GOP only have two real choices for San Diego Attorney

Recently, I have talked to members of the local Democratic Party, Lincoln Club, local Republican Party and a union activist over the San Diego City Attorney race. I walked away from all those conversations with the Oh My Gosh moment. GOP has only have two choices come November, Scott Peters or Mike Aguirre.

We all know Mike will make the general election, the polls, the talk from the San Diego downtown establishment and the party insiders all know it. So, the second name on the ballot will make the difference on who will beat or lose to Mike.

Scenario 1 – Scott Peters wins the second spot. The unions support Scott, along with the downtown interests, developers and the Democratic Party. The GOP and Lincoln Club stays neutral. Mike won't get his party's endorsement again, is blocked from large contributions and can't mount a major campaign. Mike doesn't get many major endorsements to boost his case, except for maybe the likes of Donna Frye. Mike has no volunteer base, no money and no chance to beat Scott.

Scenario 2 – Jan takes second place and unions are forced to support Mike over Jan. Mike now gets his party's endorsement, which comes with major money and major endorsements. Mike can now mail, gets on the air and gets a lot of volunteers. Mike calls press conferences weekly about every scandal, or so called possible scandal of the GOP, linking it all to Jan. Lincoln Club and GOP are forced to spend major money on the race or look foolish. There are GOP and Libertians that like Mike, eroding Jan's base and the Dems vote and do it as a vote against Jan. Mike will win it.

Scenario 3 – Brian takes second place, the unions might do what they just did in the mayor's race and endorse in name only at the last minute. However, the Democratic Party now is forced to endorse Mike. Mike can now mail, gets on the air and gets a lot of volunteers. Mike calls press conferences weekly about every scandal, or so called possible scandal of the GOP, linking it all to Brian, including the pension underfunding. Lincoln Club and GOP are forced to spend major money on Brian who they really don't like in the race or look foolish. There are GOP that like Mike and hate Brian, eroding Brian's possible base, many Libertians vote for Mike over Brian and the Dems vote and do it as a vote against Brian. Mike will win it.

GOP make your choice Mike or Scott.


Off the topic, but can't help but say, if Mike McSweeney had won the San Diego Unified School District seat two years ago, then he would never had taken a job for the mayor, been the scapegoat for Tom Shepard as so many others have done before and now have his public political career ruined.

Friday - Quick Hits

Documents reveal that city council granted Mike Aguirre permission to litigate over pension benefits. UT

Brian Maienschein officially kicks off his campaign for city attorney. UT

Art Madrid saga continues as La Mesa city council probe into the incident. UT

What about Floyd Morrow? Steve Francis wants to have 8 debates with Mayor Sanders. UT

Tri-city decides against placing another bond measure on June ballot. UT NCTimes

What is going on in the City Attorney's Race?

For the last week, I have been hearing all sorts of things happenings in the race for city attorney. Take all of it with a grain of salt, but here is what I have heard from multiple sources.

Mike Aguirre: I have been told that Pat Flannery who publishes the Blog of San Diego, has taken on a prominent role in Aguirre's re-election campaign. You got to wonder how at good and open government type like Pat will get along with Al Ducheny, who I understand is managing Aguirre's campaign.

Dan Coffey: With Scott Peters entry into the race there has been an effort by the friends of Scott, to get some of the other Democrats to drop out of the race. Lee Burdick saw the handwriting on the wall; dropped out and endorsed Peters. As of this writing, I'm told that Dan Coffey has been approached but has decided to continue in the race.

Jan Goldsmith: This is the most interesting thing I have heard. Apparently, he was caught off guard by the entry of Brian Maienschein into the race and this has created a bit of turmoil in some Republican circles. I understand that he is having a harder time raising money than he expected. I have also been told that he really doesn't want to fight itout in a contested primary and might drop out of the race before the filing period ends.

Peters to Run for City Attorney

The UT is reporting this morning that councilmember Scott Peters will definitely run for city attorney and former Superintendent of City Schools Alan Bersin will not run. The decision came about following a weekend meeting between the two.

Bersin and Peters, who are friends, made a joint decision after discussing their options at a meeting Saturday in which they reviewed the results of a poll commissioned by Bersin, said the attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither man had authorized a public comment. [Link]

Peters joins an already crowded field of candidates who all seek to defeat incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre. His entry into the race provides an opportunity for Democrats who are dismayed by Aguirre erratic behavior to support a candidate that has a good opportunity to win the seat.

Wednesday - Quick Hits

City Council tells residents of Kensington to "screw you," and approves development project. UT

Ethics commission rules that councilmember Brian Maienshein can use his remaining 2004 reelection funds for his race for City Attorney. UT

Non-profits who provide affordable housing and other services to the homeless will split $2.1 million in HUD grant. UT

Bob Filner and Sierra Club urge East County residents to register their complaints regarding Sunrise Project at upcoming public hearings. UT

Fines reduced for cities of Carlsbad and Vista regarding Buena Creek lagoon sewage spill. UT

Gregory Canyon landfill faces more delays. NCTimes

Peters may be our only hope

As the City Attorney's race heats up, those of us on the left should be VERY worried about the shape of the race.

