Winners and losers: the San Diego edition--Story #1

We know how it’s played at the Del Mar racetrack.  There are winners.  There are losers.  It’s a brutal ordeal for the horses but there's a hefty payoff in the offing for a certain percentage of track regulars. 

City politics has a lot in common with horse racing.   But while it takes years of selective breeding and training to produce a winning horse, a winning candidate can be created through selective inbreeding, deft maneuvering, and discrete fingers on the scale.  

To illustrate what this means in real time, consider the jarring juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated stories that appeared this month in the news--practically on the same day.  Read them separately and you get a hint of the embedded gentleman’s agreement that controls San Diego civic life. 

View them side by side and you begin to understand that to reform the flimflam politics and vacuous leadership that permeate daily life in America’s Finest City, we need to be more blunt about naming the embedded fixers and paying closer attention to their methods.

Today's story revisits the 1984 San Ysidro massacre.  Tomorrow's story revisits the Bob Filner trauma.

Story #1: San Ysidro Remembers the 35^th Anniversary of the McDonald’s Massacre 

Yes, many of us remember that horrific day on July 18, 1984 when a single gunman had the luxury of spending one hour and 17 minutes in a shooting spree that killed 21 people (adults, teenagers, children, and an 8-month old baby) and wounded 17 others before he, himself, was killed by a San Diego Police sniper with a single shot to the chest.

There was a police review.  But many questions about the way the San Diego Police responded to this emergency went unanswered.  The overriding question--how come it took 77 minutes before a SWAT team sharpshooter was given permission to do his job?—managed to slip through the cracks.  

Who was the featured player in the San Ysidro story (second only to the psychopathic gunman)?  It was San Diego’s former mayor Jerry Sanders.

The official storyline goes something like this: on a sunny Sunday afternoon, while scores of San Ysidro residents were being terrorized by a lone and vicious gunman, the Commander of the San Diego SWAT team— Police Lieutenant Jerry Sanders----was relaxing over a beer (or two or three) at the beach in Mission Bay.  It was the end of a daylong Command Staff retreat.  The deputy police chief (Norm Stamper) approached Sanders to inform him about what was happening in San Ysidro.

The official story says that while Lieut. Sanders was enroute to San Ysidro and stuck in heavy rush hour traffic, he made the sober decision to deny permission to the police snipers--who were poised for action on the scene--to shoot the killer who was shooting customers trapped in McDonald's. 

The official story says that not until he arrived at the scene more than an agonizing hour after the shooting started did Sanders personally give the green light for his SWAT sniper to shoot and put an end to the horrific mass killing.  

The official story concludes with Sanders taking a road trip around the country to share with others his wisdom about this ordeal.  Summing up the lessons to be learned from this violent tragedy, Sanders offered his four keys to good leadership: 

1. set the tone with a (cool, collected) demeanor
2. give calm and direct orders
3. take care of your team
4. always rely on your people

➜➜➜➜A semi-official film documentary of the San Ysidro ordeal was created by Charlie Minn.  It's called  “77 Minutes.”   Watch this video.  It's well worth your time and attention.⬅⬅⬅⬅

The unofficial storyline goes something like this: Lieut. Sanders was most likely inebriated at the time of the shootings.  He was not carrying his beeper and was therefore unreachable at the onset of this emergency.  Twenty-five minutes of murderous activity and terror elapsed before the deputy police chief was able to locate him to give him the news.  

The unofficial story reports that SWAT team members were in attendance at the Command Staff retreat on Mission Bay.  They were unable to deploy their armored vehicle because it required two keys to operate it and, somehow, the backup key had been "misplaced."  

The story goes on to say that Lieut. Sanders scurried home to retrieve the key, don his uniform, and finally get on the road.   

The story also relates that—still enroute to San Ysidro--Lieut. Sanders reversed the order of a field commander already at the scene to let sharpshooters take down the murderous shooter.  It says that Lieut. Sanders chose to deny permission  to his field commander and wait until he, himself, could make his entrance at the scene and personally give the order. 

