Kate Callen
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Kate Callen ran for election to the San Diego City Council to represent District 3 in California. She lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Callen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kate Callen was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Callen earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and a graduate degree from Columbia University in 1978.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: City elections in San Diego, California (2024)
General election
General election for San Diego City Council District 3
Incumbent Stephen Whitburn defeated Coleen Cusack in the general election for San Diego City Council District 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Stephen Whitburn (Nonpartisan)  | 57.5 | 38,344 |
| Coleen Cusack (Nonpartisan) | 42.5 | 28,303 | ||
| Total votes: 66,647 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 3
Incumbent Stephen Whitburn and Coleen Cusack defeated Kate Callen and Ellis California Jones in the primary for San Diego City Council District 3 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Whitburn (Nonpartisan) | 52.4 | 17,033 |
| ✔ | Coleen Cusack (Nonpartisan) | 20.9 | 6,811 | |
 | Kate Callen (Nonpartisan) | 16.7 | 5,417 | |
 | Ellis California Jones (Nonpartisan) | 10.0 | 3,254 | |
| Total votes: 32,515 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Callen in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kate Callen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Callen's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a second-generation District 3 community activist, following in my mother's footsteps as a member of the North Park Planning Committee. Over the years, I have teamed up with neighborhood activists across D3, so I know every corner of this district. I was a co-founder of the SoNo Neighborhood Alliance, a 501c3 that kept residents and small businesses informed about city planning policies.
My career as a professional writer included positions as a journalist (United Press International SD Bureau Chief), an executive speechwriter (University of California President), and a philanthropy writer in the fields of biomedical research and conflict resolution. Journalism taught me how to speak truth to power. Speechwriting showed me how to connect with audiences. And philanthropy writing gave me the skills to persuade donors that the ventures they supported would generate a strong return on investment. If elected, I would focus on building public-private alliances that would benefit my district, with an emphasis on helping D3 small businesses and non-profits apply successfully for grant funding.
- Restore local representative democracy in District 3 by giving constituents advance notice of high-impact projects and a real voice before such projects go forward. Residents and small business owners should have a seat at the table where decisions are made that will severely alter their neighborhoods. They deserve to be heard and respected. A resident should not learn through the grapevine that the bungalow next door will be demolished and replaced by a seven-story housing complex with no on-site parking. And elected members of community planning groups, a 50-year San Diego tradition of local participation, should not be removed by fiat and replaced by hand-picked City Hall cronies. That is not democracy; that is autocracy,
- Build up District 3's infrastructure to support the massive density that has been jammed into our communities. Mid-rise housing complexes (all market-rate) are sprouting like weeds. Our district had nearly two-thirds of the City's 2023 housing permits. If City Hall insists on dumping so much housing in this one district, it should give us commensurate funding for streets, sidewalks, recreational facilities, parks and urban forestry. Instead, the Mayor and City Council have done infrastructure on the cheap. They'd rather spend money on their pet projects, like bike lanes that are clearly underutilized. Funding for code enforcement has been slashed. We pay tax dollars for municipal services that we don't get. Enough.
- The City’s piecemeal response to the humanitarian crisis of homelessness demonstrates why our local government is broken. The “Unsafe Camping Ordinance” is a whack-a-mole measure that shuffles the homeless around but doesn’t get them sheltered. We need far better coordination in regional homeless services. We need to listen more closely to non-profit service leaders who are more knowledgeable than bureaucratic administrators. We must have full transparency in how federal and state funds are spent on homeless services. We must provide stable housing for homeless families with children, provide stipends for residents facing eviction, and replenish the stock of single-room-occupancy units that was depleted to make way for expensive housing.
Specific areas are housing, transportation, and urban forestry and design. But I am most passionate about two issues that determine how policies are carried out: transparency and accountability. If elected, I would call for a new era of accountability at City Hall, starting with public hearings into the 101 Ash Street debacle. This was just one in a string of botched real estate deals that have helped drain the treasury. The Mayor and the City Council think San Diegans should just get over it. We haven't, and we won't. The people's trust in City Hall will not be restored until all the principal 101 Ash players answer questions about their roles in this fiscal disaster honestly and publicly. I will pursue this relentlessly.
District 3 is a uniquely significant area in San Diego -- it is the location of both the city and county seats of government, the federal courthouse, and Balboa Park, San Diego's crown jewel -- and this adds to the responsibilities of the District 3 Councilmember.
