Hedgecock to Dig for ‘Untold’ Tales as Radio Host

Embarking on a new career that he described as “an extension of some of the things I was doing as mayor,” former Mayor Roger Hedgecock will become a radio talk-show host next month while he appeals his felony conviction.

Saying that his weekday program will be San Diego’s “only platform to tell the untold stories, to get behind the news,” Hedgecock predicted at a news conference at a Mission Valley hotel that his show on KSDO-AM Radio, scheduled to begin Jan. 20, will be “provocative (and) very, very lively.”

“Radio will be a very new career for Roger Hedgecock,” the former mayor said. “But for me it will be a new and exciting opportunity to . . . bring together the events of the day, the personalities on the air and the people on the street to share . . . opinions, actions and reactions, problems and solutions.”

Hedgecock, who resigned as mayor of California’s second-largest city last week shortly after losing his bid for a new trial because of jury-tampering allegations, also revealed on Monday that he plans to begin working early next year with the St. Vincent de Paul Center on a project aimed at building a downtown shelter for the homeless.

“The needs of my family and the conditions of my probation require that I get a job,” said Hedgecock, who faces a year in local custody if his 13-count conspiracy and perjury conviction is upheld on appeal. “It’s great to come out of the experience I have had and find out people still appreciate some of my qualities . . . . I’m delighted with the opportunity that KSDO has given me.”

At the time of his sentencing last week, Hedgecock unsuccessfully urged Superior Court Judge William L. Todd Jr. to allow him to work on the homeless project as an alternative to serving time in jail. Todd also fined Hedgecock $1,000 and placed him on three years’ probation, but allowed him to remain free on his own recognizance pending his appeal, which could take more than a year.

Hedgecock’s revelation about his new job came hours before the San Diego City Council scheduled a special election to select his successor. By a unanimous vote Monday, the council scheduled a Feb. 25 mayoral primary, in which a candidate can win outright election by securing more than 50% of the vote.

If no candidate achieves that margin, a June 3 runoff will be held between the primary’s top two vote-getters. The victor in the special election--which will mark San Diego’s third mayoral race in the last three years--will serve the remainder of Hedgecock’s four-year term, which expires in December, 1988.

At Monday’s news conference--at which Hedgecock refused to answer questions about his legal case--Jim Price, KSDO’s president and general manager, said that Hedgecock’s program will feature live interviews, commentary and calls from listeners. In a broadcast variation of his frequent walking tours of San Diego’s neighborhoods, Hedgecock added that he also intends to conduct interviews at different places throughout the city on the program.

Hedgecock, who will take over a 12:15-to-3 p.m. time slot recently vacated by talk-show host Ed Bieler, said that he signed a “long-term” contract with the station, which broadcasts only news, sports and talk shows. However, both Hedgecock and Price declined to specify the terms of the contract or to state how much the former mayor will be paid. Mel Buxbaum, Hedgecock’s former City Hall press secretary, will serve as the program’s executive producer.

Price praised Hedgecock as having “the skill to involve the listening audience in the substance of the decisions and life of this city, as few can.”

“Mr. Hedgecock is a natural for radio,” Price said. “He is one of the greatest political communicators this city has ever had, and he knows how to handle himself on the air. I don’t believe there is a media person in this town who doesn’t have respect for his ability to articulate his perceptions of matters important to the community.”

Hedgecock associates said that discussion with KSDO about the former mayor’s new radio career have been going on for at least two weeks.

A glib public speaker whose verbal skills were one of his major political assets, Hedgecock was a frequent guest on radio and television call-in programs during his two terms as a county supervisor and 31 months as mayor.

In addition, the 39-year-old Hedgecock, who also was a guest host on several local radio stations while he was mayor, worked as a disc jockey and radio announcer while he was a student at UC Santa Barbara. Hedgecock also worked as a concert promoter during his college days and handled shows headlined by, among others, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Janis Joplin.

“I’m sure Roger is going to have a lot of fun with this,” said San Diego lawyer J. Michael McDade, Hedgecock’s former chief of staff. “He’s always kind of longed for a position like this as a second career, and ate it up every time he got the chance to be on the air.”

Saying that he hopes that his program will enable him to continue “articulating various goals” for the city, Hedgecock described his own role as being that of “a facilitator . . . communicator (and) moderator” for the topics that will be debated, including politics.

“We’re going to have political guests,” Hedgecock said. “We’re going to express political opinions, and we’re going to invite the world to express their political opinions.”

Buxbaum, however, emphasized that politics will be “only one of many” subjects covered on the program, adding that Hedgecock plans “to make sure that the program doesn’t have a strictly political orientation.”

While asserting that his political career is over, Hedgecock acknowledged that the program may help to keep his name before the public.

“I have no future political ambitions,” Hedgecock said. “But if people don’t forget who I am, that’s OK too.”