Editorial:
There has been a great gnashing of teeth over the actions of recently elected mayor, Bob Filner. Even those who supported the election of Filner have been caught off guard a bit by his aggressive nature after he took office.
Yes, it’s true that Mayor Filner has been assertive in his actions in his first month as Mayor. He has taken on District Attorney Jan Goldsmith and wants to end the prosecution of marijuana dispensary stores. He has challenged the appointments of SANDAG board members which had been brokered by San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria, a fellow Democrat. And, recently, he has vetoed the appointment of two Port Commission candidates: Rafael Castellanos, an attorney and a Democrat, and Marshall Merrifield, a Republican and business owner. These actions have surprised many and have been great fodder for the local daily paper, which has a strong anti-Filner editorial position.
And yes, it has caught even this paper by surprise, especially with the veto of attorney Rafael Castellanos. On paper, Castellanos looks like a great appointment to Port District and something we crowed about in last week’s editorial. Yet, upon reflection, it is not hard to see what Mayor Filner is doing! What Filner has done so far is invoke the authority of the office, which is the prerogative of a strong mayor. In a sense he is making everyone aware that there is a new sheriff in town and it is not business as usual.
Filner is establishing precedent for the next four years.
The Strong Mayor rule of governance is a relatively new form of government for this city that was ushered in by the GOP with strong support from wealthy Republican donors and developers.
La Prensa did not support the passage of a strong mayor authority in 2010, because we thought it gave too much authority or control in the office in the Mayor. But the Republican Party was in control, the elected Mayor had been a voting member of the city council and was only one vote of nine. The city council was a Democratic controlled council and the Republican Party wanted to empower the Republican mayor. The Republicans pushed for a strong Mayor and Prop D passed, making permanent the strong mayor form of government. Mayor Sanders enjoyed that authority and now it is the right of Democrat Filner.
Filner is exerting his right as a strong Mayor. Some of his actions may look dictatorial, but they are well within his power as a strong Mayor. Filner is defining his style, he is not playing favorites already going head-to-head with fellow Democrat Todd Gloria. Naturally, this has the Republican Party and the Republican newspaper, Union Tribune, besides themselves with this turn of events and at every turn they are belittling the efforts of Filner.
Before we pass judgment on Filner and his style let us give him the time and opportunity to establish himself. There is normally a 100-day grace period but with Mayor Filner, that grace period has been discarded. And before we start tearing down the Filner administration let us not forget that if elected Carl DeMaio had even bigger plans to turn the city upside down, the only difference would have been, his plans had the support of the UT and the Republican Party.
Let us give Filner his grace period, with the time to establish himself, and then let us see where we are going with Filner as Mayor.