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Mayor Filner’s ex-fiancee: ‘We could have done a lot. It’s sad.’

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SAN DIEGO--As the City Council prepares Friday to approve a mediation plan that includes Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation, his ex-fiancee has expressed not anger but sadness.

Just days before three ex-supporters went public last month with accusations of sexual harassment against Filner, Bronwyn Ingram broke off their engagement.

In an email to friends, she explained that Filner had become volatile with her and she had caught him making dates with other women.

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Since then, Ingram, 48, a disability analyst with the Social Security Administration who says she shares Filner’s political agenda, has not been seen in public.

But Thursday, she appeared in Los Angeles at a news conference with attorney Gloria Allred, not to announce a lawsuit but to express her hopes that Filner’s resignation will “begin to bring closure to this painful chapter for all those involved.”

Ingram had campaigned with Filner and after his election had begun leading efforts to help the homeless. Filner referred to her as “San Diego’s first lady.” Ingram and the twice-divorced Filner were planning an October wedding.

“The platform that Bob and I campaigned on with the emphasis on empowering neighborhoods can and should move forward if that is still the will of the voters,” Ingram said.

Friday morning, Ingram appeared on “CBS This Morning” for an interview with Bill Whitaker.

“To have a Democratic mayor in a city that’s constantly run by Republicans,” she said, “was very exciting to a lot of us and we had big plans.”

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She said she had not witnessed the 70-year-old Filner engaging in the abusive, harassing behavior that was alleged by 18 women in recent weeks. But she added, “I would find it hard to believe that they were all fabricating those stories.”

She was at a loss to explain Filner’s alleged misconduct. “I don’t know if it has anything to do with sex or love. I think it has to do with power and control, so of course, it feels awful, it feels horrible.”

Whitaker asked what she would tell Filner if she could speak to him.

“Why? Why did you do this?” she said. “This was not the plan. This was way off the plan. We could have done a lot. It’s sad.”

The City Council meets at 1 p.m. to consider the mediation plan sparked by a lawsuit filed by Allred on behalf of a former Filner aide.

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Twitter: @LATsandiego

tony.perry@latimes.com

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