The battle to represent southeastern San Diego on the City Council could tip the balance of power at City Hall and determine whether the council treats Mayor Todd Gloria as an ally or adversary.
The two leading candidates in the race would join different sides of a hardening 4-4 split on the all-Democratic council and create a new 5-4 majority.
Henry Foster III, longtime chief of staff for former Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, would join a group of council members focused on asserting their legislative power and shrinking Gloria’s legislative role.
Chida Warren-Darby, a Gloria aide since the mayor took office three years ago, would join a group of council members more inclined to cooperate with the mayor — also a Democrat — and downplay any divisions at City Hall.
Foster and Warren-Darby are facing off in the March primary for the District 4 seat Montgomery Steppe vacated last month when she joined the county Board of Supervisors. A third candidate, Tylisa Suseberry, is not expected to gain significant support.
Montgomery Steppe’s departure from the council left what had been a 5-4 majority focused on increasing council power stuck in a 4-4 deadlock that is expected to remain in place until the seat is filled.
Warren-Darby said a key outcome of the race will be whether San Diegans can expect more of the conspicuous squabbling that emerged at City Hall last year under the 5-4 majority focused an asserting council power.
“I’d like the council to work better with the mayor and not be so combative,” said Warren-Darby. “It’s not always a fight.”
Warren-Darby said electing Foster would cement the 5-4 majority and essentially give Montgomery Steppe control of two seats: her county supervisor position and her former council position.
Warren-Darby said the turmoil at City Hall is unnecessary when the mayor and the council are all Democrats.
“I refuse to play into the taking-sides narrative,” she said. “My side is the constituents.”
Foster confirmed he would join the council group focused on asserting its power, which includes Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Councilmembers Joe LaCava, Vivian Moreno and Kent Lee.
“I think the mayor is too focused on managing the council and not the city,” Foster said. “He needs to re-focus.”
It’s the council’s role to legislate and the mayor’s role to run the operations of the city and implement legislation the council approves, Foster said.
“I think it’s important that the council knows it needs to be strong,” he said.
But Foster downplayed the adversarial characterization, contending he has cooperated effectively as Montgomery Steppe’s chief of staff with both council presidents during his tenure, Elo-Rivera and Jennifer Campbell.
Warren-Darby would join a group including Campbell, Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert and Raul Campillo.
Foster appears to have the early edge in endorsements in the race, notching support from the county Democratic Party and the city’s two largest labor unions. He’s also been endorsed by Elo-Rivera, Lee, LaCava and Montgomery Steppe.
WarreniDarby has been endorsed by the mayor, Campbell and von Wilpert.
Suseberry, the third candidate, is a state Senate staffer. When she ran for the seat in 2022, she did not raise or spend money and got 7 percent of the vote in a three-candidate field.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote on March 5, the city will hold a runoff in June or July between the top two finishers.
The district, which covers Encanto and much of southeastern San Diego, includes some of the city’s lowest-income areas where restaurants, commercial plazas and high-paying jobs are scarce.
Warren-Darby and Foster agree that the biggest priorities for the district are attracting more businesses, better jobs and more amenities for residents.
“We just don’t have the same things in District 4 that other communities have,” Warren-Darby said.
She said Montgomery Steppe has made incremental progress but stressed that there is a long way to go.
Foster said Montgomery Steppe laid a foundation that needs more time to become successful.
He said her key accomplishments include greater scrutiny over city police, creating an Office of Race and Equity and establishing the San Diego Black Arts & Culture District in Encanto.
Foster, 52, said the primary reason he’s running for the seat is to help young people in District 4 have the same chances for success he had when growing up in the area.
“I want to make sure every young person here has the same opportunities I had,” said Foster, who left southeastern San Diego for college and returned in 2003.
Warren-Darby, who also grew up in District 4 and recently moved back there, said she was inspired to run by her work at City Hall since 2020.
Residents don’t know how they can help make the city better or take advantage of opportunities, she said.
“There is a big communication gap between the constituents and City Hall,” she said.
Warren-Darby, 42, said it also felt natural to run for office because her family has always been involved in politics and civic matters.
Her parents served as congressional staffers before the family moved west, and her father, John Warren, launched San Diego’s first Black Chamber of Commerce.
Her family has owned and operated Voice and Viewpoint, the city’s largest Black newspaper, since 1987. She previously served as co-publisher and managing editor.
Foster lives in Valencia Park and Warren-Darby in Paradise Hills.
Suseberry is a Lincoln High graduate who previously worked at City Hall as a policy adviser. She also runs a nonprofit that helps people start their own businesses.
