Get the facts on the California candidates running for election to the City Council, District 4 — City of San Diego
Find out their top 3 priorities, their experience, and who supports them.
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Monica Montgomery Steppe is a native San Diegan and tireless advocate for her community. She grew up in San Diego’s District 4 and has dedicated her life to public service law. She fought for families to stay in their homes during the foreclosure crisis in the Great Recession; worked at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties as a Criminal Justice Advocate; and worked at the City of San Diego as a Senior Policy Advisor with specific focus in the following policy areas: criminal justice reform and public safety, neighborhood revitalization, workforce development, small business development, equal opportunity contracting, and youth services.
This array of experience positioned her to make a big impact in City Hall in a short time, and she’s done just that.
Monica led the effort to ban the police carotid restraint, increase oversight over MTS security, and pass Measure B, creating a Commission on Police Practices with subpoena power and independent investigators. Pouring energy into the budget process she has created the Office of Race & Equity with a $3 million Equity Fund; created an equity program for COVID-19 recovery funds; helped lead the effort to keep renters in their homes and businesses during the crisis; and brought historic levels of investment in community clean ups, art installations, and has worked to bring equitable City services like paved streets to the district. She also worked with community leaders to create The Peace Movement: Let’s Live, Let’s Love to reduce neighborhood violence and ensure the seniors in our community who are so impacted by the isolation of COVID-19 have service, food, and other necessities.
Monica believes in her heart that the neighborhoods and community members of District 4 are vibrant and worthy of care and investment. She governs with the principles of transparency and community involvement at the core of her approach. Monica and her team are constantly striving to make San Diego’s government more accessible to those without resources, those who speak different languages, and those with different abilities such as the deaf and hard of hearing.
Since I’ve been in office we’ve put dozens of names forward, mostly women and people of color, to ensure our community members are fairly represented on city boards and commissions. We will continue to do so.
The City’s commitment to 100% renewable energy is a goal I have been proud to contribute to. I served on and helped launch San Diego Community Power, a Joint Powers Authority not-for-profit utility, where purchasing clean energy is the priority, and net revenue will be used to lower electricity bills for residents. Emissions from utilities are a major source of greenhouse gas pollution second only to gas vehicle emissions. Residents in the City of San Diego will be enrolled in San Diego Community Power by May of this year, making this a big step forward towards meeting our goal to reduce emissions by 50% by 2035.
However, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the City’s General Plan for land use needs to be emphasized more to ensure legally required mitigation measures are met to avoid significant environmental impact.
To effectively further reduce greenhouse gasses, we must focus on our land use patterns which are a leading factor in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) that determine vehicle emissions. I will continue to advocate for the City’s Mobility Choices program, which requires developers to address VMTs through transportation planning fees or providing amenities through mixed-use residential developments. Placing food retail, shuttle services, on-site childcare, office space, rideshare and bikeshare programs in development will reduce vehicle emissions and are more cost-effective for developers than massive parking garages, lowering the cost of housing.
This is another symptom of San Diego’s history with redlining, loan denial, housing destruction, and other political and policy choices that locked people of color and low income residents out of single family neighborhoods. Adding yet another financial burden to those who have been denied access to single family homes and more wealthy neighborhoods is regressive. However, District Four is impacted a bit differently than other communities when it comes to the People’s Ordinance. An Independent Budget Analyst report shows we have the highest number of low income or fixed income homeowners, and making a change like this could negatively impact my community, especially our seniors. This is why we must approach every problem with a lens of equity to ensure the solution does not disproportionately impact those we are trying to help.
Monica strongly advocates for equitable practices in government, including better economic opportunities for people of color and better relationships between community members and police officers. She believes that the communities that make up the Fourth Council District are vibrant and deserving of resources.
San Diego Councilwoman responds to concerns put forward by the community about the environment, police relations, economic opportunity, public services, and access to their elected officials.
Councilwoman Monica Montgomery wants to see more from San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit. Following comments he made about a viral video of a physical altercation between SDPD officers and a 20-year-old black man, Montgomery said she was concerned that Nisleit described the man as violent and dangerous, arguing those same words aren't used for white suspects of violent crimes. During a special bonus podcast episode, Montgomery sat down to talk about that, along with her position on several state bills that would reform police accountability, housing production and education in San Diego.
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