Ammar Campa-Najjar is running for Chula Vista mayor, a seat being vacated by Mayor Mary Casillas Salas. The 33-year-old Democrat, Najjar has run twice for California’s 50th congressional district, first in 2018 against Rep. Duncan D. Hunter in 2018 with 48.3% of the vote, and again in 2020 against Rep. Darrell Issa with 46% of the vote. He is the founder of ACN Strategies, a communications and media consulting firm. Campa-Najjar, a third generation Chula Vistan, and resident of the city beginning in 1993, lives in the same home as he did while attending high school, community college, and working in his first job at his local church. He came back to his Eastlake home in 2003.
Campa-Najjar attended Southwestern College before going to SDSU and became a community organizer for Barack Obama’s campaign, organizing it in Chula Vista. After that he had the opportunity to work at the White House as an intern, working with the Labor Department’s Office of Public Affairs.
Campa-Najjar said that helping the unsheltered has become a priority in Chula Vista, and with the recent temporary closing of Harborside Park, he said his opponent has had 16 years on City Council to address the problem, and “it has only gotten worse under his watch.”
“Our mayor, Mary Salas is spearheading the pallet housing project, which is going to provide 75 beds and 66 units for the homeless community. That is a step in the right direction, but we need to do more. As mayor, I will build on her efforts and in my first 100 days, I want to create a homeless strategies and solutions commission to address the root causes of homelessness and to develop an action oriented solution for prevention and intervention.”
Campa-Najjar said when it came to Harborside Park, he agreed with the mayor that “there is no perfect solution.” He said he met with the city manager to learn the parks history, factors that led to the encampment, and what the city was doing to reopen and compassionately relocate the unsheltered, with access to services.
“I do think the park needs to be handed back to the community, but we need a proactive plan to stabilize and prevent this problem from reoccurring. If you open it up and you have the same factors at play, we are going to end up closing it again.”
Campa-Najjar said the location, with the Health and Human Services Agency there, which provides medicine and services to this population, it is a “magnet” for this type of situation, so it is necessary to look at what can be done to keep this situation from happening in the future.
“I really think that we should not have to let this park reach this point of having to be closed, but given the current conditions, I support the temporary closure,” he said.
Campa-Najjar said he wants to bring together the school district and local developers to “reimagine” what that park can be.
“Push for new development that incorporates a new park and green spaces so residents can be proud of their park. And maximize recreational opportunities for the children in the community. And we cannot keep pushing the unhoused from one parcel to another. We need to find a more permanent solution. We need to relocate and rehabilitate the homeless folks that live in the area. And we must empower law enforcement to stabilize the park.”
Campa-Najjar said there is county, state and federal resources that can help stabilize the park, but also deal with homelessness through the city.
“Chula Vista is no different than the rest of the state,” he said. “We are the richest and poorest state in the union. And it is because of housing. I think it is a combination of our housing shortage, quality of life, and the pandemic has made homelessness and crime go up.”
Campa-Najjar said all of government and all of community approach is needed to tackle the city’s homelessness issue, which means getting different levels of government to bring all the resources the different agencies have. He said coordination is needed on that level and bringing nonprofits that have proven results.
“I want to work with them and attract them by bringing congressional earmarks, so the city can request congressional earmarks to partner with nonprofits, coordinate with those providers to finally get us that emergency shelter we need in the South Bay and wrap-around services with tangible resources that lead to self-sufficiency,” he said. “I am all for having an all of the above approach, attracting people that have proven results. And I will seek the community’s input to identify areas where we can explore safe villages and the like for the unsheltered. The best way in prevention and dealing with this in the long term, the best way to prevent temporary and chronic homelessness is to prevent it.”
Campa-Najjar said his biggest priority is focusing on the homegrown homeless population.
With the Chula Vista Bayfront projects underway, Najjar said he received a confidential briefing on the youth sportsplex that the Port of San Diego and developer presented to City Council for its input before an application is given to the Port.
“I am very excited,” he said. “I do not want to get ahead of the process that they are going through. Because I think it would be spectacular. I think the bayfront, the resort and the convention, coupled with this sports complex, coupled with a new university, will give us all the public amenities that we need to be a self-sufficient, self-reliant city and a world-class destination. Chula Vista, we know that 80,000 people a day commute out of Chula Vista to work in San Diego. That takes a toll on people’s quality of life. I think these great public amenities will create thousands of jobs, but also allow people who also not just work out of Chula Vista but dine and shop and seek entertainment outside of Chula Vista, now we will have these great public amenities that will give us more revenue as a city will take on long neglected services. Like making sure we hire 40 more police officers, making sure we have resources to tackle homelessness fund our schools better, our libraries, create public-private partnerships for more amenities. Deal with our infrastructure in the city. These are the kinds of revenue generators that will help us not only create jobs, but fund some of our neglected services in the city. And take care of any potential future concerns people have with deficits.”
Campa-Najjar said the bayfront development is projected to promote $11 million of tax revenue every year, and believes under the right leadership, the city can optimize and maximize the success of that development.
“Someone who has new partnerships, new relationships can tap into state and federal resources, and many people are ready to partner with me to make that happen. I have a lot of support from people up and down the state,” he said. “Together we are building a coalition to actually optimize the success of the bayfront development and the sports arena that is being discussed.”
Campa-Najjar has called himself a son of Chula Vista and son of East County, and his residency in Chula Vista has been attacked, even recently with a Sept. 26 press release from former Chula Vista mayor Shirley Horton, accusing Campa-Najjar and his family of committing felony voter fraud. The press release states that a professional private investigator was hired who obtained more than 70 photos and videos living in a condo in San Diego for 32 days straight, the home of Rep. Sarah Jacobs, and that eight people who are registered under his voting address, who do not live there.
“Here are the facts,” he said. “I lived some time in East County, but I live in Chula Vista. I live in a home I have had since 2003. The home I went to school from, the home I grew up in. Got my first job as a janitor at Eastlake Church. Served my political career for President Barack Obama as an organizer. All that happened from my home here in Chula Vista in Eastlake.”
Left Coast Right Watch posted an article on Aug. 10, after Campa-Najjar was endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, claiming that he had ties with Defend East County Facebook group, a controversial group formed that organized counter-protest against the Black Lives Matter movement. It has since been removed by Facebook. In the article, it shows screenshots of a conversation between Campa-Najjar and members of the group, where Campa-Najjar stated that he did not support legal or illegal abortion.
Campa-Najjar said he joined the group to “see if for himself,” and said he questioned the group on whether it would refrain from hate speech, racism, as he could not support that.
“My heart was in the right place when meeting those folks and obviously I condemned them as soon as I found out what they were about. My position has been clear and consistent,” he said. “I have been endorsed by Planned Parenthood every time I have run for office because I am a very unequivocal champion of a woman’s right to choose. What makes me a good candidate for mayor is because I am a Latino running for mayor of Chula Vista. I understand the strong social values and work ethics that define this community because they defined me. People know where I stand. I am a proud Democrat for working family, a woman’s right to choose, access to housing opportunities, and ensuring a child raised in west Chula Vista or east Chula Vista has the same equal chance to succeed. Despite the political muscling, I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I do not think it I the role of the government to make these choices. It is a person’s individual choice.”
