Just a year ago, Councilman David Alvarez was a relative unknown.
The soft-spoken San Diego native regularly showed up at events and press conferences without staffers, and usually left without facing a single reporter.
As a councilman, he struggled to push forward even a modest ordinance to create a foreclosure registry amid a tense relationship with former Mayor Jerry Sanders. (It ultimately prevailed.)
But the mayoral race, where he was buoyed by his own compelling personal narrative and millions of dollars from labor groups, has catapulted him to a contender getting attention from the New York Times and President Barack Obama.
Neither was enough to propel him into the mayor’s office. Republican challenger Kevin Faulconer decisively defeated Alvarez Tuesday.
But the groundswell that emerged to support his candidacy – high-profile national Democrats parachuted in for campaign appearances, and more than 600 volunteers gathered the Saturday before the election walking door to door to rally voters on his behalf – marks a sudden transformation in Alvarez’s nascent political career.
It’s a reality even Alvarez himself likely couldn’t have imagined just months ago.
Councilman David Alvarez announced Thursday the formation and composition of a working group that will help the city of San Diego implement the provisions of its plan to address climate change. "We worked closely with the mayor's office to structure the group in a way that will be useful both to this committee and to the work that city staff is conducting," Alvarez said as he opened a meeting of the council's environment committee.
Read MoreStarting April 1st, Uber and Lyft will be allowed to pick up passengers at San Diego International Airport as a part of a pilot program, a San Diego City Councilman announced. Councilman David Alvarez said city officials approved a pilot program Thursday to allow drivers of ride-sharing services to pick up passengers who contact them through their app.
Read MoreCity Councilman David Alvarez joined the San Diego mayor’s race Thursday as the field of candidates continued to grow on the Democratic side. Alvarez, 33, a first-term councilman who represents the city’s southernmost neighborhoods, is a progressive Democrat with many of the same political views as Mayor Bob Filner, who resigned last week amid a sexual harassment scandal.
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