Three more candidates – incumbent Kelly Purvis, Rebecca King and Keith James – have officially filed papers for this fall’s Coronado City Council election, joining Andrew Gade and Ricky Hoyt on the ballot.
Incumbent Carrie Anne Downey did not file to run for reelection as of Aug. 7. She has served a total of four nonconsecutive terms since 2004.
Mark Warner withdrew his candidacy and told The Coronado News it was due to personal reasons.
James did not respond to requests for an interview.
All candidates will be vying for two open seats.
Rebecca King
King, 56, has been on the island for a total of 11 years. She worked as a deputy city attorney and assistant city attorney for the city of Norfolk in Virginia for almost eight years, and briefly served as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney. She recently passed the bar in California to practice law in the state.
“I’ve just always been raised to be involved and civically engaged, and it just seemed like the right time (to run),” King told The Coronado News.
King served as chair of the city’s Design Review Commission, before it was consolidated with the Planning Commission last year. She also was a Coronado School of the Arts Foundation board member and co-manager of the Village Theatre during the 2024 Coronado Island Film Festival.
She is also active in the Coronado Woman’s Club and Democratic Club.
Everyone who knows me, knows I’m a Democrat. Regardless of how we feel about national politics, local elections that involve our town – we’re all neighbors here and we share the same concerns.
City Council candidate Rebecca King
“Everyone who knows me, knows I’m a Democrat,” King said. “Regardless of how we feel about national politics, local elections that involve our town – we’re all neighbors here and we share the same concerns.”
And one concern she wants to focus on is transparency in the city.
“I think the city could and should be more transparent than it is,” King said. She explained that she thinks revenue and certain cost-associated numbers with city contractors should be public information, drawing from her own experience trying to file public records requests with the city and seeing lines of redactions.
King also emphasized infrastructure. She commends the city’s efforts to update aging pipes and its improvement programs – like the completed Parker Pump Station – but if elected, wants to investigate ways for climate resiliency, like capturing stormwater runoff and reusing it.
The Tijuana sewage crisis and e-bikes are also issues she wants to tackle as a council member.
King said that her background as a local government attorney would be beneficial to the council. “Even though I would be new on council, I’m not new to how the procedures work and how government works.”
She said she understands the bureaucracy involved in government and wants to use her legal expertise. “Democracy is messy and governing is messy,” she added. “It requires compromise.”
We all want to do the best for the city. I am happy to work with anyone and listen to any kind of argument. I can be convinced to change my mind, because that’s what governing is about.
City Council candidate Rebecca King
“We all want to do the best for the city,” King said. “I am happy to work with anyone and listen to any kind of argument. I can be convinced to change my mind, because that’s what governing is about.”
Kelly Purvis
Purvis is currently finishing two years on the council after being appointed to her seat in 2024 when John Duncan was elected as mayor.
She believes she should continue her role as a council member because she has a proven track record. Before she was appointed to council, she worked with the city for over a decade as a contractor and employee and has been a resident of Coronado for almost four decades.
I’ve been doing this a long time. I don’t do this alone. I listen really carefully, I call people I admire or who I know are experts in the field to talk to them, I do my research. All five (council members and I) work together.
Incumbent and City Council candidate Kelly Purvis
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Purvis said. “I don’t do this alone. I listen really carefully, I call people I admire or who I know are experts in the field to talk to them, I do my research. All five (council members and I) work together.”
Purvis serves as a director on the Metro Wastewater Joint Powers Authority and most recently was appointed to represent Coronado on San Diego Community Power as the city transitions to using a Community Choice Aggregate.
In the last two years, Purvis said she’s proud of the work she’s done on the cross-border pollution crisis, voting to declare a local emergency when she first entered office, the city’s budget and investments and public safety.
“That’s a priority for me is our public safety,” Purvis said. “I’ve worked a little bit on e-bikes and that’s going to be something I want to work on in the future.
“I really think that the initial legislation that was passed in California was a start. But, I’m very concerned that we’re not regulating motorized e-bikes like we should.”
She also pushed for the city’s first electric fire truck and wants to continue looking at Coronado’s fire stations.
Purvis explained that the fire stations are extremely old and were the only major facility that wasn’t rebuilt during the city’s community development era in the 80s. The city is currently doing a risk assessment on the two firehouses in town and Purvis said she’s “very excited” to look at the assessment and see what needs to be done.
Another big focus for Purvis is the next regional housing numbers cycle that Council will start working on in 2028.
Under California’s Housing Element Law, cities are required to periodically update their plans to meet Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) targets set by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). After years of litigation over arguments that the island lacked space, Coronado complied in the 2021 cycle by zoning sufficient land to accommodate 912 housing units for prospective developers.
“One size does not fit all for California. We are not like Fresno, we are not like Los Angeles,” Purvis explained. “I don’t want to lose houses like this,” she motioned to her home, “but I also want to make sure we have housing that fits the needs of the community. It does not pencil to do affordable housing.” Her house was designated as potentially historic, but as a Council member, she cannot apply for Mills Act.
And Purvis feels that with another four years on Council, she can get some of these priorities done.
I have no aspirations to run for any other office. I can’t imagine in four years that I’ll want to run for another four – I think six years is a good term.
Incumbent and City Council candidate Kelly Purvis
But she only wants to do four more years. “I have no aspirations to run for any other office. I can’t imagine in four years that I’ll want to run for another four – I think six years is a good term.”
