Voice of the Voters: In District 4, Residents Just Want Better Services

Qweene Stocking and Robert Earnest started their morning walk with a stop at the polls at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center Tuesday morning.  

Stocking, 61, is a life-long resident of San Diego’s City Council District 4, while Earnest, 62, arrived in the 80s. They told me they are both “proud Democrats.”  

They said the city needs to do more for the southeastern San Diego district which includes neighborhoods like Emerald Hills, Encanto, Skyline, Lincoln Park and more. 

Both Earnest and Stocking voted for incumbent and Democrat Henry Foster. He’s running against Democrat and community activist Martha Abraham, who trailed him by just twelve votes in this year’s primary. 

Earnest said he likes Foster and the stance he’s taken on the city’s license plate reading cameras. For months, Foster has led the push to remove the surveillance technology that costs the city about $2 million a year.  

“I know he takes a strong stance on those Flock cameras,” he said. “I think that is a straight invasion of privacy.” 

Earnest and his wife agreed on Foster’s plans to improve the district. While Stocking was leaning toward Abraham at first, after comparing both candidates, she decided to vote for Foster. 

“We need a lot of improvements over here, especially the streets,” she said. “Our streets are awful compared to other parts of San Diego.” 

Mayra Espinosa, 38, who’s a Democrat said she voted for Abraham because she wants to see something different for District 4.  

She’s upset about the new trash fee for homeowners and paid parking at Balboa Park, which has since been repealed. Espinosa supports Abraham because she’s in opposition to those decisions taken by the City Council. 

“It’s definitely like a referendum of what’s been happening in City Council,” she said.  

Like Earnest and Stocking, Espinosa wants to see improvements in the community. She would like to see more lighting at local parks and the revitalization of local businesses. 

Lucy Betterton, 47, voted for Councilmember Foster and said he’s been great for the community. She said she often reads his newsletter where he asks residents for their opinions on parks and recreation centers. 

She said she lives on a downhill slope in the district and submitted requests for speed bumps. She said Foster sent out a report saying his team did a study and would be installing those. 

“At least we know that we’re being heard, you know?” said Betterton. 

If Foster is re-elected, she also said she wants to see more neighborhood improvements. She wants a bathroom and more lighting at Christopher Wilson Park near a police station in the district. 

For 65-year-old Robert Dorsey, who’s a retired veteran, he said he just wants President Donald Trump out of office. He’s lived around the corner from the MLK rec center since 1999.  

I asked him his thoughts on the two candidates running for the local race, but he said he didn’t know much about them and was planning to vote for a Democrat. 

“I don’t know the difference between neither one of them,” he said. “It’s gonna be a toss up.” 

The post Voice of the Voters: In District 4, Residents Just Want Better Services appeared first on Voice of San Diego.