San Diego
San Diego Councilman John Hartley is expected to announce today that he will not run for mayor next year, according to a source close to the councilman.
Instead, Hartley, who has scheduled a news conference for this morning, will announce a program for addressing the needs of the city’s neighborhoods, the source said.
Hartley is one of four major candidates who are formally considering whether to enter the race to succeed Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who will step down from the post next year.
His withdrawal would narrow the list of candidates who have established exploratory committees to County Supervisor Susan Golding, financier Tom Carter and growth control advocate Peter Navarro.
City Councilman Ron Roberts also is a likely candidate in the nonpartisan primary scheduled for next June. Councilman Bruce Henderson also has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but Henderson first faces a tough reelection battle Tuesday against challenger Valerie Stallings, a cancer researcher.
Hartley, a first-term Democratic councilman from the city’s 3rd District, was elected two years ago in an upset victory over incumbent Republican Gloria McColl. In 1988, he helped lead the successful ballot initiative for district-only council elections.
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