Mayor Says Library, Charter Reform Her Main Disappointments

Following are excerpts from an interview with retiring San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, conducted last week in her City Hall office:

Q. As you look back over the past 6 1/2 years, are there any major disappointments or frustrations over things that you weren’t able to accomplish?

O’Connor: I wish I had the ability to change the Charter the way I wanted, but I didn’t have the council’s support for that. I wanted a freeholders convention, where we would elect 15 independent citizens to change the Charter, because the city’s changed a lot since it was written. But the council didn’t want someone else drafting the Charter. I would continue to suggest the next mayor move along those lines.

I’m still passionately fighting for the library at Lane Field. Our main library downtown is a disgrace. . . . If we really want to educate our children to be competitive on the global market, and our business to be competitive, you really need a 21st-Century high-tech library, and Lane Field is the perfect location for it.

Q. There has been debate over a new central library for years, but you waited until fairly late in your term to begin pushing for your specific proposal. Why didn’t you pursue it earlier?

O’Connor: When I arrived, I arrived with a city in disarray--a mayor that was convicted, a council member that was indicted, a council that wasn’t getting along with the then-city manager, a Police Department that was not held in good stead with the community. So when I arrived, I had a full plate just getting things straightened out from a governance standpoint. There was a whole array of issues that were just left unsolved that I had to come in and straighten out.

If the organization had been in good shape, I would have been a lot freer to pursue certain policies that I believed in strongly, one of which was the library. But by the time I finally got things straightened out, 6 1/2 years go by very quickly.

Q. If you had the chance to write your own legacy, what would you include as your major accomplishments?

O’Connor: One of the main ones is I restored integrity to the mayor’s office and gave San Diego back a positive image. San Diego’s image nationally was terrible and we weren’t even known internationally. Now we have a very good image nationally and internationally. Sure, it’s like like leaving behind a sports arena or some other kind of building, but reputation is everything.

I got some of what I wanted on campaign reform, and the main part is the two-term limit (for elected city officials). I’m just ecstatic about that, because that’s a legacy that will live way beyond when I’m no longer on this earth.

Downtown, we shifted from commercial buildings to more apartments and condominiums, and gave it much more of a neighborhood flavor. . . . The (1989 Soviet) arts festival helped our tourism and benefited us in other ways. It made San Diego a revered name in the Soviet Union. So when the fusion project was either going to be at (UC San Diego) or some other place, the Russians were the deciding factor and voted for San Diego.

Q. Two of the most persistent criticisms you’ve heard as mayor are that you lack vision, that you never laid out a grand design for where you wanted to take the city, and that you weren’t accessible to movers and shakers accustomed to being able to get time with the mayor.

O’Connor: My father always told me, ‘Talk’s cheap--just do it then let somebody else talk about it.’ That’s what I did. . . . People who needed time with me could get it one way or another. My style admittedly was different--I might prefer to walk and talk on the street, because I didn’t like to spend a lot of time just sitting behind a desk. That might have put some people off. Plus, I didn’t treat anyone as a special case just because of his title or position. That probably bothered some folks, too.

Q. Did being a native San Diegan influence your performance and whatever pleasures you derived from the job?

O’Connor: Oh, absolutely! There were a couple of times when, as a native, I sat there and thought it was a privilege to be the mayor of this fine city, because we made history. When I landed in the Soviet Union (during negotiations over exhibits to be included in the arts festival) as a native San Diegan, before the Cold War was over, and we participated in helping improve the relationship between the United States and the then-Soviet Union, to pull that off, I was very proud of that.

The other area that I was most proud of, and it was the most difficult and most sustaining battle as mayor, was when we fought California Edison from coming in and taking over San Diego Gas & Electric. That was a very native fight. If someone was not a native San Diegan, the result might have been different. The passion wouldn’t have been as great. Growing up in San Diego, SDG&E; is part of the fiber of the city. There is a certain resistance there for a native that might not have been there for somebody else.

Q. You’ve spent most of your adult life in City Hall. Is it difficult to imagine walking out of this building, knowing you won’t be coming back to this office?

O’Connor: Not yet. But I retired once before from the City Council. I’ve always kept my campaign pledges to the community. It was really difficult then when I walked out the door and it will be difficult Dec. 7. But, like one President said, some people see this as a demotion. I see it as a promotion because I will be with the people. I have no problem going back into the community.

Q. Have you decided what you want to be doing six months or a year from now?

O’Connor: I’m not ruling out anything, but I haven’t made that decision yet. People here have actually seen me grow up in politics and they know I’m not going anyplace. They know my first priority is the city of San Diego and the people of San Diego.

The one thing I do have, and I have a lot of it, is credit with the community. And I will use that to continue the betterment of this community. My credit has always been higher with the average citizen. The ‘professionals’ are the ones who, if I have critics, seem to be the main avenue. The average citizens seem to understand very well my contributions over the last 6 1/2 years.

Q. Won’t some of that credit and ability to move public opinion disappear when you leave office?

O’Connor: What’s that old saying, when Maureen O’Connor speaks, people will listen? I don’t agree that when you lose the title you lose all the power. Some of the most powerful people in this town have no titles.

On something like the library, you need to mobilize the community, and that’s what I’m best at doing. I don’t need an office to do that or to get things done. I’ve been a council member, I’ve been a mayor, I’ve been a port commissioner, I’ve been a transit official, I’ve been everything. I think I’ve kind of earned all of those stripes, as they say. Now I’m going to be one of the people. And very proud of it.