The two officeholders I have admired and followed closely are Elizabeth Warren and Katie Porter. They are formidable public servants, unafraid to speak truth to power and vigorous in fighting to protect the public's interest.
As a centrist Democrat who values consensus and common ground, I have more of a leadership philosophy than a political philosophy, because I think an elected official must be a leader first and a politician second. There are two books on my nightstand that I read constantly. "Elizabeth I: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire" is about a woman who became one of Europe's most successful leaders through self-discipline and diligence. She exercised judgement carefully, and she always put the people of England first. "The Emperor's Handbook" (or "Meditations") of Marcus Aurelius offers immense wisdom about how to live a life of service and purpose. A sample lesson: "When facing whatever happens outside your control, be calm. When taking actions for which you are responsible, be fair."
Integrity to uphold the law and follow your moral compass. Courage to stay on the right path even when you're pressured to leave it. Compassion for those in need, and justice for those who have been oppressed. And definitely humility. I've seen too many elected officials fall prey to narcissism and get drunk with power. If you start putting your own career (and the donors who will help you climb the political career ladder) ahead of the well-being of your constituents, you are no longer a public servant, and you need to find another line of work.
The ability to listen. Communication skills. Diligence in studying. A propensity to seek common ground and forge consensus. And a complete lack of political ambition.
Listen attentively to your constituents -- listen more than you speak! -- take notes, and study them. The public has grown weary of politicians who dish up large servings of word salad and start answering questions before the speakers have finished. Your constituents deserve your respect, so don't condescend or pander to them. If constituents come to you with problems, don't shrug and say, "Nothing can be done." Think creatively; if you can't come up with a solution, look for a way to mitigate the impact, and at least they will see that you are trying. Grow a very thick skin. Do your homework; come to meetings fully prepared for debate, and make sure you understand all sides of the debate. Emphasize to your team that everyone follows the Golden Rule -- treat others as you would want to be treated. And establish an office "zero tolerance" policy that rules out paid side gigs, leaks to the news media, infighting, and other shabby conduct.
She always put her constituents first. She worked hard to serve their needs, and she capably represented their interests.
The Kennedy assassination. It took place two days before I turned 9. It still haunts me.
In grade school, I served sodas and snacks to weekly Bingo players in our parish hall. It lasted until I went to high school.
"The Emperor's Handbook" by Marcus Aurelius. Its wisdom has guided me through life's ups and downs.
Glencora Palliser in Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.
"Humanism" by Jon Batiste and Stay Human. Best earworm ever!
I struggle to remain calm when I see bullying, arrogance, and abuses of power.
Councilmembers have the power of the bully pulpit. They may not have the ability to correct the mistakes that have accumulated under San Diego's "strong mayor" form of government, but they have the ability to speak out when those mistakes weaken local democracy and threaten the city's financial stability. If I had been the D3 Councilmember in 2022, I would have joined District 7's Raul Campillo in voting against the so-called community planning group (CPG) "reforms" that will overturn CPG elections. If I am elected, I will voice my strong support for CPG independence and denounce the removal of elected CPG members for unelected members hand-picked by the Mayor and the Council. I also will speak out forcefully for a full public probe of the 101 Ash Street disaster which is costing taxpayers $32,000 a day.
That experience can cut both ways. It can offer knowledge about government operations. It can also breed a sense of entitlement and a personal focus on political career advancement instead of constituent representation and service.
The ability to listen -- really listen -- when constituents tell you what they need and want from their city government.
No government can function properly without transparency, especially in finances, and accountability. Unfortunately, the City of San Diego seems to have neither. The current "strong mayor" form of government has been an unmitigated disaster. Three successive "strong mayors" have assumed quasi-dictatorial powers and kept the public in the dark about city operations and finances. The Mayor has few limits on his power to slip in budget items without oversight. The City Council was supposed to serve as a check on his power; instead, it has become his personal rubber stamp. When it comes to public information, City Hall is now a sealed vault. The disappearance of discretionary building permits requiring community input have given developers (who are very generous political donors!) license to build anything anywhere. And San Diegans are still waiting for a thorough accounting of the 101 Ash Street financial fiasco. More than anything, these disturbing trends are what has compelled me to run for a City Council seat.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 30, 2024
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