The official story informs us that--despite his impaired and supremely questionable judgment, and despite 13 subsequent refusals by the Police Department to promote him--Jerry Sanders was subsequently hand-picked in 1993 by city manager Jack McGrory (and confirmed by Mayor Susan Golding and the City Council) to be the city’s new Police Chief.

The story tells us that by 1999 Jerry Sanders was appointed President and CEO of the United Way.  In 2002 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Red Cross.  By 2005 he moved into the mayor’s seat.  After terming out as mayor he was awarded the position of President and CEO of the SD Regional Chamber of Commerce, a post he still holds.  

It’s a quintessential San Diego story of how a less-than-ordinary, establishment-protected good old boy--a regular guy who knows how to set the tone and take good care of his team--gets passed off as a thoroughbred and wrapped in cotton batting to keep him cozy and secure in his waning years.  

But don’t be lulled into thinking that the protected status of Jerry Sanders is a one-of-a-kind shaggy dog story.  

There’s much to be written about how other anointed, favored, protected, less-than-ordinary good old boys make it big in San Diego.  Just take a clear-eyed look at current mayor Kevin Faulconer--the Sanders heir and protege.  

And try not to be too starry-eyed about another anointed, protected, favored guy currently chomping at the bit--mayoral hopeful Todd Gloria.  He's a different type of pony, maybe, but he's been brought to you the same old San Diego way, via: selective inbreeding, deft maneuvering, and discrete fingers on the scale.

The official San Ysidro story has no bright ending.  All these years later and there've been no satisfactory or substantive changes to citizen oversight of Police practices and performance.  It's still under discussion at City Hall. 

(see Story #2, next...)

Five easy questions

Question #1: Ever wonder what an auditor does?

I was introduced to the term auditor at an early age. “If anyone asks you what your father does for a living,” my mother instructed, “just say he’s an auditor.”  Many years would pass before I figured out that auditor was more than a code word for daddies who ran numbers and booked bets.  

Auditors could also be professionals in public and private institutions who assessed financial documents and business transactions for accuracy and legal compliance.   Numbers runners, yes, but respectable.

A decade ago, Eduardo Luna was hired as San Diego’s City Auditor. He had the training, experience, and commitment to  public service to withstand political pressure while running the office of City Auditor “to advance open and accountable government through accurate, independent, and objective audits and investigations that seek to improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of San Diego City government.” 

Eduardo Luna’s prescribed ten-year term in office recently expired.  But before he moved on I got a first hand look at how an independent, ethical public auditor pursues the job of exposing fraud, waste, and malfeasance within city government.  

This summer, a new City Auditor will be appointed.  Under City Charter provisions the mayor selects the City Auditor for a ten-year term, subject to City Council approval.

Question #2: Who remembers the Kroll Report?

Once upon a time our city was in such deep financial and ethical trouble we were branded Enron-by-the-Sea.

Back then, former mayor Susan Golding--deftly assisted by former city manager Jack McGrory and Golding’s chief of staff Kris Michell (currently recycled as San Diego's chief operating officer under mayor Kevin Faulconer)--had managed to suck the city coffers dry while hosting the 1996 Republican National Convention.  

With loyal help from then-city auditor Ed Ryan, officials engaged in cooking the books and padding the budget through disastrous agreements with municipal union leaders to underfund the city’s pension system while simultaneously amping up pension benefits.  With nary a peep from the city auditor, San Diego's future was put up as collateral.  

The enormity of ongoing financial mismanagement and falsified financial statements and disclosures eventually hit the fan.  By 2004 investigations were initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, US Attorney’s Office, and San Diego District Attorney.  

Finally, the City Council got on the ball and retained Kroll, Inc., a governmental risk management firm, to conduct an independent investigation. 

The resultant 400-page, $20 million Kroll Report excoriated San Diego politicians and upper management for financial dishonesty, securities fraud, gross lack of accountability, egregious cover-ups, non-transparency, obfuscation, and denial of fiscal reality.

