by Norma Damashek /NumbersRunner
Predictions of doomsday have officially fizzled. This past November voters elected the liberal Democrat Bob Filner as mayor of the city of San Diego and — happy to report — the world (as we know it) remains intact.
In fact, our city seems pretty much the same as ever. For example:
Our downtown heavyweights still scurry around in perpetual motion, determined to infiltrate and control the mayorhood
Our elected officials still get that faraway look in their eyes as they prime their pumps for higher office or a lucrative move to the private sector
Our local news media (daily newspaper, weeklies, online deliverers) still cling to their fixation on one-upping the new mayor with snarky, sneaky, snippy, snaky, sneering, snarly, and snide political coverage – unable to set aside overblown egos and get down to delivering responsible, informed, mature journalism
Our failed mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio still pursues his obsessive compulsion to privatize government functions in the city of San Diego — a dry run for his dream of privatizing state and federal government
Our other failed mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher still has his well-shod foot planted firmly in multiple doors, continually reinventing his persona as man-for-all-seasons and persuasions — biding his time until he’s summoned back to the campaign trail
Our low-keyed public is still easily distracted by traffic alerts, surf reports, and UT-TV drivel and willingly hoodwinked into believing that the city is A-okay as long as the weather holds out, their potholes get filled, and our team wins.
On the other hand…if you pay close attention you might catch a glimpse of the prescient ghost of that other Bob. It looks like, even here in San Diego, the times they are a-changin’…
During the brief few weeks since Bob Filner took over the mayor’s office he’s been wielding his mayoral position like a new broom, sweeping clean thick layers of accumulated dreck from under the rugs of City Hall. His early spring cleaning and vows to steer public resources in the direction of the greatest number of people — not just the richest ones — have already caused a lot of powerful old-timers (and some fellow politicians) to hack, cough, sputter, and wheeze. “Insolence at City Hall” shouts this week’s U-T editorial.
There’s one thing you can be sure of: the select few in the inner sanctums of the Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Padres, and Manchester boardroom are hard at work plotting Filner’s early demise. Same goes for the thick circle of chameleons now transformed into the mayor’s best new friends.
But our mayor is equally at risk of being eaten alive by his famished supporters — labor, latinos, lgbt’s, blacks, environmentalists, social justice folk, stoners — each group taking credit for catapulting him into office and pulling at his sleeve with demands to be his favored child – NOW!
Which side will devour Filner first?
We’ll be tackling questions like this one in the upcoming NumbersRunner series called: What You Always Wanted to Know About (…) but Were Afraid to Ask!
Stay tuned.
Latest posts by Norma Damashek (see all)
- County Government Laid Bare - November 15, 2017
- Hierarchy of Elected Venerables - October 30, 2017
- San Diego’s Dangling Participles - October 12, 2017
Be the change you want to see. Democracy should not be a spectator sport and yet, citizens continue to believe that their ONLY responsibility is to vote and pay taxes. Many can’t even bother to do that! If you want to complain, try to volunteer for something, ANYthing that you have a passion for. If you have any passion left.
Thank you Shirley!
It turns out that hands-on involvement in civic issues/problems/projects is not only useful to society, it’s also exhilarating — despite the fact that is can be maddeningly frustrating.
But being aware of the parts and pieces of the government process is crucial. So I’m going to continue do my best to describe what goes on in our city, how things work (or don’t), who does what, and how the past meshes with the present to shape the future. Information is power.