- January 4, 2023
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- 9 minutes read
Brian Maienschein looks forward to last two years in state Assembly – The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Assemblyman Brian Maienschein says his final two-year term in California’s Legislature will be a continuation of his priorities while getting to know a new constituency.
“It’s been a great experience to work on some really big issues,” Maienschein said when reflecting on his past 10 years in the Assembly. “California is a country unto itself.”
“It is the sixth largest economy in the world, so it has all the massive issues that affect it,” he said. “It really has become almost like a country.”
Due to term limits, Maienschein cannot serve more than 12 years in Sacramento. While some politicians have split their time among the California Assembly and Senate, Maienschein’s entire tenure will be in the Assembly. In November he was elected to his sixth and final two-year term.
With Assembly district boundaries redrawn due to the 2020 Census, Maienschein’s new 76th Assembly District is 65 percent new constituents from those in his 77th Assembly District of the past decade.
He continues to represent voters in Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, Carmel Mountain Ranch and Rancho Peñasquitos, but the new 76th District now includes Escondido and San Marcos, areas Maienschein has never represented. Removed were Sabre Springs, Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, Poway, Tierrasanta, Clairemont Mesa and portions of Carmel Valley and San Carlos.
The district’s new boundaries made the 2022 election a different dynamic, with aggressive campaigns launched by both the Democratic and Republican parties. Maienschein is a former Republican who left the party in January 2019 after narrowly being reelected by 607 votes in 2018.
When polls closed in the November 2022 election, Maienschein, now a Democrat, was in the lead over Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane. As results came in over the next several days, Bruce-Lane led briefly, but by the time the final votes were counted, Maienschein was the winner. He received 78,895 votes, 51.62 percent or 4,951 more than his challenger.
While confident he would win, Maienschein said voters unfamiliar with him due to the redrawn district boundaries was a factor in the race’s competitiveness.
Bringing state money back to his district to accomplish projects is among his priorities, he said.
“I have brought $7 million for parks and recreation, which includes (over) $1 million for Rancho Bernardo Community Park,” he said about his decade in the Assembly.
In 2019 he got $500,000 earmarked for improvements to RB’s dog park. Last summer Maienschein got another $790,000 allocated for additional RB Community Park improvements.
He also mentioned $10 million he got allocated for the San Diego Workforce Partnership, which helps train people for jobs. Another $1 million he got for the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force so authorities can investigate and prosecute online child predators.
“I’ve gotten more than 120 bills signed … to help with homelessness, mental health, reducing guns, animal rights and domestic violence victims,” Maienschein said.
Some bills were based on Maienschein’s priorities. Others were brought to him by constituents, he said.
The fact that many of these bills were signed into law during his time as a Republican working with a Democratic majority show how he worked to develop relationships across the aisle, Maienschein said.
“I worked hard on bills that were reasonable and rational,” he said. “I was very progressive, voting with Democrats so often. I really worked hard to develop good relationships that were always reasonable.”
For that reason, Maienschein said his decision to switch parties was not too much of a shock, except to some ardent Republicans who viewed his decision as a betrayal. But he did it because the party changed, he said.
“It was seeing how far the Republican Party moved to the right. It no longer represented me and my values,” he said. “I had moved to the left over time as well.
“The reaction was really good and people understood when I explained,” he said. “My voting stayed the same. It wasn’t a radical move. People understood who I was, focused on getting things done and never hyper partisan. It was not shocking to too many people other than the really partisan Republican groups.”
Maienschein said he has accomplished many of his legislative goals, but there is still work to be done to get bills passed on issues such as child abuse, elder abuse, conservatorships, homelessness, mental health and public safety.
In response to the pandemic he said public health and economic impact legislation were priorities, especially getting financial relief to small businesses. His staff helped people experiencing difficulties with their Employment Development Department (EDD) claims.
“There was a massive amount of work my staff did … that helped a lot of people,” he said.
Representing an Assembly district that so closely mirrored his District 5 San Diego City Council constituency from 2000 to 2008 was “really helpful,” he said.
He also grew up in the district, living in Poway and being involved with Rancho Bernardo youth sports. Maienschein graduated from Poway High in 1987.
“I knew a lot of the people and intuitively knew the needs of the district,” he said.
Maienschein said he is proud to still be associated with recovery efforts following the 2003 Cedar fire that devastated Scripps Ranch and 2007 Witch Creek fire, which burned 365 homes in Rancho Bernardo. Both neighborhoods were in his City Council district. He developed a one-stop shop for fire survivors to get assistance from various agencies, a plan that has been adopted by FEMA for disaster response across the United States.
With eight years on the City Council and what will be 12 years in the Assembly, Maienschein said he is open to seeking another political office, but has made no decisions yet about his future.
He started out as a business lawyer in private practice. Prior to running for the council he helped develop San Diego’s Community Youth Court that worked to provide intervention and help for first-time juvenile offenders. It is now the San Diego Youth Commission.
Maienschein said he never envisioned a career in politics. But there were people that encouraged him, who thought he could do a good job representing them.
“I was guided by that and tried,” Maienschein said. “I’ve really enjoyed public service and really have worked hard to represent the community.”
Maienschein was San Diego’s first Commissioner of the Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in the few years between him serving in the City Council and Assembly.
Maienschein, 53, and his wife, Elly, live in Del Sur. His two daughters, Taylin, 20, and Brenna, 18, graduated from Rancho Bernardo High and are now in college.
His political career — that began before his daughters were born — has been “really rewarding,” he said.
“Seeing the improvements I have been able to make happen has been really great,” he said.
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