Chair Nora Vargas is unexpectedly stepping down from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, she said Friday — a stunning departure that appeared to come as a shock to other county officials and staff, including some in her own office. Her decision marks the second time in less than two years that the five-member board has faced the surprise loss of a supervisor, along with the loss of its Democratic majority and the prospect of a monthslong impasse on partisan policy issues. In a statement, Vargas announced her decision to conclude her tenure at the end of her current term, on Jan. 6. “Due to personal safety and security reasons, I will not take the oath of office for a second term,” Vargas said. “It has been my honor to serve in public office during unprecedented times, including the past four years on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors,” she continued. “My priority has always been our community, ensuring that everyone can be seen, heard and have a chance to thrive.” Her office declined to give any further comment or details. Vargas was re-elected to the board just last month to serve another four-year term. She had spent the last two years serving as chair, and previously was vice chair for two years. Vargas and her two newly re-elected colleagues were set to be sworn in on Jan. 6. Instead, that will be her last day in office. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for the following morning, where its remaining four members are likely to discuss next steps. They have the option of appointing a replacement, calling a special election or both. The board has not yet indicated how it intends to fill the upcoming vacancy. The cost and timeline for a special election vary based on factors including the jurisdiction, the number of registered voters and whether in-person voting is involved. The county will determine the process in accordance with the county charter and board policy, and will keep serving district residents in the meantime, said spokesperson Tammy Glenn. Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, the board’s current vice chair, said in a statement that the board’s work and the county’s “new direction” would continue. “I greatly appreciate Chair Vargas’ service to the county and our community, and I hope she finds resolution to the challenges with which she is grappling,” she said. When Vargas was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2020, she became the first Latina elected to it; early last year, she became its first Latina chair. Her unexpected decision comes just a year and a half after her former colleague Nathan Fletcher resigned from the board following sexual misconduct allegations. In announcing her departure, Vargas named as some of her proudest accomplishments “spearheading disaster response and recovery efforts, navigating the complexities of the pandemic, and driving systemic change so that our government serves all members of our community, not just a select few.” “I’ve worked tirelessly to address the inequalities that have plagued our community for far too long. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made together,” Vargas said. “As a ‘guerrera’ at my core, I remain committed to continuing the fight for equity, justice, and human rights — just in a different capacity.” Chairwoman Nora Vargas, left, thanks several women for speaking during the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting about a new immigration policy on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 in San Diego. (Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Vargas has openly discussed the challenges she’s faced as supervisor. In April, she said she’d been diagnosed with a medical condition that had created painful nodules on her vocal cords. She has since given Lawson-Remer control of some meetings while she rested her voice in the hopes of preventing the need for surgery. But while addressing hundreds of outreach workers at a homelessness conference downtown earlier this month, Vargas again alluded to those health struggles. “I’m actually having surgery tomorrow,” she told the crowd on Dec. 4. “Some of you know that I couldn’t speak for about 10 weeks — you ever heard of that, a politician that can’t speak?” Vargas didn’t give details, beyond saying she was supposed to be spending the day on bed rest. “But I decided it was really important to come and chat with you, and have a conversation with you, because there’s a lot of s— going on,” she said, promising the county would go toe to toe with the incoming Trump administration. Vargas has also been vocal about public disruption and harassment supervisors have faced during board meetings, where she has been subject to racist slurs from public commenters. Back in August, supervisors tried and failed to tighten public participation rules after a threat was made to county staff with a sign telling them to take their own lives. That led to new safety measures, including the addition of an extra sheriff’s deputy, adjustments to the public speaker lineup process and the rearranging of furniture in the board chambers. The county also won a five-year restraining order in August against a longtime Registrar of Voters employee who was found to have wrongly threatened and harassed a series of former co-workers and supervisors. But public disruptions have continued. At last week’s meeting, two people were removed after a disruption, and the room was cleared. Typically the public is soon readmitted, but this time public commenters were allowed to re-enter only in small groups when it was their turn to speak. “I have stalkers, I have people who harass me on phones … and I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, that’s just the job of doing business as an elected official.’ I don’t believe that,” Vargas said during the meeting. She later added, “It’s unfortunate, because there’s so many people who really are here to do a good job. And I think all of us — I don’t care what party we represent — we care about our communities and doing the work of the people every day.” In an October episode of the Chula Vista-based podcast “Emo Brown: The Podcast,” host Esteban Garcia discussed with Vargas his observations of the “scrutiny” local politicians face. “I want to make sure I share with folks that this shouldn’t be the normal, this should not be the new normal, right?” Vargas told him. “Getting death threats and having to have detail … I have to have security now.” She later pointed out that the county had had “a very different type of supervisors” in the past. “I think there’s some levels of racism and prejudice and micro-aggressions that take place because you have a Latina telling people what to do and leading the way,” she said. Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-TribuneNora Vargas, the chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, listens to a speaker at a January meeting. (U-T) A survey last year by the University of San Diego found that two-thirds of local elected officials around the region had reported being harassed or threatened. Of those who were women, nearly half had considered leaving public service as a direct result. Rachel Locke, a co-author of that study, reacted to Vargas’ announcement not with surprise but with “sadness — not necessarily because I’m a supporter of Nora Vargas, but because, if the reason is due to threats and harassment or a climate of intimidation or fear, that’s really, really damaging for our democracy,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune. A sheriff’s spokesperson said they were not aware of any known or active threats toward Vargas or any other county supervisors. “The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office takes all threats to any citizen seriously. In recent years, we have noticed an increase in contentious public meetings and less civility in general,” sheriff’s spokesperson Kimberly King said. “Some of these interactions rise to the level of threatening behavior and criminal conduct. We investigate these incidents thoroughly and take appropriate action.” Roxana Kennedy, chief of police in Chula Vista, where Vargas lives, also wasn’t aware of any active threats against Vargas but said such incidents would typically be handled by the Sheriff’s Office. Many of Vargas’ fellow elected officials declined to comment immediately after her announcement, although a number of them said they were in shock. In a statement, Kyle Krahel-Frolander, the acting chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, condemned the safety concerns she cited in her announcement. “Threats and violence against public officials, especially targeting women, have no place in our democracy,” he said. Inez González Perezchica, the executive director of the San Diego chapter of the national Latina organization MANA, told the Union-Tribune she was “very surprised.” “We are very grateful for what the first Latina supervisor gave us and all her accomplishments, but very sad that our leaders feel so insecure in this divisive climate,” she said of Vargas, who once served on the nonprofit’s board. “She inspired many Latinas to move forward and take leadership positions.” González Perezchica said that representation was important on the Board of Supervisors and highlighted the significance of both Vargas’ professional background and her presence as a “binational, bilingual person who understood the challenges that the Latino community faces.” Others were critical of Vargas’ unexpected departure, including Alejandro Galicia, her Republican challenger in the recent election. He believes she chose to wait until after the election in order not to give Republicans a majority on the board. “I think she could have been more honest,” Galicia told the Union-Tribune. “Obviously, she had a lot of people believing that she would do a good job, and I think primarily she owed them the truth.” The South County district is heavily Democratic-leaning, with more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans. Vargas’ departure will cost the board a key Democratic vote, returning the board to an even partisan split until a new supervisor is chosen. That could give Republican Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond more leverage with Democrats Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe. In the seven months that Fletcher’s District 4 seat was vacant last year, the board was sometimes forced to put off issues that would otherwise require a third vote and regularly came to split decisions. Meanwhile, potential candidates are already expressing their interest in Vargas’ seat — including Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, who told the Union-Tribune he is “definitely considering running” if supervisors choose to hold a special election. Staff writers Teri Figueroa, Alexandra Mendoza, Tammy Murga and Blake Nelson contributed to this report.