SAN DIEGO (KGTV)— Two candidates are racing for the San Diego City Attorney seat, which will be vacant because the current City Attorney, Mara Elliot, is termed out.
Assemblymember Brian Maienschein and Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert are both running for City Attorney, the chief legal adviser for the City of San Diego and all its departments and offices.
Both believe they should get the job based on their experience.
"I've been an attorney for over 30 years," Maienschein said. "I practiced the law. I've taught the law. I'm a professor at USD School of Law, and I've made the law. I've written the law. I've served as the chair of the judiciary committee.”
“I've worked with just about every city department and on a lot of the city's complex legal issues for making sure taxpayer dollars are being protected and preserved, not being misspent by city contractors to making sure people who are trying to access clinics, abortion clinics, whether or schools or places of worship aren't, you know, being harassed by unruly protesters," Ferbert said.
And both have different priorities if elected.
“I'm gonna be somebody who's there for the people," Maienschein said. "You look at what's gone on there under my opponent's watch. It's the same people who profit from these time and time again, and the City is left paying the bill.”
“I have launched plans to create a housing protection unit, which would really take a look at the laws that we have on the books today," Ferbert said. "I believe that while we talk a lot about building new housing, and that's great, we'll never be able to build our way out of the housing crisis if we're losing units to illegal uses on the back end.”
One issue neither candidate shied away from was the City’s purchase of 101 Ash Street.
“I have launched plans to create a housing protection unit which would really take a look at the laws that we have on the books today," Ferbert said. "I believe that while we talk a lot about building new housing and that's great, we'll never be able to build our way out of the housing crisis if we're losing units to illegal uses on the back end.”
One issue neither candidate shied away from, the city’s purchase of 101 Ash Street.
“The city attorney's office allowed the city to buy a building without doing an inspection," Maienschein said. "That, that building, just that one building is gonna cost the city over $100 million. That needs to stop.”
“I had nothing to do with 101 [Ash] Street," Ferbert said. "I think the city as a whole has learned a lot of lessons from 101 Ash Street ... and I plan to continue to carry that forward.”
The City Attorney will lead a team of nearly 200 lawyers protecting San Diegans.
