Interview of Jerry Sanders

Interview with Jerry Sanders, CEO San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Former 00:01:00Mayor and Chief of Police

By: Ethan Mayer for Belmont University Global Leadership Studies Program

ETHAN: All right. So let's just start with your name, hometown and the position you are holding right now.

JERRY: Okay. My name is Jerry Sanders. I was actually born in the LA area, moved to San Diego in 1970 to go to San Diego State University, and I'm currently the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

ETHAN: Can you summarize your career path of becoming mayor of San Diego?

JERRY: Sure. I started on the police department in 1973 right out of college, I was there for 26 years, six as chief of police, then I went to United Way of San Diego as a CEO for three years and helped out the Red Cross as board chair for a couple. And then I was elected mayor in a special election in 2005, and I was mayor from 2005 to 2012.

ETHAN: Can you outline some of the details of what were those? What caused that special election?

JERRY: Well, the special election occurred when the mayor had just been elected and then resigned a few months into his second term. There were financial issues in the city, they hadn't had audits in six years. The SEC and the U.S. attorney were investigating the city for not making correct disclosures and some bond issues. And so I was asked to run in a special election and I did and I was elected.

ETHAN: What made you want to enter politics?

JERRY: Well, I'm not sure that I wanted to enter politics. I had never really thought about politics. I didn't really know much about it at all. But a few people in the business community encouraged me to run saying that they thought we needed a different style of leadership at that point. We didn't need a politician per se, but we needed more somebody who had experience in running a large organization like the police department. So I got into it, got elected, and kind of was like a dog catching a car. I wasn't really sure what I was getting into and when I got there, it was quite an eye-opening experience for me.

ETHAN: What was the hardest part about being mayor of San Diego?

JERRY: Well, it was a difficult time. The city was on the verge of bankruptcy. The city had about 1,800 employees, It didn't have, didn't know it had. They simply weren't reflected anywhere. And so our budget was way out of whack. And I didn't know anything about politics, so I got into it thinking that I could lead a council and we could work together. And so I was working together and really solving these issues. And I found out quickly that politics is very different than running a police department.

ETHAN: How has being in political positions of leadership changed your leadership skills, especially coming from the police department?

JERRY: Well, it really forced me to rethink how I was leading. I was able to lead the city of San Diego and the 11,000 employees we had using the same skills as I had before. But politics is a completely different animal. And what you really learn is that you have to work with each of the council members. People you don't necessarily agree with on every issue, but you have to forge relationships even with somebody you don't really agree with. And I found that working with the rest of the council, I could work with almost all of them fairly well. And we were able to get a lot of things done simply by realizing you're never going to get everything you want, but each side is going to get a little bit. And that frequently adds up to some big things. And we were able to solve almost all the issues the city was facing at that point by working together.

ETHAN: Why do you think it was important to develop those skills specifically for the role of being a politician compared to being a police officer? And why do you think changing those skills helped you in this circumstance?

JERRY: Well, coming from a police department background, you would set a direction. You get consensus with your top leadership and with the people who work out in the field, and then you'd all move forward because that was just the way that the structure was set. In politics, you can think you've achieved consensus, and yet you find out in a political environment when the lights kind of turned on, all of a sudden some of the people you thought or you were going to be working with will take a different position because of politics. And it really required me to think about that and really be willing to give in on a lot of points that I may not have thought were the best. But it really helped me in getting everybody together. And I think we came out with a good product. It just required me to think differently and learn different leadership skills.

ETHAN: Let's see. Did you have any sort of barriers to entry for becoming mayor? Did you have anybody telling you that being mayor was unrealistic? And how did you deal with the negative backlash or even the negative backlash from population and voters from you being in the spotlight?

JERRY: Yeah, it was really interesting. You know, a lot of people said you've never been in politics. You're not going to win an election to become mayor, which is a big deal in a city of 1.3 million. We were, I think, the seventh largest city at the time. And I had others say that you just have to really put your nose to the grind and go for it. And an excellent team, a political consultant and campaign manager. And I just went out and worked hard every day. I probably did three fundraisers a day. And when you get into politics, you find out you have to have money to get your message out. And I was able to get that message out. And I was able to reconnect with people. I'd been gone from the police department for about four or five years, but I knew a lot of people in the community. And those people started coming out. And I think that was the difference. I think the other thing was I can remember telling my wife, you know, we won. I got 54% of the vote, 46% from the other person. And she said, you know what that means? I said no. And she said that means 46% of the people don't care for you at all. That was pretty sobering. But, you know, during the time I was mayor, I found that by being genuine, by being authentic, by really taking positions I thought were important instead of political positions, I was able to win over a lot of people. And I had the benefit of knowing I was never going to run for another political office. I had no interest in it. And that allowed me to make decisions that I think if you're a younger politician and you aspire to hire office, you have to develop a record. I didn't have to do that. I could do what I thought was right and that made me feel much better.

