Open Government and Quality of Life

A successful business owner with a bachelor's degree in business, Donna Frye has served the public and City of San Diego as a Councilmember since 2001. During her tenure, Frye has distinguished herself as an independent thinker who fights relentlessly for an open and honest government that is accountable to the public. For her work, Senator Christine Kehoe honored her in Sacramento as the 2004 Woman of the Year.

Councilmember Frye chairs the Natural Resources and Culture Committee and serves on both the Budget & Finance Committee and Rules Committee. She is also the Chair of the Mission Bay Technical Advisory Committee and the San Diego River Conservancy.

Frye believes the role of government is to serve the public and improve the quality of life for all members of the community. To that end, she works to provide residents with improved core city services such as parks, recreation centers, libraries, police, fire, streets, sidewalks, and sewer and water infrastructure. The Bayside Community Center recognized Frye's work by naming her the 2002 Community Leader of the Year.

Councilmember Frye used her leadership skills to open the doors of government and put an end to the culture of secrecy. In 2004, she rallied public consensus around a tough open-government City Charter ballot measure that passed with 82 percent of the vote. Her 2004 boycott of closed session meetings resulted in a reform of the rules to allow for greater public access and more transparency of those meetings. This included requiring that a transcriptionist take minutes in all closed session meetings and ensuring that the public could testify on any closed session item. Further, she saved public comment from being pushed back to the end of City Council hearings. For these efforts, Councilmember Frye received the prestigious Beacon Award from the California First Amendment Coalition.

Continuing her quest for an honest and accountable government, Frye created the Government Efficiency and Openness (GE&O) Committee. As its first Chair, she accomplished a number of open government reforms in less than a year: she exposed the city's misrepresentations of the budget and pension system deficits to the public; pushed for the enforcement of mandatory disclosure laws for those doing business with the city; and advocated to reform the eminent domain process in San Diego.

Councilmember Frye continues to push the city to address the financial crisis. She was the only councilmember to heed Diann Shipione's warnings about the pension system and vote against retirement benefit increases in November 2002. She called twice for an audit of the San Diego City Employees Retirement System (SDCERS) in April of 2003.

A well-known community activist before being elected to office, Councilmember Frye continues to protect the quality of life for all San Diegans. She remains dedicated to achieving clean water and preserving our parks, canyons, and open space. Frye is also committed to protecting and restoring the San Diego River, and in 2005 was named Legislator of the Year by The San Diego River Park Foundation. Frye also received the 2005 San Diego Environmental Champion Award from the San Diego League of Conservation Voters.

Frye envisions San Diego becoming energy independent and successfully led the charge to require the city to install solar and energy efficiency on all new city buildings, and to expedite the permitting of any new housing or commercial development that integrates solar energy. Frye supports the creation of permanent jobs with good wages. To meet this goal, she has fought to protect our industrial lands to allow for growth in burgeoning manufacturing and research industries, particularly the solar, maritime, and biotech industries.

Councilmember Frye grew up in Clairemont and still resides there today with her husband (the legendary surfer Skip Frye), and her mother, Laura.