Rebecca Jones wants to get back to basics if elected to County Board of Supervisors 

San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones is running for the District 5 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

Jones is facing off against Vista Mayor John Franklin, a fellow Republican, and Kyle Krahel, a Democrat, in a race that could give Democrats a supermajority on the once reliably GOP board. She joined Politically Speaking this week to discuss her platform.

A transcript of the conversation is below. 

Safchik: Under Jim Desmond’s two terms, the county supervisor District 5 place on the dais has been one of the county’s most reliably red seats. Desmond is turning out and running for Congress, and two North county mayors are vying to succeed him and maintain the Republican stronghold in that district, which actually leans blue in its voter registration. Last week, we spoke to Vista Mayor John Franklin.

He’s going head-to-head with San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones, who joins us now. Thank you for being here.

Jones: Thank you. I’m glad to be here.

Safchik: Why are you running?

Jones: I’m running because it’s personal for me. I’m a San Diego County native. I grew up here. I moved to North County. I grew up in East County, Ramona and El Cajon. I moved to San Marcos in 1987. I have raised my children here. They’re. My son’s going to be 30 today, and my daughter is 25, going to be 26. It’s important to have leadership that’s reliable and also proven, for people like them. And also, you know, our seniors, bringing everyone together.

Safchik: What differentiates you from your competitor?

Jones: That would definitely be my record. My record is very good. If you look at San Marcos and the evolution of it, you know, we’re about jobs. We’re about bringing the community together. We’re launching a blue zone right now. But it’s also what we’ve done internally that maybe it’s not outward facing. And that is, you know, being very smart with money, that is, has happened for many years prior to my being on the council. But I’ve definitely stepped up the game in my time as mayor, to make sure that we are spending money the best way possible so that we can take care of our community.

Safchik: What is the issue at the heart of your campaign?

Jones: Well, it’s a couple of things, but, you know, it all leads back to quality of life. So spending money the right way. Making sure that we’re taking care of our community, providing those services, but also making sure that we’re not passing on, you know, higher costs to them, you know, affordability. I look at my kids, their chances, and their opportunities to own a home are so small. And, you know, that makes me sad. I don’t want them to move away. I’d like to have grandkids someday, and I can’t. I don’t want to have to move or have them move.

Safchik: So what are your concrete plans to make San Diego more affordable if you’re on the board?

Jones: Oh well, first of all, you know the tax situation of adding all of these taxes, putting them out to a vote of the public, I just think it’s the wrong message. And you know, what we’ve done internally in San Marcos. So I’ll give you an example. So in my time as mayor, we’ve done a couple of things. The first thing was best value analysis. That is where we go in and we make sure that we’re spending, you know, things like street sweeping. Is it better to have it in-house or outsourced? And those are things, you know, that we want the highest quality of service. So it’s not always the cheapest, but it’s also making sure that it’s functioning properly and that we’re spending money wisely. Then what we ended up doing, and this was, you know, something I’d wanted to implement for a while, had to have the right team. And that is, you know, having an efficiency department. This is something that I know works I don’t have to talk about. Let’s not do this. Let’s not do that. I mean, you one of my opponents are saying tax, tax act. The other one is saying stop the tax, stop the tax. But what’s the plan? The plan is something like I’ve implemented in the, in San Marcos, and that is the efficiency department. We call it lean, leading efficiency, accountability and engagement. And that has actually been so successful. And I have now actually, and this is a great thing because, you know, leadership comes from the top. Our different departments are now kind of competing against one another who can save the most money and give the best service. So, how amazing is that? That’s how government should be. Not like government, but like an efficient business.

Safchik: So how would you bring that to the county, especially if there’s still a Democratic majority on the board?

