Chula Vista mayor’s deployment raises questions about notification procedures

5 days ago 1

When Chula Vista Mayor John McCann left for a Navy Reserve deployment in late January, the county’s second-largest city faced a question it had no clear answer for: How should elected officials communicate their absences to ensure continuity of leadership?

As it stands, the city has no formal policy.

The result was conflicting accounts about who knew McCann was leaving and when they knew it. Deputy Mayor Cesar Fernandez said he was never notified. City Manager Tiffany Allen won’t say when she learned of the deployment. And McCann’s version of events contradicts what Allen allegedly told other officials.

While the city manager handles day-to-day administrative operations, the mayor plays a central role in setting policy direction and representing the city in official capacities. In his absence, those responsibilities fall to the deputy mayor, according to the City Charter.

Former Mayor Mary Salas, who served with McCann when he was a council member, said his current approach represents a departure from how he handled deployments in the past.

“Certainly, we were all aware that he was going to be gone,” Salas said of McCann’s earlier deployments. “We always knew when he was going to be gone.”