Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

All across the country, the consistent theme of this presidential year has been turmoil.

The San Diego City Council on Tuesday discussed the option of filing a lawsuit that would allow the passage of Measure C — a special tax measure that would increase lodging taxes — despite it failing to receive a two-thirds majority vote in the March primary.

Americans are constantly inundated with the back and forth mudslinging between members of the two parties. The rhetoric on the campaign trail and the media has spiraled down to dangerously toxic levels, and things are only getting worse.

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The Free & Equal Elections Foundation is partnering with the Independent National Union. Together, along with co-host Open the Debates, they will present the third Open Presidential Debate of the 2020 election at Little America Hotel & Resort Grand Ballroom on October 24, 2020 at 6pm MDT in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The debate will take place during the inaugural Independent National Convention | INC 2020.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Email it to hoa@ivn.us

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing recession have forced Californians and San Diegans to grapple with a new reality. Daily ways of life – sending kids off to school, being able to safely go to work, and seeing and caring for aging family members – all looks very different these days.

The US is in the midst of multiple crises, including a political crisis created by the two major parties. For many Americans, the partisan rhetoric in the media and on the campaign trail has never been more toxic, while trust in the US government and its policymakers has sunk to all-time lows.

When the Iranian Revolution broke out in 1978, Sassan Rahimzadeh’s family made its way to the U.S., escaping the violence that killed thousands of people and toppled the regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Just a few years later, his family opened its first dry cleaning business in San Diego County.

“It was your typical mom and pop shop,” said Rahimzadeh, owner of Arya Cleaners. “Over the years we opened more locations from Horton Plaza to Del Mar.” 

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The first time I met City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry was on March 3, 2019 in the Council chambers. I was immediately impressed by her. When you listen to Barbara and hear her speak, you know exactly where she stands.

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When I moved to San Diego more than 50 years ago, the mayor and entire City Council were made up of very conservative Republican white men and you could probably have counted all the police officers of color or female on both hands. Yes, the late Rev. George Walker Smith often called San Diego "the Confederacy of the West Coast" as our city was very segregated.