Nora Vargas Was Soliciting and Accepting Campaign Funds While Building Her Consulting Firm

Nora Vargas' time in San Diego County is remembered by her dissing her constituents, ignoring their emails and not responding to phone calls. I guess she was too busy building a new company at her Chula Vista home to do her job as a San Diego County Supervisor for District 1.

Nora Vargas LLC received consulting fees from July to December 2024 while she was actively running for re-election.

If she knew she wasn't going to take her oath as Supervisor, why did she not just say so? She could have gracefully bowed out and let her competitor take the position. Instead, she waited until after the election was finalized to hastily exit so now we will be paying over $6 million for a new Supervisor election in April.

She stated that her departure was due to “personal safety and security reasons,” but her office declined to state what these reasons were about. Shouldn't it be disclosed for the safety of the other Supervisors? Or was it just a ruse?

There had been no reports of any threats or incidents to either the local police or the County Sheriff's Office.

Yet, in an unprecedented act, Nora requested and was provided body guards (with a SUV to transport her and gasoline) to "protect" her. No other Supervisor has been provided with the same, either currently or in the past. The cost to the taxpayer was $41K a month, roughly figuring out to $492,000 a year or a little under half a million.

The February issue of Newsweek in a "What People Are Saying" segment reported:

Amy Reichert, the cofounder of ReOpen San Diego, on X, formerly Twitter:

"Why did Super Sanctuary Nora Vargas resign? She had heat coming from every direction. A whistleblower filed a civil rights complaint with the EPA alleging her ties to Pedal Ahead, a nonprofit run by Ed Clancy, & claimed he donates to her campaigns. Meanwhile, the DOJ has been investigating Pedal Ahead separately."

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, on X:

"As we begin 2025, our County faces a significant decision. Currently, the Board of Supervisors is operating with four members instead of five, following Supervisor Nora Vargas's decision not to seek a second term.

This vacancy presents us with two options: appoint a replacement or hold a special election. We've been in this position before. When Supervisor Nathan Fletcher left office, we chose the right path — we let the people decide by holding an election. Now, with Supervisor Vargas stepping down, we should do the same."The residents of South Bay, District One, deserve to select their next representative for a full four-year term through a fair and transparent election process, not a political appointment decided behind closed doors."

Kimberly King, a spokesperson for the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, told Politico:

"There are no known or active threats towards Chairwoman Nora Vargas or any of the County Supervisors."

Nora Vargas thought very highly of herself as shown in her Linkedin page she wrote for her new consulting business. Her supporters had been waning as her term labored on with no solutions for so many issues. She was becoming difficult to deal with. She had turned into a Prima Donna as was evident in her final County Update held in October of 2024.

According to Greg Moran of inewsource, Vargas describes herself on her Linkedin page as “Executive Leader” and “Strategic Governance and Policy Expert.” The profile makes no mention of her LLC, and lists her most recent experience as chairwoman of the county board and the San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG.

Is she referring to the same Nora Vargas who served District 1 of San Diego County and set us back at least four years? The Nora Vargas who fumbled her Supervisor duties (she was Chair) and lost tax payers millions of dollars on SANDAG (she was Chair), multiple law suits and millions spent for migrant centers.

I found texts and WhatsApp messages as far back as May 2024 demanding that Nora Vargas resign. The recall was signed by eight people, in Directorial and Presidential positions. It read:

"Specifically, Supervisor Nora Vargas should spend significant time and focus reconnecting and rebuilding the trust with the communities and organizations that she worked with for many years. We do not believe this can be accomplished while she serves as Chair of the Board of Supervisors. Therefore, we are calling upon Nora Vargas to resign her position as Chair of the Board."

In nearly every article I ever read about Nora Vargas, it always started out that she was "the first immigrant and Latina (or woman of color) to be elected . . ." This was the badge of honor she wore and it had nothing to do with merit or achievements.

I think that Nora's entitlement statement could gravely harm the campaigns of three of the candidates running for the position of District 1 Supervisor. No one is interested in electing a Nora 2.0.

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