By Doug Porter
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner remains in office after more than a month of non-stop accusations. A recall movement claims to be building up a head of steam. Calls for his resignation are being reported daily. Those who haven’t joined in the mania are being shamed both in the mainstream and social media. There’s even a protest march slated for Sunday.
What’s not being reported is anything current about hizzoner. Bob Filner -the man- hasn’t been seen in over two weeks. And while his minions are going through the motions of defending him and proclaiming everything is okie-dokie at City Hall, his absence speaks more loudly than any press release.
A news vacuum always needs to filled, and Carl DeMaio has stepped up to the plate this week with a media blitz, hoping to take advantage. He’s been featured at Roll Call, Yahoo News, 10News, KOGO radio and The Hill. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
He’s not running for Mayor. Yet.
Republican Carl DeMaio told a local news channel Tuesday that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s troubles have shifted his attention from his congressional bid to ousting his embattled former foe from office.
When asked by a reporter from San Diego’s local ABC affiliate whether he is “100 percent focused” on his congressional campaign, DeMaio responded, ”No I’m actually focused a lot more on removing Bob Filner from City Hall.”
From Yahoo News:
DeMaio told Yahoo News that he would “absolutely” sign a petition to recall Filner, but was coy when asked if he would seek the mayor’s office.
“There are benefits and liability in weighing into that question right now,”
DeMaio told Yahoo News. “I’m going to continue to focus on how we can rid our city of the cancer that is Bob Filner. Until he departs that office, our city will be held hostage and our people’s business will not get done.”
Right now the former City Councilman can have it both ways. He can continue his campaign for Democrat Scott Peters’ Congressional seat and wait to see if a recall effort succeeds at triggering a mayoral contest.
Should the top job at City Hall appear to be available via the recall, DeMaio is uniquely poised to win. He’s got a high profile, money in the bank and only needs a plurality of voters in a contest unlikely to draw large numbers at the polls.
If and when Bob Filner resigns, DeMaio would be more likely to stick with the Congressional contest, where he’s assured of large amounts of money and national political backing. The effort to unseat Scott Peters will be more of challenge and poses more risk.
Todd Gloria has a Sad
Credit: Todd Gloria
City Council Todd Gloria is also buffing up his image. Yesterday he fired a shot across the Mayor’s bow, vowing to usurp his intergovernmental relations responsibilities, saying that Filner has allowed the city to go without the services of lobbyists for eight months
From KPBS:
San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria sent a memorandum to Filner on Wednesday requesting an update on the city’s representation at the state and federal level.
Gloria said that Filner, shortly after he took office, terminated the contracts with the firms hired to lobby state and federal officials on the city’s behalf. Members of the council have repeatedly asked the mayor’s staff about new representation and were told new contracts soon would be awarded.
“Sadly, eight months have passed without any substantive public action on your part, and the city remains without a voice in our state and national capitols, as far as I’m aware,” Gloria wrote.
Gloria held a press conference this morning to announce his office and Balboa Park Conservancy have joined forces to make WiFi available in much of the park.
Former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña Tweeted : “Great news! Now we can fixate on small screens and ignore what’s going on around us in a beautiful, historic place!”
The UT-San Diego has strategically run a story or two lamenting the Mayor’s low-budget reconfiguring of the traffic flow in Balboa Park, trying to associate Filner’s moves with claims that museums and restaurants are suffering. Of course, there were no actual humans making actual claims, the tales of financial woes were all based on suppositions and anecdotes.
I learned this morning the tiny Timken Museum, located just off the Plaza de Panama, had its best month ever in June.
The Blame Game
By my count San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (15) has almost pulled even with for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (16) in terms of the number of women accusing him of sexual harassment.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story about California’s ex-governor, he went on to win in the 2003 special election triggered by a recall of Gov. Gray Davis, despite the women’s stories being published by the LA Times. We’re not just talking about ‘grabby-grabby’ by The Arnold.
