Hedgecock Basks in Praise From Many Radio Fans as Cloud of Lawsuit Passes

The first sign that Friday would not be a typical day on Roger Hedgecock’s talk show on KSDO radio came when his program’s normal theme music was replaced with the late Roy Orbison’s hit, “It’s Over.”

Then, as he outlined the show’s schedule, Hedgecock said there would be segments on organ transplants, graffiti eradication and--after a coy pause--”items in the news, so to speak.”

And, just in case anyone still had not caught on, a commercial break ended with a tape of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s concluding lines from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

With that, it was time for the former San Diego mayor to take some telephone calls from listeners.

“Roger, you must be one happy camper!” a North Park woman exclaimed. Only someone who slumbered through the past 24 hours would have needed to ask why.

And so it went for Roger Hedgecock, ex-mayor, radio talk-show host and the namesake of The People vs. Roger Hedgecock, for whom Friday was, in his own words, “a whole new world.”

The day after his lengthy political corruption case ended abruptly with a settlement agreement that will leave him with a clean criminal record. Hedgecock, dressed casually in jeans and a green and red plaid shirt, spent much of his four-hour program accepting congratulations from listeners.

To a person, the callers wanted to extend their best wishes over Thursday’s agreement, under which Hedgecock accepted conviction on a single felony--which will be erased from his record in about six weeks--in exchange for having the prospect of a one-year jail term and a possible retrial eliminated.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to make this call!” said Chuck of La Mesa.

“Congratulations to Cindy and your cute kids,” added a man calling from his car phone, referring to Hedgecock’s wife and two boys.

Hedgecock’s callers were at no loss in coming up with ways to congratulate him on what most of them clearly saw as a happy ending to what Hedgecock often described as “the country’s longest running political soap opera.”

Some urged him to consider reentering politics, an option that Hedgecock insists is not in his future. One woman suggested that two men she considers to be Hedgecock’s legal tormentors--Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller and Justice William L. Todd Jr., who presided over his two 1985 trials--would feel her wrath in future elections.

Others encouraged Hedgecock to stay right where he is, saying that he can play a more forceful and effective role in city affairs from his Kearny Mesa studio than he could at City Hall. And a few supporters sent telegrams or even faxed their congratulations.

“Hedgecock in ‘92!” said Tom from Pacific Beach, capturing the breezy, upbeat tone of the callers. “I’d like to see you as our mayor again.”

“Here’s the deal--you get to be mayor again, but you have to still do the radio show,” another caller said. “Run the city from the studio.”

Chuckling, Hedgecock replied: “That’s the only way I’d get back in politics!” To another caller who suggested a political comeback, Hedgecock said, only half-jokingly: “I think I would destroy my credibility, my family life and my peace of mind if I were to go back into politics.”

During commercial breaks, Hedgecock paused to muse over how the end to his protracted case caused Friday to dawn, at least in his eyes, “brighter, sunnier and better” than most other days since the investigation into his personal and campaign finances began in early 1984.

From the beginning, Hedgecock prided himself on his ability to “compartmentalize” by focusing on his work and not dwelling on the darker possibilities posed by his legal woes--first by maintaining a firm hands-on approach as mayor during his two trials, and later by rebuilding his public following via his radio program. Even so, now that the “unhappy chapter” has ended, Hedgecock conceded that it was difficult not to be preoccupied.

“When I got up this morning, I had a feeling of liberation, a new appreciation for what it’s like to not have to go through another single day with this sword hanging over my head,” Hedgecock said. “Even though I never considered this to be a cloud over me, it was always in the back of your mind. To have it gone feels wonderful.”

For it to be completely “gone,” however, Hedgecock still must clear one remaining legal hurdle: a civil lawsuit filed by the state Fair Political Practices Commission over the same illegal contributions to his 1983 mayoral campaign that led to his criminal charges.

Put on hold pending resolution of Hedgecock’s criminal trial, the civil case has “seen no activity--none at all--in five or six years,” according to Hedgecock’s attorney, Leo Sullivan. Though Hedgecock has suggested that the case may “dry up and blow away” because a five-year statute of limitations has expired, Sullivan explained that that procedural question remains to be answered definitively.

“I’d suspect (FPPC attorneys) have their own thoughts on that subject,” Sullivan said. “Now that the other case is over, I expect we’ll be hearing from them soon.”

FPPC officials did not return repeated telephone calls Friday.

At least on Friday, however, the FPPC lawsuit was all but forgotten by Hedgecock, who basked in the nonstop adulation of his listeners, who described him as everything from a role model for youths because of the way “you kept your head high” to a symbol of perseverance, of hard-fought triumph over the odds.

All in all, it was, a smiling Hedgecock said, “Just another great day at KSDO.”

“This show has played a major part in helping me put my life back together over the past five years,” Hedgecock said. “On a day like today, this is where I belong.”

HAILING HEDGECOCK: On the day after his lengthy political conspiracy case ended with a settlement that will leave ex-San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock with a clean criminal record, hewas basking in the adulation of listeners on his radio talk show.