Local Elections : Mathis Backs Trettin in Race With Wolfsheimer

Joining forces with a former political opponent in an effort to defeat a common foe, unsuccessful San Diego City Council candidate Harry Mathis on Monday endorsed Bob Trettin in his bid to unseat Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer in next month’s 1st District race.

Mathis, who was eliminated from the 1st District contest when he finished a close third behind Wolfsheimer and Trettin in last month’s primary, said Monday that he continues to believe that the paramount consideration in the race is that Wolfsheimer be replaced.

“Despite my loss . . . the most basic reason for my own candidacy in the first place has not faltered,” Mathis told a news conference at a University City hotel.

Saying that the qualities he most looks for in a council member are leadership, accessibility and effectiveness, Mathis added: “Nowhere is the lack of those qualities more evident than in the District 1 seat on the council.”

“Bob Trettin is community-oriented, a tireless worker and an articulate and extremely knowledgeable individual on the issues,” said Mathis, a retired Navy captain from University City. “I see him as someone who can meet the challenges . . . both on the council and with individuals in the community.”

Trettin, who attended the news conference, said he believes that Mathis’ endorsement will strengthen his chances for gaining a majority of the 28.1% of the vote that went to Mathis in the primary. In last month’s race, Mathis narrowly missed qualifying for the November runoff, finishing only 116 votes behind Trettin--7,467 votes (28.6%) to 7,351. Wolfsheimer, who is running for reelection to a second four-year term, led the three-candidate race with 11,300 votes (43.3%).

“University City turned out the largest vote in the history of that community, and they turned it out for Harry Mathis,” said Trettin, a former City Hall and county supervisorial aide in his first campaign. “I don’t expect that vote to automatically transfer to me because Harry Mathis endorses me. But I expect (his former supporters) to be more receptive to me.”

Wolfsheimer’s strategists, recognizing, like Trettin, that the ballots that went to Mathis in the primary will play a pivotal role in determining the general election showdown, sought Monday to minimize the significance of Mathis’ endorsement.

“In my experience, where candidates endorse other candidates, it’s helpful only if they can deliver their workers,” said Ann Bertelsen, Wolfsheimer’s campaign manager. “It’s not my sense that that’s happening in this case. I don’t think it’s going to prove to be all that important.”

However, as recently as last week, Wolfsheimer consultant Dick Dresner indicated that he believed that Mathis’ endorsement would have at least some value in the runoff. Anticipating that, if Mathis were to make an endorsement, it would probably go to Trettin, Dresner said that the Wolfsheimer campaign would be pleased to simply keep Mathis on the sidelines this fall.

“So far, we’ve managed to keep Mathis neutral--that’s a plus for us,” Dresner said.

In an effort to make voters aware that he is no longer neutral, Mathis said Monday that he plans to send out letters and make telephone calls to his former supporters on Trettin’s behalf. Hoping to capitalize on Mathis’ support, Trettin added that he plans to use mailers and other means “to make sure that everybody who voted for Harry will get a chance to know about the endorsement.”

In making the endorsement, Mathis stressed that he had mended fences with Trettin over a controversy that had divided the two during the closing weeks of the primary. Last month, Mathis accused Trettin of puffing up his resume by exaggerating the role he played in the creation of programs while he served on the staff of former 1st District Councilman Bill Mitchell and Supervisor Susan Golding.

Asked Monday whether that accusation had been inaccurate, Mathis described his disagreement with Trettin as simply a “question of perspective,” adding that subsequent discussions with Trettin had “resolved (it) to both of our satisfaction.”

“Bob and I agree he did play a meaningful role” in the programs included in the Trettin mailers, Mathis said.

Trettin, meanwhile, said the flap also taught him a valuable political lesson.

“I learned that, when you put something down on paper, you’d better have the documentation right there,” Trettin said.