As the Filner sage continues to unfold, I’m hearing the questions asked more and more: “Should the press have investigated more” and “Why wasn’t he stopped before the election?”
The sages of the local media scene gathered last night at a meeting room in the KPBS building near San Diego State to discuss these questions under the auspices of the local Society of Professional Journalists. I followed the event via Twitter, thanks to excellent coverage via the UT’s Matt Hall on the SDSPJ account.
The answer was… “We tried, honest.” (It was more nuanced that that; click on the links above for details.)
‘Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda’ is a tough game. And it’s even tougher when harassment is the issue. The Atlantic Magazine has a good read up about the dynamics of how the local Democratic Party dealt with (or didn’t) allegations and suspicions about Mayor Filner. And, for those who think reporting on a story like this is easy, I suggest reading this account penned by then-LA Times editor John S. Carroll about the difficulties involved in airing this kind of dirty laundry.
Business as Usual: Downtown Group Accused of Mismanagement
The downtown non-profit group responsible for administering that Property and Business Improvement District, also known as the Clean and Safe Program is facing a lawsuit alleging mismanagement and misuse of taxpayer funds.
Asserting that, “Any agreement between City and Partnership or anyone else that purports to authorize or ratify the expenditure of PBID monies in a manner that violates California Streets and Highways Code…is illegal and unenforceable”, San Diegans for Open Government is asking for a court order directing the non-profit to refund residents for all illegal expenditures.
From Dorian Hargrove’s story at the San Diego Reader:
The lawsuit alleges that the non-profit, run by former Chief of Staff for ex-mayor Jerry Sanders, Kris Michell, has used the the $5.5 million in annual assessments with little or no oversight, spending as it sees fit on high-priced consultants and non-permitted services.
Established in 2000, Clean and Safe is funded by assessments levied on downtown property owners. The assessments pay for a variety of enhanced services such as tree-trimming, sidewalk cleaning, security patrols, and maintenance of water fountains and neighborhood parks.
Over the course of the past decade however, the non-profit Downtown San Diego Partnership has expanded the list of services in an attempt to turn downtown into the economic engine that drives the City and County.
It has done so by funneling hundreds of thousands in assessments to programs meant to cut down on “street disorder.” In other words, spending money to rid downtown of panhandlers, people sleeping in entrances and on city sidewalks, public intoxication and public urination; issues that “detract from the business being conducted” in downtown.
The problem, as the lawsuit points out, is those services aren’t anywhere in the state law that regulates assessment districts.
Free Munchies for “Hempfest”
In case you missed it, voters in Washington State legalized the personal consumption and possession of marijuana last fall.
The 85,000 people attending each day of the three day “Hempfest”, a more than two decade old gathering that started out as a legalization protest and free concert might be shocked at this year’s event to see the ‘man’ out in force.
From Talking Points Memo:
…the Seattle police — who have long turned a lenient eye on Hempfest tokers — don’t plan to be writing tickets or making arrests. They’ll be busy handing out Doritos.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, department spokesman and junk-food-dispenser-in-chief. “It’s meant to be ironic. The idea of police passing out Doritos at a festival that celebrates pot, we’re sure, is going to generate some buzz.”
The idea isn’t just to satisfy some munchies. The department has affixed labels to 1,000 bags of Doritos urging people to check out a question-and-answer post on its website, titled “Marijwhatnow? A Guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle.” It explains some of the nuances of Washington’s law: that adults can possess up to an ounce but can’t sell it or give it away, that driving under the influence of pot is illegal, and that — festivals aside — public use is illegal.
Keeping the GOP Circus Atmosphere Alive
The next sets of Presidential primary contests are merely a glimmer in CNN’s eye, but that hasn’t stopped the early rounds of quibbling and silliness in the news media.
