San Diego Chamber of Commerce

Jerry Sanders currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He began his lifelong career in public service when he joined the San Diego Police Department at the age of 22, fulfilling his dream of becoming a police officer. He ascended the police department ranks, serving as the SWAT Team commander before becoming one of the youngest police chiefs in the city's history.

In 1999, Sanders retired from the police force and became CEO of the United Way of San Diego, where he reduced the organization's costs and increased fundraising by 20 percent. Three years later, he chaired the board of the local chapter of the American Red Cross. He increased financial transparency at the chapter and helped restore the nonprofit’s credibility.

In 2005 civic leaders urged Sanders to run for mayor. After winning in a special election, Mayor Sanders immediately launched a top-to-bottom review and streamlining of city operations, which eliminated more than 1,800 positions from the city budget.

Under Mayor Sanders, city financial staff completed six years’ worth of back-logged audits, allowing the city to return to the public bond markets in January 2009 - helping to fund the mayor’s commitment to repair San Diego's long-neglected water, sewer and transportation infrastructure.  He won City Council approval for compensation cuts for employees, sparing the public from drastic service cuts. He negotiated permanent changes to the pension system that delivered savings to generations of San Diego taxpayers, and reformed the retiree healthcare system, which will save approximately $700 million over the next 25 years, and introduced Managed Competition to city government. In addition to his broad reform agenda, Sanders has placed a high priority on economic growth and job creation during his time in office.

Sanders' focus and leadership on water reliability led to widespread adoption of water-efficiency measures throughout the city. Sanders completed his second and final term as Mayor in December 2012.