The former Coronado mayor making city policy go viral
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Former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey is taking to Instagram to sound off on San Diego issues. Screenshot: @richardbailey__/Instagram
Amid the Instagram slop of NBA highlights, trend dances and dudes throwing stuff off bridges (depending on your algorithm), former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey has injected municipal affairs into the social media swirl, becoming a policy wonk micro-influencer in the process.
The big picture: Since leaving office last year, Bailey has leaned on policy chops and populist topic selection to sound off on a host of San Diego civic issues.
State of play: His reach isn't huge. Bailey has 15,800 followers, and his explainers in front of the downtown skyline get between 500 and 1,000 likes.
- But that's hundreds more than similar videos from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and similar to what local publications get from their short-form social videos.
The videos, and a new San Diego Comeback website, have stoked speculation that Bailey moved to Mission Beach to run for the vacant District 2 council seat next year.
- Bailey told Axios he's heard the same rumors and they're not true. He said he still lives in Coronado, hasn't opened a campaign account and isn't eligible to run.
Behind the scenes: Bailey said he made his first video when the city proposed eliminating beach firepits because he sensed it would resonate and he could explain it well.
- It took off, and he saw a comment section filled with follow-ups about why the city had a deficit to begin with.
- Other IG posts analyzed slow police response times, street conditions, the end of July 4 fireworks, increased parking prices, a controversial housing project in PB, gas prices, the city's acquisition of a downtown tower and affordable housing, among others.
Context: Bailey — a Republican in a region increasingly run by Democrats — said he avoids making his videos overtly partisan and doesn't personally criticize other electeds.
Reality check: Bailey's topic selection can be more discernibly conservative than he admits — he's been critical of a minimum wage proposal, gas taxes and a new fee for trash collection.
- But he also zeroes in on quality-of-life issues that haven't been the part of the local Republican Party's recent platform.
"I'd characterize it as an informed perspective on topics likely felt by average everyday San Diegans, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum," he said.
- Residents don't decide their stance on a new trash fee or sidewalk encampments based on their voter registration, he argued.
- "It feels like we're paying more for stuff we never had to pay for before, and we're not getting much or anything in return," Bailey said.
What's next: Bailey said he's relaunching his San Diego Comeback site later this month and hopes to write position papers on a series of topics to influence policy discussion.