According to the San Diego Business Journal: "dozens of local officials and municipal employees put their own welfare ahead of the taxpayer for close to a decade, then tried to keep the lid on their wrongdoing…the evidence demonstrates not mere negligence, but deliberate disregard for the law, disregard for fiduciary responsibility and disregard for the financial welfare of the city's residents over an extended period of time…"  

The newspaper editorial ruefully added that "we here in America's Finest City just shrug our shoulders and mumble that it's business as usual." Of course, it takes coordinated teamwork to maintain business as usual.

Question #3: Anyone here look familiar?

The Kroll Report called out many city officials for being “negligent in the fulfillment of their duties” and for “recklessly or intentionally allowing the city to issue false reports regarding its true fiscal health,” including:

• Previous councilmember Ralph Inzunza (now writing his 2^nd semi-autobiographical novel)
• Previous councilmember George Stevens (died in 2006)
• Previous councilmember Byron Wear (now a land use/transportation consultant)
• Then-sitting mayor Dick Murphy (now retired. “You can delegate authority, but you can’t delegate responsibility,” he once declared)
• Previous councilmember Scott Peters (now US Congressman)
• Previous councilmember Toni Atkins (now California State Senator)
• Previous councilmember Jim Madaffer (now public policy consultant and SD County Water Authority Board chairman)
• Previous councilmember Brian Maienschein (now California State Assemblyman and latest SD convert from Republican to Democrat) 
• Past city manager Mike Uberuaga (now ??) 
• Past city manager Jack McGrory (now CEO real estate/investment LLC and California State University Board of Trustees)
• Past city attorney Casey Gwinn (now CEO San Diego County YWCA, President National Family Justice Center Alliance)
• Previous city auditor/controller Ed Ryan (now??) 
• And previous councilmember Donna Frye—but note that she was the sole official in the entire bunch to have publicly protested and decried city malfeasance (now president emerita of CalAware)
•  Also named were a former deputy city manager, city treasurer, assistant auditor, retirement administrator, utilities finance administrator, wastewater deputy director, deputy city attorney, and assistant city attorney 

Question #4: Things have changed since the bad old days, haven’t they?  

In 2007 the city was halfway through a 5-year trial period of our switch to a “strong-mayor” form of government, a magic potion sold to San Diego voters guaranteeing political transparency, crystal-clear government accountability, and knowing precisely where the buck stops in city government. 

With mayor Jerry Sanders occupying the catbird seat a Charter Review Committee was convened to tie up loose ends about substantive issues, like: 

...when was the right time to add a 9^th city council district? 
...how many council votes should be required to override the mayor’s veto?
...was it a good idea for the city’s chief operating officer to be a mayoral (i.e., political) appointee? 
...should the city auditor be elected by the voters (to maximize workplace independence) rather than appointed by the mayor (the person in charge of the departments the city auditor would investigate)? 

The committee resolved these questions, but not necessarily wisely:

...Our city council now hosts a 9-member array of colorful personalities and political persuasion.  
...Despite a Democratic super-majority, council overrides of mayoral vetoes remain rare.  
...The city's COO, appointed and answerable to the mayor, is currently a well-oiled, longtime political insider.  

 ...As for the city auditor—despite the pretense of an expensive national search for the most talented candidate to fill the vacancy, the mayor selected a team-playing San Diego insider, well-versed in the don’t-upset-the-applecart rules of the old guard game. 

In other words, our first and only independent city auditor steps out the door, only to be replaced by a throwback to the bad old days of yesteryear.

Question #5: Now what?

Kevin Falconer will be out of office soon enough.  But it's a grave mistake to assume that the private interests controlling this mayor will walk away when he's gone.  Mayoral candidate Todd Gloria is already in the bag.  Candidate Barbara Bry has yet to soar on her fledgling independent wings.  

One thing's for sure: installing a proxy city auditor means controlling the city’s system of checks and balances for the next ten years. 

