Mayor Jerry Sanders Monday will follow up his good week on Wall Street with an unveiling of his first television advertisement of the campaign season. The ad will be the only one of the campaign for Sanders, and likely run 15 to 20 times daily on broadcast and cable stations until the June 3 election, said his political consultant, Tom Shepard.
"We don't have enough money to do a blitz," Shepard said. "That just isn't in the cards for us."
It’s a different story for his opponent, Steve Francis, who has been airing ads since February.
Donna Frye and a who's who of this season's candidates for San Diego city offices held a press conference in the Civic Center's breezeway this morning to show their bi-partisan solidarity against Proposition C, the June 3 ballot measure that would take authority over the city's internal auditor away from the mayor, but still allow the mayor to appoint the auditor.
After several posts and letters in the last two weeks, there is not much more to say about the issue. But I figured a partial list of supporters and opponents -- which I would like to add to over the next couple of weeks -- might be helpful. So if you're a somebody, or know a somebody, who is on record supporting or opposing Prop. C, e-mail me. Here's who I've got so far.
Prop. C Supporters:
People: Mayor Jerry Sanders, Council President (and city attorney candidate) Scott Peters, Councilmember Jim Madaffer, Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, Councilmember Toni Atkins, Councilmember Ben Hueso, District 1 candidate Phil Thalheimer, District 1 candidate Marshall Merrifield, District 3 candidate Todd Gloria, District 5 candidate George George, District 7 candidate April Boling, City Charter Review Committee member Vincent Mudd.
Organizations: San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, San Diego Taxpayers Association.
Prop. C Opponents:
People: Councilmember Donna Frye, Councilmember (and city attorney candidate) Brian Maienschein, Councilmember Tony Young, City Attorney Michael Aguirre, mayoral candidate Steve Francis, city attorney candidate Jan Goldsmith, District 5 candidate Carl DeMaio, District 7 candidate Marti Emerald, District 1 candidate Sherri Lightner, District 3 candidate Steve Whitburn, District 3 candidate John Hartley, city attorney candidate Amy Lepine, Port Commissioner Steve Cushman, uber-gadfly Mel Shapiro, City Charter Review Committee members John Gordon and Barbara Cleeves-Anderson.
Organizations: San Diego Democratic Party, Sierra Club, San Diego NOW Political Action Committee, League of Women Voters and Neighborhoods for Honest Government.
City attorney candidate Brian Maienschein just upped the ante in the increasingly heated race for city attorney.
Maienschein's camp just sent out a mailer festooned with Republican Party logos and urging voters to compare Maienschein's record to that of his main Republican rival, Jan Goldsmith, who has the endorsement of the local Republican Party.
Here's some detail from Maienschein's mailer:
Note that he attacks Goldsmith for the former legislator's stance on immigration and his record at the state Legislature. That's a theme Maienschein's introduced a couple of times at candidates' forums, but here he really spells out his opposition in the mailer. You can learn more about Goldsmith's legal career, including his years at the legislature, here.
In reply, the Republican Party has sent out a two-pagemailer that specifically targets Maienschein, without even mentioning Goldsmith.
Here's detail from that mailer:
The Republican Party's message is clear, the first page of the mailer states: "City Councilman Brian Maienschein. He betrayed our trust. Now he wants to be our City Attorney."
You can find out more about Maienschein's legal career here.
So far, most of the attacks in this campaign have been directed at Aguirre, and the new mailers certainly show the competition ratcheting up on the Republican side of the race. Maienschein and Goldsmith are the only two Republicans running, so they're competing for a specific pool of voters.
But it's interesting to see the Republican Party so vehement in its opposition to Maienschein, himself a diehard Republican.
A recent poll showed Maienschein and Goldsmith to be running even, two points behind Scott Peters for second place. If no candidate gets 50 percent of the vote on June 3, the top two vote-getters advance to the November runoff.
Yesterday I moderated a two-hour debate hosted by the City of San Diego Retired Employees Association. I like their debates, they're good and long so you really get a chance to go in-depth with the candidates and touch on a wide range of issues. Plus, the questions come from the audience, and there isn't a more engaged group that the former city workers.
There was only one problem: The San Diego Union-Tribune, a local newspaper, invited Mayor Jerry Sanders and Steve Francis in for candidate interviews with its editorial board at the same time the debate was going on.
So, for a while, it was me, Floyd Morrow, Eric Bidwell and James Hart up on the stage. Then, Francis and Sanders showed up after probably a half hour or 45 minutes. Sanders stayed to answer four questions and then got up and left again. He said he had a lunch speech to deliver. Francis stayed until the end.
I admit I couldn't take in-depth notes on the debate because I was busy moderating it. For the most part, the candidates stuck to the issues they have touted throughout the campaign. Morrow spent a good deal of time attacking the media for giving the impression that it's a two-man race between Francis and Sanders.
