Mayor Decides Against Seeking a Second Term

Mayor Dick Murphy announced Friday that he will not seek a second term in 2004 so he can spend the rest of his time in office focusing on his job, without the distraction of a reelection campaign.

“I fully expect to spend the next two years doing the best job I can as mayor,” he said.

Murphy, a 60-year-old former Superior Court judge, was elected mayor of California’s second-largest city in 2000. He entered office with an ambitious 10-point plan to reduce traffic, establish an ethics commission and clean up beaches and bays.