The Never-Ending Feud Between Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Councilmember Michael Inzunza

Everybody notices it. Nobody wants to talk about it. 

For the past year, City Council meetings in Chula Vista have been sure to feature at least one moment when veteran Mayor John McCann and newly elected Councilmember Michael Inzunza go mano a mano. 

The confrontations range from subtle – the mayor has a strange aversion to saying Inzunza’s name in public – to in-your-face, such as the time Inzunza abruptly walked out of the Council chamber while McCann was adjourning a meeting in honor of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

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There seems to be a fresh dispute every time the Council gets together. 

Earlier this year, City Councilmembers grumbled behind the scenes that McCann was hogging the city’s official proclamation process and even letting his wife give out city commendations at official events. 

Inzunza initiated an overhaul of the process that ensured councilmembers also have a say in giving out proclamations. 

McCann objected. But the other councilmembers outvoted him and adopted the new rules. 

Ball in Inzunza’s court. 

Not long after, McCann warmly welcomed a group of Filipino American military veterans and their families to City Hall to commemorate the naming of a new park in their honor – in Inzunza’s Council district. 

Guess who wasn’t consulted about the park’s name or given a heads-up about the ceremony? 

Inzunza protested that the mayor had done an end-run around the normal process for naming new parks. Where were the public meetings, Inzunza asked? Why name the park after just one segment of Chula Vista’s Filipino community? 

Left unsaid was the fact that McCann, a Navy veteran himself, is running for re-election and counts military veterans among his core supporters. 

McCann, seeming exasperated, said city officials had been working on plans for the park for years, including conducting multiple rounds of community outreach. 

Left unsaid: Where were you, Michael Inzunza? 

The assembled veterans and their families appeared displeased by Inzunza’s proposal. The park name passed unanimously, with even Inzunza voting yes. 

Ball back in McCann’s court. 

The list of such dustups is long. And it’s only been a year since Inzunza, whose day job is serving as a public affairs representative for a statewide association of school boards, won election to the Chula Vista Council. 

It’s hard to decide which is more remarkable about the feud between the two men: The suddenness and persistence with which it became a fixture at City Council meetings. Or the reluctance of anyone in city politics to talk about it on the record. 

McCann, who has served in elected office in Chula Vista for more than two decades and is gearing up to run for re-election as mayor next year, did not respond to a request for comment. 

Inzunza declined to comment on the details of the dispute but did send a written statement. 

“I was elected to bring our city stability and legislate public safety ordinances to protect our families,” the statement said. “That’s my only focus.” 

Other councilmembers definitely have taken notice but also declined to comment. 

The same with city staff employees, who have had to scramble to respond to the two men’s policy requests as they seek to one-up each other. 

It all might seem like a minor chapter in the never-ending saga of big personalities in politics. Except city staff said the feud has become so constant and noticeable, it’s “alienating some people” and has become a “distraction” from city business. 

Not to mention tarnishing the Council’s reputation for professionalism. 

One observer certainly was happy to dish on the record. Chula Vista resident John Acosta attends virtually every City Council meeting and wastes no opportunity to lacerate councilmembers for what he perceives as their innumerable failures. 

Acosta said even he is surprised by the thinly veiled rancor between two of the city’s top leaders. 

“It’s nasty,” he said. “Very nasty…Anytime the mayor wants to do something, Inzunza goes against it.” 

Like others interviewed for this story, Acosta pointed to next year’s mayoral race as a likely source of friction between the two men. 

Inzunza has stated repeatedly in public and in private that he has no plans to challenge McCann for the city’s top job. But nobody believes that. 

Since taking office in December last year, observers say, Inzunza has been governing like a man with his eyes on the prize. 

He has been a whirlwind of activity, passing the county’s strictest limits on youth e-bike ridership and pushing forward plans for a new police substation in his east Chula Vista district, despite objections from some councilmembers that the police department needs more officers, not another building. 

He appears frequently on local television news. And his Instagram account serves up a steady stream of councilmember-in-action posts. 

If Inzunza is not running for mayor, observers say, he sure is acting like it. 

McCann himself is no stranger to news cameras. He is a tireless booster of his hometown, showing up to countless city events and pointing with pride to the city’s balanced budget, low crime rates and recent string of high-profile real estate developments. 

He narrowly lost a bid earlier this year to occupy a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. And he appears happiest and most energized when he is cutting a ribbon in front of a big crowd of supporters. 

Notably, Inzunza’s promise not to run for mayor applies only to next year. He has not ruled out a future run, or a bid for some other higher office. 

In other words, McCann and Inzunza could find themselves squaring off before voters sometime in the future. To some observers, they are warming up for that contest already. 

Meanwhile, their feud goes on. At the end of one recent City Council meeting, Inzunza made a request to McCann: Please stop singling out certain councilmembers by calling them “the member from District 1,” or “the member from District 3.” 

McCann, for unknown reasons, sometimes refers to councilmembers – especially Inzunza – by their district number, not their name. To some observers, McCann uses names only for councilmembers currently in his good graces. 

“I just hope that the mayor could take that into consideration, that we’re all addressed equitably and consistently,” Inzunza said. 

McCann did not respond. 

It was the second time the two men tangled that evening. Earlier, McCann had sidestepped a vote on a potentially controversial proposal to enhance so-called “sanctuary” protections for immigrants in Chula Vista. 

Just before the Council voted, McCann announced he would be abstaining because “I am a naval officer with the United States, so legally I am unable to oppose, or potentially oppose, federal law.” 

Inzunza piped up. “Mr. City Attorney, is that a conflict?” he asked. “Can he vote on this?” 

The city attorney thought for a moment then said, “I am not aware of the mayor’s employment conflicting him out of this vote.” 

The proposal passed. McCann abstained. 

The city attorney, however, included a proviso in his analysis that might, if you squinted, appear like a small victory for Inzunza. 

“I don’t believe we can force him to take a position,” the city attorney said of McCann. “However, abstention without a qualifying reason is generally, under our code, recorded as a vote in favor of an item.” 

So, which was it? Did McCann deftly avoid alienating his Republican backers and Chula Vista’s sizeable immigrant community with a well-timed abstention? Or did Inzunza maneuver the mayor into appearing to try to have it both ways? 

Perhaps it was ball in both courts. Or nobody’s. 

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