Santee Mayor & Council vote to ask Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to step down as Chairman

SANTEE (KUSI) – Santee Mayor John W. Minto and the City Council recently voted to ask Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to step down as Chair Supervisor and apologize for “divisive language” he used about some of those participating in the Governor Gavin Newsom recall effort.

The letter they sent to the San Diego County Board of Supervisor is below:

Dear Honorable Board of Supervisors:

The Santee City Council condemns the divisive language used by San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher when he called those participating in the Governor Gavin Newsom recall effort “Extremists”, “Conspiracy Theorists”, “Neo-Nazis”, “Right Wing Militia Groups”, and “White Supremacists”. There are few worse accusations than calling someone a Neo-Nazi or White Supremacist. Hate has no place in Santee. Hateful rhetoric has no room in political discourse and is particularly bad when it comes from the Chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

Whether or not you agree with the recall effort, the right to recall elected officials is guaranteed in our California Constitution and is a part of our democratic process. The Santee City Council stands against undermining voters involved in a legal recall by name-calling and villainizing. The Santee City Council continues to reject hate, in all its forms, and encourages voters to participate in the electoral process. Elected officials are leaders with an obligation to their constituents to respect the rule of law and not villainize those that legally exercise those rights​

For that reason, the Santee City Council is joining in the chorus of leaders and organizations condemning Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s statements against those involved in the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom and we call for Supervisor Fletcher to publicly apologize to the over 1 million signers of the petition and resign from his position of Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Sincerely, John W. Minto Mayor

cc: San Diego County Chief Administrative Officer, Santee City Council Members, Santee City Manager

Mayor Minto joined Good Evening San Diego to discuss the letter.

Supervisor Fletcher responded to Mayor Minto with a letter that said, “I never once made any statements about all people involved in the recall efforts of Governor Newsom. I suspect you know this and yet you continue to promote a lie. My comments said that some elements of the recall movement are tied to various right wing groups. I stated,”… these same extremists. They are involved in recall elections against our Gov. Gavin Newsom.”

Here are Supervisor Fletcher’s comments comparing Recall Newsom supporters to Neo Nazis and white supremacists: