Hedgecock’s Radio Talk Show Looks Like a Hit in San Diego

Handling the flu and one embarrassing comment on his criminal conviction with aplomb, Roger Hedgecock, news maker, became Roger Hedgecock, news commentator, Monday, as the former mayor began his new career as a radio talk show host.

Six weeks after his resignation and sentencing on felony campaign law violations, Hedgecock--clad in a white satin jacket with “Roger” emblazoned over the breast--launched his daily program on KSDO by encouraging his listeners to regard the show as “a community forum,” where important issues can be discussed “freely, openly, without filters, without editors.”

Much of the first show was devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Known during his political career as quick thinking and articulate, Hedgecock had ample opportunities to put those skills to work Monday as callers, in addition to discussing King’s legacy, also asked the former mayor questions on topics ranging from teen-age drinking and police pay to pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown and California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

During the program, which ran from 12:15 p.m. to 3 p.m., there were also congratulatory telephone calls from Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) and frequent jokes from Hedgecock about his flu-induced hoarseness.

“Mom, if you’re listening out there, it really is me,” he said.

The only direct reference to Hedgecock’s legal woes came late in the program when one caller remarked, “Thank God for Roger Hedgecock and KSDO for allowing you to speak out and tell the truth about what went on during those trials and to expose the conspiracy that went on to convict you.”

“Well, thanks very much for your call. I appreciate it,” responded Hedgecock, who then quickly moved on to another caller.

Hedgecock, who has said he does not want to dwell on his legal case on the program, reportedly is being paid about $60,000 a year for hosting the talk show while appealing his sentence of one year in local custody on the 13-count felony conviction stemming from illegal 1983 campaign contributions.

Hedgecock predicted over the weekend that his initial program would generate “the largest single audience in local radio history,” and KSDO officials said Monday that the show prompted an unusually large number of telephone calls to the station. Jim Price, KSDO’s general manager, said about 150 calls were received during Hedgecock’s program, adding that “we generally don’t get more than about a dozen calls in the afternoon.”

“It may sound self-serving to say it, but I doubt that there’s been a time in recent San Diego history, with the possible exception of when the Padres won the pennant, when there was a radio audience bigger than this one today,” Price said. “We feel like it was a hell of a day and that we’ve really got a winner.”

Hedgecock’s tribute to King included taped interviews with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and John Jacobs, national head of the Urban League, as well as conversations in the studio with several prominent local black businessmen and the Rev. Robert Ard, president of the San Diego Black Leadership Council.

While bantering easily with his listeners and guests throughout the program on King and a wide variety of other subjects, Hedgecock also effectively parried questions on certain subjects that he hopes to avoid--notably, the upcoming special mayoral election to replace him and his long-range plans.

Asked which candidate he believes best represents his own environmentalist policies, Hedgecock replied, “I hope this doesn’t surprise you, but I’m not taking a role in the mayoral race or a position on the candidates.”

Later, asked about his future plans, Hedgecock joked, “Right now, I’m struggling to get through this cold and the first show, and I think if I do both those things and I’m still alive tomorrow morning at nine, I’ll think about the future.”