Monica Montgomery Steppe (born 1978) is an American politician in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She currently serves as a member of the

San Diego City Council The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego, California. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council uses a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who acts ...

representing City Council District 4. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, although city council positions are officially nonpartisan per

state law. She serves on the board of the California Reparations Task Force.

Life and career

Monica Montgomery was born in

in 1978 to Clifford and Patricia Montgomery. She attended Bonita Vista High School. While in high school she fought with school officials over a ban on wearing bandannas that she felt unfairly targeted the three percent of students who were black. She earned a Bachelor of Science from

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

California Western School of Law California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, app ...

. Montgomery worked as a San Diego City Hall staffer for Councilmember

Todd Gloria Todd Rex Gloria (born May 10, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 37th and current mayor of San Diego since 2020. As a strong mayor, he is the chief executive officer in the city of San Diego. A member of the Democratic Party, he is t ...

during his term as interim mayor, Mayor

Kevin Faulconer Kevin Lee Faulconer (born January 24, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Diego, California from 2014 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Faulconer served as the member of the San Diego City Council for th ...

, and Councilmember

Myrtle Cole Myrtle Cole is an American politician in San Diego, California. She was a member of the San Diego City Council representing City Council District 4 from 2013 until 2018. Cole served as president of the City Council from 2017 until 2018. In 2018 C ...

. She resigned from her position in Cole's office the day after Cole made remarks arguing police officers were justified in racially profiling black residents. After leaving the City, Montgomery joined the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

of San Diego & Imperial Counties as a criminal justice advocate. She married Steven Steppe on August 22, 2020.

San Diego City Council

In 2013, Montgomery was a candidate in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to represent District 4 of the

following Tony Young's resignation to lead the local Red Cross Chapter. District 4 includes the

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; American and British English spelling differences, see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community ...

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, Broadway Heights,

Chollas View Chollas View is an urban community in the southeastern section of the city of San Diego. It is bordered by Webster and California State Route 94 on the north, Mount Hope and Interstate 805 on the west, Emerald Hills and Euclid Avenue on the east ...

Emerald Hills Emerald Hills is a neighborhood in the southeastern section of the city of San Diego, California, United States. It is bordered by Oak Park and California State Route 94 on the north, Chollas View and Euclid Avenue on the west, Encanto and Skyl ...

Encanto ''Encanto'' is a 2021 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 60th film produced by the studio, it was directed by Jared Bus ...

, Greater Skyline Hills,

Jamacha Jamacha (pronounced: ) is a neighborhood in the Southeast San Diego, southeastern area of San Diego, California. It is generally bounded by the city of Lemon Grove, California, Lemon Grove to the north, Unincorporated area, unincorporated La Pre ...

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

, Lomita Village, North Bay Terrace, Oak Park, O'Farrell, Paradise Hills, Redwood Village, Rolando Park, South Bay Terrace,

Valencia Park Valencia Park is an urban community in the southeastern section of the city of San Diego. It is bordered by Emerald Hills and Market Street on the north, Lincoln Park and Euclid Avenue on the west, Encanto on the east, and Alta Vista and National ...

, and

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

. Montgomery was eliminated in the primary, coming in last in a field of nine candidates with three percent of the vote. Montgomery ran again to represent District 4 in the 2018 San Diego City Council election, challenging her former boss

. Montgomery cited wanting to guide policy around development in District 4 as well as Cole's previous comments on racial profiling as the two primary factors that led to her decision to run again. Montgomery came in a surprise first place in the June primary, six votes ahead of the incumbent Cole. Montgomery went on to win election to the City Council in the November 2018 runoff. This marked the first time that an incumbent had failed to be reelected to the City Council since 1992.

References

External links

City of San Diego: Monica Montgomery website

Montgomery for City Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Monica Living people San Diego City Council members California Democrats Members of the Democratic Socialists of America Women city councillors in California 1978 births California Western School of Law alumni Spelman College alumni