Power Shifts to Environment on S.D. Council

In a dramatic victory for environmentalists that will reshape the San Diego City Council’s philosophical balance, Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer retained her seat Tuesday while land-use planner Linda Bernhardt unseated Councilman Ed Struiksma in the city’s first district-only elections since early this century.

Breaking conservatives’ longtime dominance of the council and shifting power to a pro-environmental majority, Wolfsheimer narrowly defeated former county supervisorial aide Bob Trettin in the 1st District, while her former City Hall aide, Bernhardt, trounced Struiksma by a convincing 3-to-2 margin in the 5th District.

The victories by Wolfsheimer and Bernhardt, both of whom drew strong backing from environmental groups as they faced opponents closely linked to the development industry, completed the ideological transformation of the council begun in last September’s primary by John Hartley’s upset of Councilwoman Gloria McColl.

Struiksma’s and McColl’s defeat, combined with Wolfsheimer’s narrow victory, vividly demonstrated incumbents’ diminished political security as the city’s first district-only races since the City Charter was approved in 1931 produced the bleakest electoral performance by sitting council members in more than a decade. Before Tuesday, only one other council incumbent--Trettin’s former boss, Bill Mitchell--had lost a reelection campaign in the 1980s.

“The No. 1 thing that won this election--and none of us should ever forget it--is the people of the neighborhoods,” Bernhardt said. “District elections finally gives the power back to the people.”

Conceding the defeat that even many of his closest backers regarded as inevitable after his dismal primary performance, Struiksma said: “When I get up in the morning, I’m going to be able to look myself in the mirror and know I did a good job for the people of the city of San Diego.”

The opening chapter in Tuesday’s election was written last November, when San Diego voters narrowly approved a ballot proposition replacing the city’s two-tiered electoral format--district primaries followed by citywide runoffs between the top two vote-getters.