From the Washington Examiner:
The Republican National Committee, already threatening to block CNN and NBC from hosting 2016 primary debates if they air planned features on Hillary Clinton, is also looking to scrap the old model of having reporters and news personalities ask the questions at candidate forums.
Miffed that their candidates were singled out for personal questions or CNN John King’s “This or That,” when he asked candidates quirky questions like “Elvis or Johnny Cash,” GOP insiders tell Secrets that they are considering other choices, even a heavyweight panel of radio bigs Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
What could possibly go wrong?
On This Day: 1877 – Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, “hello” would be a more appropriate greeting than “ahoy” when answering the telephone. 1969 – The Woodstock Music and Art Fair began inBethel, NY. The three-day concert featured 24 bands and drew over 400,000 people. 1986 – The U.S. Senate approved a package of economic sanctions against South Africa. The ban included the importing of steel, uranium, textiles, coal, and produce from South Africa.
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Doug Porter
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And the two Dark Lords continue puffing out their chests…still foolishly believing they’re God’s answer to something-or-other…*yawn*
Doug Porter: You have every right to your personal opinion about Bob Filner but you are going beyond the pale by referring to supporters who want Filner to remain as Mayor as “minions”. I am not and have never been a “minion”, nor are any of the many others who, recognizing that Bob Filner has (allegedly) behaved badly in one area of his life, understand the importance of retaining him as Mayor of San Diego.
Definition of min·ion /ˈminyən/
Noun: A follower or underling of a powerful person, esp. a servile or unimportant one.
I am sickened by the virtual lynching of Bob Filner, without due process, for behaviors that – for the most part – are not sexual harassment. Based on your writings on the topic over the past month, I consider you one of these nouveau-Puritan vigilantes. You are not in good company.
It’s a fine distinction you make about “minions,”Judy, and I personally think the distinction you are making is just fine. I am mad at Porter for his column the other day, but Jim Miller is chairman of the Board and executive director of Nouveau-Puritan Vigilantism, not Doug Porter. Porter labors in the vineyard of peace and justice, the Constitution and the living wage, so let us give him a pass this one time.
If friends and fellow-travellers just saw the Bunuel/Fellini-esque Channel 10 news conference with Gloria Allred and the latest “victim,” a female senior-greeter from the lobby of City Hall, it will become clear as crystal what a set-up, railroading, lynching, and kangaroo court circus has been organized to get rid of Mayor Bob Filner. The haters themselves now teeter on the edge of parody.
I am trying to be patient, to trust in Bob’s good lawyers and the sky-god, to many others like yourself. I think it is going to work out.
The Mayor may have gotten way too “fresh” for his own good, but all the hand-wringing starts to look more like conniving. I’m talking about TG, KF, CDMao, etc. I picture the Simpson’s Mr Burns, or Snidely Whiplash, although Filner may be Didley Do-Wrong. May be. I support policy over personality. Hang in there.
1. For the record, I have not called upon Filner to resign. I have said that Bob Filner’s position is untenable. What I think is that these folks leading the charge against him will bankrupt him financially and politically.
2. I meant minions in the most general sense i.e., his staff at City Hall. I have been critical of people who have cast aspersions on the women who’ve come forward. I have not been purposely critical of the people who are defending Filner in a political sense. I happen to agree that due process doesn’t include resignation from elected office.
3. Those nouveau Puritan vigilantes dislike my writings just as much as you apparently do.
4. In the scheme of things this Filner deal is but a tiny blip. I get up everyday filled with wonder at the great city I live in, thankful for my family and celebrating the possibilities of life. So take a deep breath. I’m glad you expressed your opinion and don’t wish to disparage you for doing so.
Your last comment highlights the difference between elite democrats and paycheck democrats. An early UT article about the accusations described Filner supporters: “Many of the supporters were from blue-collar neighborhoods south of Interstate 8 . . .” For many people, Filner as Mayor will likely mean tangible rather than philosophical differences in their lives, such as a living wage, or a focus on affordable housing, homeless services, disadvantaged neighborhoods, etc.. To risk that to a low turnout special election which will favor a conservative candidate, when there is a much more appropriate remedy via legal process, seems to me myopic at best, narcissistic and callous at worst, of progressives calling for his resignation.
