She was absent Tuesday for what may have been the deciding vote on a gun ordinance at the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Just a few hours later, Board Chair Nora Vargas posted a video on her private Instagram account at the Padres playoff game.
As the chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Vargas sets the order in which items are heard at County board meetings. On Tuesday, 10 items were heard.
"We are going to hear discussion items in the following order," Vargas said to start the meeting. "It'll be item numbers 10,12, 14, 17, 9, 13, 8, 11, 15, 16," she continued.
The first four items she moved to the front of Tuesday's meeting were all her own.
By the time the supervisors reached their sixth item, it was about 2:25 p.m. That was the last vote Vargas would cast.
Vargas was in her seat at the beginning of comments on a gun procurement ordinance. It would have required gun dealers to meet certain safety requirements to bid on county contracts. But when the public camera took a wide shot, she was gone.
That vote ended in a 2-2 split. Two Republican supervisors opposed it, and two Democrats supported it. Vargas, a Democrat, never came back. The ordinance failed.
Vargas wasn't there for the vote, but she was at Petco Park for Fernando Tatis' moonshot home run. She posted a video of it on her personal Instagram account right after he hit it.
On Tuesday, ABC 10News asked Vargas' spokesperson where she went. ABC 10News made three attempts and then made another two attempts on Wednesday. ABC 10News never received a response, so later Wednesday, reporter Spencer Soicher went to the San Diego County Administration Building to ask her himself.
"Chair Vargas, can you tell us where you were yesterday in the middle of the meeting?" Soicher asked. "Oh, yeah, I had a conflict," Vargas replied. Soicher then asked, "What was the conflict? You posted a video at the Padres game, and moved all of your items up at the beginning of the meeting, and then left in the middle of it. Was the conflict the Padres game?
"No, actually, it wasn't," Vargas answered. "It's ok. Look, I'm not going to give you my information about my doctor's appointments." She then went on to say ABC 10News could reach out to her press secretary for more information and that "all of my information is public."
So, ABC 10News once again asked her spokesperson in an email for more information.
For the first time, Vargas' spokesperson replied, explaining Vargas "had a medical issue to attend to," she said.
The spokesperson said," I haven't seen you ask the same questions of board members who are perpetually late to board meetings. Why is that?"
Often, Supervisors will give the Clerk of the Board a reason for their absence. However, Clerk Andrew Potter told ABC 10News that it's not required to give an excuse or reason. Potter said no excuses were given for any absence on Tuesday.
ABC 10News filed records requests with San Diego County Wednesday, seeking access to Vargas' communication with her team on Tuesday and her calendar.
