San Bernardino Ward 2 Candidates Debate Homelessness, Tenant Protections and Surveillance Cameras

Ward 2 City Council candidates Christian Shaughnessy, Sandra Ibarra and Benito Barrios used a recent League of Women Voters forum to draw distinctions on some of San Bernardino’s most persistent issues: tenant protections, homelessness, public safety technology, infrastructure and confidence in City Hall.

The forum featured Shaughnessy, a housing specialist and community advocate; Ibarra, the two-term incumbent; and Barrios, a former Ward 2 councilman seeking to return to the dais.

Shaughnessy opened his remarks by tying his campaign to public safety, housing conditions and the personal impact of violence in San Bernardino. He said the 2019 killing of his friend, Nitesh Kumar, pushed him to make a deeper commitment to the city.

“I made a pact to God and to the community that I would do everything I can to make sure that wouldn’t happen to anybody else ever again,” Shaughnessy said.

He described Ward 2 as a community facing blight, pollution, gang violence, human trafficking and economic hardship, arguing that residents should not feel left behind compared with nearby cities.

“All you have to do is look out the window and see the blight, the poverty and the immense human suffering that affects every homeowner, renter, tenant, young person and elder in our ward,” Shaughnessy said.

Much of Shaughnessy’s message centered on housing and tenant protections. He called for the city to take a stronger stance against landlords he said have allowed unsafe conditions, illegal rent increases and deteriorating properties that harm renters, nearby homeowners and the broader community.

“We need to take them on,” Shaughnessy said. “We need to ensure that we maintain not just property values for our homeowners, but also the lives and public health of the people who live in those apartments.”

He also called for community benefits agreements, project labor agreements, enhanced infrastructure financing districts and partnerships with labor, tenant advocates, building trades and community organizations. Shaughnessy said the city needs a “holistic wraparound approach” that accounts for residents’ concerns rather than relying only on reported progress.

On public safety technology, Shaughnessy said he understands why crime victims support tools that could help solve cases faster. But he said the city should reject any technology that could be used to assist federal immigration enforcement.

“When you’re solving one kind of crime, you don’t engage in a further moral crime,” Shaughnessy said, referring to concerns over data sharing involving Flock cameras or similar technology.

Ibarra defended her record as a public servant and legislator, saying she has focused on listening to residents, reviewing city contracts and holding city administration accountable. She said her role is to make sure contracts approved by the council are feasible and that city officials carry out their responsibilities.

“I am here as a public servant, not as a politician,” Ibarra said. “I never wanted to be a politician, but I am a legislator.”

Ibarra said she supports solving crimes faster but shares concerns about privacy and outside access to data collected by public safety cameras. She said she has raised those concerns with community members and the Police Department.

“If somebody gets killed on a corner, we want to find out who did it,” Ibarra said. “If somebody’s vehicle gets broken into, we want to know who did it. However, there is a privacy concern with the Flock cameras.”

Ibarra said her concern is not only whether police share information, but whether the company operating the technology shares information with outside agencies. She said she is gathering information in hopes of convincing police officials to consider different providers or other solutions.

Housing was another major point of contention. Ibarra said Ward 2 has long struggled with landlords who fail to provide safe living conditions, and she said some tenants are afraid to report problems because they fear eviction.

“Some of these apartments are in deplorable condition,” Ibarra said.

She said the city has worked with code enforcement to intervene when tenants are afraid to come forward. Ibarra also pointed to past efforts to pursue rent control, though she said such policies are difficult to pass without council support.

“It’s not easy, as people promise, to get things done,” Ibarra said. “If you don’t have the support among your colleagues, it will be hard to push any form of policy through.”

Ibarra said the city has made progress on housing partnerships, including work with Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, National CORE and the Arrowhead Grove project. She said those efforts are aimed at expanding affordable housing and first-time homeownership opportunities.

On homelessness, Ibarra said she has focused on a humane response by encouraging outreach, improving coordination with nonprofits and helping the city better track shelter and service options.

“If somebody wants to get off the streets and they want the help, we know who to refer them to directly, without them having to call 10 different people and be turned away,” Ibarra said.

Barrios, who previously represented Ward 2, framed his campaign around leadership, trust and restoring public confidence in City Hall. A lifelong San Bernardino resident and Pacific High School graduate, Barrios said he served 16 years in the Marine Corps before returning home to serve the community.

“I’m looking at bringing back dignity, respect, stability and, most importantly, trust between you, the constituents, and the dais,” Barrios said.

Barrios represented Ward 2 from 2013 to 2018. His time on the council also received media attention and criticism near the end of his council tenure after he posted a handgun for sale on social media during a live council meeting.

At the forum, Barrios said voters should look beyond campaign promises and evaluate the character and judgment of the people seeking office. He said his military experience shaped his leadership style and his commitment to service.

On public safety cameras, Barrios said the city should be open to technology that may help solve crimes but must also protect residents’ privacy and civil rights. He said the issue is personal for him because his nephew was injured in an incident and later died from those injuries.

“There are probably pros and cons with the technology that is being presented, but we still have to protect our civil rights and our citizens’ right to privacy,” Barrios said.

Barrios also criticized delays in San Bernardino’s Navigation Center project, saying the city must continue moving forward but recognize that the center alone will not solve homelessness. He said he visited the manufacturer connected to the project and left believing the city was partly responsible for delays.

“In my eyes, the city was very culpable for this project not succeeding and being completed in 2025,” Barrios said.

He said the project is now back on track, but added that the city must also examine what is driving homelessness, poverty and instability.

“That’s just one spoke in the wheel,” Barrios said.

Barrios identified homelessness, infrastructure and economic development among Ward 2’s most urgent issues. He said some residential streets have not been repaved in decades and argued that the city needs a better system to maintain neighborhoods equitably.

“It just shows that the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Barrios said. “We need a better system to ensure that the entire city is maintained through a program and a system.”

Despite their differences, Barrios said solving the city’s problems will require collaboration among council members and across city government.

“It’s not about what myself, Sandra or Christian can do,” Barrios said. “It’s how we’re going to work as a team.”