| Carl DeMaio | |
|---|---|
| Member of San Diego City Council representing the Fifth District | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 2008 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1974 Dubuque, Iowa |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Website | City Council District 5 website |
Carl DeMaio (born 1974) is an American elected official in San Diego, California. He serves as a San Diego City Councilmember representing City Council District 5. He was elected to a four-year term in 2008. He is a Republican, although city council positions are officially nonpartisan per California state law.
District 5, with a median household income (as of 2008) of $95,211, is the second most wealthy district of San Diego's eight electoral districts. It includes the neighborhoods of Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Sabre Springs, Mira Mesa, Sorrento Mesa,[1] Scripps Ranch, and San Pasqual Valley.[2]
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DeMaio was born in Dubuque, Iowa, but spent his early childhood in Orange County, California where his family moved in the late 1970s. His mother died in 1990, two weeks after his father abandoned the family. DeMaio was taken in by Jesuit priests and enrolled in boarding school at Georgetown Preparatory School.[3] After completing high school, DeMaio completed college early, receiving a degree in International Politics and Business from Georgetown University.[4]
While attending college DeMaio worked as a political intern in Washington, D. C., ultimately landing a job with the Congressional Institute.[3] DeMaio served as the Institute's Director of Planning.[4] DeMaio worked in Washington from 1994 to 1999. After college, DeMaio established The Performance Institute,[3] a for-profit think tank that provided training for government officials, followed by the American Strategic Management Institute, which was modeled on The Performance Institute and provided training and education in corporate financial and performance management.[5] DeMaio sold both companies to the Thompson Publishing Group in late 2007. [5]
DeMaio was a member of the Citizens Budget Project, an effort to streamline California's state government following the recall of Governor Gray Davis.[4]
DeMaio moved to San Diego in 2002[4] as a result of his work with the Performance Institute.[3][4] That year he appeared in front of the San Diego City Council to award the city for having the most efficient government in California.[4] In 2004, however, he claimed that San Diego's official predicted budget deficit of $27 million was in fact closer to $80 to $100 million.[3]
Since then, DeMaio has advocated for changes in the budget process in San Diego.[6] DeMaio has also lobbied for a federal law that would impose rules on public pension plans modeled after ERISA.[7]
DeMaio ran for the termed-out Brian Maienschein's District 5 San Diego City Council in 2008.[2] He won the seat in the June primary election, defeating his opponent, former Solana Beach Fire Chief George K. George, with 66% of the vote,[8] making him the first openly gay man to be elected to the council.[9][10]
On the city council DeMaio is vice chair of three committees: the Natural Resources and Culture Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, and the Audit Committee.[11]
Upon taking office, DeMaio released a number of studies and proposals on city employee compensation packages and pension benefits.[8] DeMaio argued that salaries and benefits of city employees should be trimmed to more sustainable levels consistent with the local labor market. DeMaio also opposed construction of a new City Hall.[12]
In 2010, DeMaio supported the addition of a citizen initiative to the November ballot that would have made it easier for the city to outsource jobs. However, the measure was rejected by the county registrar of voters after a random sample concluded that DeMaio had not gathered enough valid signatures.[13] DeMaio also campaigned against a proposal to boost the city's sales tax by a half-a-billion dollars over five years. DeMaio argued instead to reduce the budget deficit through spending cuts and pension reform.[14][15] In November 2010, DeMaio released a five year fiscal reform plan dubbed the "Roadmap to Recovery,"[14] advocating for a variety of pension reforms, the reduction of city employee salaries and benefits, and opening city services up to competitive bidding.[14]
In 2011, DeMaio filed papers declaring that he would run for Mayor of San Diego in 2012, when current mayor Jerry Sanders will be termed out of office.[16] In June 2011, DeMaio formally declared his intent to run for Mayor of San Diego.[17]
In February 2011, San Diego CityBeat reported that a Wikipedia user who worked in DeMaio's office made significant favorable edits to the councilman's Wikipedia page.[18] A previous CityBeat blog post also noted that over the past eighteen months, "several users have noted that the page had 'severe' neutral-point-of-view problems." In the article, DeMaio's spokesman confirmed that his office had created and edited the page.[19]
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