Hart called the 25-year-old Bidwell the smartest guy in the race and suggested that Francis use his millions of dollars to fund a college education for Bidwell. Bidwell and Hart admitted a few times during the debate that they weren't sufficiently versed in City Hall financial issues to answer some of the questions.
For the brief time they were together on stage, Francis and Sanders went directly after each other. Here's the report our media partner NBC 7/39 put together on the two:
I had hoped yesterday to speak with Matt Adams, head of government affairs for the Building Industry Association, for my story on Phil Thalheimer's change of heart regarding campaign contributions from developers.
But he was holed up in meetings all day and could not return my calls. I caught up with him today.
Adams reiterated what others had said about the effect Thalheimer's 2004 campaign for the District 1 San Diego City Council seat had on his relationship with the local business community, and the development industry in particular.
Thalheimer lost that race after forcing incumbent Councilman Scott Peters into a November runoff. He is running again this year against Marshall Merrifield and Sherri Lightner.
In that race Thalheimer refused, in a very public way, to take campaign contributions from developers and anyone who worked in businesses related to development. At one point he held a news conference on the front lawn of the BIA San Diego headquarters to loudly protest contributions Peters had taken from developers.
"That certainly did not sit well with our leadership," Adams said. "We had a few frank and candid conversations with him following the election.
Adams added that Thalheimer left the conversations with a different mindset regarding developers.
"He came to a better understanding of our industry and the relevance it has in our economy," he said.
The BIA has not endorsed anyone in the District 1 race.
District 5 City Council candidate George George's home surveillance cameras Saturday recorded his opponent, Carl DeMaio, posting "Carl DeMaio" campaign signs in front of a "George George" campaign sign on George's property in Rancho Bernardo.
Then on Sunday, the cameras caught two young men pushing on the George sign as if they were trying to knock it down.
Check it out here:
The Saturday tape shows DeMaio and another man getting out of a black Jeep with campaign signs in hand, scrambling up a hill behind George's house and sticking the signs on either side of a large "George George" sign.
DeMaio acknowledged that he was on the tape, but said he thought George's sign was on public property, adding that he certainly had no idea the property was George's.
"We would never knowingly put a sign in someone's yard without permission," DeMaio said today. "This is one of those embarrassing things where you say 'oops this was a mistake.'"
DeMaio said a homeowner in George's neighborhood had called his campaign to say that George had a large sign in a prime location on Rancho Bernardo Road, and suggested that DeMaio put one of his signs there as well.
George, who had the cameras installed earlier in the year after a vandalism incident, said he is having trouble believing the coincidence, and feels "violated."
"That sign has been up there for three or four weeks -- then all of a sudden he puts his signs up on Saturday?" George said.
More troubling to George were the events on Sunday. He and his wife were sitting in their home watching television, when his wife looked at the monitor hooked up to the cameras and saw the young men walking up the hill.
They went out on their back porch and yelled at the young men, one of whom was bouncing on the sign as if to try and knock it down. The men ran off. George said he wouldn't be surprised if DeMaio was behind the Sunday incident.
"It is such coincidence that it is beyond belief," George said. "If Carl would have the gall to walk onto my property and put up signs, why wouldn't he come back the next day to tear my sign down?"
Union members have been sending an edited version to media outlets.
DeMaio was incredulous at George's insinuation, saying he has never, nor would he ever engage in such dirty campaign tactics.
"I had no involvement and no knowledge of tearing down any sign," DeMaio said. "I am not going to join my opponent and his [union] backers in the mud."
Update: The original version of this erroneously stated that George gave the video to the unions. George said the video entered the public domain when he gave an edited version to a television news reporter. We regret the error.
The city attorney has issued a decision that could dramatically improve San Diego Unified school board member Luis Acle's chances of reelection.
The office concluded that the top two vote-getters in the District D primary election for the San Diego Unified school board will advance to a runoff in the November election and have their name printed on the ballot, regardless of how many votes they garner.
Confused? Here's what I wrote in April about the legal question looming over the school board race:
The answer to a surprisingly messy question about local election laws could revive the troubled school board campaign of incumbent Luis Acle, pulling his name onto the November ballot. Acle may run a write-in campaign that, according to one law, would only need to earn a small number of votes to get him a spot on the November ballot. Another law would force a write-in candidate to receive much more support to give a candidate a spot on the final ballot. How the conflict between them is resolved could catapult Acle from the faint prospects of a write-in candidate to the relatively plum position of an incumbent listed on the ballot.
To run as a write-in candidate, Acle must garner 200 valid signatures by May 20. Read the full decision here.
Tony Perry, the Los Angeles Times' San Diego bureau chief, jumped into the San Diego mayor's race today with this story on Jerry Sanders' foul mouth.
