Hedgecock Era Draws to a Close in Rapid Series of Events : Council Leans Toward Calling Special Election

With Mayor Roger Hedgecock’s resignation Tuesday, the San Diego City Council now must tiptoe through the politically thorny issue of whether to appoint his successor or call a special election.

Interviews with most council members and others active in local politics Tuesday indicate that there will be a special election to allow voters to decide who will be San Diego’s next mayor. An election could cost the city as much as $1 million.

But some people stressed that the possibility still exists that Councilman Bill Cleator--the council’s senior member and “team captain” for its conservative majority--will be appointed as a “caretaker” mayor until 1987. Some locally prominent Republicans have been exploring a Cleator appointment for a few weeks, they say.

“The situation is very fluid,” said political consultant David Lewis, who placed the odds at “60% for an election and 40% for an appointment.”

“It’s very much up in the air, and despite what you might think about a lot of people holding a lot of meetings, that just isn’t happening,” Lewis said.

Cleator, however, said Tuesday that he had all but ruled out any appointment as mayor and that he fully expects his colleagues to vote for a special election. “I guess a politician never says never, but I’m close to saying never (to an appointment).”

“I told you that there were people out there that have been talking to me about the appointment process, but I’ve tried to discourage them because I just don’t think the system works that way,” he said. “I think the job requires having an elected mayor sitting in the seat . . . I don’t think I’d be so comfortable sitting in that seat, having accepted it through an appointment process.”

Council members Abbe Wolfsheimer, Uvaldo Martinez, Mike Gotch, Gloria McColl and Judy McCarty also said they favor holding a special election. Acting Mayor Ed Struiksma, careful not to express his own preference, said, “I don’t think (an appointment) is very likely, quite frankly.”

Speculation over who would assume the mayor’s post has been one of the sub-themes of the mayor’s protracted legal drama, especially since Oct. 9, when he was convicted of 13 felony perjury and conspiracy charges.

Throughout council offices and executive suites around town, discussion has centered on whether the council would appoint a successor or call a special election, and on the possible cast of candidates, which included Cleator, Struiksma, Gotch, Police Chief Bill Kolender and former San Diego Unified Port District Commissioner Maureen O’Connor.

The sub-theme became an official concern at 3:14 p.m. Tuesday, when Hedgecock’s staff forwarded his one-sentence resignation letter to the city clerk’s office.

Struiksma, deputy mayor, now assumes Hedgecock’s duties.

While a soundless television set in Struiksma’s office showed Hedgecock in court asking for mercy, Struiksma told a group of reporters it was time for San Diegans to “catch our collective breath--and then move on.”

“I want to reassure San Diegans that it will be business as usual during this interim time,” Struiksma said. “That means police on their beats, trash collected, parks and libraries open on schedule.”

Struiksma said he has had no discussions with Hedgecock’s staff about a transition, but expected the council to decide its next move next week, possibly Monday, as it returns to business after a legislative break this week.

Under the City Charter, the council has 30 days from Tuesday to decide whether to fill the empty post through an appointment or to call a special election, which could cost $1 million, said Jack Fishkin of the city clerk’s office.

If the council appoints someone, that person would serve until the regularly scheduled council elections in 1987, Fishkin said. If a special election is called, the victor would serve until December, 1988--the remainder of Hedgecock’s term.

The new mayor must be in office within five months after a council call for a special election, a timetable that could dictate a primary as late as March and a general election, if needed, by early May, Fishkin said.

Even before Hedgecock’s political demise was clinched by Tuesday’s court decision, a movement began among some of San Diego’s conservative Republicans to have Cleator appointed to fill the vacancy as a caretaker. Cleator was an unsuccessful candidate against Hedgecock in the 1983 primary election to complete the mayoral term of Pete Wilson, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate.

Under the Republicans’ scenario, Cleator would serve until the council elections of 1987 and would promise not to run for reelection. Cleator said he has been approached by fellow council members Ed Struiksma and Gloria McColl about the possible appointment.

