Public interest attorney Bryan Pease has entered the race for the District 2 city council seat.
Pease is best known locally for winning the decade-long legislative and court battle to protect the San Diego seals. When the city’s own planning commission attempted to overrule the vote of the elected city council, Pease won three lawsuits to enforce the year-round guideline rope and pupping season closure of Children’s Pool.
Pease is one of the top-rated civil rights attorneys in San Diego, having met the stringent selection criteria of the national rating agency SuperLawyers. Currently, there are no attorneys on the San Diego City Council.
Pease is currently representing the San Diego branch of the NAACP in its lawsuit against the El Cajon Police Department and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for shutting down peaceful vigils in the wake of the Alfred Olango shooting and arresting individuals for refusing to disperse a prayer circle.
“I have a history of fighting for what’s right, even if it’s not popular,” said Pease. “As a city council member, I will continue working to protect the public interest, civil rights, consumers and the environment, and will push the city to embrace the evidence-based, taxpayer saving model for solving homelessness that city leaders have so far neglected to implement.”
Pease’s priorities include environmental protection, ending chronic homeless, increasing housing affordability, and public safety.
“It’s time for progressive leadership for the district,” said Pease. “Our community needs someone who will fight for us at city hall, not just rubber stamp special interest projects and luxury condos.”
Pease has lived in San Diego since 2004 and began his law practice there in 2005. From 2008-2015, Pease served as a board member of the OB People’s Market, a member-owned grocery store that is Ocean Beach’s largest employer. He is also the co-founder and president of the Animal Protection and Rescue League, which fights puppy mills, factory farming, and other abuses.
In addition to running his own law firm, Pease has taught as an adjunct law professor, inspiring law students to pursue public interest law. District 2 includes Point Loma, Midway, Bay Park, Morena, Bay Ho, and the beach communities of Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach. Pease lives in Ocean Beach.