Carl DeMaio

Carl DeMaio
Member of San Diego City Council from the 5th District
In office December 2008 – December 2012
Preceded by	Brian Maienschein
Succeeded by	Mark Kersey
Personal details
Born	(1974-09-14) September 14, 1974 Dubuque, Iowa
Political party	Republican
Residence	Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, California
Alma mater	Georgetown University

Carl DeMaio (born September 14, 1974 in Dubuque, Iowa) is an American politician from San Diego, California. He served one term as a member of the San Diego City Council, representing District 5, from 2008 to 2012. He chose not to run for re-election but instead ran for mayor, losing to then-Congressman Bob Filner, 47.5% to 52.5%.^[1] DeMaio is a Republican, though municipal offices in California (such as city council members) are officially nonpartisan.

In May 2013, DeMaio announced his candidacy for California's 52nd congressional district in November 2014, to challenge incumbent Scott Peters.

Life and career

DeMaio was born in Dubuque, Iowa to Carl Joseph DeMaio and Diane M. DeMaio (née Elgin). He 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.^[2] After completing high school in 1993,^[3] He entered Georgetown University and graduated from college early, receiving a degree in International Politics and Business.^[4]

While attending college DeMaio worked as a political intern in Washington, D. C., ultimately landing a job with the Congressional Institute.^[2] He served as the Institute's Director of Planning.^[4] He worked in Washington from 1994 to 1999. After college, he established The Performance Institute,^[2] 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] He 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^[6] as a result of his work with the Performance Institute.^[2][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. He later said this award had been given due to false financial data that the City Council had provided to the public.^[4] In 2004 he claimed that San Diego's predicted budget deficit of $27 million was in fact closer to $80-$100 million.^[2]

Since then, DeMaio has advocated for changes in the budget process in San Diego.^[7] He has also lobbied for a federal law that would impose rules on public pension plans modeled after ERISA.^[8]

Political career

San Diego City Council

DeMaio ran for the termed-out Brian Maienschein's District 5 San Diego City Council in the 2008 election.^[9] He won the seat outright in the June primary election, defeating his opponent, former Solana Beach Fire Chief George K. George, with 66% of the vote,^[10] making him the first openly gay man to be elected to the council.^[11][12] 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,^[13] Scripps Ranch, and San Pasqual Valley.^[9]

On the city council DeMaio was vice chair of three committees: the Natural Resources and Culture Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, and the Audit Committee.^[14]

Upon taking office, DeMaio released a number of studies and proposals on city employee compensation packages and pension benefits.^[15] He argued that salaries and benefits of city employees should be reduced to levels consistent with the local labor market.

Ballot initiatives

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.^[16] After the ballot measure was rejected, San Diego CityBeat reported that a committee called "Reforming City Hall with Carl DeMaio" had paid $16,000 to Hale Media Inc., a company owned by DeMaio’s boyfriend, for signature gathering. When CityBeat contacted Johnathan Hale, he said he hadn’t done any paid work for the campaign, but had only volunteered and taken photos. A campaign spokesperson said the money was reimbursement to Hale Media for paying the interns who were collecting signatures.^[17]

DeMaio also campaigned against a proposal to boost the city's sales tax by a half-a-billion dollars over five years. He argued instead to reduce the budget deficit through spending cuts and pension reform.^[18][19]

In November 2010, DeMaio released a five-year fiscal reform plan dubbed the "Roadmap to Recovery,"^[18] advocating for a variety of pension reforms, the reduction of city employee salaries and benefits, and the opening of city services up to competitive bidding.^[18]

According to the Voice of San Diego, DeMaio was "the driving force" behind San Diego's June 2012 ballot measure, Proposition B. The initiative proposed the elimination of guaranteed pensions for new city hires, replacing them with a 401-K type pension plan. It also proposed to freeze pensionable pay for current employees for five years and eliminate the city's deferred retirement option.^[20]

Campaign for mayor

In 2011, DeMaio filed papers declaring his intention to run for Mayor of San Diego in 2012, when mayor Jerry Sanders would be retiring due to term limits.^[21] In June 2011, he formally declared his candidacy.^[22] He was endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party in March 2012.^[23] In the June 5 primary he placed first with 31.42% of the vote and advanced to a runoff election against U.S. Representative Bob Filner in November.^[24]

The U-T San Diego, under the new ownership of Republican real estate developer Doug Manchester, published two front-page editorials endorsing DeMaio before the June 2012 primary. The Voice of San Diego described the editorials as unprecedented: "Actually, they weren't even on the front page — the editorials were wrapped around the page as though they were even more important." ^[25]

On 25 September 2012, Sanders endorsed DeMaio to be his successor. At the time of the endorsement, a 10News and SurveyUSA poll of voters gave Filner a twelve point lead over DeMaio.^[26] On election day Filner defeated DeMaio, 52.5% to 47.5%.^[1]

Campaign for Congress 2014

On May 30, 2013, Carl DeMaio announced his intention to run for Congress in 2014 against incumbent Scott Peters.^[27] In September 2013 he considered running for Mayor of San Diego in a November 2013 special election, called because of the resignation of Mayor Bob Filner, but decided to stay in the race for Congress.^[28]

References

External links

• Mayoral campaign website
• Performance Institute
• American Strategic Management Institute (ASMI)