Editor’s note: The 2024 candidates for two open Coronado City Council seats are Andrew Gade, Mark Fleming, Christine Mott, Amy Steward, Mark Warner and Laura Wilkinson Sinton. A third council member may be selected in the process depending on the mayoral result. Three current council members — John Duncan, Mike Donovan and Casey Tanaka — are running for mayor.
The Coronado News reached out to Wilkinson Sinton and all candidates with questions to learn more about their priorities and philosophy. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity, including additional information from a follow-up conversation.
Laura Wilkinson Sinton, 66, is a self-proclaimed entrepreneur whose background includes a professional career in media, broadcast and founding and managing large and small businesses including Caligrown and Acme Inventions LLC.
After moving to Coronado in 2018, Wilkinson Sinton said she worked on several city and school sustainability projects with local beach closures inspiring her most recent endeavor to co-found a local nonprofit focused on tackling the Tijuana sewage pollution crisis.
“It certainly sets me apart as the most experienced candidate. I don’t have to hit the ground running. I am on the ground running and setting the pace,” said Wilkinson Sinton.
Wilkinson Sinton said she has advocated on the sewage issue in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, is part of a South Bay task force with health officials studying the water and air quality in the Tijuana River Valley, and is a Stop the Sewage.org representative of the Transboundary Pollution Coalition – with more than 50 nonprofits – asking the state and federal government to declare an emergency.
Today, Wilkinson Sinton’s work on the crisis – what she calls “a slow moving disaster” – motivated her decision to run for council.
“To pretend that our hotels are not hurting right now and that we can survive a third summer of this [pollution] is unrealistic. … We have to fix this now, this is why I think a state of emergency all the way up the food chain can happen,” said Wilkinson Sinton. “We have not collaborated with other cities in our region as well as I believe we can. And I’d like to be part of the City Council that makes that happen.”
“We need to be better ancestors,” she added.
Q: Why did you choose to run for City Council?
Wilkinson Sinton: I am an accidental candidate. Having worked on the sewage crisis through StopTheSewage.org and going back to school for an executive masters in sustainability leadership – studying Coronado issues like transportation, water and infrastructure, and California ports (including Port of San Diego) with my graduate school cohort – I realized that complacency can be detrimental to a city and region. Public policy really matters. There are looming issues of climate change that our city is ill prepared for, and this needs advocacy, not complacency. I have been urged to run by leading community members, by other officials who understand the urgency facing us as a region and as a city. My husband, kids and grandkids are incredibly supportive. As is Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, who urged me to run and is endorsing my campaign. We’ve been allies on the sewage crisis that has expanded up the coast to harm Coronado’s economy and public health in addition to other South Bay communities.
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?
Wilkinson Sinton: In the two years since starting StopTheSewage.org with four other civic-minded Coronado women, we have drawn substantial local, state and national attention to our sewage crisis and changed public policy. … I continue to work with Mayor Aguirre on the Health Task Force that recently discovered air quality dangers (hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide gases from the sewage in our air) in addition to water-borne viruses, diseases and toxins. … Diversion of the Tijuana River has to be part of this equation, too – and that requires a state of emergency to accomplish in a few years, not 20 … I plan to continue that “ask” along with other local officials.
… I won’t rest until we can swim in our beaches without fear, breathe our air without trepidation, or fear for our economic prosperity, our businesses and property values. The most essential task of the government is to protect its people. I am in a stronger position to do that if you elect me.
In a follow-up, Wilkinson Sinton expressed disappointment that Coronado representatives have not felt that an emergency declaration is necessary.
“We are the only city affected by the sewage crisis that has not declared a state of emergency. To ask our governor to declare one when we won’t bother to declare one ourselves is not a good look. … The reason the Tijuana River has to be diverted, and diverted on our side where it’s reliable, is because that is the source of the pollution.”
Q: Do you favor an ordinance with greater e-bike regulations?
Wilkinson Sinton: State law recognizes e-bikes as a “bicycle” classification. I supported Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner regarding a bill to change this, but it failed this year. Any ordinance would conflict with state law as it stands. Drivers in Coronado live in fear of hitting a kid who blows through a stop sign reading an iPhone on their e-bike. …If elected, I will collaborate with our trustees at Coronado Unified School District to develop a program like Poway and Encinitas is currently considering. This would require all kids parking e-bikes on Coronado school campuses to attend a safety class with a parent or legal guardian in attendance, get safety certified, and only then be allowed to park the e-bike on school campus. … We need to implement this fast with collaboration with parents and kids themselves to design the program and assure buy-in from the community before someone gets hurt or killed.
Q: Can you spell out specific plans you’d advocate for fixing the stormwater infrastructure?
Wilkinson Sinton: It’s water infrastructure, not just stormwater. Water infrastructure, including stormwater, wastewater and drinking water is my top capital investment priority.
Our Coronado stormwater infrastructure replacements and maintenance have, to our detriment, been deferred for a number of years. … The city is making progress on the new Parker Pump Station in Country Club. We need to address the other pump stations quickly and get them ready for the inevitably stronger storms climate change portends.
… Investing in recycled water, either our own or imported from San Diego’s city recycling treatment plant, can keep our golf course, our parks and medians green. We are late to the game, and need to catch up if we are to keep future water bills affordable. Preserving our future fresh water for drinking is the responsible choice, and it needs to be done now.
Q: City-wide ordinances have not been implemented for a single-use plastic ban. Where do you stand on this?
Wilkinson Sinton: Coronado should not be “last” in anything. And we are “last” on this. … The poisonous effects of plastic are established. … Then there is the destruction of sea life and sea mammals off our beautiful coast. … Our major hotels already accommodate single-use plastic bans in most of their other California markets. We can help our small businesses make the transition with grants from our city to buy in bulk the compostable take-out boxes and other containers. Everyone else is doing it and for health and beautification reasons. If we truly care about preserving our city and way of life for generations to come, this is the easiest no-brainer we have before us.
Q: What is your stance on the Cays Park Master Plan?
Wilkinson Sinton: At this point it is merely a plan, not a project. There is no doubt that Cays Park has been neglected. … The wish list said $31 million, which people heard and then thought it was a done deal. It’s not. I think the clarifications from the City Council and city manager a few weeks back give us a better perspective and breathing room to determine a way forward. … Considering the park has been decades without investment in repairs, it is now a park that needs deferred maintenance and irrigation upgrades, which will save the city considerable money on future water. We can plan what the community wants and deploy assets responsibly.
Q: What is your stance on the affordable housing allocation?
Wilkinson Sinton: The Builders Remedy Law – a state law to force communities to no longer kick the can down the road in approving low-income housing – has given us our ultimatum, not just SANDAG. … We can either choose where we will put our low-income housing, or the state will choose for us by allowing builders to get the permits from the state instead of City Hall. … The upside is perhaps our own firefighters, police officers, teachers and nurses might be able to live here again, like their predecessors did not too long ago. It was, after all, part of our city’s small-town charm.
