By Anna Daniels
When Bob Filner was campaigning for mayor last year, he was a visible presence in City Heights. He showed up to support public transit initiatives; he attended the rally calling for George Zimmerman to be charged with murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.
Filner listened to mid-city youth advocating for a skateboard park and free bus passes for low income students to get to school and work. He listened to taxi drivers advocating for livable wages and safe working conditions and called for additional library hours. He recognized the importance of streetlights and supported the needs of vets and the homeless.
These are all meaningful issues in City Heights. For the first time in my memory, a mayoral candidate acknowledged not only the importance of our government in addressing these needs, but our government’s ability to do so–right here in City Heights.
And there’s the rub. While our civic needs are reflexively acknowledged every election cycle, there has always been a political reason provided thereafter explaining why City Heights hasn’t received funding yet again for enough street lights or parks, adequate transit service, police presence, library services, or quality affordable housing. Most recently the reasons have been the economy, the pensions, and the recognition of long time structural budget weaknesses.
But despite all of those things public funds have been diverted, unabated, to private developers and financial interests. We were assured that the resulting economic growth from the Qualcomm Stadium expansion, Petco Park, and convention center expansions would benefit all of us, not only in the form of jobs but as subsequent public infrastructure investment in neighborhoods, made possible by swelling city coffers.
Not surprisingly, it hasn’t worked out that way, not only in City Heights, but in most communities in the city of San Diego. What has benefited City Heights most recently are the commitment and direct action from Mayor Filner and the continued efforts of a few council members. And now the sky is falling over City Hall.
I don’t know whether Bob Filner, the man we elected mayor, can hold up the falling sky. Perhaps that is not the right question. How will our city continue to be governed with or without Bob Filner is the more pertinent question. Todd Gloria, Council President, and Councilman Kevin Faulconer addressed that issue at their July 22 press conference. The councilmen’s response was confusing. But much more troubling was the unwillingness of either speaker to say that he, or they, would continue to advance the mayor’s agenda. It is no surprise that Kevin Faulconer is not committed to Filner’s agenda.
But what about Council President Todd Gloria? He appears poised to take another bite of the Plaza de Panama poison apple, which would unwind a mayoral accomplishment. What about any of the other liberal voices that we have heard from over the past week and a half? As self-identified supporters of the mayor who helped him win the election, it is reasonable to assume that not only did they support his agenda, they would help provide the heavy lifting which that agenda requires.
The lack of economic security and livable wages continue to be the most pressing problem here in City Heights. The local rally for Trayvon Martin after the Zimmerman verdict was a clear reminder of the fraught relationship between the black community, the police and the justice system. I was recently asked why the City Heights library wasn’t open while I stood waiting outside the doors. The agenda that Filner campaigned on matters here.
If there is no political will for the city council members and powerful constituents who helped assure Filner’s election to assume the role of moving the mayor’s agenda forward even if they are unable to support the mayor himself, the end result will be that little, if anything, of substance gets accomplished in City Heights. That means a return to business as usual in the city and a political scandal becomes just the newest excuse for why little attention is paid to our neighborhoods.
What appears to be the discarding of the mayor’s agenda, which was the result of coalitions that included marginalized neighborhoods like my own community of City Heights, is the shame that has no name. If that is the real back story to Filner’s fall from grace, that is the true scandal.
Editor’s note: This post was updated to provide the correct date of the press conference called by City Council President Todd Gloria and Councilman Kevin Faulconer. It was erroneously posted as June 22.
Anna Daniels
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Anna, you have written an excellent article, devoid of unseemly prurience, and focused on actual civic issues.
The Filner agenda needs to continue without Filner. Who is a leader? No one on the council can lead. We need Christine T. Kehoe!!!
No thanks to this suggestion. Just before Fukushima muted voices for reviving the nuclear power industry in California, Chris Kehoe was publicly “exploring” what a good idea that might be.
Anna, thank you for that needed perspective from the neighborhood.
The true politic is when it gets to the neighborhood. And the question is how long can Filner tough this out, and what heavy hitter can we put forward to keep this progressive agenda rolling. Millions will be spent on geniuses like DeMaio. So we’ve got time to get a candidate to keep this going. Thank you for your thoughtful thoughts on this very painful subject.
Great piece, Anna. Welcome back! The Mayor is done. Who will carry on the commitment he had to historically marginalized communities? In my opinion there is no one out there. And that is the biggest shame. Filner gave us hope then crushed that hope due to his lecherous behavior.
I think we are missing something very important if our focus is solely on who will be the next mayor. The city council is charged with legislating. Council President Todd Gloria sets the council agenda. While the mayor has veto power, the council can override the mayor’s veto. This means that between the city bureaucracy and the city council’s powers, the show can and must go on.
Sherri Lightner, Marti Emerald, Todd Gloria and David Alvarez have the ability, right now, to continue to advance the agenda we voted for in the past election. The pressing question right now is will they.
Marti Emerald, David Alvarez, and sometimes Sherri Lightner are the only ones who typically vote to not override a mayoral veto. Emerald and Alvarez are Democrats. Lightner is a Democrat most of the time, unless it’s really inconvenient for her (but given the district she represents, that’s not all that surprising. It’s actually rather prudent).
Todd Gloria, on the other hand, is a Dem on social issues, but very much a Republican on economic issues. Any time there’s an issue before the City Council that involves business interests or a lot of money (such as the Plaza de Panama), you can bet your ass he’ll side with the Republicans.
If Gloria becomes the interim Mayor would he still preside over council meetings? If not, then there would be an equal number of D’s and R’s on the council. Possibly grinding the city to a halt. Thoughts?
My understanding is that Gloria would still retain a vote on the council, but I’ll get confirmation on this. Now that we have a strong mayor form of government, the mayor no longer attends council meetings nor does he vote directly on matters.
And so the assault on all things Filner continues…
The group “Restore Access to Many People” has filed a lawsuit against the Seal Cam at the La Jolla Children’s Pool, claiming it’s being used as a “peep show” by perverts
Betcha CicloSDias and other non-car improvements aren’t far behind.
Thank you for mentioning this, Doug. We still suffer from ex-Mayor Sanders’ public/private deals even as foes consort to push populist Mayor Bob Filner out the door after only seven months.
Channel 10 was absent from the rowdy meeting of La Jolla Parks & Beaches subcommittee last Monday when an official anti-seal-cam letter to the city was overwhelmingly approved. “Restore Access” folks are another anti-seal front with an acronym who hate the seal-cam for its silent and impartial footage showing people trying to drive protected seals off the beach. The camera also has revealed one identifiable diver regular at LJ P&B meetings throwing stones at the camera itself. The LJ P&B group wants the camera shut down or under its hostile jurisdiction.
Additionally at that LJ P&B meeting, a Lifeguard described a Mayor Sanders/City Council-approved deal that allows Toyota to pull regular SUVs onto the grass at La Jolla Cove on a Sunday to market them with a big Toyota banner. Car marketing using our public greenspaces?
It’s the quid pro quo for getting many new free or discounted Toyota vehicles for the Lifeguards — amply marked as gifts from the company — plus an obligation for Lifeguards, along with their new Toyota trucks, to participate in a certain number of “beach safety education” days around San Diego. Car marketing using our famous Lifeguards?
Even with Filner in City Hall, it’s business as usual until he can get around to redressing the balance. Does the community want to let that happen?
Fran- your comment (and Doug’s) are very important. The centerpiece of Filner’s agenda has been the focus on the quality of life in city of San Diego neighborhoods and a commitment of the necessary resources to make our neighborhoods safe, secure and liveable. The city is not exactly rolling in the money. It is clear that the neighborhood focus is contingent upon a scrutiny of where the money is actually going and restore as much as possible for the public benefit.
As you note, the resistance was immediate and incessant. Of course it was- we’re talking about money, influence and power. None of those are relinquished without an ugly deadly serious fight.