Jones: Well, first of all, I don’t think there’s any doubt that everyone wants to say that they’re saving money, that they’re doing a good job. I don’t think that anyone’s going to be able to say, hey, you know what? I don’t believe in spending our taxpayer money efficiently and let, you know, let’s be honest, government does not have any of their own money. It’s all our taxpayers money. So, you know, when we’re talking about spending it the right way and giving the best service possible, customer service, when I first joined the council, was not a thing. It was, you know, something that was more rare. It’s one of our core values now in San Marcos. I know that the county will benefit from things like that. What we’ve done in San Marcos, the efficiency department, and then letting our residents know what we’re doing to serve them better. I think you know this whole, well, we don’t have enough money, so we need to go out and, you know, tax that’s not what the job is. That’s not what our job is. Our job is to improve the quality of life of our residents, not to degrade it or, you know, pass on those costs to them. And, you know, the other thing that’s happening is you’ve got all of these fees that are being implemented by the county as well. So again, you know, looking at those, at the process is such an important thing. And, you know, you talk about affordability, what I’ve been able to do at SANDAG and bipartisan support, by the way, the mileage tax, you know, in that plan, it was approved. Everyone thought it would never, ever come out. I fought tooth and nail to bring that back. And all but four agencies voted to stop the mileage tax locally. And in the next plan, which we approved back in December, we stopped the mileage tax again. So there’s no mileage tax locally. Yes, the state is talking about implementing one, but having champions like me that are there to be diligent, and I would say probably one of my biggest strengths is my tenacity. But I also do it in a way that is consistent. And that is, you know, I don’t have to go out there and shout or, you know, be overbearing. I just am very tenacious. And, you know, probably because my motivation is very different than most people. I’m not going on to the next job. I’ve never worked for a congressman like my two main opponents. I’ve been very independent. And that is working for the residents, and that’s what the job is.

Safchik: So there are a couple of tax proposals floating around the county administration building right now. How do you respond to those?

Jones: Well, I would say no, absolutely no, no, no. Yes. Absolutely no. And the reason being is, first of all, I don’t think we have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. And if we’re just going to sit there and do the same thing, one of the things, oh my gosh, Joey, when I first joined the city council, one of the things that I used to hear from staff and by the way, they no longer say things like this, but they would say, oh, well, we’ve done it this way for 30 years. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Just because you’ve done it 30 years the same way does not mean that it’s efficient. And you know, again, being able to look back and say, have we made a difference? Have we spent the money better? Have we given a better outward appearance to our community? Is it clean? Are they safe? You know, these are all things that people think about every single day. And they’re just out right now, you know, working one, two, three jobs, trying to make ends meet. They want to have a good experience, too. It’s not all about saving money, but it is about saving money. 

Safchik: During the last election, your city voters in your city approved an increased sales tax. Your city council unanimously approved putting that on the ballot. So are there circumstances where you could see yourself agreeing to a tax increase?

Jones: Well, let me give you an example. Okay, so the city of San Marcos receives the least amount of property tax increment in the whole county. So cities like Coronado 31%. So on a $1 million home, they receive $3,100 to provide services to their community. San Marcos $720 on that same million dollar house. Carlsbad. Over $2,000. The City of Vista $1,400 on the very same house. We also have 3400 homes that are deed restricted, affordable. Okay, it’s state mandated and they pay zero property tax. So we’re subsidizing with the least amount. I say we’re the little city that could. And we did. But, you know, 60% of our community had the confidence to vote for a tax. But no, I don’t think that taxes are the answer to everything. I really don’t. And I think that, you know, when you’re looking at a situation where there’s been no tightening of the belt, there’s been no cutting back. Honestly, the infrastructure is crumbling. There’s a problem, there’s absolutely a problem. And the fact that there have been over 2000, I actually think 2500 jobs that have been added since the last six years at the county. That’s a problem because it’s unsustainable, first of all. And are they creating more value for the community? Are they doing a better job? I don’t think so.

Safchik: So are there any scenarios countywide where you could see yourself getting behind any sort of tax increase or new tax?

