Cindy Chavez could land top San Diego County admin role, a major upheaval in South Bay politics

In what could lead to a major political power vacuum in the South Bay, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez is currently in the running for a top administrative role in San Diego County.

Chavez, a longtime figure in the region’s labor bloc who unsuccessfully ran for San Jose mayor in November, could end up becoming San Diego County’s Chief Administrative Officer. The position oversees the day-to-day operations of the county.

In a statement, Chavez said she has been contacted by recruiters from several organizations since the mayor’s race.

“I am honored to be considered for these substantial opportunities to continue to serve,” she wrote. “I will be making any future decisions about what’s next with my family.”

If Chavez is chosen for the position down south, the political ramifications would be immense in the South Bay. As a former San Jose councilmember and head of the South Bay Labor Council, Chavez has championed progressive politics in Santa Clara County since the 1990s. A county supervisor since 2013, she is set to term out in 2024, and her absence would leave the local labor movement searching for a new leader.

San Jose State University political science professor emeritus Larry Gerston called Chavez “a real asset to this community.” While her potential departure from Bay Area politics may come as a shock to many, Gerston believes she could be looking for a fresh start after coming up short a second time in the San Jose mayor’s race last year.

“Someone like Cindy Chavez is always looking for new challenges,” he said. “If one door closes and another opens up, why not consider it? She’s at a point in her life where she would like to use her skill set wherever it could be used.”

Though the loss of Chavez’s more than two decades of experience would be a substantial setback, Gerston said there are plenty of up-and-comers in the labor pool, like newly elected San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, who she could pass the baton to.

“Santa Clara County’s loss would definitely be San Diego County’s gain,” he said.

“The county of San Diego is currently in the hiring process and cannot provide additional details at this time,” a spokesperson for San Diego County wrote in a statement. The San Diego County Chief Administrative Officer seat has been held by Helen N. Robbins-Meyer since 2012 — and the board will vote Tuesday on turning her position into an interim role.

The news was first reported by La Prensa San Diego — and confirmed by South Bay Labor Council Executive Director Jean Cohen and an individual directly familiar with the matter.

Cohen, who has known Chavez for over three decades, said the board supervisor has left an “indelible” mark on the region.

“San Diego would be extremely fortunate to have such an experienced and passionate leader,” she said. She said South Bay Labor Council will start looking for possible candidates to endorse for Chavez’s board position board if she’s chosen for the role in San Diego, but declined to name anyone specific.

Carl Guardino, a well-known business leader in Silicon Valley who used to serve as the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and is the current vice president of Tarana Wireless, said he assumed she would be getting “numerous calls” as she’s set to term out next year. Despite the divide between business and labor in San Jose, Guardino endorsed Chavez in the most recent mayor’s race.

“It’s certainly no surprise that a leader as effective, ethical and articulate as Supervisor Chavez has been approached by San Diego County leaders to interview for the Executive Officer role,” he said.

Chavez has been a household name in Silicon Valley for decades and was first elected to the San Jose City Council in 1998, and then re-elected again in 2002. In 2006, she ran for the San Jose mayor’s seat but lost to Councilmember Chuck Reed in a November runoff. Three years later, Chavez took the helm of the local labor movement when she became the head of the South Bay Labor Council, and later the executive director of the labor think tank Working Partnerships USA.

Chavez returned to politics in 2013 after winning a special election for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat. She’s been re-elected to two full terms since and represents portions of downtown San Jose and the city’s eastern neighborhoods.

She has been known locally as a fierce advocate for affordable housing and women’s rights. In 2016, she led the charge to help the county pass Measure A — an unprecedented $950 million affordable housing bond that has so far funded 3,933 new homes for low-income and homeless residents.

At the end of 2021, Chavez announced her second candidacy for the San Jose mayor’s seat. In what many political analysts considered an upset, Chavez lost to Councilmember Matt Mahan by 2.52% of the vote in November, a race that saw record-breaking amounts of money poured into both candidates’ coffers.

This is a developing story and will be updated.