This isn't a political party issue.  This isn't a conservative versus progressive standoff.  It’s a question of protecting the public purse and creating and maintaining honesty and integrity in city government. 

On Wednesday of this week, the city’s audit committee will meet and review Faulconer’s choice for city auditor.  Eventually, the city council will vote to confirm (or not) the mayor's hand-picked choice.  We’ll soon find out where our elected councilmembers stand on issues of good government, public integrity, and city reform. 

Duck-duck-goose: San Diego's quest for a new mayor

Let’s start with an urban tale about dreams and possibilities.  Not long ago in a city far, far away, an international gathering took place and it called itself the Fearless Cities Summit. 

And this summit brought together 700 mayors and councilmembers and active citizen groups from far-flung cities and towns around the world.  And their plan was to collaborate on creating global networks of solidarity in the cause of human rights, democracy, and the common good.   Overblown hype?

As it turns out, the “fearless cities” concept is completely down to earth.  It entails people merging their efforts to modify local government institutions and create practical programs that address the specific needs of their particular communities.  Their efforts are unified by a simple overarching goal--to improve the lives of city residents.   Who could find fault with that?

The first “fearless cities” summit took place two years ago in Barcelona—a city that had, for decades, encouraged and enjoyed a tourism and real-estate boom.  But something insidious began revealing itself.  A gradual distortion of the city’s priorities forced out local businesses, drove up rents, accelerated gentrification, and muscled out city residents.  Under the rallying cry of “Barcelona is not for sale," the city boldly embarked on a candid reassessment of the soundness of their growth model based on tourism.

The second fearless cities summit was held in New York City, the third in Warsaw.  Next up will be Brussels, where the city will present a progress report on local initiatives it created to deal with its troubled financial, housing, mobility, jobs, infrastructure, and environmental sectors. 

Sounds like a familiar set of urban troubles, doesn't it?

No, I’m not suggesting that San Diego has the desire—let alone the oomph--to join the ranks of fearless cities.   We’re far from ready to reassess our status as a tourism mecca, much less pull down our city’s “for sale” sign.  

Okay, let's admit it: San Diego is actually a fearful city, where elected officials obediently go along to get along with a well-endowed tourism industry and intimidating real estate/building/growth machine power brokers.  Even our citizen groups are easily silenced by a few token  crumbs.  

Given the usual consequences, maybe we should just cry uncle!  But no, there’s another alternative.  It’s called compromise.   

Her's what I suggest: why don't we settle for improving the biggest small issue that plagues San Diego and causes us much grief?  How about settling for the modest goal of becoming a very well-managed city? 

That’s it? A. Very. Well. Managed. City?  Think about it this way: 

• when no city official is held accountable for delivering the goods to city residents… 
• if no one takes responsibility for slipshod oversight of city workers or the work of private contractors… 
• when no one keeps tabs on how the San Diego Housing Commission spends public money…  
• if no one remembers that problem-oriented community policing, once a diamond in San Diego’s ear, was stealthily abandoned… 
• when no one answers for continual botched attempts to ameliorate the city’s homeless crisis, not even to provide adequate public toilets…
• if no one noticed that the chief of the city water department didn’t supervise his meter readers, who were overcharging water customers (that’s us) by over $2 million… 
• when no one answers the phone in the office of code compliance/enforcement, while city regulations are violated right and left…
• if no one can explain why the city throws good money after bad on real-estate deals that sit empty for years… 
• when no one turns up for over a year to change a street light bulb… 
• if no one seems to be minding the store… 
• when no one knows where the buck stops… 

The obvious conclusion? San Diego is A. Very. Poorly. Managed. City.  Is it due to the woeful performance of this mayor?  Or to our bungled transition to a strong mayor system from a city manager government (far from perfect but, in hindsight, more accountable to the public)? Or to our falsified, papered-over pension/budget fiasco?  Or?  Whatever reason, the outcome is--or ought to be--grounds for rebellion.

