Attention seems certain to pick up from now through the November election on perhaps San Diego’s most infamous address: 101 Ash St.
That’s bad news for Mayor Todd Gloria and his predecessor, Kevin Faulconer.
Both are on the ballot, with Gloria seeking re-election against political upstart Larry Turner, a San Diego police officer, and Faulconer attempting to unseat county Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer.
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Each race will involve multiple issues and varying political dynamics. But the current and former mayor share at least one outstanding trait. Both are tarnished by their involvement in an agreement that has resulted in the city buying an expensive office high-rise that is empty, seemingly of no use and, for now, of little value.
This is more than just another City Hall real estate boondoggle. “101 Ash St.” has become shorthand for, at best, questions of competence and management of both mayors and, at worst, a potentially nefarious deal wildly favorable to powerful interests at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to taxpayers.
Lawson-Remer and Turner, along with their allies, already were certain to hit on such themes in their respective campaigns.
But the latest in a string of lawsuits against the city related to 101 Ash St. brings renewed focus to the transaction and suggests in a very specific way how the financial fallout may have affected residents.
The city agreed to an overpriced deal to take control of the building intended to house city workers. Problems with asbestos and systems operations then surfaced, rendering it unusable years ago.
The impact on taxpayers was going to be big, though seemingly indirect at the outset. But the new lawsuit — which contends the city did not complete flood-control work in the Chollas Creek area as it claimed — makes an interesting accusation: that more than $15 million was diverted from such projects to help pay off the 101 Ash St. lease.
Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed by devastating winter flooding in January.
Whether or not the financial connection holds up will be determined in court. But for now, it ties together two iconic municipal failures — the financial sinkhole that 101 Ash St. has become and the decades-long shortcomings of stormwater runoff infrastructure.
Faulconer and Gloria bear responsibility for both, though they are not alone.
How much 101 Ash St. will affect their campaigns is anybody’s guess at this stage. Much will be in play, positives and negatives, for all the candidates. Further, the respective political standings of Gloria and Faulconer are much different.
The mayor, a Democrat, is considered the odds-on favorite to win a second term in November. It’s a Democratic city, and the party and organized labor forces are behind the incumbent, as are various business interests — even if some factions have expressed displeasure with the mayor on various matters.
The coalition that helped him win a resounding election victory in 2020 largely remains intact.
Turner, an independent, was a political unknown when he entered the race and has yet to establish much of a profile. He gained a spot in November by finishing second in the March primary ahead of attorney and social justice advocate Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a favorite of some progressive groups.
Turner won’t have near the resources as Gloria, but has been regularly appearing before community groups and other organizations and conducting media interviews. While Turner still has work to do to define his image, he has this going for him: The San Diego electorate does not appear happy with the current state of affairs. Private political polls for months have shown voters believe the city is on the wrong track.
The 101 Ash St. deal contributes to that.
Intriguingly, a poll circulating for city attorney candidate Brian Maienschein tries to suggest “shady land deals have continued” under the watch of his opponent, Chief Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert, who finished first in the March primary. Should Maienschein make a big deal of that accusation, he will be doing no favors for Gloria, one of his strongest supporters.
Faulconer, a Republican, is the rare challenger who has higher name identification than the Democratic incumbent, according to campaign polls. But he also comes with baggage, including his handling of the deadly hepatitis A outbreak, homelessness, 101 Ash St. and his 2020 flip to support then-President Donald Trump for re-election.
In choosing Trump, Faulconer may have permanently trashed his yearslong effort to appear nonpartisan. Lawson-Remer’s coastal District 3 is heavily Democratic.
Faulconer made the leap to Trump as he was gearing up to run for governor in 2022. Instead, Faulconer ran as a replacement gubernatorial candidate in the unsuccessful recall attempt of Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021.
Faulconer finished a distant third in a replacement field dominated by conservative political commentator Larry Elder.
The 101 Ash St. debacle made a cameo in a gubernatorial debate when another replacement candidate criticized Faulconer’s handling of the real estate transaction. But that was barely a blip and had no noticeable effect on the race.
In 2016, then-Mayor Faulconer pushed for the controversial long-term lease-to-own agreement for the building. Not long after city staffers moved in, they had to vacate the premises because renovations had disrupted asbestos, making the building unsafe. Other issues with the building became apparent.
The motion to approve the deal was made by then-Councilmember Gloria.
One of Gloria’s opponents in the 2020 mayoral election, then-Councilmember Barbra Bry, tried to pin the bad real estate agreement on the eventual winner, but that never seemed to gain much traction. For one thing, the agreement was complex and at the time most of the heat for it was on Faulconer.
Also, Gloria sought to deflect the attack by pointing out that Bry, who was not on the council for the original 101 Ash St. action, later voted to approve the renovation package that led to, or uncovered, some of the building’s problems.
An outside investigation concluded the city didn’t even conduct a basic review or cursory inspections of the property before making the deal.
Faulconer still largely owns the bad lease-purchase agreement. But Gloria now owns 101 Ash St., or rather, he moved in 2022 to have the city buy the building and another nearby outright as part of negotiations to settle litigation.
Attempts to redevelop that property, either by itself or combined with other Civic Plaza-area buildings, have fizzled so far.
In any event, 101 Ash St. seemed to begin fading from the public consciousness, even as the bills continued to mount.
Now, any notion that the controversy will be sidelined as the fall campaigns crank up seems unlikely.