Doug – I don’t dislike your writings; in fact, I often agree with the opinions you’ve expressed although I don’t always like the particular, negative way you’ve sometimes expressed them, and O consider you to be a good writer. However, on “minions”, what you say you intended is not at all clear in the way you worded that sentence. I continue to believe that you are wrong to use that word in regard to those who support Filner’s remaining in office whether you meant all of us or only those at City Hall. It’s denigrating no matter who it’s aimed at. Those who work at City Hall have just as much right to their opinion without being called names as I do.
Up to now I’ve loved your work, El Doug, but … jeez… using The Atlantic as an authority on San Diego Democrats, and depending on Matt Hall of the SD-UT for coverage of a panel of mainstream newsboobs via Twitter is like … like, asking Colgate for a toothpaste analysis; it might not hurt your teeth but how would you know otherwise?
And, face it, “minions” is a cultural insult, for which your critic, Judy Swink, can’t be blamed for taking personally, especially as you admonish her “to take a deep breath” in your attempt at explaining she’s not your target. I can hear other people speaking those lines, almost anywhere, Doug.
Reasonable people would like to see the testimony launched on KPBS and every other mainstream news outlet in this city by an admittedly surprising number of victims met with examination in a courtroom, where the law requires evidence and cross-examination. This major event in the city’s history cannot be allowed to remain a media event when media, locally, are Republican owned and operated.
Doug:
I called the Mayor’s office today and asked whether or not he was back at work. The very pleasant woman on the phone answered in the affirmative.
Amusing that Gloria’s idea of looking good to voters is to try to get lobbyists back…looking good, there.
Thanks for the actual facts from the Timken. The Park has never looked so fine!
The RNC story was a welcome laugh. Don’t cover our convention? Too funny…alas, they will no doubt think better of it when the time comes. Reminiscent of the screening in the Bush II White House.
I would have preferred you to write “if or when” the mayor resigns, rather than “if and when”.
As for the Atlantic, I have found that the national press doesn’t do well on San Diego stories, leading me to believe they never actually send a reporter here. As for the content, well, I was against the Central Committee’s vote to withdraw support from Filner before the allegations were proven or disproven. Thus, I don’t care why they they supported him as a candidate. I did, and I’m glad I did. He’s taken his medicine, now I am happy or him to continue as mayor. The Dems should stop wailing about the lack or presence of a crystal ball, effectively letting the opposition frame the narrative, and move on. Last I heard, Jesus of Nazareth was not going to be running for office, so we will have to make do with mere mortals.
Sorry, typo in my above post:: “for him to continue” not “or him”
Carl DeMaio to the rescue? DeMaio of the breathtakingly misogynist billboard of the Shushing Lady Librarian With a City Pension? THAT Carl DeMaio? Just one more glimpse into what is really going on around here.
Note to Cynthia: agreed, re your observations on the national press’ “news coverage” – all surface gloss, and no depth whatever. Sounds like they and the locals are ponying up to the same water trough (don’t they know City water’s long had a *ahem* a certain rep?)
Good hearing that our guy is on the job – right where he should be! :-)
I still contend that the Mayor is MIA. Here’s one reporter’s efforts to find him… (with copies of the voice/emails sent but not responded to.) Furthermore, people who work at City Hall (yes, i know a few) have not seen the mayor in more than 2 weeks.
If I were the mayor, I don’t think I would respond at this time to a reporter’s phone call either. And lots of people in San Diego work from home. Surely there must be tons of reading and paperwork for any mayor (or for that matter for any city councilperson) and this is a good time to get into it. So yes, I’m sure the mayor IS “at work”.