I don’t think there’s a politician out there who has anywhere near the kind of social conscience that would cause them to think of the needs of under served communities – like Bob. But when it’s time to pick somebody for the job we need to go about it in the spirit that Filner did, as “progressives.” He gave us life and we have to keep on breathing it in and acting on it. Anna’s piece should remain in our minds and hearts as we go about moving on after all the “panty” talk… All that being said I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in my life.
I have.
I cannot agree with Anna Daniels more. We need to keep pressing the City Council, the Interim Mayor, and whoever our next mayor will be to take up the real needs of our city, the quality of life in all of our neighborhoods, not just the wealthy ones.
Bob Filner, the Progressive Mayor who appears to have self-destructed, had championed these issues throughout his political career, on the Board of Education and the City Council, in his many years in the U.S. Congress, as well as in his campaign for Mayor and his eight months in office. His roughness on staff and his female proclivities seem to have been well-known to many local politicians, so they must have been known to those who opposed his progressive agenda, and who wanted him out of office from day one. I wonder what the reason was that his erstwhile friends and the compliant local media have seen fit to focus on this prurient behavior of his, precisely, at this time?
The “Recall Filner” bumper stickers that appeared soon after he refused to sign the 40 year boondoggle with the hoteliers were pulled back in short order. It was rumored that a recall campaign at that time just might have made a martyr out of him. It would seem that the opposite would be the case just a few months later, but with all of his dirty linen laid out on the table .
I hope that women, in general, will be encouraged to speak up more as they are sexually harassed in the workplace as a result of outing Bob Filner’s record in this regard. It will be no small result of all that has been taking place in this regard.
The obvious beneficiaries of a prospective change in mayors at this time would be those who will be able to ante up the high stakes monies it will take to put the next representative of the powers that be in the Mayor’s office. They are the same forces who have been behind just about every other mayor this town has had in recent years.
No matter who accedes to that office, however, we must continue to champion the needs and rights of the many citizens, particularly in our poorest neighborhoods ,who need to be better represented in whatever civic administration we have.
It distresses me Anna that you are making the same assumption many seem to be making: that Bob Filner is finished. In spite of Donna Frye’s pronouncement, Filner gets due process no matter what Donna thinks. I’m very unimpressed with the two who have revealed themselves. The first used to work for the Union Tribune which has been staunchly conservative for years and hates liberals. Sorry, I have to wonder if anything happened there at all. The second is a person who admitted her complaint happened eight years ago. EIGHT years ago! Gee, what possessed her to come forward now? It has to be either fame or money or both. I’m waiting to see some of Donna’s unnamed people who used to be allies of Filner come forward. Right now not only am I not impressed, I’m beginning to feel sympathetic towards Filner. He seems to be getting railroaded as far as I can see. Let some of those victims Donna discussed put in complaints to the hotline number and let those incidents be investigated. If he is indeed guilty, then we can throw the book (please, not a library book) at him. Until then, I find such articles not all that fair. Even though I certainly see your point about City Heights.
Joan–I am not assuming that Filner’s resignation is a fait accompli, nor have I personally called for his resignation. I believe in due process and I believe the women involved needed to formally come forward. I haven’t authored an article on these topics, but I have left those comments on others this past week.
My deep concern is that Filner’s agenda is being jettisoned. Filner’s resignation may be perceived as the ultimate prize, but it’s not because of his behavior. It will be because of the blow to his agenda.
Filner has to STAY!! if he goes balboa Park goes forever. Do NOT let him step down. Do NOT even let recall get on the agenda. These people control the election system. they will make sure a developer candidate wins mark my words.
If the “compliant,” supposedly anti-Filner media knew about all of this before, wouldn’t they have come out with it before the election to stop him from winning?
Your argument doesn’t make any logical sense. The fact is that the media had hints of allegations but couldn’t confirm anything.
Means the media either wasn’t doing their job or they’re compliant.
You can’t say voiceofsandiego.org didn’t try to stop Bob Filner from winning the mayoral election. Smear artist aka reporter Liam Dillon did his best, regularly larding his “news coverage” with snarky opinion, overtly negative headlines and unflattering photographs. Randy Dotinga wasn’t responsible, but he defends it.