Now think about it this way: if the fundamental goal of fearless cities is simply to improve the lives of city residents, couldn’t even a fearful city like ours make real and immediate progress toward improving the lives of city residents by setting minimal but firm requirements for our mayor and other elected officials to deliver a well-managed city to San Diego residents?

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Which brings us to Tasha Williamson, a candidate in San Diego’s 2020 race for mayor.  The San Diego City Clerk currently lists the circle of 9 candidates running for mayor. (I've already written commentaries on Todd Gloria, Barbara Bry, and Cory Briggs--who says he's a candidate but has yet to file the requisite paperwork with the city clerk.)  

Did you ever hear of the game called duck-duck-goose?  It’s where 'it' goes around a circle of players and taps each on the head, saying 'duck… duck… duck.'  Then 'it' taps an unsuspecting player on the head and calls out 'goose.'   So 'goose' has to run in circles to tag 'it' before 'it' plops down in the vacated spot left by 'goose.'   That's sort of the way San Diego's political races play out.

Tasha Williamson (TW) is on the list of players eyeing the soon-to-be-vacated spot of San Diego mayor.   One thing's for sure: in this political game she’s no duck.  Not a goose, either.  Could it be she’s more of a swan?  Is it possible for a swan with a resonant message to steal the show--at least for a while?  

Keep this in mind: swans are not outsiders.  They swim the entire pond and know the territory as well as any duck or goose.  And you better take heed of them.  They know how to hiss.  They know how to bite.

What sets TW apart from other candidates is her fearless call for changes that benefit our city’s traditionally underserved sectors.   

Almost a decade ago, TW co-founded the San Diego Compassion Project, serving members and families victimized by gang-related and other violent acts.  Her community actions prompted the Union-Tribune to place her name on their list of Voices of the Year.   She knows the city well enough to give credible voice to many subjects that are usually swept under the rug, like:
→ racial profiling and police offenses in our city...

→ the role city government should and could play in enhancing public schools in all neighborhoods...

→ concrete, humane responses to the needs of the city’s homeless, poor, addicted, and mentally ill populations...

→ resetting misdirected, unfairly apportioned, and wasteful budget priorities...

→ beneficial public reuse of public property in the city we all call home...

Tasha Williamson is in the right place at the right time to bring a fearless voice to the mayoral debate.  San Diego voters (and other candidates, as well) can learn a lot from TW's perspectives, perceptions, and experience.  It's a fact--the burden of management failures in our city falls most heavily on our chronically shortchanged communities.  And inevitably, every resident in a badly-managed city suffers the consequences. 

 Yes, a mayor's priorities and goals matter.  But expert management is indispensable if we ever want to see good intentions actually materialize.  The necessity of upgrading the mechanics of city government is part and parcel of what it will take to implement new priorities for raising the quality of life in every community and for all residents.  Now is the perfect time to tackle this unglamorous but burdensome city albatross.

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Of course, exposing and airing the issues are not the same as being able to deliver the goods.  The quest for the best  leader for a fearless future for San Diego continues.  Pass the word along: the cut-off date for mayoral candidates to get their names on the primary ballot is not until December 5, 2019. 

San Diego’s mayor: past, present, and future (part 4)

Mayoral candidate Cory Briggs (CB)

Once upon a time in the city of San Diego a much-heralded and wondrous happening took place.  

From a crowded field of mayoral candidates (including three sturdy Republicans--Nathan Fletcher, Bonnie Dumanis, Carl DeMaio), voters chose to elect a brash, iconoclastic, independent, politically progressive Democrat to become the city’s mayor. 

That person was Bob Filner.  It was the first and only time in recorded history that an authentic liberal came to power in San Diego.  

Personally, he was a flawed agent.  Politically, his record was clean.  But before the public had a chance to see what our city could become with progressive-minded people in charge, he was run out of town.

Today there’s another brash, iconoclastic, (seemingly) independent, (sort of) politically progressive candidate running for mayor of San Diego.  His name is Cory Briggs.  Over the past couple of decades, attorney Briggs has been laboring at loosening the stranglehold of San Diego’s old-boys-club over city politics. 

