Residents of San Bernardino’s Ward 3 have their pick of two very different candidates to represent them on the council: incumbent Juan Figueroa and housing community organizer Christian Shaughnessy.
For this editorial board, it’s no contest. Residents who are sick and tired of stagnation and corruption in the city need to vote out Figueroa and vote for Shaughnessy.
To be sure, this editorial board doesn’t agree with Shaughnessy on everything. But he is clear-minded on the need for the city to move beyond scandal, beyond corruption and beyond cronyism.
His top three priorities are worth getting behind:“1. Stopping corruption and the pay-to-play practices that choke our San Bernardino and Ward 3 working families and small businesses.2. Creating good, local jobs and constructing affordable housing abundance to end homelessness3. Promoting accountable public safety and cracking down on violent crime and slum lords.”
We can’t say we have much confidence in Figueroa, who is a close associate of disgraced former Mayor John Valdivia.
As outlined in a powerful op-ed by Shaughnessy in these pages, where there’s a dark cloud in the city, Figueroa is sure to be under it, right beside Valdivia: “San Bernardino is a city of blight. We face this every time we see the dilapidated buildings, the pockmarked streets, and the environmental pollution that lingers in our neighborhoods. But far worse than our material blight, is the profound emotional and spiritual blight brought about by the scourge of corruption. This corruption and bribery has stolen from us the dreams of our youth and the legacy of our ancestors. It has wasted the labor of our working families and annihilated the enterprise of our honest small businesses.”
He’s right. The city needs thoughtful, ethical leadership on the council.
Elect Christian T. Shaughnessy in Ward 3.
