Scott Peters

Scott H. Peters (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician who has been the United States Representative for California's 52nd congressional district since 2013. He is a Democrat. The district includes coastal and central portions of the city of San Diego, as well as the suburbs of Poway and Coronado.

Peters previously served two terms on the San Diego City Council from 2000 to 2008, and he was the first person to hold the post of President of the City Council (2006–2008). He also served as a Commissioner for the Unified Port of San Diego before becoming a member of Congress.

Early life, education, and legal career
Peters was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1958. He was raised in Michigan. His father was a Lutheran minister and his mother was a church secretary. His father worked to improve race relations in Detroit during the 1960s and was involved in housing desegregation efforts during that time. Young Scott took out student loans and participated in his school's work-study program, through which he was assigned to answering phones and cleaning pigeon cages to earn money to help pay for his degree. He received his undergraduate degree from Duke University.

He served as an economist on the staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), then earned a law degree from the New York University School of Law. Prior to his election to the City Council, Peters worked as an attorney in private practice and practiced environmental law. He gained notability in a lawsuit against a local shipbuilder.

Community service/political activism
Peters has served on various community and nonprofit organization boards, including those of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, CleanTECH San Diego, and the UCSD Chancellor’s Community Advisory Board. He is a Director on the Board of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, which describes itself as “an educational, nonprofit organization working to create healthy, connected communities that support active living and that advance opportunities for all people through walkable streets, livable cities and better built environments." He served as Chair of the San Diego Foundation’s Climate Initiative, which was formed to study the effects of climate change on our environment and quality of life.

Elections
In 2000, he ran for the San Diego City Council's 1st district. In the open/nonpartisan primary, he ranked second with 24% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election. Businesswoman Linda Davis ranked first with 32% of the vote. In the November election, Peters defeated Davis 53%-47%. In the 2004 open primary, he ranked first with 48% of the vote. Businessman Phil Thalheimer ranked second with 31% of the vote. In the November election, Peters won re-election to a second term, defeating Thalheimer 55%-45%.

Tenure
Peters was selected as the San Diego City Council's first President in 2005.

In 2004, San Diego city residents voted to change the structure of city government from a council-city manager form of government to a mayor-council form of government, which made the mayor the City's chief executive officer. Serving as a Councilmember during this time, Peters took responsibility for chairing the transition committee in charge of this project.

In 2006 he was elected by his fellow council members to serve as the first president of the City Council, which under the new form of government made him the chief officer of the city's newly defined legislative branch. As the first San Diego City Council president, he set up the new government structure. That included establishing an independent Auditor (who reviews City functions and budgets for possible efficiencies) and the office of the Independent Budget Analyst (which supplies independent budgetary analysis to assist City Council decision making and serves as a governmental check-and-balance). He helped establishing the city's first Ethics Commission, which is an arm of the government overseeing activities such as elections and lobbying to encourage transparency.

Peters was a member of the San Diego city council during the time the council was embroiled in the San Diego pension scandal. His Republican opponent, Congressman Brian Bilbray, made the scandal a major theme against Peters.

When asked to name significant accomplishments to come out of his City Council service, he cited a reduction in sewer spills and beach closure days. He stated that the City averaged one spill per day when he was elected in 2000, but that, during his terms in office, the incidence of such spills fell by 80%. He was involved in the push to ban alcohol from the city's beaches, as well as to ban smoking from public beaches and parks.

2008 City Attorney election
Having reached the end of his eight-year term limit on the City Council, Peters ran for San Diego City Attorney in 2008, challenging incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre. In the open/nonpartisan election, State Assemblywoman Jan Goldsmith ranked first with 32% of the vote. The incumbent ranked second with 29% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Peters ranked third with 20% of the vote and thus did not advance to the November runoff. He later served as deputy county counsel for the County of San Diego.

In 2008 Peters was criticized by the Voice of San Diego for excessive water use. Citizens were urged to curb their water use due to a drought. Peters was revealed as a heavy water user and said he would try to conserve but ended the year having consumed more than 1 million gallons of water for his home, which sits on a 34,848-square-foot lot near Mount Soledad, and for an adjacent landscaped parcel.

Port Commission (2009-2012)
Peters was a Port Commissioner from 2009 through 2012 and was Chair of the Port Commission in 2011. He was sworn in as a Commissioner in January 2009, after having been appointed by the San Diego City Council. He represented the City of San Diego on the Port Commission, making decisions regarding the uses of San Diego Bay and its adjacent waterfront land.

Peters was chosen by his fellow commissioners to serve as Chair of the board of commissioners for 2011. In January 2011, he cited several top priorities for his term. One was to have the South Bay Power Plant in Chula Vista decommissioned to make room for a use that better serves the public and the environment. The plant has long been considered an eyesore and a potential environmental concern. In the year Peters served as Chair, the Port met significant milestones related to both of those goals. It reached a deal with the former operator of the plant for its demolition. The Port also conducted community outreach over a period of six months to gather ideas for improving San Diego’s waterfront “front porch” between the airport and Seaport Village.

When Peters turned over the Port's leadership post to retired Admiral Lou Smith in January 2012, he mentioned these milestones among the Port's accomplishments for 2011. During his term as chair, the Port underwent a reorganization, reducing the number of employees and departments to improve efficiency and save money. Peters resigned from the Port Commission upon his election to Congress.

2012 election
Peters ran for the newly redrawn 52nd Congressional District in 2012. Republican U.S. Congressman Brian Bilbray, of the 50th district, was drawn into the 52nd district due to redistricting. Eleven candidates filed to run. In the open primary, Bilbray ranked first with 41% of the vote. Peters ranked second with 23% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election. He narrowly edged State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, a fellow Democrat, who earned 22% of the vote. The other candidates all received single-digit percentages. On election night the vote was too close to call, but Peters' small lead increased each day as more absentee, vote-by-mail, and provisional ballots were processed. On November 16, Bilbray conceded the race to Peters. Peters officially defeated Bilbray 51%-49%, a difference of 6,992 votes.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
 * Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities
 * Committee on Science, Space and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Oversight
 * Subcommittee on Technology

Personal life
For more than two decades, Peters has lived with his family in La Jolla, which is now part of the 52nd Congressional District. He and his wife, Lynn E. Gorguze, have a daughter and a son. Lynn is president and CEO of Cameron Holdings, and his family's $86 million net worth has been achieved through venture capital investing. Peters is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

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