4 Members Sworn In : Conservatives Take the Reins of City Council

With the deafening strains of patriotic music from a Marine Corps band setting the mood, conservatives Monday took official control of the San Diego City Council when four council members--including newcomers Abbe Wolfsheimer and Judy McCarty--were sworn into office for four-year terms.

Monday morning’s inauguration of Wolfsheimer and McCarty, along with incumbents Ed Struiksma and Gloria McColl, consummated a change in the council’s makeup that some say further erodes Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s political clout and gives more authority to Councilman Bill Cleator, recognized as a sort of team captain for the conservatives.

By Monday afternoon, the power shift became unmistakable when the council voted to elect Struiksma as deputy mayor and to give other conservatives--including Cleator--chairmanships of the three standing council committees, the funnels through which most city business passes.

Led by Struiksma, the conservatives ganged up on Hedgecock and overruled his nominations of Democrats Mike Gotch and William Jones for assignment to the Metropolitan Transit Development Board and the council’s Transportation and Land Use Committee, respectively. The conservatives instead named McColl as MTDB liaison and Councilman Uvaldo Martinez as transportation committee chairman.

They pushed through the changes by a 6-3 vote, with Hedgecock, Gotch and Jones dissenting.

The council posts, a traditional political battleground, have been largely ceremonial but would take on political import if Hedgecock were to be bounced out of office because of his 13 felony convictions, now on appeal to the California Supreme Court. With Hedgecock gone, Struiksma, for instance, would become acting mayor and run council meetings.

“We’re seeing a real, honest shift in power in the council because of this election,” said former Councilman Dick Murphy, now a municipal judge.

Murphy said the key to the power shift was Wolfsheimer’s defeat in District 1 of Bill Mitchell, a self-styled populist and Hedgecock supporter who often joined the mayor to fight growth. (District 1 covers La Jolla and the extreme northern area of the city.)

“The mayor’s lost one of his closest allies in Bill Mitchell,” said Murphy, who left the council’s District 7 (Del Cerro, San Carlos and the State College area) seat six months ago to become a judge. “And Abbe is likely to become an ally of Cleator and Struiksma and McColl.”

Murphy said that McCarty, who filled the vacancy he created, is also likely to be loyal to the conservative group because Cleator endorsed her in the primary election and helped her raise money for the campaign against Jeanette Roache.

“You don’t forget the people who endorse you in the primary,” Murphy said. “That is a test of true friendship. It’s easy to get on the bandwagon on the last month because the die is cast. But the person who endorses you in the primary is a true friend and a person to whom you owe your loyalty.

“It appears that the Cleator-Struiksma group is in clear control.”

The prospect of a change in the council’s direction underscored Monday’s inaugural ceremonies at the Civic Theatre.

Hedgecock’s introductory remarks acknowledged the “new blood” on the council and mentioned that the council races included “obviously a lot of conflict, but I think that’s good, and I think the system is better for it.”

Others touched on the fact that the new council will include three women--McColl, McCarty and Wolfsheimer.

“As much as I enjoyed the colleagues and support, I have to say that it really is going to be nice to have some ladies on the council,” McColl said after taking the oath of office for her first full term.

McColl was appointed to the District 3 seat in April, 1983, after Susan Golding resigned to accept a political appointment in Sacramento. McColl won the election in the fall of 1983 to complete the two years remaining in Golding’s term. Her district covers North Park, Normal Heights and East San Diego.

Struiksma said having “three women on the council marks a historic change for San Diego” and a chance for a new perspective. After the ceremonies, he explained that he expected the women to be less political and show more “compassion and sensitivity” in making their decisions on public policy.

But if their elections were significant in terms of the battle of the sexes, McCarty and Wolfsheimer didn’t let on during their acceptance speeches.

Wolfsheimer told the crowd of city officials and well-wishers that she awoke Monday morning to the sound of a jackhammer, presumably being used by city workers to fix a pothole or a sewer. Finding workers busy near her car, Wolfsheimer said she told them she would shortly become one of their new employers.

“Oh, no, not us,” she quoted the workers as saying. “We’re with SDG&E.;”

McCarty struck a different style, using vivid images in her inaugural speech to describe the challenges of the city.

“No longer are we California’s cul-de-sac,” she said. “We have become a destination city. . . .

“I see the city as an immense oil canvas, and we are the artists, brush in hand.”

Struiksma, reelected to his second four-year term, used his inaugural speech to strike a political pose worthy of a councilman who has expressed interest in running for mayor if Hedgecock were ousted.

The District 5 councilman noted that, “over the years, our city has been blessed with great leaders at times of crisis. I am proud that the voters of this city have given me the chance to participate in the shaping of San Diego’s future.”

On the issue of growth, Struiksma referred to the passage of Proposition A when he said the voters had called for a “clear mandate that the people of this city want sensible, managed growth not only in the outlying areas but within the inner city, in our neighborhoods and our canyons. . .

“The first step has already begun in the 5th District with the harnessing of growth in Mission Valley,” he said, alluding to the Mission Valley Community Plan, which passed in August and established limits for growth tied to the number of cars using the roads. The district also includes Linda Vista, Kearny Mesa and Mira Mesa.

After the ceremonies, Struiksma said his selection as deputy mayor had nothing to do with a possible campaign to replace Hedgecock. Instead, he said it was the “luck of the draw” because he was the next in seniority to take the post, as dictated by council tradition.

Struiksma also said he did not make any promises to sit out a possible mayoral race to gain support for his appointment from Cleator, who is also talking to friends about running for mayor.

Two sources close to Cleator told The Times Monday that the councilman agreed to support Struiksma because he does not consider Struiksma a political threat, even in the high-visibility council post.

One source said private polls show that Cleator is already better-known to San Diego voters than Struiksma is. The second source said that Struiksma would probably not challenge Cleator because both men are friends and draw from the same conservative Republican base of support and money.

Times staff writer Tom Greeley contributed to this story.