By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner
I suppose there are women who would do battle to become queen bee but they’re the exception, not the rule. On the other hand, the lineup of San Diego males practicing their back-stabbing techniques to become emperor… potentate… sultan… ruler of the roost… snakes the length of I-805 and back again.
Our local warriors come in different shapes and modes — from the programmed-android Carl DeMaio… to the sybarite Doug Manchester… to the changeling-striver Nathan Fletcher… to the overweening Jan Goldsmith…to the Brutus-clone Todd Gloria (why he’d identify with James Mason instead of Marlon Brando is beyond me). They’re panting hard at the prospect of unseating the trenchant and obstinate Bob Filner on whose head the crown currently rests.
It’s not even springtime after the 2012 November election but the word is trickling out that 2014 (just around the corner) is the year of choice for a pitched battle to recall Mayor Filner and replace him with one of the above-named self-styled gladiators.
Knock on wood we’ll be lucky enough to avoid the spectacle of a DeMaio /Manchester rematch. But there may be no amount of wishful thinking to spare us from a Fletcher /Goldsmith /Gloria contest to determine which one can mark the most hydrants and prematurely become San Diego’s replacement top dog.
So far, all Mayor Filner has done to incite this testosterone frenzy is to do exactly what he promised he’d do throughout his campaign. He isn’t backing off. He hasn’t changed his style. He has the same ear-to-ear smile as he makes good on his promises. He still annoys his foe (even friends) by not worshiping at the coercive altar of civility. Since he took office a couple of months ago he’s been predictable, consistent, vocal, visible, and up-front. He has the nerve to identify himself as the mayor of San Diego and behave as if he were.
The big-shots in town are crying foul. They’re sputtering: how dare he do what he said he’d do if the voters of San Diego elected him mayor? It’s grounds for impeachment! And if they can’t impeach a mayor? okay, they’ll settle for regicide via recall. The poisoned slings and arrows are already whizzing through the air.
In the next few weeks we’ll do our best to duck for cover as we try to demystify the issues, acronyms (TOTs, NBC, BIDs, TODs), and coveted spoils over which San Diego’s gentlemen-generals have declared war.
What you always wanted to know…
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Right! Filner is doing just what the people elected him to do. The problem is that former mayors have promised much, but bowed to the powers that be once they took office. My hope is that Filner has backbone and stands up to those local Kings and Queens of San Diego. Show them what it means to have a strong major in office.
John
Maybe we should recall Filner ourselves with a campaign on behalf of pedophiles, pornographers and billionaires threatened by the guy. We could lure the bad-hairpiece city attorney into being chairman, and pay for ads in the local daily. That way the U-T would get behind it, dragging in the VoSD and, thus, the recall would fail.
For real, now, I really exploded on that description of DeMaio. “Programmed android,” indeed. No, wait a minute, let’s make him co-chair of the recall, alongside the hairpiece. Yeah, that’s it.
The guy is a jerk. No example of leadership from him, just theater. He is playing to the numbed crowd and does not care about the city at all. How dare you defend him!
we dare to defend him. deal with it. and we’re not going to let him get railroaded by the privileged few that can no longer line their pockets at the public expense.
Who is he standing up to by harassing employees of the city sexually? How does this help forward that agenda? What kind of people benefit from this behavior. We shouldn’t be forced to choose between someone with integrity or ability to manage. The unfortunate truth is that this man is an embarrassment to the city? Is sexual harassment being ok something you want our city to be known for?
If Mayor Bob has to yell at somebody to get them to stop the bozos who’ve been screwing the people of San Diego, I’ll hand him a megaphone! I’m glad there’s somebody there who is willing to look those chumps directly in the eye, and tell them to take a hike.
Bob Filner is a serious threat to San Diego’s status quo, which encompasses much more than the downtown crowd. Presumed allies like fellow Democrats, municipal and construction unions, and lots of other very nice people also have a stake in doing business in the same old groove — the San Diego way. They, too, are giving Mayor Filner grief for making too many waves.
There’s no doubt that Filner’s style sometimes trips him up, but what his detractors can’t stand is his habit of pulling back the curtains, revealing the fraud, and insisting on a fairer PUBLIC benefit when political decisions are made.
Actually, Filner is a liberal thinker, an energetic and savvy politician and a pragmatist who will actually improve this city. I think his style is perfect for the times we live in.
Frances, I think Mayor Bob is, in his heart, pretty far left of liberal. With his passion, pragmatic idealism, and unwillingness to suffer fools gladly, he’s just the guy we need!
Peter, I am with you entirely.
I do not appreciate unsubstantiated innuendo from any source about our new Mayor or his prospects of successfully turning this town into something better than it’s been for the last 40 years. His critics need to be called out, chapter and verse, and their allegations refuted one by one by one.
Norma Damashek is so right in this. We knew the long knives of the establishment would be out, if Bob Filner did what he would said he would do in championing the public interest. We just did not expect them to be unsheathed this soon. Come to the San Diego City Council meeting on Monday, 2/25/13, 2-5 p.m., to discuss the issue of the huge amount that the S.D. City Council has voted to grant to the hotel owners that is being contested in court, and which Mayor Filner has not chosen to sign on to.
The moneyed interests in this little town were so interested in the strong mayor system. Now that the mayor is not in their pocket, they can’t stand the idea. Things that make you go hmmm..
I’ve worked for many a “Bully”. It’s terrible & humiliating. He’s a pervert! He’s not befitting San Diego. Fighting like he is with all of his staff & SD does not benefit SD & what we represent. Filner is not helping SD, but hurting us. Our city planning is hurt by his “style”. You never saw Jerry Sanders fighting like this. Get this “CRAP” out of our city!