Guest Commentary
by Dave McCulloch
Just the other day, Todd Gloria – City Councilmember for District 3 – tweeted his “heart is in D3 and [he] intends to serve it, in whatever configuration, for another four years.” While this sounds noble, I question his motives.
Today, Gloria lives in Cherokee Point, a small area of City Heights that was recently (and preliminarily) redistricted out of District 3 and put into San Diego’s newest District – 9. Inconvenient for him, this also means that he would have to move further west to be able to run again in the newly-reshaped District 3 for the 2012 election, an area where he enjoys a good amount of easy support.
Yet his tweet signals a disturbing trend: no longer is it about the community. No longer is it about the neighborhoods in his district – it’s about convenience, “in whatever configuration” it may be. Call me naïve or altruistic, but I do enjoy the thought that our representatives genuinely care about our neighborhoods and communities and less about the convenience of location.
As a homeowner in District 3, I have a stake in my community; ensuring that it stays amazing is something I care deeply about, both because I simply love the area in which I live, but also because the quality of my neighborhood directly impacts me financially. I’m involved in local groups, organizations and causes because it’s my neighborhood, it’s my home and it’s where I lay my head at night when I sleep. Todd Gloria has his stake in City Heights – until it’s no longer beneficial.
What does that tell me about his care for my community? It’s a matter of convenience.
We hope our representatives don’t make decisions based solely on how easy it might be to accomplish a goal; if that were the case, we would never have gone to the moon. Should Todd Gloria end up moving, it may be an easy choice for him – he’s popular in a district in which he no longer lives – but it certainly makes me question his motives.
It’s true – if he did not move, Gloria could potentially be unemployed come 2012. And, while we all know many who are still unemployed and looking for work in our communities, we deserve a representative who is a part of our communities. We deserve a representative who lives where we do – not someone who sees an opening, moves, and then runs.
Dave McCulloch is a resident of Hillcrest, a neighborhood of today’s District 3 – and tomorrow’s.