Vargas cited personal security threats when she quit, but sheriff, others say they aren’t aware of any

When San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas made the stunning announcement that she was quitting the board, the only explanation she gave was a cryptic reference to “personal safety and security reasons.”

Now at a meeting on Tuesday, her former colleagues on the board are faced with a decision on whether to appoint a successor to her full four-year term, or hold a special election costing perhaps as much as $5 million.

While Vargas has been the recipient of some truly vicious harassment online and in board meetings, in the weeks since her terse announcement she has not clarified what exactly drove her from taking the seat and the four-year term she had just handily won with 62.5% of the vote in the Nov. 5 election.

It’s still a mystery. 

The major local law enforcement agencies in the county said they did not have any reports or complaints about threats to Vargas, and were not actively investigating any cases involving her. 

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department said last week that it was “not aware of any known or active threats at this time” against Vargas. 

Police in Chula Vista, where Vargas lives, also said all was quiet. Public Information Officer Sgt. Anthony Molina said in an email “we do not have any investigations related to this.”

San Diego Police Lt. Daniel Meyer noted Vargas doesn’t live in the department’s jurisdiction, then added he was “not aware of any SDPD cases” related to Vargas. 

The local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation didn’t respond to a query. And San Diego County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tanya Sierra said the office won’t discuss past or pending investigations that have not been made public. 

Vargas did not respond to a request for an interview left with her former communications director, and did not respond to a voicemail message, either. She issued only a single statement on the morning of Dec. 20, and has not made any further comments. 

Her departure left the board evenly split at 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans. For now, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is serving as the chair of the board until a replacement for Vargas is seated. 

In her first term Vargas was a frequent target of vitriol, both at increasingly ugly public comment portions of board meetings and online. She was a staunch advocate for immigrants, underserved communities in her South County district and social and racial equity in county programs and policies. 

The threats had become so acute that in 2023 the county hired a private security firm to provide security for Vargas and other supervisors. That contract went to Invicta Security, which does business as Allstate Security, at an initial cost of $130,000, county contracting records show.

In August KGTV 10 News reported that the security detail for a single month cost $41,000. 

The records show the Allstate contract was set to expire at the end of last year. 

But on Dec. 10, just 10 days before Vargas made her announcement, county officials exercised a clause in the contract that extended the deal for another six months until the end of June.

Communications Director Tammy Glenn said the deal was extended while the county works on new solicitation for security services. 

In a final twist to the mystery of why she quit, while the security deal was extended, Vargas won’t benefit. 

After citing personal safety as the reason why she was walking away from the Board of Supervisors, she also walked away from $80 per hour private security, paid by the public. 

Glenn said the security services are available to any supervisor who wants it, upon request. 

But Vargas’s tenure ended at noon on Jan. 6 — and with it went her access to the security. 

inewsource investigative reporter Sofía Mejías-Pascoe contributed to this report.