ETHAN: What is some advice you would give to young leaders interested in politics? And what are some things that you think are important to know just being in that position and being in a position of leadership in general?

JERRY: Well, you know, it's something I think we're missing right now. But I think that any young person who's thinking about getting into politics has to really understand what they feel and believe. And they have to understand that they have to be true to themselves. They also have to understand they're going to have to compromise a lot with other people in those political positions to get anything done. Nothing gets done in politics unless you're willing to compromise with the other side or with other individuals. And they need to have the best interests of the community at heart instead of political interests. That's if you want to face yourself in the mirror every day.

ETHAN: Can you talk about a pivotal point or almost like a teaching moment or a hard experience learned during your time as mayor?

JERRY: Well, yeah, it was one that I was having some difficulty with. It was over LGBT issues. It was over gay marriage. My staff had taken a position. We were just starting a re-election campaign for the second time around. I was a Republican. And my staff said, you cannot sign on saying that you endorse gay marriage. It's simply not something a Republican can do and get re-elected. And I really struggled with that. I talked to my wife about it. And the last day, I said, I'm sorry, I'm going to support gay marriage. I think it's a human right. I think that people who love each other deserve that opportunity, whether they're men and women or they're men or they're women or they're whatever. And, you know, I just came out and did that because I needed to be true to myself. And that was really an important moment in my career. And it really propelled it. Everyone said, you're going to lose the election for doing that. And actually it built a lot of momentum because people said I was authentic and I did what I thought was right. And even people who disagreed with me said, if you're willing to stand up for things you believe in, then you're the person that we want to back. And I won the re-election pretty easily.

ETHAN: Going off of that, I want to talk a little bit about instinct. You have obviously been a person who's been driven by instinct. And even I was reading that you ended up not finishing college to join the police department because you felt that that was your calling. Can you talk a little bit about how instinct has driven you, not just in leadership roles, but in any aspect of your life?

JERRY: Well, you know, I think that if you're going to, I believe in treating people well. I believe in giving people expectations and the opportunity to do their job and letting them do it. And, you know, I think that's been an instinct I've had all along. Knowing when they're going down the right course and knowing when we're not and making those changes. And I can remember as chief, I would send out a bi-weekly video talking about new policies, changes, whatever. And I can remember a few times officers coming up to my office and I had an open door policy saying, I think you're wrong on this and this is why. And my instinct would be to listen to them and then to say, I agree with you. And I'd redo the video saying, I made a mistake on this and we're going to change the policy back to the way it was or we're going to change it this way. And I think once again, those instincts allowed me to navigate that for six years. And, you know, the people in the community and the people in the department did an incredible job and crime went down by 49 percent over that six-year period. It was not because of me, it was because of the officers and the communities they worked with and the work that they did together.

ETHAN: All right. Can you talk a little bit about what you do right now as the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce?

JERRY: Sure. The Chamber of Commerce is really a business organization and we're a regional chamber, which means we're a large chamber. We do policy work, but really we advocate for good policies for business because we think business is what creates jobs, that's what creates the opportunity for people to get ahead. And we have a staff of people who work both in Mexico because we're on the border and in San Diego and we really advocate at a local, state, and federal level for good policies.

ETHAN: All right. I think that is all I have for you. Do you have any final remarks, any final things you'd like to say?

JERRY: No, no, I'm good. I've learned not to talk after you're done.

ETHAN: Again, thank you very much for doing this. I want to end just with a little statement, just I grew up in San Diego. I've lived there since 2004 when I was born. And I want to thank you just for not only your public service, but just everything you've done for the community of San Diego because growing up, I got to be a product of that. I've got to grow up through that, and my dad always spoke very highly of you. And again, being able to just taking this interview and taking the time for me and my class, it means a lot. And I think that, just thank you. Just thank you for taking the time and thank you for all your work and your service.

JERRY: Yeah. And I really appreciate that, Ethan. And it's always a pleasure to talk to younger people because you guys are taking over and you need to take over more quickly so we can get fresh ideas into all of this. So thank you for inviting me to do this.

ETHAN: Of course.

JERRY: Have a great Thanksgiving.

ETHAN: Thank you. You too.

JERRY: All righty.