San Diego Mayor’s Legal Troubles Make Future Uncertain : Hedgecock, in Political Limbo, Stays Busy

In recent days, Mayor Roger Hedgecock has called for a change in the way City Council members are elected, has begun planning for next year’s city budget and started thinking about his State of the City address, which is scheduled for next month.

While that may appear to be fairly normal long-range planning for a big-city mayor, those efforts have been made amid the most abnormal of circumstances by a mayor who may have only a short-range political future. By the time those matters reach the council, most local observers doubt that Roger Hedgecock will still be at City Hall.

Nearly two months after his 13-count felony conviction, Hedgecock, the central character in what he describes as “the country’s longest-running political soap opera,” is running out of legal options to keep from losing in the courtroom what he won at the polls.

In fact, if the mayor loses his bid for a new trial at a Superior Court hearing next Tuesday, Hedgecock could be ousted from office by the end of the week.

That possibility has confronted the 39-year-old moderate Republican since his Oct. 9 conviction on conspiracy and perjury charges stemming from alleged illegal contributions to his 1983 campaign. In the meantime, Hedgecock has impressed even his detractors with his resilience and by the way he has, in the words of one colleague, “continued to give 120% every day” during the nearly two months since his conviction.

Saying he is determined not to “just sit behind a desk waiting” for resolution of his case, Hedgecock has maintained a normal daily schedule packed with dozens of city and civic events. Hedgecock has been, as Councilman Bill Cleator put it, “a full-time mayor in every sense” since his Oct. 9 conviction.

“No matter how you feel about Roger, you’ve got to profoundly respect him for his tenacity,” said City Councilman Mike Gotch, perhaps Hedgecock’s closest ally on the council. “Despite the fact that he gets up each morning not knowing what his future is going to be from moment to moment, he’s kept things running smoothly and seems to be fairly upbeat.”

‘Tough Personal Times’

Even Cleator, who often is at loggerheads with the mayor and once ran against him for mayor, praised Hedgecock for what the councilman described as “a pretty amazing job during some tough personal times.”

“Roger has to be going through hell, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s slacked off in any way in terms of the job,” Cleator said. “He’s there plugging away like normal. I admire him for that. Under the same circumstances, I don’t know that I or many others could do the same thing.”

In an interview in his City Hall office, Hedgecock acknowledged that his official duties have provided a “therapeutic effect” while he awaits a ruling on his motion to overturn his conviction because of jury-tampering allegations.

Under state law Hedgecock must leave office--he has been mayor since May, 1983--when he is sentenced. He faces a maximum of eight years’ imprisonment, and the prosecutor has recommended three years in prison and a $75,000 fine.

Shortly after his conviction, Hedgecock’s case was thrown into legal limbo by two jurors’ sworn allegations that a court bailiff tampered with the mayor’s jury during its 6 1/2-day deliberations. The sentencing won’t take place until there is a ruling on the jury-tampering allegations.

“I have to admit that I don’t enjoy the waiting and the uncertainty any more than anyone else and probably a lot less than most people,” Hedgecock said. “I am getting a little impatient and thinking, ‘Let’s get on with it!’

‘A Point of Pride’

“But you could go crazy if you just sat around here waiting for the phone to ring. I’ve taken the attitude that what’s going to happen is going to happen, and I can’t do anything about it at this point. I’m leaving the legal situation in my lawyers’ hands. So, while there’s naturally some tension involved in the waiting, my therapy is going back to work and focusing on the job.”

From the beginning of investigations into his personal and campaign finances nearly two years ago, Hedgecock has worn his self-described “performance under fire” as a badge of honor. In the interview, Hedgecock said: “I feel pretty strongly that I was elected to do a job and not just . . . occupy this office. It’s been a point of pride for me that under whatever the tough circumstances are I’m going to be here and doing the job to the best of my ability.”

Hedgecock has maintained what he describes as “the same old frenetic pace” in the weeks since his conviction. During the closing days of last month’s city elections, Hedgecock took a leading public role in support of Proposition A, the growth-management initiative approved by voters.

In addition to formal city business, Hedgecock has been visible at numerous social and civic affairs and recently offered several legislative initiatives, highlighted by a plan to switch council elections from odd-numbered to even-numbered years. That plan to consolidate local races with statewide elections recently was tabled by the council, but is tentatively scheduled to be reconsidered early next year.

“The mayor certainly has been very much in evidence as the mayor,” Councilwoman Gloria McColl said. “He seems to have a remarkable facility to compartmentalize his brain. He can shut a door on one problem and immediately concentrate on something else. I’d have to say that city business hasn’t lagged because of his legal problem.”

Hedgecock has also started strategic planning on issues not scheduled to come before the council until next year--when his presence at City Hall is far from certain.

‘Would Lead to Paralysis’

Hedgecock said, “The alternative would be to put everything on hold, but that would lead to a paralysis . . . that wouldn’t be good for the city or for me.

Councilman Ed Struiksma argues that the normal flow of business at City Hall has continued in spite of, not because of, Hedgecock’s efforts.

“The council’s assumed greater responsibility,” said Struiksma, a Hedgecock political foe, who, as deputy mayor will become acting mayor if Hedgecock has to forfeit his office.

Struiksma pointed out that Hedgecock recently suffered two major snubs when the council tabled his election plan and ignored the mayor’s recommendations for chairmanships of council committees.

Hedgecock’s allies, however, argue that those and some other recent council votes cannot be interpreted as stemming from Hedgecock’s legal woes. Pointing to the election of two new conservative members in November that tipped the council’s ideological balance, Gotch contends that Hedgecock “still would have been on the losing side of those votes even if he had been acquitted.”