Another person involved in the quiet campaign to explore a possible Cleator appointment was Malin Burnham, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of John Burnham & Co., the downtown insurance and real estate firm.

Gordon Luce, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Great American First Savings Bank, said that Burnham talked to him several weeks ago to discuss a possible Cleator appointment.

“He was just asking my opinion,” Luce said. “He didn’t express his. I don’t know how he feels about it at this point. . . .”

Luce said that arguments in favor of an appointment are that it would “save money and give continuity and feeling of confidence to those who have experience in government. But from a political standpoint, most people would really expect a special election. And so from a pragmatic standpoint, a special election will be held.”

Lee Grissom, president of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, said he was approached on the subject, but declined to say by whom.

Sometime within the last month, the issue of appointing Cleator apparently came to a head when Burnham invited Luce and other San Diego political luminaries to his office to discuss the councilman’s future.

According to two sources at the meeting, those attending Burnham’s meeting included Cleator; Kim Fletcher, chairman of the board of San Diego Federal Savings and Loan; Tom Stickel, chief executive officer of TCS Enterprises; Ken Reitz, a political consultant; J.T. (Tom) Hawthorne, a state transportation commissioner; Mike Madigan, a former aide to Wilson and now a vice president of Pardee Construction Co.; Bruce Hazard of Hazard Construction, and Jan Anton, Cleator’s 1983 mayoral campaign manager.

The sources said that there was some discussion of backing a Cleator appointment as mayor. “It appeared obvious that if enough pressure was exerted by other principals at that meeting to their respective council contact, it could have been negotiated,” one of the sources said.

Both sources said Cleator told the group he did not want an appointment but wanted to run for the office, in which case he would not have to agree to a caretaker role. Discussion then turned to what kind of strategy would be required for a winning campaign, the sources said.

Still, the possibility of a mayoral appointment moved the San Diego Union on Monday to run an editorial headlined “Don’t Plot, Vote,” and warned about the tactics of “manipulators” and “would-be power brokers.”

Despite that public rebuke, Councilman Mike Gotch said Tuesday he would still “put money” on a Cleator appointment.

Gotch, a liberal environmentalist who is considered a possible mayoral candidate in a special election, said he has the “clear indication” that Cleator has the five votes required to put him in the mayor’s chair.

“I’ve known for quite some time that they’re pushing the effort,” Gotch said. “Bill Cleator has to appear, at all costs, not to be the leader of the band. The deal has to be put together so that under tremendous pressure he capitulates, and says, ‘If I must do this, if I must unify the city, I will.’

“It’s a clean, quick, expeditious method of selecting the next mayor and denying public input. Public outcry lasts for two weeks, a few letters to the editor and it’s all over. Given the alternative, which would be my probable candidacy, I’m sure they’re working overtime to assure the appointment of one of their favorite council members.”

Although they said they favored the election, some council members left the door ajar for an appointment.

“At this point, I’m still favoring an election,” Martinez said. “But the thing that’s been surprising to me is the support that I’ve heard for an appointment of Bill Cleator . . . . Basically, the rationale is that the city needs a cooling-off period and Bill would supply stability.

“It’s really pretty hard to say what the council is going to do. The general feeling is that it is going to be difficult not to go to a special election, but we’re waiting to see what happens.”

McColl said, “Right now I favor a special election, but I’m leaving the door open on an appointment . . . . I just want to get a little better feel of how San Diegans feel about it.”

McCarty said she would favor an election because, “I don’t want to deny the people the franchise to vote.” Yet she said she might favor a “short-term” appointment, a prospect she said has nothing to do with the fact that Cleator supported her and helped her raise money during the recent District 7 council race.

“Yeah, he was involved in my campaign, but that doesn’t mean I owe that much to him,” McCarty said. “I owe him my friendship, my attention when he speaks, but I certainly owe San Diego more than I owe Bill Cleator.”