Here's what he's got:
SAN DIEGO -- -- A four-letter word has enlivened an otherwise wonkish mayoral race between incumbent Jerry Sanders and businessman Steve Francis, attracting much more attention than the two Republicans' disputes over infrastructure needs and municipal financing.
Annoyed by Francis' multimillion-dollar barrage of television commercials questioning his honesty and integrity, the normally low-key Sanders refused to shake Francis' hand after an Earth Day debate and instead said to him, "... you."
And it adds this tidbit:
Sanders chides Francis for making what he said public.
"I haven't been tattled on since I was in third grade," the mayor said during an interview in his political consultant's office in the Little Italy neighborhood.
"For some reason, this seems to have resonated with the public," he said. "I'm not proud of it, but I'm not ashamed. I wasn't in a mood to exchange pleasantries."
So you're looking forward to happy hour, but don't know what to talk about?
How about Proposition C?
All week we've been writingaboutProp. C -- the measure on the June 3 ballot that grants more independence to the city of San Diego's internal auditor by having that person report to the City Council's audit committee rather than the mayor, which is the case now.
Opponents of the measure say it still gives the mayor too much influence in the auditor's business. Supporters say Prop. C meets the standards of independence. Here are guidelines from the Association of Local Government Auditors that boost the opponent's arguments. And here is a letter from Stanley Keller, the city's independent monitor mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
An excerpt from the ALGA guidelines bolstering the argument of the opponents:
MODEL LEGISLATION GUIDELINES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUDITORS
The Charter or Code to establish an audit function is an important document. It sets forth the qualifications, duties, powers and manner of securing the office of the local government Auditor. The local governing body will enact legislation in various forms, depending on the particular state or provincial constitution or statutes. The information contained in this document is to be considered as general guidelines to be adapted in context with applicable state or provincial laws. Many of the elements described on the following pages are applicable to an elected or appointed Auditor.
Ordinance/Resolution/Policy Statement
WHEREAS, public officials, government managers, and private citizens want and need to know not only whether government funds are handled properly and in compliance with laws and regulations, but also whether public programs are achieving the purposes for which they were authorized and funded, and, whether they are doing so efficiently and economically.
WHEREAS, an independent auditing function can provide objective information on the operations of government programs, assist managers in carrying out their responsibilities, and help ensure full accountability to the public. WHEREAS, recognized government auditing standards provide a framework for improved government decision making, oversight and accountability.
WHEREAS, the independence and public accountability of the Auditor can be assured by provision of an (elected or legislatively appointed) Auditor.
Additional Key Elements
Local government charters, ordinances or policy statements establishing an independent audit function (either legislative or elected) should contain the following key elements:
Organizational Independence n Establishment of the Audit Function
(Elected or Appointed) The (NAME OF OFFICE/DEPARTMENT) is hereby established.
(Appointed Auditor) The (CITY/COUNTY) Auditor shall be designated through appointment by a majority vote of the (LEGISLATIVE BODY).
And one from the Keller letter touted by supporters:
In terms of preference, however, as opposed to "recommendation," I have previously expressed the view in testimony before the Charter Review Committee that a dual reporting model, which is the common corporate model, under which the internal auditor is a part of management for administrative purposes but has direct reporting responsibilities to the Audit Committee as the independent oversight body, is best designed to accomplish both objectives of requisite independence and effective operation. The alternative of appointment by the Mayor, in consultation with the Audit Committee, and confirmation by the City Council, assuming the existence of the other elements of tenure, professional qualifications and reporting responsibilities, is most consistent with this model.
If you haven't had enough of the debate surrounding Proposition C, here is some scintillating reading from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the federal government's watchdog agency. It is from the GAO's "Yellow Book" on auditing standards.
The central Prop. C argument, detailed in this story and in this story, focuses on the auditor's autonomy. Supporters say the auditor would have enough autonomy under the new guidelines of Prop. C, opponents say he or she won't.
Here is the pertinent section from The Yellow Book:
3.14 Audit organizations in government entities may also be presumed to be free from organizational impairments if the head of the audit organization meets any of the following criteria:
a. directly elected by voters of the jurisdiction being audited;
b. elected or appointed by a legislative body, subject to removal by a legislative body, and reports the results of audits to and is accountable to a legislative body;
c. appointed by someone other than a legislative body, so long as the appointment is confirmed by a legislative body and removal from the position is subject to oversight or approval by a legislative body, and reports the results of audits to and is accountable to a legislative body; or
d. appointed by, accountable to, reports to, and can only be removed by a statutorily created governing body, the majority of whose members are independently elected or appointed and come from outside the organization being audited.
Our story yesterday on Proposition C, the ballot measure that would allow the mayor to hire the city's internal auditor but take away the mayoral authority of firing that person, revealed the divide among local politicos on the issue.
