NBC 7’s Joe Little heard from the three candidates for Chula Vista’s vacant city attorney seat.
Chula Vista voters could choose a new city attorney Nov. 7. Three candidates are facing off in a special election to fill the seat won by Simon Silva in 2022. However, Silva died of cancer two months before election day. It was too late to replace Silva’s name on the ballot.
“We’ve been over a year without a city attorney,” said Dan Smith Diaz, who lost to Silva by fewer than 800 votes last November.
Smith Diaz is running against former Chula Vista City Attorney Bart Miesfeld and attorney Marco Verdugo.
“The office has languished, and it needs to be rebuilt,” declared Miesfeld, who was the last appointed city attorney before Chula Vista switched it to an elected post.
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“I think there’s a lot of issues that we can get better at,” said Smith Diaz. “There’s all sorts of things that have slid through the cracks.”
“I intend to help our elected officials get through the legal hurdles,” added Verdugo. “We look at every single contract that the city enters into.”
Voter turnout for the special election is expected to be low in the county’s second-largest city, especially since it’s the only race on the ballot. However, all three candidates said the position is incredibly important.
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“The city attorney is about enforcing the city charter,” said Smith Diaz.
“We can guide our policy makers,” added Verdugo.
“We save money for the taxpayers and keep us out of court,” concluded Miesfeld.
While serving as Chula Vista’s city attorney, Miesfeld said he hired Simon Silva.
“He was a good man. He would have made a good city attorney,” he said. “He was a good, smart, hard-working family man.”
While in law school, Verdugo was Silva’s intern.
“He made me a better attorney,” he said. “I don’t think I would be here without his advice and his help.”
One of the three candidates needs a simple majority to win. Otherwise, the top two candidates will have a runoff in yet another special election next year.
