Cleator Urges O’Connor to Enter Debate About Bird

Seeking to inject the volatile retention election of California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird into the San Diego mayoral race, City Councilman Bill Cleator on Monday called for Bird’s defeat and challenged his opponent, former Councilwoman Maureen F. O’Connor, to make her stand known.

Charging that Bird’s rulings overwhelmingly favor criminals over victims, Cleator argued that the defeat of Bird in November would “help to end a system where . . . the victim has to struggle for justice.”

“You can’t throw everybody in jail and have a cop on every street and then not punish the (criminals),” Cleator said after a brief speech to the Stamp Out Crime Council in Uptown. “The courts are breaking down because the courts are not doing, in my opinion, what the law is really asking them to do. . . . I think what the people are saying is that (Bird) is not interpreting the law in a just way.”

O’Connor, however, rejected Cleator’s challenge, saying that the question of whether Bird retains her position as California chief justice is unrelated to the San Diego mayor’s job. Adhering to a stance that she has maintained throughout the race, O’Connor said she will continue to decline to answer questions dealing with non-local subjects.

“I would urge Mr. Cleator . . . to stop trying to interject state issues into this race for mayor,” O’Connor said.

Cleator’s remarks contradicted his earlier pledge to not raise controversial topics such as the death penalty, abortion or other non-local subjects as issues in the mayoral race. In March, Cleator said that he would not initiate debate on issues over which the mayor and the City Council have no legislative authority, but would answer any questions posed at candidate forums on those topics.

On Monday, however, Cleator said that he intends to bring up the subject of Bird’s confirmation vote in his appearances with O’Connor, adding that doing so will tell voters “a little more about” both candidates. Cleator also argued that the issue is a relevant one in the mayoral election, saying that the state high court’s decisions have an impact on local law enforcement.

“What good does it do to hire more police if Rose Bird refuses to keep criminals behind bars?” Cleator asked. “This is something that the people out there are entitled to know and I think that (O’Connor) ought to answer it. I think that the whole court decisions, our attitude about crime, our philosophy about crime, should be out there so everybody can look at it.

“If you take the whole crime issue and you take out one piece of the puzzle and throw it away and say we’re not going to talk about it, I don’t think that’s right,” Cleator added. “I think that (Bird’s) decisions have caused a lot of people to feel that it doesn’t make any difference if you commit a crime; you’re not going to be punished. I guess what Bill Cleator is saying is that somehow the punishment ought to fit the crime.”