O’Connor Calls Rally for Aid in Drug Fight

Amid open skepticism from the city’s legislative delegation that her unorthodox tactics will succeed, Mayor Maureen O’Connor on Wednesday stepped up her day-old campaign for $34 million in emergency state aid to combat gang- and drug-related violence in San Diego’s inner-city neighborhoods.

The mayor’s office announced that O’Connor will lead a “massive rally” outside City Hall next Wednesday to demonstrate community support for the mayor’s plea that Gov. George Deukmejian declare a state of emergency in the city and grant the assistance.

“We want the governor to do it right now and not say, ‘Let’s let the legislative process take its course,’ and then four, five or six months from now have him blue-pencil it out of the budget,” said Paul Downey, the mayor’s spokesman.

State Sen. Larry Stirling, R-San Diego, embraced the idea Wednesday and submitted a bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting $34 million for public safety purposes.

“I salute her. I think it’s a good idea,” Stirling said.

Sen Waddie Deddeh, D-Chula Vista, also supported the mayor’s initiative, though he questioned the wisdom of surprising the governor’s office with a highly publicized request that Deukmejian wasn’t expecting.

‘Rome Is Burning’

“Whether we’re diplomats or we’re not diplomats is not the issue,” Deddeh said. “The issue is Rome is burning.”

But other members of the city’s Sacramento contingent had varying degrees of skepticism for the mayor’s proposal, and even Stirling acknowledged that the plea for help faces a difficult future in the Legislature and in Deukmejian’s office.

“I don’t think the mayor gave this a great deal of thought,” said State Rep. Pete Chacon, who represents sections of the city hardest hit by gang violence. “She shot from the hip on this one.

“I would have advised her that it’s a rather futile effort,” Chacon said, “because it’s not a legitimate emergency.”

Assemblywoman Lucy Killea, another Democrat, said that O’Connor’s request “doesn’t sound too promising.

“If she’s successful, that’s great. But my estimate is that chances of success aren’t that great, because there are too many other efforts being made to use that revenue.”

And Assemblywoman Carol Bentley, R-San Diego, called the move “an end run” and said she wants more information about how the money will be spent and how the city will fund the same law enforcement efforts in succeeding years.

“It appears to be something that was thought of at the last minute and was put out without putting much thought into it and without consulting members of the Legislature,” Bentley said.

In an unusual day of events Tuesday, O’Connor, backed by the San Diego City Council, asked Deukmejian for a one-time $34-million grant from the state’s new-found $2.5-billion budget windfall. The council voted 9-0 to declare a state of emergency, joined O’Connor in asking Deukmejian for a similar declaration and impaneled an “emergency council” to determine how it would spend the money.

A Publicity Stunt?

The council, which consists of council members Wes Pratt, Ed Struiksma and Gloria McColl, along with City Manager John Lockwood, Police Chief Bob Burgreen and City Atty. John Witt is scheduled to meet today.

Deukmejian took no action on O’Connor’s request Wednesday. On Tuesday, his press secretary questioned whether O’Connor’s gambit was a publicity stunt and said it was highly unlikely that Deukmejian would approve the request.

“A request for additional funding in a situation like this would be typically handled in the budget process, which is under way,” Deputy Press Secretary Tom Beerman said Wednesday.

With the effort to divide the surplus in mind, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Willie Brown said that O’Connor’s request will be considered along with the state’s other needs.

“That demand is going to have to be weighed along with demands from everybody else in the state, along with health care, mental health,” said Susan Jetton, Brown’s press secretary. “The homeless is another one. AIDS prevention is another one.

“All of these things are emergency issues facing the state of California right now,” Jetton added.

Meanwhile, Councilman Bob Filner said Wednesday that he will press the council to conduct its own budget deliberations in light of the newly declared emergency.

“If we do have an emergency, we’d better act like we’re in an emergency,” Filner said. “Some of the stuff that’s in the budget doesn’t make sense if we’re in an emergency.”