The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously decided Tuesday to postpone the election of new officers until after the District 1 special primary election.
The board typically elects new officers — including chair, vice chair and chair pro tem — at the first meeting of the year. But after Nora Vargas stepped down earlier this month, the remaining supervisors were divided along partisan lines and failed to reach an agreement.
Rather than vote again Tuesday, Supervisor Jim Desmond proposed they put off the decision for 90 days. His colleagues unanimously agreed.
In the meantime, the existing officers will remain in their positions — meaning Terra Lawson-Remer will remain vice chair and preside as chair, while Joel Anderson will remain chair pro tem and preside as vice chair — until their successors have been chosen.
The board will try again to elect new officers at its meeting on April 22, two weeks after the special election for District 1. If they again fail to reach a consensus, they can postpone the vote again.
At Tuesday’s meeting, a couple of public commenters encouraged the board to delay the decision until a new District 1 representative has been elected to ensure the vote is fair.
Others also suggested that the chair and vice chair come from different political parties or that the chair be elected from a different party each year so that both parties get equal representation.
Voters could decide this spring who will succeed Vargas, who announced last month that she would not serve the second term to which she had just been elected.
The election is set for April 8, with a possible July 1 runoff if no candidate wins an outright majority in April.
Voter information pamphlets will be sent to the more than 376,000 registered voters in District 1 starting next month. Then early in-person voting will start in March, with mail ballots set to go out the week of March 10.
Voters can learn more about the District 1 special election at sdvote.com. They can also call 858-565-5800 or 800-696-0136.
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