San Diego’s Mayorality Play

Los Angeles’ ongoing mayoral sludgefest seems unusually nasty, but voters should be grateful they’re not casting ballots in “America’s Finest City.” In December, we described San Diego’s mayoral mess as a soap opera. Since then, the apparent winner of November’s mayoral election has resigned in disgrace. Come Tuesday, the vice mayor and another City Council member will go on trial for allegedly taking illegal campaign contributions from the owner of Cheetah’s Totally Nude Club. And the federal government is investigating the city’s shaky finances, starting with a public employee pension system with a deficit approaching $2 billion.

All of that makes “soap opera” seem a bit flippant, so we’ve upgraded our description to morality play. Mayor Dick Murphy, whose reelection is being challenged in court by a competitor who appeared to have gotten more votes, had an unusual moment of clarity Monday when he announced his resignation. Throwing in the towel less than six months after winning a second term was unexpected, but the real shocker was Murphy’s late-to-the-party rationale: “I now believe to be effective the city will need a mayor elected by a solid majority of the voters and with a clear mandate.” Now there’s a concept we can all embrace -- a duly elected mayor.

Murphy’s personal problems, though, pale in comparison with what’s shaking San Diego’s sense of civic pride. In addition to “strippergate,” two federal agencies are investigating the city’s finances (including the troubled pension fund), the city auditor abruptly retired, the city manager was forced out and the city attorney is feuding with the City Council -- which now must handle the political hot potato of whether to appoint a successor for Murphy or call for another mayoral election.

As San Diego’s bleak world continues to turn, what has been overshadowed is that the state’s second-largest city is transitioning to what’s known as the strong mayor form of government, in which the mayor handles many of the duties that San Diego traditionally has delegated to a city manager. Which brings us back to the moral of this story. Polling shows that Los Angeles voters don’t seem to think it much matters who gets elected mayor on May 17. San Diegans would beg to differ.