Mayor’s Retrial

Now that you have devoted reams of paper telling us what a “good” mayor Roger Hedgecock was, perhaps you will devote a smaller space to a different point of view.

Most frequently you ascribe three great achievements to the mayor: the convention center, the East Line extension of the trolley and openness at City Hall.

Hedgecock told us that the convention center would cost $93 million and the adjacent twin hotels would generate “nothing but money.” The center now costs $120 million, is a year behind schedule, and the first hotel is losing $400,000 a month!

Perhaps you did not notice in the flood of news about Hedgecock’s conviction, but on the very some day, President Reagan cut the $11 million marked for the East Line extension of the trolley. Where was our “good” mayor then?

And finally, “openness” at City Hall. In a democratic society there is no greater crime against the state than stealing an election. Who is going to repay Maureen O’Connor for her time and money? Who is going to compensate the thousands of volunteers in her campaign for the work they performed? And who is going to make amends to the nearly 100,000 voters who picked her, thinking it was a fair, open, democratic election.

In addition, the Hedgecock campaign was sponsored with nearly a million dollars in stolen J. David & Co. investors’ money. How do they feel about the “good mayor?” Who, pray tell, is going to pay for the enormous cost of bringing this reckless and ambitious lawyer and politician to justice?

Perhaps it is time you stopped singing the praises of the man you endorsed for mayor and begin trying to sort out the facts about what happened--lest you, too, become con artists like Nancy Hoover and J. David (Jerry) Dominelli.

Indeed, on sentencing day, we will see if there are two sets of justice in this city.

JEANNIE PIERCE

San Diego