Chula Vista councilmembers criticize Mayor John McCann’s annual speech: ‘Just a political rally’

With a Tom Cruise-inspired score and a flaming Olympic torch as his backdrop, John McCann declared: “This is Chula Vista’s decade, and we’ve proven that our mission is possible.”

The mayor’s fourth State of the City address, held at the city’s Elite Athlete Training Center, was a grandiose one, beginning with a skydiver appearing overhead and a video stunt to make it look like McCann dropped out of the sky. As a photo slideshow of McCann alongside veterans, firefighters, health care workers and more played behind him, he touted the city’s economic development strides, public safety investments, housing initiatives and education advancements.

The Gaylord Pacific Resort, Chula Vista’s bayfront anchor, is the company’s third highest revenue-generating site, he said. And the city is on its way to housing more four-year degree programs through a partnership with San Diego State University.

But some — including members of the entirely Democratic City Council — said McCann, a Republican seeking re-election this year, made the address more of a campaign event than a reflection of city leadership’s work as a whole.

“What we heard tonight was just a political rally,” Councilmember Michael Inzunza said.

He said the mayor did not discuss challenges the city faces, instead repeating accolades that were decades in the making and before McCann was elected.

“If the City Council and the mayor took a six-month vacation, all the things he mentioned would still happen,” Inzunza said following McCann’s speech. “Our city staff does 95% of the work.”

Chula Vista’s nearly 280,000 residents are served by a city manager, meaning the mayor and council hire an administrator to oversee daily operations while elected officials decide policy and budget decisions. McCann, elected in 2022, doesn’t hold much more authority than council members, other than representing the city at official events and having more of a say on what’s on council meeting agendas.

Still, McCann in his speech praised development at the bayfront, saying the Gaylord hotel and the new Amara Bay housing project would transform the area and generate new jobs. He also celebrated the city’s first agreement with SDSU to offer nursing degrees at the future Millenia library.

Last month, the council unanimously approved spending nearly $400,000 to study whether to build the city’s second police station for its growing eastern neighborhoods.

“When I became mayor, I listened to our community and began planning for an Eastern police substation,” McCann said. “I have proposed locating it in Otay Ranch next to Fire Station 11 in the future community recreation center, creating a civic plaza for eastern neighborhoods.”

Councilmember Carolina Chavez said the mayor failed to mention an ordinance that limits the city’s cooperation with federal law enforcement. The council approved the rules while McCann recused himself, citing his status as a naval officer and saying that prohibited him from weighing in on proposals that inhibit or oppose federal law.

“With four members out of the five voting on it, it’s something historic that we need to talk about,” Chavez said.

Both she and Inzunza praised City Manager Tiffany Allen and her staff, who the councilmembers said deserve more recognition for their work.

McCann pushed back on his colleagues’ criticism. His staff said the mayor was first elected to the City Council in 2002, meaning he’s been involved in projects for decades, and that he was surrounded following his speech by people expressing gratitude for his recognition.

They pointed out that Chavez showed up late and that Councilmember Cesar Fernandez refused to attend. Fernandez said he was traveling for a conference and that his absence was “nothing more than a scheduling conflict.”

Three residents also sent messages to a reporter for inewsource in support of McCann after his office received a media inquiry, in which they criticized Chavez for her late arrival and accused Inzunza of speaking on the phone and holding side conversations during the mayor’s speech.

“It was disappointing that some of my council colleagues chose not to join in recognizing all that we have achieved together during what is truly Chula Vista’s decade,” McCann said in a written statement.

McCann is seeking another term as mayor this year. He faces Francisco Tamayo, a Democrat and a Chula Vista school district trustee who attended the State of the City. The mayoral race is formally nonpartisan.

Tamayo said after McCann’s remarks that he applauds Chula Vista’s successes, but that the speech “was a lot of smoke and mirrors.”

“We remind ourselves that there’s still a lot to do, that families continue to struggle to make ends meet, that the middle class in Chula Vista is disappearing,” he said.

Councilmember Jose Preciado said the State of the City allows the mayor to celebrate Chula Vista once a year as the elected “voice of the city.” In May, he noted, the council will discuss its strategic plan.

“The strategic plan that we’re adopting will reflect values and priorities from all five of us on the council,” Preciado said, “and I think give us an opportunity to continue to work collaboratively toward the benefit of the city, but in a trajectory that makes us work collaboratively as a team.”

Brisa Karow is an independent journalist living in San Diego. Previously, she lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, and ran the Northern Arizona University student newspaper. She is part of inewsource’s San Diego Documenters program and regularly reports on local government throughout the county.