Democratic drama: 3 possible rivals for San Diego party chair as chief takes leave

Prospective candidates for San Diego County Democratic Party chair are Sara Ochoa Ross Pike and Will Rodriguez-Kennedy Times of San Diego photo illustration Kyle Krahel-Frolander says he s laser-focused on electing fellow Democrat Paloma Aguirre to the county Board of Supervisors over GOP rival John McCann Kyle Krahel-Frolander announcing leave of absence as chair of local Democratic Party PDF Will Rodriguez-Kennedy reported Times of San Diego Everyone s top priority must be the vote of Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre And Sara Ochoa another party leader communicated me she s working to patronage Aguirre s achievement every day Behind the scenes however all three are eyeing other offices And a fourth might be Ross Pike the new acting chair Krahel-Frolander of Oceanside has taken a leave of absence as chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party to focus on various critical personal matters he disclosed via email Wednesday to Central Committee members noting that Chair Pro Tem Pike would be acting chair until July at the latest What personal matters That would be seeking North County s District seat on the Board of Supervisors according to Lori Salda a the former Assembly member Salda a a member of the local Democrats Central Committee says she learned of Krahel-Frolander s plans from a fellow state party delegate who petitioned for secrecy a inadequate days before last weekend s Democratic convention in Anaheim Then Rodriguez-Kennedy stated her the same at the convention she disclosed Rodriguez-Kennedy who stepped down as party chair in May to fight sexual assault claims is running to regain that party leadership post Salda a says How does she know Rodriguez-Kennedy reputedly reported her so Times of San Diego interview with Lori Salda a on June PDF Will is seeking aid from me and others to become the next chair once Kyle formally announces he is running for supervisor Salda a mentioned For his part Rodriguez-Kennedy informed me Of program if the chairmanship opens up I would consider running for it With my proven record as the chair who led the county party to flip the county blue for the first time in history and considering I am a mixed-race member of the Latino LGBTQ and Veteran communities which are now being targeted by the current administration it makes sense that if an opening were to occur that I might be considered by the majority as a natural fit for the position And Ochoa party vice chair for the South Area mentioned Sunday After we elect Aguirre I will enthusiastically discuss my proposals qualifications and vision for the county party On Saturday Ochoa and Rodriguez-Kennedy were invited to meet with Salda a and several other party leaders at Elijah s Restaurant in Kearny Mesa Sitting on the patio Salda a and three cohorts wished to pin down Ochoa and Rodriquez-Kennedy on how the chair electoral contest would be run There s no doubt that there s going to be an balloting Salda a advised me in a phone interview It s just a question of timing Salda a is concerned about what she calls secrecy and clandestine behind-the-scenes activity of the party s executive board Will thinks he has the votes sufficient to become the next chair she stated And he didn t really answer the questions about these issues like the lack of transparency I sent queries to Rodriguez-Kennedy a Central Committee member as past chair and Ochoa about a chair vote and neither addressed them directly Will Rodriguez-Kennedy statements to Times of San Diego PDF Krahel-Frolander and acting chair Pike didn t respond to my requests for comment Neither would other party leaders I don t want to talk about that right now Krahel-Frolander recounted Axios San Diego s Andrew Keatts in a scoop posted Thursday Salda a who for several years left the Democratic Party and fell short in bids for Congress San Diego mayor and county supervisor recounted me she neither supports nor opposes Rodriguez-Kennedy or any other doable chair candidate I need more information about all of them she stated Toward that end she hopes the local party s Council of Clubs will follow through on plans for a candidates forum But Salda a is skeptical of Ochoa s hopes for a July meeting on the party chair by the San Diego Building Construction Trades Council Which is kind of like Why would the Building Trades do a forum another organization s leadership Salda a mentioned We wouldn t do a forum on their leadership Salda a notes that Becca Taylor the late party chair killed in a traffic crash last July rose to that post without a contested electoral process after spending eight months as acting chair Taylor ran unopposed A longtime party insider is dead set against Rodriguez-Kennedy resuming his chair role The insider who demanded not to be named explained they could go on and on about Rodriguez-Kennedy s healing of fellow Democrats and ethics complaints involving his associates William figured out the way to raise up his profile within the party was to attack people that he could the insider notified me Rodriguez-Kennedy often says he s been cleared of all charges including a lawsuit dropped by former boyfriend Oscar Rendon After being exonerated from a false accusation spread as an act of political violence I have had the privilege of serving my society in numerous roles from fighting federal agencies to get our veterans and military institution members and families the benefits they deserve to my work protecting the merit-based system in the San Diego County Administration as the president of the Civil Provision Commission disclosed Rodriguez-Kennedy who now works for Rep Scott Peters Defending Rodriguez-Kennedy is another member of the gay district Ryan Trabuco president of San Diego Democrats for Equality and also a Central Committee member Trabuco recounted me last Monday One thing that s been clear to me for the better part of the last year is how a large number of Democratic club leaders activists donors electeds and Central Committee members would welcome Will coming back as chair I know folks approached him after the elections in November to gauge whether he was interested in coming back to lead the party He added via email Given his record of electoral success when he was chair his record of organization as a Marine Corps veteran and the fact that he s been very publicly exonerated from the bullshit that he went through I suspect that Will would very easily win re-election as chair of the party Acting party chair Ross Pike s June email to county Democratic Party Central Committee PDF But Pike wrote the Central Committee a -word note about his becoming acting chair summarizing his political biography going back to age when he was elected Newaygo County Democratic Party chair It sounded as if he were a chair candidate too Pike s email then turned to the District supervisor balloting July involving McCann the Chula Vista mayor As acting chair my main focus is clear we must elect Paloma Aguirre to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Pike explained This race is critical Paloma is a strong values-driven leader and she s exactly who we need representing us at the county level Salda a would be an ideal candidate for party chair reported the party insider But Salda a wary of becoming a lightning rod for old foes will take a pass I m not happy with the candidates that we have available to us at this point Salda a disclosed My concern is that I still didn t see or hear the type of vision and leadership going forward that this party requirements to overcome the Trump agenda