Observers Say San Diego Is the Big Loser

Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s friends and colleagues, some hoping to use his legal misfortunes as a stepping stone to the city’s top spot, said Wednesday that the mistrial declared in Hedgecock’s felony case was a tragedy that left them frustrated and the city without direction.

They said the prospect of having the mayor stand trial again would do nothing but harm.

“The worst of all worlds for the city was a hung jury,” said Councilman Dick Murphy, who said he was planning to run for mayor had the jury convicted Hedgecock, thus forcing the city by its charter to remove the mayor from office.

“We would have been better off with a conviction or an acquittal than a hung jury,” Murphy said. “This city has been on hold now for a couple of months, awaiting a decision on whether Roger Hedgecock would continue as mayor or not. This means the city will continue on hold until his guilt or innocence is finally determined.”

Political consultant Jim Johnston, who said he has been contacted by some of those hoping to succeed Hedgecock if he was convicted, said, “The loser is the city.”

“I would think that after a year of headlines, most people are just very, very tired of this and they wish it would go away,” he added.

Now, the political maneuvering and speculation will continue among some council members who still hope to run for a mayoral vacancy, said Councilman Bill Cleator, an old Hedgecock foe.

“The council has become a (candidates’) forum rather than a (legislative) body, and it’s full speed ahead” on mayoral campaigns, said Cleator.

“It’s a tragedy for the city to have to go through this again,” Cleator said about the possibility of a second trial. “There’s been a deterioration of his (Hedgecock’s) leadership ability. It’s going to tell in our real effectiveness in the next couple of months.”

Developer and Hedgecock supporter Tawfiq Khoury agreed that there may be problems with the mayor’s performance and a further drain on his personal finances during a second trial. “I don’t know if it is reasonable to expect him to go through one more round,” he said.

The second trial may further damage San Diego’s national image, concluded City Atty. John Witt. “People have an impression that it’s a circus out here,” he said about recent articles in East Coast newspapers.

However, he and others quickly added that the cloud of Hedgecock’s continuing legal problems should not affect everything in city government. Councilman William Jones, for example, called on his colleagues to cool their speculation on the mayor’s future.

“We have an elected mayor who is a warm body in a warm seat and we all should treat him as such,” Jones said.

Witt said the city’s council-manager form of government will make sure that any possible paralysis that sets in on the council level will not affect the city’s day-to-day operations, which are under the direct supervision of City Manager Ray Blair.

“It works,” Witt said about city government. “The Police Department is still on the street. The Fire Department is still in the firehouses. The water utility department is working. I think the integrity of city government is still very much intact.”

Meanwhile, Hedgecock’s legal troubles do not extend just to criminal court. The mayor still faces an unprecedented $1-million civil suit filed against him and other supporters by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission. Hearings are scheduled on the matter this month.

FPPC Chairman Dan Stanford said Wednesday’s mistrial will have no effect on the civil proceedings.

“We intend to continue to vigorously prosecute our civil action,” said Stanford, who added that the “burden of proof in the criminal lawsuit is much higher than the burden of proof required in the civil lawsuit.”

The civil lawsuit, he said, does not allege conspiracy, but more than 450 violations of the city’s campaign donation law, which limits the amount that individuals can contribute in political races.