Column: Throwing sharp elbows in mayoral race

Barbara Bry has been described as the mayoral candidate in the middle, facing the potential of being squeezed out of the race in the March 3 primary by Todd Gloria and Scott Sherman.

In a new campaign mailer, Bry literally puts herself in between her two chief rivals, suggesting she’s the one people can “trust to solve our city’s toughest problems. . .”

It’s a traditional comparison piece that sizes up the candidates on homelessness, short-term vacation rentals, protecting taxpayers and a handful of other issues. The Bry campaign selected the issues and the characterizations of the candidates’ stands, so you can guess who comes out looking best.

The mayoral campaign has taken on a harder edge with just three weeks to go before voting concludes. An independent committee supporting Gloria, a former City Council member now in the Assembly, recently aired a television ad accusing Bry of hypocrisy.

“Bry also says she’ll stand up to developers, but big developers are funding her campaign,” it said.

Bry, who sits on the City Council with Sherman, has taken some contributions from developers, though not nearly so many as to suggest they provide the main money behind her campaign. Further, she has been critical of state efforts to loosen zoning laws and scale back requirements on developers. Gloria and Sherman have advocated reducing regulations in an effort to increase density and bring down the high cost of housing — positions generally shared by developers.

The ad was aired by “San Diegans from Every Community in Support of Todd Gloria for Mayor 2020,” whose major sponsors include a labor union and Brad Termini, who is CEO of Zephyr, a development company. Zephyr has numerous projects in San Diego and coastal communities, including the disputed Marisol resort proposed for the north end of Del Mar.

A spokesman for the committee did not return a telephone call seeking information about the ad.

Bry recently came out with her own television commercial criticizing Gloria and Sherman, describing them as “two faces, same coin.” The spot, which began airing a week ago, claims her rivals “led the charge on the Sempra building fiasco costing taxpayers millions. Meanwhile, our quality of life continues to deteriorate.”

The city took over the former Sempra headquarters at 101 Ash St. in a lease-to-own arrangement, but remodeling revealed problems with asbestos, requiring a costly clean up. Since early 2017, the city had been paying nearly $18,000 a day to rent the vacant structure. Just weeks after the much-delayed opening in January, the city had to vacate the building because of continued asbestos problems.

(Sempra Energy had been a tenant in the building, but moved out before the agreement with the city.)

Bry was the first council member to publicly criticize the deal.

Gloria made the motion to approve the agreement as a member of the council in 2016 and Sherman seconded the motion, according to a video of the meeting released by the Bry campaign. But the purchase was negotiated by Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s administration and the contract was vetted by the City Attorney’s Office.

The council did approve it, and whether members appropriately quizzed city staff about it could be a legitimate issue, though city officials highly recommended the deal. Making the motion seems a bit removed from having “led the charge.”

The 30-second ad shifts gears about halfway through, flipping from direct criticism of Gloria and Sherman to a depiction of Bry as “the only one to stand up against Sacramento politicians and scooter lobbyists.”

That turn still takes a dig at Gloria, who not only represents San Diego in the Legislature but has been sympathetic to state efforts to override some local controls on development and electric scooters.

Bry’s decision to go after both Gloria and Sherman is an interesting choice because it’s really Sherman who threatens her ability to get past the primary and into the November general election. Independent and campaign polls show Gloria with a substantial lead, virtually guaranteeing him a spot on the fall ballot, with Sherman second or in a statistical tie with Bry.

Bry and Gloria are Democrats who share liberal views on many partisan issues, but part ways on some municipal concerns. Sherman is a conservative Republican who entered the race just before the filing deadline late last year and lags significantly in fundraising.

Three weeks ago, Gloria began airing his first television ad, an upbeat spot that briefly touches on his background and mentions that his parents were a maid and gardener.

“They worked every day to give my brother and me a shot at a bright future,” he says in the ad, then pivots to expressing concern about homelessness and the cost of housing. He pledges to make San Diego “a city that thrives for all of us.”

Gloria has broad backing across the spectrum, from the local Democratic Party and labor unions to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. His campaign plans to unveil a second ad this week.

Sherman’s campaign consultant, Jason Roe, said the campaign doesn’t plan to air television ads before the primary.

One intriguing subplot in the campaign involves Nick Stone, a partner in FS Investors. Stone and FS proposed SoccerCity, a development designed for the city-owned SDCCU Stadium property that lost out to the San Diego State University Mission Valley plan in the November 2018 election.

Sherman’s campaign and the local Republican Party, which supports Sherman among others, have received significant financial backing from Stone.

Campaign finance records show Stone contributed $10,000 to the party and last year paid $7,500 for polling for the Sherman campaign. Records show Stone was paid that same amount by the campaign in January, apparently as reimbursement. He also made a $1,150 contribution to the Sherman campaign in December.

Stone did not respond to emails seeking comment about those financial moves.

Sherman was the lone SoccerCity backer on the council. Bry was an early supporter of the SDSU project and an outspoken critic of SoccerCity.