The New Lincoln Club Boss

Kevin Faulconer, former mayor of San Diego, is now in charge of the Lincoln Club Business League, which has been effective occasionally in political races. He says he’s going to be loud there. Here’s a short Q&A we did with him edited for length.

Voice: What’s your plan for the Lincoln Club?

KF: “We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to actively support good policies that support job growth and working families and fight aggressively against those that don’t. It’s important that San Diego have a voice for job growth.”

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Voice: It’s named after Abraham Lincoln. What’s your view of Abraham Lincoln?

KF: “He fought for opportunity and made huge difference in our country. The principles of standing up doing the right thing are important. The Lincoln Club Business League is a group of businesses that understand that nexus of business and the economy and politics and policy. You have to take a stand when they’re in jeopardy.

“A strong economy is essential for a great quality of life. We have to have a strong economic base and we have a real opportunity to step up there.”

Voice: When you look at policies you want to take a stand on, what are some that come to mind? 

KF: “We’re going to be very engaged on the tourism minimum wage and discussions of increased taxes at the county of San Diego. Those all have consequences on our economy. It’s important that we have balance in those discussions and we want to be active to ensure that we hold the government accountable.”

Voice: Do you want to kill the minimum wage push or make it more palatable to adopt for businesses?

KF: “At the end of the day, our tourism economy is darn important and we should do everything we can to grow it and be careful not to pass policies that have a negative impact on job growth. It could lead to thousands of job losses. We want people to come to San Diego. We want conventions to come to San Diego and spend money and when they do, that generates money to pay police officers and keep parks clean. We have to be very careful not to set it backward because we are in a competitive environment with other regions.”

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