In an ironic twist to this tempestuous tale, the former-mayor Filner was in the process of confronting the same entrenched powerbrokers before he was ejected from office.  

In another ironic twist, CB and TG--the two politically liberal male candidates now running for mayor--were pivotal participants (alongside fellow-travelers who lurked behind a lineup of outraged women and powerful business interests) in the friendly fire that brought down the aforementioned ex-mayor, who lacked a civilian army capable of advancing his cause or of defending him from the onslaught.  Depending on what is really motivating CB to run for mayor, he, too, may be vulnerable to similar deadly assaults.  

It’s a hot potato.  Before we drop it, there are a few related questions that still need honest answers from the candidate:

1. Filner's personal proclivities were not an area of concern for CB.  So what triggered CB's lethal attack? 
2. Was CB (like Todd Gloria) suffering the agonies of thwarted personal ambition, having been spurned by the new mayor?
3. Or might it be that CB was simply doing friends a political favor by getting rid of this mayor in order to speed up Nathan Fletcher’s second attempt to take over the vacated mayor's seat?  
4. Whatever the motivation, was CB’s choice to overthrow the mayor a rational decision?
5. When he and his partners held a press conference to call for the mayor's resignation, did anyone have a backup plan?  Or did CB spontaneously mount the diving board, hold his nose, and jump... to hell with the consequences?  

In other words, what can we deduce about the political judgment of a mayoral candidate who helped precipitate Plan A (a palace coup) without a Plan B (after storming the Bastille, what comes next)?  After all, coups have consequences.  

Keep this in mind: in the aftermath of the political crusade to bring down a duly-elected mayor, the city suffered six years of failed leadership, deteriorating public services across the city, and a score of needless deaths on the streets.

Does CB, in some way, share responsibility with other actors in this riotous plotline for what would come after they achieved their short-term political goal?

And yet… Cory Briggs may be the perfect candidate for the 2020 race for mayor in San Diego.  He's one of an exceedingly small group of San Diegans with a reputation as an advocate for the public good.  He’s got a tight combination of guts, smarts, ability, and stamina that props him up in the face of the political and financial power brokers who have traditionally shaped San Diego’s politics and policies.  

As a leading candidate in the mayor’s race, his presence will open the debate to a full range of city issues and force other mayoral candidates to confront controversial subjects they might otherwise try to avoid. 

In this moment in time, and for these reasons, CB qualifies as this season’s “it man.”  

Of course, being a perfect candidate does not automatically lead to being a good mayor.   CB has a proliferation of warts.  Are they harder to tolerate than those of his blemished opponent Todd Gloria? Or Barbara Bry?  What do they tell us about the odds of CB becoming a good mayor? 

Here’s a sampling of what we're looking at:

• CB has zero experience in elected political office,  He claims that his legal battles with the city have educated him about running the city: “You have to know how the gears work to know where to put the monkey wrench.”  But being a good mayor calls for leadership and professional management skills (fatally lacking in our current mayor and his appointees).  CB’s lack of a political record means we have nothing to go on in those crucial areas…
• CB says he will shatter the establishment and shake up the status quo.  Yes, he has achieved some success through skillful lawsuits against the city. But the litigation process focuses on winning.  It deals in short term goals and strategies.  Running a city involves long-term, multifaceted thinking and planning.  Ideally, it involves respect for the public good.  Does CB have what it takes to switch from blocking bad projects to creating proposals that serve the long-range broad public interest?...
• CB has many admirers within the environmental and planning communities.  He also has unforgiving detractors who accuse him of turning his back on them in client negotiations and settlements.  Their gripes often spin around the notion of trust.  Lack of trust in a lawyer or mayor poisons the waters…
• CB has undergone in-depth investigation (some call a public reaming) in the past few years by Voice of San Diego, public radio station KPBS, and its collaborative arm inewsource.  Their reporters wrote exhaustively about CB's business practices, ethics, and use of self-created nonprofit organizations as plaintiffs when launching lawsuits.  CB’s wife did not escape allegations from the same investigative outlets.   A vendetta by San Diego’s tourism industry, a prime target of Briggs’ lawsuits?  Noxious fumes from the office of former-City Attorney Jan Goldsmith?  These past investigations have an upside: CB comes to the mayor’s race with few, if any, unexamined ghosts cowering in his closet…
• CB takes a contrarian position on the current rage known as build-baby-build.  He calls out the mayor, along with other pro-density housing advocates, for misleading the public with claims that higher density housing projects will alleviate the city’s affordable (workforce) housing crisis.  Is his approach an opportunistic wooing of neighborhood and community groups (aka “nimbys”) or has he widened his focus from litigating civic misdeeds to creating broader neighborhood-centered policies?...
• CB calls out the mayor for misleading the public about the severity of the city’s crumbling infrastructure and unconscionable missteps in alleviating our homelessness crisis.  CB is inexperienced in overseeing city administration issues like these.  And could he come up to speed on the city's pension debacle (yes, it's baaaaack) that once again might raise the specter of municipal bankruptcy?...  