Jones: I don’t believe that. I don’t believe so. And, you know, part of it has to do with, you know, doing the job. Are people doing the job? And by the way, you know, some cities have put on things like cannabis taxes. That’s a sales tax as well, like the city of Vista actually did that. So, you know, if you think about all of the different things, you know, you have to do the best with what you’re bringing in. Your revenue needs to match what you’re providing and you have to have the efficiencies. Every city should have an efficiency department. The county should have an efficiency department. Sandag now has an efficiency department because I brought it forward, but they call it internal controls. So every single government agency should have you know DC, I don’t you know they did bring some of this forward. But they’ve had a lot of issues in the past. Our state – my gosh – we have these audits now that are happening. And that’s what we had at San Marcos. We kept the leadership. And I said, hey guys, we need to have an efficiency department at SANDAG. And they said, well, wait a minute, we’ve already got the independent auditor. And I said, no, no, you’re missing the point. The point is not to audit after the fact. The point is to have the efficiencies ahead of the fact so that you know that you’re actually spending wisely. You know that you’re doing the right thing. And that’s where you can then say to the residents, we don’t need a tax, we need to spend better, and our priorities need to be right.

Safchik: So you are endorsed by Carl DeMaio, a very divisive figure even within your party. Do you support his Reform California agenda? And would you bring those ideas to the Board of Supervisors?

Jones: Well, first of all, I do believe that there should be voter ID, and that is important because we all and I have an example of that actually, Joey. So I moved into my house in 2018. In 2020, I received, ballot for the owner. I called her up and I said, hey, I received a ballot. She goes, no, I have a ballot here. And I said, wait a minute, there’s a ballot here for you. There’s a ballot in your house in Carlsbad, by the way. And how is that even possible? So I personally called Michael Vu, who then was our registrar, and he said that, well, there’s no way for us to do an audit. Okay. That is unacceptable.

Safchik: But the safeguards are in place to make sure that someone is not voting twice.

Jones: No, no, there weren’t safeguards that someone was not voting twice because it was a live ballot. In fact, I had to send it back to him so that he had it. So no, it is a live ballot. That’s the problem. Someone could have voted with that ballot. It could have been me, honestly. But obviously it wouldn’t do that. But the truth is it was a live ballot. And so for people to be able to have that assurance, knowing that the ballots are, or that the elections are fair, I think that’s really important. And you know what? It’s a bipartisan, you know, thing. If you look at all of us, we want to make sure we have fair elections. We want to make sure that the government is doing their job. And again, you know, local government, they really have one job. And that’s to improve the quality of life of our residents. These things are not happening at the county. Now I don’t believe that we have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem.

Safchik: But you do recognize that any cases of voter fraud are exceedingly rare. And I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the registrar, who says that there are safeguards in place to ensure that someone is not posing as someone else or people aren’t voting twice.

Jones: Well, you know what? There are these issues that I think are important. And, you know, you have to have identification for literally everything that you do. You can’t open a bank account. You can’t do many things. You can’t even open up a post office box without an identification. So in my opinion, I think just to be able to, you know, make people feel comfortable and to prove to them that things are being done in the right way, that that would be a good way to do it and to be honest, we’re one of the few states that actually doesn’t require identification.

Safchik: Are you concerned about marginalizing any voters?

Jones: I don’t believe so because I think, you know, we’re innovative. I mean, I look at what we’ve done in San Marcos, as far as you know, we see an issue. We’ve addressed it, you know, if there are any issues with that, I do believe we will be able to fix it.

Safchik: I want to broaden out a little bit and ask you, is the Republican Party in San Diego County fractured?

Jones: Well, you know, we have the past chair that’s out there. Really, trying to be divisive. There is, you know, I don’t know. You know, I just find it hard to believe that we are in a day in an age where people can’t come together. I figured out how to work with people. Everyone can figure out how to work with people. You don’t have to see everything exactly the same.