There is also no consensus on whether the city should have an elected auditor answering only to the taxpayers. Some, most notably City Attorney Michael Aguirre, say an unelected auditor cannot be truly independent.
"The only way we will get reliable financial statements is if the auditor is directly responsible to the people for inaccurate financial statements or tardy financial statements," Aguirre said this week.
Donna Frye, Prop. C's loudest opponent says she's "open" to an elected auditor, but is most comfortable with an auditor who reports to City Council. Others like Marti Emerald, who oppose Prop. C on the grounds that it does not make the auditor independent enough from the mayor, are not ready to support the bureaucracy and politics that would come with another elected official.
For those reasons supporters of Prop. C are adamantly opposed to an elected auditor, with at least one fearing the possibility of another elected official in the mold of Aguirre.
"You would have another elected official with a staff and a car allowance," said April Boling, a candidate for the District 7 council seat.
"And we'd be faced with same struggles the city currently faces with the city attorney's budget -- right now the City Council approves the city attorney's budget, but when the city attorney feels the need to overspend the budget, he simply does so."
On Monday, he was endorsed by UNITE HERE, the union representing hotel and restaurant employees.
From here on out, all labor endorsements in the mayor's race will come from individual unions. The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council announced Monday that it would not make an endorsement in the race.
The official announcement from the IBEW will come tomorrow morning at the union hall at 4545 Viewridge Avenue in San Diego.
At a subdued, sparsely attended debate last night, the five candidates running for city attorney answered a host of questions about environmental issues affecting San Diego. Well, they sort of answered them.
Jan Goldsmith declined to discuss some things on the grounds that he did not know the details of the issues involved. Asked whether the city had gone far enough to fulfill the requirements of Assembly Bill 32, which calls for a 25-percent reduction in California's global warming-causing emissions by 2020, Goldsmith looked confused.
Goldsmith did not know that the bill, a landmark piece of global warming legislation, had been passed into law. And he did not know what the city had done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"I'm not privy to what the city has done, so it’s a little hard to shoot in the dark, so I'm just not going to say things shooting from the hip," Goldsmith said.
Brian Maienschein shaped some of his answers around comments that had already been made by other candidates. He repeatedly mentioned his work on preserving a large swath of the San Pasqual Valley. Questioned on the water use at his home, which increased 55 percent in the second half of 2007 compared to the second half of 2006, Maienschein said his house had a leak that has since been fixed.
Councilman Scott Peters and incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre had a fair grasp on the issues being discussed. Aguirre should have, as during his last four years in office he has been tasked with tackling many of the issues the candidates were asked about.
But Aguirre looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment and, most of the time, talked in a monotonic drone between fits of rubbing his eyes and looking around himself in apparent boredom.
"I frankly just wasn't paying attention," Peters said. "I think I was very proud of myself for going out there every day and making a lot of progress on environmental issues and being an environmental lawyer and being very productive and I just wasn't paying attention."
Peters said he had a water audit of his household done and said his family is being more careful with their water consumption.
Amy Lepine told the crowd how she rides her bike to work and described her love of surfing. On more than one occasion, she split with the rest of the candidates, and she offered up some ideas, such as encouraging city residents to install solar paneling and creating a new department in the City Attorney's Office to monitor the city's progress on global warming.
One light-hearted moment in the debate occurred when the moderator, voiceofsandiego.org'sRob Davis, asked the candidates who they are endorsing for mayor.
Goldsmith, serious as ever, said he won't endorse anybody, in any political race, because he wants to keep the City Attorney's Office non-political.
Maienschein said he will work with anybody who gets elected and said he won't endorse.
Lepine, smiling, said no one's asked her for her endorsement. She said she might endorse Steve Francis if he asked her to.
Peters said he's not endorsing anyone.
Aguirre, looking seriously out at the crowd, made an announcement: "I've decided, tonight, in front of this group, to make an endorsement. I will be endorsing Donna Frye in the mayor's race."
The League of Conservation Voters San Diego, the local chapter of a statewide environmental lobbying group, just announced that it's endorsing incumbent city attorney Mike Aguirre and challenger Scott Peters in the race for city attorney.
Both candidates attended a forum last night hosted by the organization.
A press release quotes Jamie Gonzales, the group's president:
These two candidates are strong environmental stewards who have demonstrated leadership in protecting our air, land, and water. We have endorsed both candidates in previous elections and they are dedicated environmentalists in this race. Either candidate would be an outstanding advocate for San Diegans.
A full list of endorsements made by the group can be found on its website.
E-MAIL POST
The office concluded that the top two vote-getters in the District D primary election for the San Diego Unified school board will advance to a runoff in the November election and have their name printed on the ballot, regardless of how many votes they garner.
