Francisco Tamayo

Economy
Tamayo's economic agenda centers on raising wages and expanding opportunity for local workers, including support for Latino-owned small businesses and easier access to capital through streamlined city permitting. He has proposed workforce-development partnerships with community colleges to train residents for jobs in healthcare, technology, and skilled trades, and has pledged to hold down utility costs while expanding assistance programs for seniors and low-income households, including new childcare support.

Infrastructure
To address the region's housing shortage, Tamayo has floated using roughly 383 acres of city-owned land near a planned university innovation district to build housing aimed at teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other essential workers rather than market-rate buyers. He also supports raising income-eligibility limits for first-time homebuyer assistance and pre-approving standard building plans so new housing can move through city review faster, pointing to the city's roughly $750,000 median home price as evidence current supply is out of reach for most residents.

Security
Tamayo lists public safety among his top priorities alongside affordability, arguing that residents' sense of security and the cost of living have to be addressed together rather than treated as competing goals. He has said the city should reconsider how it allocates resources so that policing and other core services keep pace with growth, without laying out a specific staffing or budget plan.

Immigration
Tamayo has criticized the city's response to federal immigration enforcement activity, saying fear has grown in Chula Vista's Latino community after reports of immigration agents operating near local schools. He argues the McCann administration has not done enough to reassure affected families, though he has not proposed specific sanctuary-city or non-cooperation policies of his own.

Education
Drawing on his current seat on the Chula Vista Elementary School District board, Tamayo highlights efforts to get all students reading at grade level by third grade, expand early intervention for special education, and fund campus renovation and new construction through bond dollars. He also emphasizes competitive teacher pay, professional development, and wraparound "Community Schools" services, though these reflect actions in his school-board role rather than formal mayoral proposals.

Governance
Tamayo has been endorsed by two sitting city councilmembers and describes his run as a personal commitment to represent longtime residents rather than newer, wealthier arrivals. He has emphasized grassroots outreach over big-money campaigning, contrasting his approach with an incumbent who entered the race with a considerably larger campaign war chest.