About Scott Peters

In November 2005, the San Diego City Council unanimously selected Scott Peters as the City's first Council President. Scott was elected to the City Council in 2000 and reelected in 2004, representing the City's First Council District, covering the northwest part of the City. The First District is known for its beautiful La Jolla and Torrey Pines beaches and for the Torrey Pines Golf Course. It is also a worldwide center of technology business and research, including most major pharmaceutical companies, leading wireless businesses, and groundbreaking scientific research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, Burnham Institute and the University of California at San Diego.

Before he was elected to the City Council, Scott had a varied law practice. He began in 1984 with Dorsey & Whitney, a 300-lawyer international law firm based in Minneapolis. After a year as a corporate tax lawyer, Scott switched to environmental law, representing several large corporations on an array of regulatory issues. In January 1989, Scott and his wife Lynn moved to San Diego. Scott worked at Baker & McKenzie's office there until he left to become San Diego Deputy County Counsel. From 1991 to 1996, Scott supervised the County's environmental land use litigation unit, handling a wide range of county disputes, covering such areas as water contamination, land development, waste management and federal and state regulatory compliance. In 1996, Scott opened his own environmental law firm, Peters & Varco LLP, where he represented businesses, local governments and public interest groups.

As Council President, Scott serves as Chair on the City's Committee on Rules, Open Government and Intergovernmental Relations, and on the Budget and Finance Committee. Scott also served as co-chair of the City's Clean Water Task Force, a collaboration of elected officials, regulators, environmental activists, academics and industry representatives developing strategies to contain and control polluted stormwater runoff. He is also a member of the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, which will construct a 55-mile park through four ecosystems, from the ocean to the mountains.

In June 2002, California Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson appointed Scott to the 12-member California Coastal Commission, which he served for three years. The primary mission of the Commission is to plan for and regulate land and water uses along the entire California coastline, consistent with the policies of the California Coastal Act of 1976. From 2001 to 2003, Scott served on the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy, which made recommendations to the legislature on creating a more stable and competitive state tax structure.

Scott earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University and spent a year in Washington, D.C., as an economist for the United States Environmental Protection Agency before attending New York University School of Law. He and his wife Lynn live in La Jolla with their daughter and son.