenance by $27.6 million, parks and recreation services by $4.3 million, and left $55.8 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act money given to the city for the next fiscal year.[48] From the budget initiatives, there are several projects underway to repair the infrastructure of the city that are part of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP). CIP functions as the plan to improve the capital and infrastructure of San Diego over several years.[49] These projects have focus areas that provide important services for San Diego residents such as fire stations, libraries, and parks.[50]

Public Safety

In 2021, Gloria came up with a proposal to reform policing and public safety in San Diego. Many of the items were formed as responses to the citizens of San Diego. For one of the items, Gloria promised to adequately fund the Commission on Police Practices (CPP), which is an independent organization in charge of overseeing and investigating incidents involving the San Diego Police. There is also a clause in the proposal calling for San Diego police to refrain from using military grade weapons unless absolutely necessary.[51] However, some parts of this proposal are not in action yet such as the Commission on Police Practices not being active and no known unconscious and implicit bias trainings being implemented for officers.[52]

Homelessness and Housing

Throughout his duration as mayor, Gloria repeatedly called homelessness as one of his top priorities.[53][54] During Gloria's tenure, San Diego has created hundreds of beds for the homeless, but seen record levels of unsheltered people in its downtown, and record numbers of homeless deaths.[54]

During his campaign, Gloria proposed the use of housing with wrap-around services, making emergency shelters only available for triage, and replacing temporary shelters with permanent housing for those in need.[55]

In 2021, Gloria proposed roughly $10 million dollars in investments aimed towards homelessness and housing in San Diego in his budget for the fiscal year.[56] The budget allocates funds for the creation of a new department called Homelessness Strategies and Solutions. A majority of the proposed investments will go to interim shelter beds. The proposal also invests $1 million into funding for the People Assisting the Homeless Coordinated Street Outreach Program, a program that provides housing and services to homelessness residents. Rapid-rehousing programs in the city will also benefit from the proposals funding of 100 additional households and rental assistance.[56]

In late June 2023, Todd Gloria signed the "Unsafe Camping Ordinance" following its passage by the San Diego City Council by a 5-4 vote.[57] The law prohibits tent encampments in all public spaces in San Diego if shelter beds are available, and imposes a complete ban on encampments in parks, canyons, near schools, near transit stations, and near homeless shelters.[57] Gloria defended the law, saying that "there has to be consequences for illegal behavior in the city. Now we’re saying you cannot occupy public spaces under certain circumstances", and that the city had expanded its shelter programs.[58] He also stated he wanted to avoid the impression "that it’s easy to be homeless here and you can do drugs in my city".[58] However, a spokesperson for the San Diego Housing Commission said that all of the city's shelters get filled by mid-day, and that most people referred to shelters by police and other authorities don't get placed, reporting that less than one-third of people referred to shelters in June 2023 were placed in one.[58] Some of the city's homeless population reported getting displaced by police when no shelters were available, and one police officer opined that they new law didn't help efforts and was "all the same".[58]

Despite those efforts, the San Diego housing situation remains tense in 2023, with nearly 60% of homes in San Diego having a listing price exceeding $1 million. The city's median home price is $910,000, making it the fourth most expensive among the 30 largest cities in the U.S.[59][60] The average monthly rent in San Diego has risen to $3,175, placing it as the third-highest in the nation, only $7 less than that of San Francisco.[61]

Electoral history

San Diego City Council

2008 San Diego City Council District 3 election[62]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Todd Gloria 9,288 40.64
Democratic Stephen Whitburn 6,543 28.63
Democratic John Hartley 4,018 17.58
Nonpartisan Paul Broadway 1,428 6.25
Nonpartisan Robert E. Lee 840 3.68
Nonpartisan James Hartline 739 3.23
Total votes 22,856 100%
General election
Democratic Todd Gloria 27,922 54.60
Democratic Stephen Whitburn 23,191 45.40
Total votes 51,398 100%
2012 San Diego City Council District 3 election[63]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Todd Gloria 24,475 100.00
Total votes 24,475 100

