Written by Justin Culetu
Former San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman was elected to a four-year term representing District 7 in 2012 and reelected in 2016. Unfortunately, term limits prevented him from running for a 3rd term in 2020. He did run for San Diego Mayor, but due to late entry into the primary, he finished in a close third and did not make it to the general election.
Now, Sherman is stepping away from the rigorous world of politics and returning to his previous occupation as an insurance salesman, which he left behind to pursue elected office. During his time in office, a myriad of accomplishments were achieved and the people of San Diego benefited from his leadership.
According to Sherman, his top priority as Councilman was fixing the house building process. House development is not as easy as it should be in San Diego, but Sherman has worked to improve that throughout his tenure. One change he pushed for was changing the home building process rules from permissive to administrative, which helps to speed things along.
Also a success during his tenure was the passing of Measure D, which he wrote. Measure D reversed a policy that had the mayor select the auditor who keeps track of the city’s books. The measure shifted that decision to the city council, which helps ensure that the auditor is independent.
Sherman would have liked to accomplish legislation on short term housing rentals and reform of community planning groups, but those efforts were blocked by city staff. With this in mind, Sherman is hopeful to see changes in collective bargaining agreements with city staff, that way officials can be more effective in serving the people of San Diego. He also wishes to see voters being more educated about candidates and legislation in order to vote for those who are willing and able to make change and actually improve the lives of San Diegans.
Before his departure from office, Sherman wrote an op-ed in which he called on council members and City Hall as a whole to work for the people instead of pursuing a special interest agenda. He also went on to remind them that the money council members work with comes from the hard-working citizens, not government officials.
