Dictator Mayor: The Concentration of Power

Todd Gloria’s Pattern of Amassing Authority and Undermining Democratic Oversight

Image created in Midjourney based on actual phot of Todd Gloria on a throne.

Todd has been called the “Dictator Mayor” based on his pattern of amassing more power for himself.   This can be seen from several examples.

  • Demanded more authority over budget, 5 times the previous limit!
  • Demanded more authority to hire employees. 
  • Abuses his control of the Planning Department and other departments.
  • Doesn’t support the Boards and Commissions.
  • Makes decisions without City Council input.  Example: In June 2022, one of the Councilmembers discovered that the mayor’s staff had revised the Capital Improvements list for her district, removing many projects– without justification, without consulting with her. Is this typical?
  • When will the Councilmembers fight back against the Dictator Mayor, who wants all the power to himself?

The Dictator Mayor seeks control over every street and every block in the city.  He ordered street changes with no planning and no communication with residents.  

He wants to change the zoning throughout the city to meet his ideas of urban planning. The forced upzoning which the mayor has directed is leading to a backlash from residents.   

The continual lack of progress with homelessness has created a worsening crisis.   The people of San Diego are asking:  

How did we wind up with the Dictator Mayor, who wants to control the residents and authorize bad projects in the communities?

Consider the parallels between Todd Gloria and Denzel Washington’s character in the movie, Training Day. “I run this place, you just live here!”