The truth is almost everyone in San Diego was stunned that Filner actually had the votes to win — and win he did — by a healthy margin of 55%. Media couldn’t “confirm anything” negative about him because no one ever thought it would be necessary to get down and dirty about a 70-year-old liberal maverick South Bay Congressman. No one was getting paid off to talk about their hoary “complaints” about unwanted sexual attention on the record. (I have hints of allegations about this claim, Randy, but like you, I can’t confirm anything.)
But now the game has changed. Filner has shown he will fight hoteliers and even the richest Dem in town to save Balboa Park. And Filner has demonstrated he can prevail against established interests, in spite of an obstructionist City Attorney and turncoat City Council President. So now the glove$ are off to di$credit and de$troy him by any mean$ nece$$ary.
Those of you who natter about sacrificing the man but saving his agenda are naive and foolish. You play into the hands of your nemeses — the people who don’t give a rat’s ass about your poor neighborhoods — or my rich one, for that matter. (Let’s get rid of the coastal zone height limit! Let’s look at nuclear power again! Let’s slap a few ugly giant sculptures on public lands at the harbor!) Don’t get me going.
Choices are tough because they require picking a side. I’m sticking with the Mayor I voted for.
• VOSD ran many negative stories about Carl DeMaio.
This is a compilation of VOSD stories about DeMaio that ran before the election:
The links to stories are in blue. Many are negative and many were written by Liam Dillon, a dedicated and fair reporter. Anyone who reads this can click the blue links to confirm this. But these stories do not fit your narrative (VOSD Hates Filner and Loves Carl or Fletcher or Something!) so you ignore them, just like you did with negative Fletcher stories.
• As to your other claims: Reporters may suggest headlines if they wish but they do not choose which ones are used. That is the editor’s job. Reporters do not choose photographs. That is the editor’s job.
• Filner’s victory was widely expected, as I recall. The U-T poll(s) were clearly bogus. I was surprised, though, by the extent of his victory.
• I agree with you on the horrible Kiss statue (GAH) and a few other things.
• When it comes to unconfirmed yet scurrilous rumors, you still haven’t said anything about the one I asked you about, although only dementia could keep you from knowing the answer.
-Randy
Dementia? Not yet, not ever, as long as you keep fronting for that joke of a journal,
bought and paid for by the same people who want to destroy Bob Filner.
We need to stop funneling money to the affordable housing developers. they are the dirtiest of all. We need vouchers not MORE toxic housing slums. Filner knows that and thus this lynching continues. he has stood up to developers on BOTH sides and thank GOD!! people need to take a CLOSE look at what 50 years of affordable housing has gotten us….its gotten us NOTHING. It is not an effective solution to the problem. Its a slush fund of corruption!
Considering that I live in one if those “toxic housing slums” you are dead wrong. The Estrella del Mercado apartments are the best thing to happen to the community of Barrio Logan since the other “toxic housing slum” was built, the Mercado Apartments. There are 9o families in my complex that are thrilled to live in this beautiful development.
This latest “revelation” reminds me of two five year old’s playing in the sandbox when the little boy yells loudly, “she kissed me. ICK”. I don’t care what happened years ago – tell me what has happened recently.
Bravo, Anna, for naming the coalition of neighborhood and community activists and concerned citizens as the source of Filner’s agenda. Yes, he listened and payed attention, mor ethan most politicians ever, do. But the agenda came from people like you and it is up to all of us to keep it alive, not to weep and gnash our teeth. We can force our elected Council members to do the right thing. David Alvarez seems to me to be a younger, nicer voice for all the issues we counted on Filner to fulfil. There are others. Its not the end. Its a new beginning. Think Beckett
“I can’t go on.
I go on.”
Think Filner, Laurie: “I go on.”
Dear Ms Daniels and other Dear Friends,
I am more convinced of a people oriented future with Mayor Filner than with others. Friendship to me is a commitment beyond fair weather Facebook
Please keep up your efforts on behalf of people over profits.
John Stump
City Heights
John Stump:
I agree.