It’s been two years since Andrew Gade lost a run for City Council.
During that time, he engrossed himself in local government to learn as much as he could so he could run again. He’s changed in the last two years, he said — why hasn’t Coronado?
“What’s the focus on this election?” he asked, before listing topics he suspects every council campaign will touch: the sewage crisis, Cays Park, the Winn Room remodel, infrastructure, public safety, fire stations. “Two years later, not much has changed, for better or worse. It seems like Coronado is stuck and not able to get anything moving forward.”
He offered as an example the most recent City Council meeting, during which much of the discussion centered on beach testing methods. He said he understands the reasoning — water quality tests should be accurate, and frequent beach closures impact business — but thought the council was missing the point.
There’s sewage in the water, regardless, he said. That sewage is coming from Mexico, regardless. Tijuana will continue to grow in population (and, therefore, in sewage output), regardless.
“Are we going to sit here and point the finger and never go on the beach?” he said. “Or are we going to sit and address how to fix this?”
Gade said he’s been busy learning as much as he could over the last two years. He served on the city’s mobility committee, is a board member for the Coronado Fourth of July, and a member of both the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. And, of course, he says, he’s a proud member of the Island Beer Club.
Gade said each brush with city government has taught him how bureaucratic pieces fit together. He’s been attending council and board meetings simply to watch and listen, and has been meeting with local leaders.
“A lot of what I’ve learned is procedural,” Gade said, adding that the mechanisms of local government can be frustrating compared to the pace of decision-making he takes as a small business owner. “Once you get through all the procedure, though, you learn how you get through to targeted, pointed action.”
That translates into a specific critique of how the city operates day to day: He wants a better answer for how the council can make recommendations — and how to ensure those recommendations are actually executed. He pointed to the city’s heavy use of outside subcontractors rather than in-house staff as one place to look.
Government isn’t a business, he said, but it can still be run more efficiently.
“We don’t have to accept that things are this way, just because of that’s how they are now,” Gade said.
More aggression and creativity with Tijuana’s sewage
Practically, he wants to apply that philosophy to the sewage crisis. His proposed fix has three prongs: first, he said, a planned extension of Tijuana’s ocean outfall pipe, which channels sewage into the ocean, is not enough. He thinks it should stretch farther and deeper into the ocean to keep the sewage away from South Bay shores.
Second, he would like to invest in water reclamation rather than sewage treatment alone. Finally, he wants to get more creative about funding for solving the problem instead of waiting on the federal government. While Coronado can’t simply hand money to the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which oversees sewage infrastructure on both sides of the border, he believes there are other mechanisms the city hasn’t tried.
He didn’t rule out a county-level referendum or revisiting Coronado’s local tax structure to help pay for sewage infrastructure. He raised the idea of a lawsuit against Mexico as one option if diplomacy stalls.
He pointed to recent increases in San Diego County’s budget, saying there is plenty of money to address the problem if local governments are willing to get creative about how to fund it.
“We’re the richest country in the world,” Gade said. “We could say that we stole the land from Mexico anyway. We’re sitting here in our castles crying about the water when so many people in Mexico don’t even have homes.”
Empty storefronts, possible solutions
As a small business owner himself, Gade said business closures along Orange Avenue and on the block between First and Second streets bothers him as much as anything on the ballot.
“From what I’m hearing, rent is so expensive that it’s very difficult for businesses to just run a business,” he said, pointing to the required sales volume needed to account for overhead.
He said some buildings aren’t in a hurry to fill vacant space, which has pushed him toward an idea he said he wouldn’t have considered before.
“I’m an anti-tax, anti-fee person,” Gade said, “but I’m getting to the point where if businesses aren’t going to rent out their properties, maybe we start looking at a business vacancy tax. The goal isn’t to tax anyone — it’s just an incentive to get things moving.”
No shortage of ideas
Gade is an idea man. Mention a problem, and possible solutions or angles to consider start to tumble from his mouth as though he can’t wait to start trying things.
It’s part of what made his business a success, he said. If he sees a problem, he fixes it, then moves on to the next.
But he said a big takeaway from his first campaign was to slow down and listen, to invite people into a conversation rather than presenting conclusions.
“If people want to talk about solving problems, let’s talk about it,” Gade said. “There’s no limit.”
Gade moved to Coronado five years ago, after living in San Diego for 20. Coronado, he says, finally feels like home in a way San Diego never did.
His affection for the city comes with reciprocity. Nearly every morning, he said, he picks up trash on his way to get coffee in the park, and he’s noticed other residents doing the same as they walk their dogs.
“That’s what makes Coronado, Coronado,” he said, “and that’s the most important thing — that’s how we protect it.”
