San Diego's District 6 race: Kent Lee vs. Mark Powell
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Kent Lee and Mark Powell. Photos: Courtesy of campaigns
Incumbent Councilmember Kent Lee is facing a challenge from Mark Powell in District 6.
The big picture: Lee, a Democrat, and Powell, a Republican, offer sharply different approaches to housing, city spending and neighborhood services.
This interview has been edited for length.
Axios: What is the biggest issue facing District 6?
Lee: Affordability, as families are seeing rising costs everywhere from housing to groceries to transportation — especially the price of gas.
- Housing is especially important because District 6 is one of San Diego's largest employment centers, yet many people who work here commute an hour or more because they can't afford to live nearby.
- We need to make it possible for working families to build a life and stay in San Diego.
Powell: City Hall has lost sight of the basics. District 6 residents pay more in taxes and fees every year, yet services keep getting worse.
- In 2016, a streetlight repair took 16 days; today it takes 10 to 16 months. A decade ago, 6% of our streets were rated poor or failing; today it's over 34%. Priority-one police response times have climbed from 12 to 15 minutes to more than 38, nearly triple the 14-minute goal.
- These numbers show a city in decline, and it's the result of mismanagement.
Axios: What would you do about housing and affordability?
Lee: We need to make it easier and faster to build housing at every income level. We've worked to streamline permitting, update community plans, and establish an affordable housing preservation fund.
- Housing conversations also can't be detached from conversations around infrastructure and neighborhood services. We have to pursue both at the same time.
Powell: The city can't control the price of lumber or materials, but it can control permitting delays, fees, and red tape, and that's where I'd start.
- I'd modernize plan review, including AI tools that catch problems before submission, and explore Phoenix's model of letting certified private engineers self-certify projects.
- We also need more for-sale housing, like condos and townhomes.
How should the city address its budget problems?
Lee: We have to be honest that the city simply doesn't have the resources to meet all the service needs of our residents while addressing decades of deferred infrastructure investment.
- We have a responsibility to spend wisely, find efficiencies wherever we can, and hold ourselves accountable for results.
- But balancing budgets year after year isn't the same as solving our long-term financial challenges. We need sustainable funding to address our infrastructure backlogs and protect the services residents depend on.
Powell: I'd start by cutting non-essential bureaucracy and administrative layers, and stop using one-time revenue to cover ongoing expenses.
- I'd revive the managed competition voters approved in 2006.
- And I'd support a legally sound pension reform for new hires, excluding public safety.
Axios: How do you differ from your opponent?
Lee: I prefer to focus on my record of delivering results for District 6. Over the past four years, I've worked to deliver major neighborhood investments, protect community services, and advance housing reforms, even through some very challenging budgets.
- I've led by building consensus to get results while also being willing to challenge proposals when I believe they are not in the best interests of our residents or our city.
Powell: Kent Lee and I bring very different experience to City Hall. His career has been solely in the nonprofit world; he has never worked in the private sector or run a business. I have.
What is one concrete thing you would accomplish in your first year?
Lee: I strongly believe that the biggest challenge the city faces structurally, internally, is how we move forward addressing the fiscal challenges that we face.
- I hope to be able to continue to lead the charge on the land use and housing front, not only to see how we build more housing, but to ensure that we continue to find ways to be innovative, so that we're also preserving existing housing and keeping people in their homes.
Powell: In my first 100 days, I'll introduce resolutions and call on the mayor and my council colleagues to act on four priorities:
- A City Hall efficiency and spending review
- A neighborhood protection ADU reform package
- Implementation of the city's stalled brush management audit
- A District 6 parking, traffic, and mobility review