South County Report: Controversy Over Chula Vista Chief Continues 

The controversy over Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy shows no sign of abating. 

Compounding the problem: There isn’t even agreement that Kennedy’s status at the police department is a controversy. 

The controversy, such as it is, began after Kennedy’s sudden departure on medical leave earlier this year. 

The leave came after the chief attended a police union holiday party at which she stuffed dollar bills into the pockets of a young male police officer who was doing a Chippendale’s-style dance as part of a dance contest. 

Following the party, Chula Vista City Manager Tiffany Allen told Kennedy her conduct during the dance contest was inappropriate. Allen asked Kennedy to rectify the situation. 

Kennedy asked to go on medical leave and hired a lawyer. The lawyer, Cory Briggs, told Voice of San Diego earlier this month he’s now laying the groundwork for a discrimination lawsuit against the city. 

From those bare facts, Kennedy’s departure has ballooned into a full-blown citywide imbroglio. In public, on social media and in news coverage, supporters of the chief allege top city leaders are engaged in a misbegotten conspiracy to oust Kennedy so they can replace her with a police chief more to leaders’ liking. 

Theories range from Latino councilmembers’ desire for a Latino chief (Kennedy is White) to an even more outlandish claim that city leaders resent Kennedy’s law-and-order style and want a chief who will turn a blind eye to corruption and low-level graft. 

Earlier this week, the chief’s supporters packed a City Council meeting and pleaded with councilmembers to keep Kennedy in her job. Speakers cited the chief’s decades-long tenure and Chula Vista’s low crime rate. 

They commended Kennedy’s religious faith and gave examples of her acts of public service. 

Now, one of the chief’s more prominent supporters is cranking up the controversy another notch. 

This week, Russ Hall, a former city commissioner running to represent District 2 on the City Council, called for Allen, the city manager, to step down. 

In a statement to Voice of San Diego and in social media comments, Hall said Allen has bungled the Kennedy situation and is kowtowing to councilmembers hostile to the chief. 

Like others who have made such claims, Hall did not offer concrete evidence. But he said, in an interview, he is sure such evidence exists. 

“There are no secrets here,” Hall said of Chula Vista. “This is a big little city. All of this stuff gets out at some point.” 

For city officials caught in the crossfire of all the rumors and speculation, claims like Hall’s have become a source of mounting exasperation. 

Both publicly and in private, top city leaders say there simply is no truth to allegations that Allen, city councilmembers or anyone else at City Hall targeted Kennedy or sought to replace her. 

Indeed, city officials point out, it was Kennedy who asked to go on medical leave. And it was Kennedy who hired a lawyer who is now threatening to sue the city. 

Just a few months ago, city councilmembers themselves were routinely praising Kennedy at City Council meetings and commending her for keeping city crime rates down and making Chula Vista a leader in law enforcement technology. 

In a statement following Tuesday’s City Council meeting, city spokesperson John Cihomsky said, “The City of Chula Vista is deeply disappointed over the continued misrepresentation of the facts involving its relationship with Police Chief Roxana Kennedy.” 

“The city is proud of the advancements in policing that have been made during the chief’s tenure,” Cihomsky wrote in the statement. 

Allegations that Allen sought to oust Kennedy or that councilmembers pressured her to do so, are “entirely false,” Cihomsky wrote. 

Cihomsky said public discussion of Kennedy’s situation had devolved into “untruths, rumors and innuendo generated by other parties in an apparent effort to attract media attention, create a false narrative and combat factual information.” 

Cihomsky appeared to be referring to comments made by Briggs, Kennedy’s lawyer. It was Briggs who first alleged that councilmembers were targeting Kennedy for racial reasons. 

Like Hall, Briggs did not present evidence backing up that claim. But he said he expects such evidence to surface during research for his planned lawsuit. 

“The city concocted bogus reasons for getting rid of the chief and in the process completely sullied her reputation,” Briggs said. “That’s discrimination.” 

The gathering of Kennedy’s supporters Tuesday was an organized affair. Supporters wore matching white hats with pro-Kennedy slogans and addressed many of the same talking points. They spoke to news cameras at a small protest before the meeting. 

Norma Toothman, one of the organizers, summed up both her compatriots’ strong feelings about Kennedy and the – so far – lack of concrete evidence surrounding the chief’s departure. 

“We are here to support Chief Kennedy,” Toothman said. “She has served with heart for over 30 years…The city has an agenda. We don’t know what it is.” 

ICYMI: A South County School District is in Big Financial Trouble 

Last week and this week, I reported on mounting financial problems at the San Ysidro School District. 

The 4,144-student, elementary-only district recently disclosed it is running out of money and will be more than $4 million in the red in just two years. 

County education officials gave the district a “negative certification,” meaning county officials determined the district will be unable to meet its financial obligations. 

District officials now are scrambling to make cuts. They may lay off staff and curtail popular programs. 

I also reported the district received ample warning that a series of raises it negotiated with employee unions risked pushing the district over the financial edge. District trustees approved the raises anyway. 

The story matters because San Ysidro might not be the only San Diego County district that finds itself in this situation in coming years. Districts throughout California staffed up and awarded raises to teachers during flush post-Covid years. 

Now enrollment is declining, state and federal funding are shrinking and districts are struggling to respond. I wrote about how other South County districts are faring here. 

In Other News 

• Imperial Beach city officials joined officials at the Port of San Diego Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Imperial Beach Pier, where the port plans to build a splash pad and other new amenities, including a public artwork celebrating I.B. culture by a local artist. 
• And another port groundbreaking: Next Tuesday, Chula Vista gets its turn in the limelight when officials gather to kick off a planned overhaul of Harbor Park west of the recently opened Gaylord Pacific Resort.  
• Our border correspondent, Kate Morrissey, recently reported on efforts by San Diego Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre to lead a public health inspection at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Officials at the center denied the supervisors entry and now the supervisors say they plan to sue. 

If you have any feedback or ideas for the South Count Report, send them to jim.hinch@voiceofsandiego.org.

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