Safchik: On that note, how do you win over the 90,000 or so independents in district five?

Jones: Well, by doing what I’ve done in San Marcos and that is, you know, so I believe that my election and my campaign is about scaling what I have been doing and keeping consistent. And, you know, again, I’ve done it for quite a while now, and you look at my leadership, the city does benefit from people sticking to the topic of service and doing the right thing and making sure that we’re, keeping costs low, making sure we’re spending money wisely, working on quality of life. You know, one of the things that I’m doing right now is in San Marcos, and I do want to bring this to the county, and that is a blue zone initiative. It’s about community. It’s about health, wellness, healthy cooking classes, healthy food, all of everything. Exercise, lowering your stress are five naturally occurring blue zones in the world. And there the Blue Zones team has figured out how to bring policies and all of that to bring people together. Health care is a big part of it, which we have amazing investors. And by the way, this is not any taxpayer money being used for this. And it’s TrueCare and Gary and Mary West Health that have invested in this and many others are affordable housing developers, health care, all of that $150,000 to do the job of, figuring out how we can scale everything in San Marcos to make it a little bit better and help people.

Safchik: With the Democratic majority on the board. How vital is it for Republicans to hold on to this district five seat?

Jones: Well, you know what I would say we need someone that is definitely going to do the job, can work well with others. That’s why I’m the right candidate. I’ve always been able to work with people, whether I’ve been on I if you want to, if you want to talk about political party, whether I’ve been on a minority or a majority, it doesn’t matter. I am just as effective. And that’s because, again, you know, when I had kids at the university trying to push me to put something on the agenda against the war in Gaza, I said, no, that’s outside of our legislative platform. Our job is to offer and pay for core services for our community. And I take that job very seriously.

Safchik: Do you think the board has become too partisan?

Jones: I think, yeah, I do, I do absolutely. And and, you know, again, I think my job is to be the person that I’ve always been and that is to bring people together. I happen to be a middle child, too. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I think also being a parent, I’m the only parent actually in the top three more prominent people that are in this race, I think, you know, that gives me a different perspective, too. And, you know, again, generation– the next generation, people that are your age, I do understand what the issues are, again, you know, keeping people, you know, employed, making sure that they can thrive making my job is to, again, you know, focus on the quality of life, but it’s to create a culture and a space where people can thrive. But you can’t do that if you’re fighting and, you know, it just doesn’t work. You know, being able to figure out what your commonalities are. You know, we just had the SANDAG retreat last week. And, you know, many of us were really focusing on, and I think everyone in that room, a couple of the board members were not present, but all of us that were there, I think we were all, you know, John Minto was there. He’s actually the second vice chair. He happens to be a Republican. And we were talking about how to better get along and put our residents first. That’s what we have to do when we, you know, I have to put on my regional hat because every decision I make in district five on the board will affect everyone in East County where I grew up and, you know, South County, everyone in the county will be affected by all five votes. So that’s why it’s important to have someone that really wants to do the service, wants to focus on the right things. And, you know, again, you know, having that understanding of what people are facing right now, the crisis right now is that it’s not affordable. The crisis is that we’re looking for more taxes. That is the wrong thing. We need to figure out how to be more efficient. And I’ve already proven that I can do that and that it can be done. It just needs to be scaled, it can be done. And, you know, I really love the part of our city staff where all the different departments are saying, what can I do in my department to actually be more efficient? I’ve heard that one of my departments, I haven’t seen the numbers yet, right around $700,000 that they’ve been able to save just by a couple of different tweaks, to what they’re doing. So I’m excited to see all the numbers in the data, but I know it can be done. And, you know, Joey, the focus again, is quality of life. Making sure that we’re serving people, spending the money the best way possible and new taxes are not the way to make that happen.

Safchik: All right, Mayor Jones, thank you so much for being with us today. Really appreciate it.

Jones: It’s my pleasure. Thank you.