Editor’s note: The Coronado News reached out to all 2024 mayoral candidates with questions to learn more about their priorities and philosophy in running for mayor. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Why did you choose to run for mayor?
Duncan: At this moment in Coronado’s history, we cannot afford to be passive and low key. I have a true love for Coronado, having raised my four children here. The question for voters is not what the mayor candidates say regarding how they feel about Coronado, but rather, what specific actions will candidates take on the toughest issues. As an attorney with 25-plus years of financial and negotiating experience, licensed to practice law in both California and Washington, D.C., my skills and experience are what is needed to represent and protect Coronado. I have vast experience in coalition building and problem solving in Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Tijuana, on the sewage issue, on SANDAG as Coronado’s representative and with CalTrans.
Q: During your time living in Coronado, what is your record of civic involvement?
Duncan: Giving back to our community is a core value in my family. I served as commissioner/chair on the Coronado Civil Service Commission, two terms on the Coronado’s Bicycle Advisory committee, as a director on the FBI Citizens Academy board, and as a director on the Coronado Historical Association board. I attended the Coronado Citizens Police Academy. I am an active Coronado Rotarian, having chaired the successful Low Tide Ride and Stride the last two years, raising record funds for Wounded Warriors and first responders. I coached baseball, soccer and softball for a decade and I served on the Board of Little League and Coronado Youth Soccer.
Q: What is your stance on the Cays Park Master Plan?
Duncan: I am not in favor of the Cays Park Master Plan. The cost of the plan is estimated to be at least $30 million, and it will likely be 20 – 30% higher in cost. Hundreds of taxpayers contacted me against the project. The options were not fully discussed by council publicly, and the costs of each option were not disclosed in the agenda for public review. Do Coronado families want the children’s playground moved away from parking to the other side of the park, near the dog park and highway? As mayor, I will fight for responsible spending of our taxpayer dollars on important capital projects.
Q: Can you spell out specific plans you’d advocate for fixing the stormwater infrastructure?
Duncan: My top capital spending project as mayor will be storm drain and anti-flooding infrastructure. We must conduct a full review of our storm drain system. I do not accept the excuse that a “hundred year storm” is the reason for all of the flooding. Having the first floor of our public schools completely flooded is not something we can accept as the future status quo. Specific areas of concern include the Five Points intersection area near the Coronado Tennis Center, areas on Orange Avenue that have flooded multiple times, the Country Club area, Fourth Street near H and I, as well as Fourth at Alameda and specific areas in the Cays.
Q: What are tangible examples of efforts you’ve made with the Tijuana sewage crisis? Or, what do you hope to do during your time in office?
Duncan: I have worked countless hours on the horrendous trans-border sewage issue. Immediately upon joining City Council, I successfully fought to bring back the City Council Subcommittee on Trans-Border Sewage, over the objection of Casey Tanaka. Tanaka voted against the subcommittee despite its previous success in 2020, when Councilmember Whitney Benzian and Mayor Bailey helped secure $310 million in funding.
I joined the Advisory Board of the IBWC, I traveled to Congress with Mayor Bailey to work on funding in the 2024 budget, and returned two weeks later with Imperial Beach Mayor Aguirre and Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. This successful work is why I am endorsed by Mayor McCann and three Imperial Beach City Councilmembers, and have a very strong working relationship with Mayor Aguirre. Mayor Aguirre and I recently traveled to inspect the construction of the Mexican plant six miles south of the border to ensure the project will come online this year and stop the sewage flows closing Coronado’s beaches in the summer. I just returned from Washington, D.C., where I advocated for additional funds to rebuild and expand the sewage treatment plant. We had 20 successful meetings with Congress members.
Q: What is your stance on the affordable housing allocation?
Duncan: As Coronado’s representative on SANDAG, I successfully built coalitions of cities to fight the methods SANDAG used to impose the ridiculous 1,000 new housing units on Coronado. SANDAG forced a formula via a weighted vote wherein Coronado was charged for all the jobs on the military bases when calculating needed housing, but given no credit for housing on the Naval bases nor new housing being built. Coronado entered a costly legal process resulting in settlement where we did receive credit for the new housing on the Amphibious Base. As mayor and SANDAG representative, I will ensure a fairer method is used in the next housing allocation.