California State Assembly

2016 California's 78th State Assembly district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Todd Gloria 91,602 71.8
Republican Kevin D. Melton 36,013 28.2
Total votes 127,615 100.0
General election
Democratic Todd Gloria 122,828 68.9
Republican Kevin D. Melton 55,414 31.1
Total votes 178,242 100.0
2018 California's 78th State Assembly district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Todd Gloria (incumbent) 79,738 71.2
Republican Maggie J. Campbell 32,250 28.8
Total votes 111,988 100.0
General election
Democratic Todd Gloria (incumbent) 140,598 71.1
Republican Maggie J. Campbell 57,217 28.9
Total votes 197,815 100.0
Democratic hold

Mayor of San Diego

2020 San Diego mayoral election[64]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Todd Gloria 147,654 41.5%
Democratic Barbara Bry 81,541 22.9%
Republican Scott Sherman 80,352 22.6%
Democratic Tasha Williamson 25,629 7.2%
Democratic Gita Applebaum Singh 12,716 3.6%
Other Rich Riel 8,067 2.3%
Write-In Jarvis Gandy 3 0.0%
Total votes 355,994 100%
General election
Democratic Todd Gloria 346,662 55.9%
Democratic Barbara Bry 272,887 45.1%
Total votes 619,549 100%

References

  1. 1 2 @ToddGloria (May 11, 2018). "Todd Gloria on Twitter: "Thank you to the incredible #ToddSquad! I am so fortunate to celebrate my birthday in Sacramento and San Diego with these awesome public servants that help me serve #AD78. #HappyBirthdayTG"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Who Is Todd Gloria? An in-Depth 2020 San Diego Mayor's Race Interview". The San Diego Union-Tribune. February 28, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  3. ↑ Alford, Matt Johnson, Abbie. "Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer expected to be sworn in March 3".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Speaker Rendon Announces Assembly Leadership and Committee Assignments". Official Website - Speaker Anthony Rendon Representing the 63rd California Assembly District. December 27, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Todd Gloria | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ Bell, Diane (December 11, 2020). "Column: Was Todd Gloria destined to be San Diego's mayor?". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  7. ↑ Rueda, Eduardo. "Todd Gloria Says He's 'the Son of a Maid and a Gardener', But Critics Question Accuracy". La Prensa. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  8. ↑ "About Todd Gloria | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Todd Gloria". Public Policy Institute of California. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  10. 1 2 "About Todd Gloria | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  11. ↑ Writer to hold funeral for unpublished novel | The San Diego Union-Tribune
  12. 1 2 Steele, Jeanette (October 18, 2008), "District 3 candidates are alike but different", San Diego Union Tribune, p. CZ-1
  13. 1 2 Opposing forces | The San Diego Union-Tribune
  14. 1 2 "Assemblymember Todd Gloria". SD Regional Chamber. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  15. ↑ "County of San Diego, Presidential Primary Election, Tuesday, June 5, 2012" (PDF). San Diego County Registrar of Voters. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Communities - City of San Diego Official Website".
  17. ↑ "About Todd Gloria". San Diego City Council. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Gloria succeeds Young as City Council president". CBS-8. December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  19. ↑ Mento, Tarryn; Trageser, Claire (December 10, 2014). "Gloria Ousted As San Diego Council President; Fellow Democrat Lightner Elected". KPBS. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Bob Filner Resigns: San Diego Mayor Agrees To Step Down Amid Sexual Harassment Scandal". Huffington Post. August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  21. ↑ Dotinga, Randy (August 22, 2013). "The Differences Between an Interim Mayor and a Strong Mayor". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Todd Gloria to serve as interim mayor following Bob Filner's resignation". LGBTQ Nation. August 24, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  23. ↑ Ring, Trudy (August 23, 2013). "San Diego Mayor Resigns; City Will Have Gay Interim Mayor". The Advocate. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  24. ↑ Gustafson, Craig (August 30, 2013). "Q&A with Todd Gloria, interim mayor". Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Former Councilman Carl DeMaio, Supervisor Ron Roberts will not run for San Diego mayor". ABC 10 News. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  26. ↑ Gustafson, Craig (September 12, 2013). "Gloria: Med pot shops illegal: Interim mayor says he'll enforce de facto ban on pot shops". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  27. ↑ Gardner, Michael (September 11, 2013). "Gloria wants lobbyist for San Diego". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  28. ↑ Seibert, Trent (September 10, 2013). "Public records start to flow under Gloria". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  29. ↑ Mento, Tarryn (September 30, 2014). "San Diego Mayor Releases Climate Action Plan". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  30. ↑ Garrick, David (April 8, 2015). "Gloria to run for Atkins' Assembly seat". San Diego Union Tribune.