Doug, re the absence. Isn’t there a recess in progress? All I know is what I was told over the phone. Didn’t go down to look, not being a journalist or camera person.
BOB! Positive thought and prayers your way. I was able to meet Bob Filner and rally for him, and he changed my life = ) Stay strong my friend! I Dont care what anybody says YOU ARE THE MAN!
Bob Filner must feel like “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, the Thomas Hardy novel in which whatever a guy touches in his early life turns to gold and he becomes Mayor of the town. As the novel arcs, however, everything he touches turns to shit while one of his rivals takes over as Mayor and most prominent citizen.
I wouldn’t count Filner out though because so far what we have seen is a media event and a demonizing of Filner while he has hardly fought back. Many of the allegations wouldn’t hold up in a court of law and don’t rise to the level of criminal activity no matter how it is defined. A good defense lawyer could make mincemeat out of them.
The fact that none of the women confronted Filner with “inappropriate” behavior at the time it supposedly happened combined with the superannuated complaints leads me to believe that many of the accusati0ns are spurious. Asking a woman for a date is not sexual harassment in my opinion but what do I know?
I think Filner is waiting for the media blowout to blow itself out.
I’m getting tired of KPBS (proudly an affiliate of Hang Em High channel 10) . KPBS has more advertisers than god. DeMaio is torn – to return to Washington where all his money comes from or return to San Diego where he gets all the free face time TV or UT can provide. There is that one little factor – he’s a loser and everyone (except the Republican Party) knows it. I would guess that the UT is going to start their DeMaio on every page campaign soon.
I love it when KPBS has 6 guests from the Republican Party and UT and 4 victims of the Fil, and they are disappointed that Filner wouldn’t show. Get a grip you fund raising fools. The only programs you have anything to do with are reruns of reruns.
The news is just UT and Channel 10 reruns.
Tom:
Good points. I recall going to a Catfish Club round table discussion during the election (that one that Mayor Filner won), and DeMaio never bothering to show up or send a rep. Filner was there in all his blunt and direct glory. Nobody was there to ask more difficult questions of DeMaio than of Filner. He just didn’t bother. With KPBS, however, I daresay the intent was quite different, and Filner has a job to do. During an election (that thing that Filner won), it is one’s job to go convince people of what a good person you are. Now, it’s time to do the job.
Just because Doug says the Mayor is MIA during the August recess doesn’t make it so.
I have no doubt he’s working and thinking about many things, among them a request for change of venue for his Superior Court date. When everybody reconvenes, I have no doubt Filner will be front and center, with support from many people in this city.
I’m with Sydney Oftedahl: thoughts and prayers go with Mayor Bob Filner. Together we shall overcome.
Frances:
Me too.
So the City Attorney’s next stupid lawyer trick is apparently to seek a restraining order to keep the mayor out of his office because he has “created a hostile working environment.” This is just the limit!
What you said! ;-)
WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE “STANDING W/ MAYOR FILNER AND DUE PROCESS”
WHEN: MONDAY ~ AUGUST 19 @ 1200 NOON
WHERE: CIVIC CENTER PLAZA
Info: Enrique Morones @ 619 977-9467
WE WILL NOT BE SILENT
“We are defending the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Due Process and innocent until found guilty BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.”
Ken S Msemaji DOMESTIC WORKERS
“Those of us South of INTERSATE 8 voted for Mayor Filner and those North of INTERSTATE 8 want him out”
Kathleen Harmon FORMER FILNER VOLUNTEER
“Mayor Bob Filner like any other person deserves due process and the overwhelming demand for his resignation appears to have been initially motivated and orchestrated by the conservative elements in San Diego that fear the Mayor’s progressive agenda of including all people in the future direction of the city”
David Valladolid COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
“Bob has stood side by side with many of our displaced communities for decades, now we stand with him. Bob, like the alleged victims deserve due process and not a public execution and circus, We will not be silent”.
Enrique Morones , Native San Diegan & HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST