Morris Takes Large Lead in Vote for Mayor

San Bernardino voters went to the polls Tuesday to elect the city’s next mayor after a contentious runoff race in which candidates sparred over who could best curtail the city’s high murder rate.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Superior Court Judge Pat Morris was leading longtime City Atty. James F. Penman by a large margin late Tuesday in a contest that brought slightly more than one-fifth of the city’s registered voters to the polls.

Morris, considered the front-runner since getting the most votes among five candidates on the November ballot, gave a victory speech from his campaign headquarters near City Hall just before 9:30 p.m.

Penman -- backed by the city police, firefighters and employee unions -- could not be reached for comment. Morris staffers said the city attorney had not yet called to concede.

The winner will take office next month under a revised city charter that gives the city manager day-to-day control over the city, with the mayor overseeing the city manager and fire and police chiefs. The mayor also breaks tie votes on the seven-member City Council and wields veto power.

While seeking to replace outgoing Mayor Judith Valles, who declined to run for a third term, Penman and Morris at times appeared to be running for top crime-fighter.

The city of nearly 200,000 people had 58 murders in 2005, according to the Police Department. The number of murders has steadily climbed since 2001, when the city logged 30 killings, according to FBI statistics.

At voter forums and debates, Penman and Morris fielded questions about how they could make residents feel safer.

Both candidates released comprehensive crime-fighting plans, with Morris promising 40 more police officers and increased gang injunctions and sweeps. He touted his judicial record and a governing style he said was more collaborative than his opponent’s.

Penman also vowed to put more officers on the streets and clamp down on parolee housing and troubled apartment complexes. He said that, after nearly two decades at City Hall, he alone could jump into the mayor’s post and begin fixing the city’s problems.

The runoff race was less of a spectacle than the November election, in which Penman made accusations about being threatened with the release of doctored videos that showed him doing “bad things.” He also reported that death threats against him were scrawled on the men’s bathroom wall at City Hall.

Morris often lashed out at Penman’s brash style, telling The Times after the November ballot, in which he captured 43% of the vote to Penman’s 26%, that “my opponent knows nothing but the politics of personal destruction.”