• CB wields his brand as crusader for public accountability and open government, and as advocate for the voter class over the donor class.  He publicly challenges most of San Diego’s powerful business mainstays: the Chamber of Corruption (that’s his spelling), Downtown Partnership, Civic San Diego, Taxpayers Association, Tourism Authority, Hotel-Motel Association, BIA, and prominent public relations/ lobbying groups.  A good mayor needs the judgment to know the difference between working with these special interests and working  for them.  

But there have been troubling signs…

• CB hopped into bed three years ago with a consortium of land development honchos: master manipulator Steve Peace, JMI Realty’s John Moores, SD Chargers special council Mark Fabiani, land developer Fred Maas, and Chargers honcho Dean Spano, authors of  a ballot initiative called “The Citizens’ Plan for the Responsible Management of Major Tourism and Entertainment Resources.”  (This initiative would have given the go-ahead to public financing of a new football stadium, imposed privately-managed “improvement districts” throughout the city, and expedited open-ended SDSU redevelopment in Mission Valley--all without public environmental review or control! Hardly the hallmark of transparency and public interest advocacy.)

• CB added his name to this deceptive “citizens’ plan.”  When he joined the team did he forget there is no vaccine against fleas?  His participation cast doubts about the depth of his judgment and commitment to the public interest.  Fortunately, voters exercised wiser judgment and rejected the initiative…

• CB will be a valuable catalyst in the mayor’s race, that's for sure.  Beyond that, the prognosis is murky.  CB stares down the same black hole that once engulfed ex-Mayor Filner: the absence of essential supportive scaffolding.  Yes, a successful mayor requires strong executive skills.  But it's even more crucial to be surrounded by a skilled team of expert advisors with training and commitment to run a city efficiently and humanely.  Without that, the city inevitably suffers.

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There you have it: mayoral candidates Todd Gloria, Barbara Bry, and Cory Briggs--warts and all.   As I said in the beginning of this 4-part series: it's up to them to put their best feet forward and publicize their particular strengths, records, accomplishments, and goals.   My contribution is to round out the picture by providing an unadorned sketch of what may lay ahead.

But we're not quite done.  Tasha Williamson has also declared her candidacy in San Diego’s 2020 race for mayor.  She's a welcome addition, someone to enrich and expand the debate by bringing new perspectives to city issues.  I’ll be writing about her shortly.  

So far, no Republican candidates have revealed themselves. If and when that happens, you’ll read about them here.

Parting question: ...is that all there is?  The pool of choices in San Diego’s 2020 mayor’s race is still woefully shallow.   Despite plentiful rainfall this winter season, San Diego remains a sparsely-endowed political desert.   

Surely there are a few good men... and women... sufficiently qualified to jump into the race.  Why settle for good enough?  How about electing a NOTEWORTHY mayor?  Wouldn't that be a revolution in America's finest city!