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Barrio Logan leaders turn to Fletcher

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Nathan Fletcher’s mayoral campaign ventured into the heart of rival David Alvarez’s political stamping grounds Wednesday and trumpeted its newest backers — longtime community leaders from Barrio Logan.

“Viva Nathan Fletcher,” they cheered, standing under the Coronado Bridge in Chicano Park, a symbol of the battles they said they fought over the years to redevelop their long neglected community.

The endorsement by four community and business leaders, including longtime activist Rachael Ortiz, comes just two weeks after Alvarez won the support of fellow Democrats on the San Diego City Council for a new community plan for Barrio Logan, where he was born and raised and whose residents are his constituents.

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The move to endorse Fletcher appears to be driven, in part, by Alvarez’s compromise plan for the community.

The local activists who endorsed Fletcher at the Wednesday news conference said they had worked for years on a new community plan and felt rebuffed when Alvarez’s compromise was presented to the council without consulting them.

Alvarez chose not to comment on statements made at the news conference, said his campaign spokeswoman Lisa Schmidt. She noted that because of his long tenure in Barrio Logan, Alvarez has been able to establish “close relationships in the community.”

In the past, Alvarez said he had worked at length with residents of Barrio Logan to help develop the original proposed plan. The maritime industry proposed its own version. Alvarez’s compromise plan, adopted by the council, did not win over the businesses which are now launching a referendum to repeal it.

“We have never been sold out in all these years of community planning the way we were at the council hearing,” said Carlos Castañeda, a resident of the area for more than 50 years and active in community redevelopment efforts. “There were two major options on the table put together by the community over the course of many, many years, and the week before the final hearing before the City Council, the person who is our councilman creates an option that came out of his mind based on his desperate need to become the mayor, based on backroom deals we obviously were not a part of.

“One thing Nathan Fletcher has proved is he can deal with different sides and come together and reach principled compromises.”

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The key point of contention is a five-block buffer zone bounded by Newton Avenue and Main, Evans and 28th streets. It currently contains a mix of uses and that in the future would be open to commercial but not residential or industrial use. The current maritime industry users could remain but would need conditional use permits if they expand more than 20 percent.

Alvarez and Fletcher, both Democrats, along with Republican City Councilman Kevin Faulconer and former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, also a Democrat, are running in a special election Nov. 19 to replace Bob Filner, who resigned in Aug. 30 amid a sexual harassment scandal.

Ortiz, known for her work as executive director of Barrio Station, a neighborhood social services agency, joined Castaneda; Gus Chavez, another longtime neighborhood advocate; and businesswoman Saida Soto, owner of a Barrio Logan restaurant, in backing Fletcher for mayor.

A former state assemblyman who now works as an executive with Qualcomm, Fletcher has sought to portray himself as a friend of both business and organized labor, as well as the Latino community. He previously held a news conference to announce the support of prominent Hispanic elected leaders, including Assembywoman Lorena Gonzalez, Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Rep. Juan Vargas.

In a recent U-T San Diego/10News Poll, Alvarez received his strongest support from Hispanic voters, with 42 percent saying they would vote for him, compared to 23 percent for Fletcher.

Alvarez also has won the prized endorsments of the county Democratic Party and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council and has the backing of a number of other high-profile groups and leaders, including the Chicano Democratic Association of San Diego and former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña

Fletcher said of the division over the Barrio Logan plan, “If (the parties) are so close, why aren’t they back at the table trying to work it out? Because what you have now is a worst-case scenario where you’re going to face a referendum where the rest of the city will decide what’s best for San Diego.”

The mayoral campaigns of the other candidates were relatively quiet Wednesday, although Faulconer, in his capacity as a member of the council’s budget committee, asked the city’s IT department to return with a plan for resolving cellular and data network outages that have been impeding the efforts of emergency first responders, including police officers.

On Monday, Faulconer’s mayoral campaign unveiled a three-point plan to bolster the San Diego Police Department’s ability to retain and recruit officers.

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