  31. ↑ Skibba, Ramin (June 10, 2015). "Todd Gloria touts San Diego Climate Action Plan before students at UCSD". La Jolla Light. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  32. ↑ Stone, Ken (November 8, 2016). "Todd Gloria to Trump: California Will Stay Progressive - Times of San Diego". Times of San Diego. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  33. ↑ Jennewein, Chris (December 27, 2016). "New Assembly Member Todd Gloria Named to Leadership Post". Times of San Diego. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  34. ↑ Stewart, Joshua (January 4, 2018). "Assemblyman Todd Gloria named majority whip". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  35. ↑ "Assemblymember Todd Gloria announces 2020 run for Mayor of San Diego -". McKinnon Broadcasting. January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  36. ↑ Garrick, David (January 9, 2019). "Assemblyman Gloria announces 2020 run for San Diego mayor". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  37. ↑ "Gov. Newsom endorses Todd Gloria for mayor". Fox 5. August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  38. ↑ Bowen, Andrew (August 21, 2019). "San Diego County Democrats Endorse Gloria In Mayor's Race". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  39. ↑ Keatts, Andrew (August 21, 2019). "Gloria Takes Democratic Mayoral Endorsement". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  40. ↑ Bowen, Andrew (August 21, 2019). "San Diego County Democrats Endorse Gloria In Mayor's Race". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  41. ↑ Garcia, Alberto (August 12, 2019). "Todd Gloria Failed to File Candidacy Form Before Raising Money". La Prensa San Diego. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  42. ↑ Stone, Ken (August 13, 2019). "Todd Gloria Files for Assembly Re-Election While Running for San Diego Mayor". Times of San Diego. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  43. ↑ Hargrove, Dorian (August 15, 2019). "Mayoral Candidate Todd Gloria Accused of Laundering Political Funds". NBC San Diego. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  44. ↑ "Primary Elections in California :: California Secretary of State". www.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  45. ↑ Garrick, David (November 8, 2020). "Todd Gloria will bring lots of firsts as San Diego's new mayor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  46. ↑ Bajko, Matthew S. (March 8, 2019). "EQCA endorses gay San Diego mayoral candidate Gloria". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  47. ↑ "Todd Gloria Sworn In As San Diego's 37th Mayor". KPBS. December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  48. ↑ Sklar, Debbie L. (April 16, 2022). "Mayor Gloria's $4.89 Billion Proposed Budget Looks to Boost Infrastructure". Times of San Diego. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  49. ↑ "About the CIP | Capital Improvements Program (CIP) | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  50. ↑ "Featured Projects | Capital Improvements Program (CIP) | City of San Diego Official Website". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  51. ↑ Gloria, Todd (November 22, 2022). "Public Safety Priorities and Proposed Police Reforms" (PDF).
  52. ↑ Keatts, Andrew (October 20, 2021). "Gloria, With Help, Makes Slow Progress on Police Reform". Voice of San Diego. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  53. ↑ "Mayor Todd Gloria: I'm not doing enough to combat homelessness crisis". KUSI-TV. McKinnon Broadcasting. October 6, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  54. 1 2 "Homelessness likely to be at forefront of Todd Gloria's State of City Address". KPBS Public Media. January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  55. ↑ Gloria, Todd. "Ending Chronic Homelessness" (PDF). toddgloria.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  56. 1 2 Sklar, Debbie (April 19, 2021). "10 million in budget plan to help homeless san diegans".
  57. 1 2 "San Diego Mayor Gloria signs unsafe camping ordinance into law". KGTV. June 30, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  58. 1 2 3 4 Levin, Sam (August 17, 2023). "San Diego ramps up arrests of unhoused people: 'Harder to survive'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  59. ↑ Coakley, Amber (July 12, 2023). "San Diego among cities where majority of homes cost over $1M: study". fox5sandiego.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  60. ↑ De La Fe, Rocio (July 13, 2023). "Report: Nearly 60% of homes for sale in San Diego are over $1 million". cbs8.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  61. ↑ Carroll, John (July 11, 2023). "San Diego now has the 3rd highest rent prices in the nation". kpbs.org. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  62. ↑ "Election History - Council District 3" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  63. ↑ "Election History - Council District 3" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  64. ↑ "Election Night Results". March 2, 2020, Presidential Primary. San Diego County Registrar of Voters. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
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