As of now, we have a far-right nut job with Jan Goldsmith, an empty-suit conservative with Brian Maienschein, an all-over-the-map, union hating democrat with Mike Aguirre and two candidates who can't seem to get traction.

Lee Burdick is actually quite sensible and would be a great candidate if anyone knew her, but conventional wisdom says she will need a lot of money to compete in this field. And I hear, she can't pull the fundraising.

So who does that leave for us? Anti-worker former school-tyrant Alan Bersin is threatening (and I do mean threatening) to enter the field. His likelihood of getting a dem party or labor endorsement is on par with Republican Maienschein.

So what do we do? Encourage Scott Peters to run for City Attorney. Sure, he over-waters his lawn and hasn't been a favorite of labor or the party in the past, but he is a lot better than the alternatives. His "big" negative of the pension mess is going to get lost with another Councilmember in the race. I have never been one to advocate for the moderate, but he does seem to be the only Democrat that could garner enough support from labor, elected officials, enviromentalists, maybe even the Party and present a united front against the nightmare match-up of Goldsmith / Aguirre. He has proven himself on a number of key issues this year, including marriage equality and wal-mart, and holds a decent record with coastal environmentalists. Let's not forget this guy was an Environmental Attorney and is a former Coastal Commissioner. He even took a courageous stand on toilet to tap. Best of all, he has the money to self fund. Sources close to the Councilmember say he is considering it.

It may be an unconventional choice, but Peters may be our only hope.

City Atty. Race: WTF?

With Councilmember Brian Maienschein throwing his hat into the ring for City Attorney I can only ask the obvious; “Why?” Does he really think he stands a chance in this field?

Here are my thoughts on why he’s doing this:

1) Mike supporters are mostly Republican.
I base this bit of conjecture on the fact that if the Republicans were anti-Mike, their instinctive attraction to order would link them to a single candidate to carry the day. That doesn’t seem to be the case otherwise they wouldn’t have so much trouble fielding a candidate. Look, if you have unified party behind you in San Diego, you win, especially on the Republican side because at least they vote. The fact that people are shying away from this tells me there is more going on below the surface and the most obvious “candidate” is that Mike pulls from the Republicans in such a high number that, short of the Democrats endorsing him, they can’t make a partisan appeal.

So a more moderate influence is needed. Enter Brian betting, correctly I think, that his name recognition is higher in the City than Jan’s and, even if Mike pounds him into the sand, he can say he fought the good fight and stood up when none else did

2) Brian needs a job.
Our termed out councilman needs something to hang his hat on because the last thing legislators want to be is termed out. You lose the taxpayer paid staff, you’re not treated “special” and you don’t have access to the money chambers you once did. And the last thing anybody who was (they think) somebody wants to become is a nobody.

At minimum, by being a pain in Goldsmith’s hide he can burnish his credentials in being the anti-Goldsmith, whatever that becomes, as the race progresses. Any press is good press.

3) This is what happens when you’re in a city filled with big mouths and no guts.
A constant refrain from this race is the Aguirre needs to go, but those who would publicly say so or act towards this refuse to because they’re afraid of him. Last time I checked, I thought we lived in America where you could say what you wanted. Oops! I’m in San Diego where speaking your mind is a no-no unless approved from the oligarchs that run the city.

I’m overstating the case here but the point is that this race, like many others, will attract the second stringers and has-beens unless those who can make difference dare speak out for what they believe. Short of that, San Diegans deserve what they’ll get: four more years of Sanders and Aguirre.

Because if this race were to be taken seriously, Brain wouldn’t have dreamed of entering.

Friday - Quick Hits

Three hour long fire fight between law enforcement and drug cartels in Tijuana leaves six dead. UT

Misconduct at San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant has led to five employees fired and two others disciplined. UT

Governor visits town yesterday to explain, how his mismanagement of state budget now needs to be slashed. UT

Local GOP not too happy with Maienschein's entry into city attorney race. UT

Continuing to investigate City Attorney Aguirre, State bar has issued subpoenas in its investigation. UT

City on Encinitas has decided to purchase iconic boat houses. UT

If it passes a safety check, Sprinter rail service could start on Jan 27. UT

State Sen. Kehoe has requested that the Public Utilities Commission hold a public hearing regarding Sunrise Powerlink in the City of San Diego. NC Times

Now Maienschein for City Attorney!

The VOSD is reporting tonight that district-5 councilman Brian Maienschein is going to run for city attorney.[Link] This comes the same week that William Gentry dropped out of the race.

Week Wrap-Up

Things have been especially quiet on the Democratic political front these past few weeks. But are looking to heat up soon.

** Next week the Democratic Central Committee is scheduled to vote on an early endorsement of Mike Aguirre. Quite a few Central Committee members are balking at the idea because of Mike's increasingly erratic behavior. A few people are even suggesting a possible Scott Peters run would be more acceptable to party insiders. The big unknown is if labor will take a position before Tuesday.

** Apparently Marti Emerald's name id may be helping Marty Block in his Assembly Race for the 78th AD. A poll that has been circulated shows Block with unusually high name id, especially in areas where the 78th and the 7th City Council District overlap, and some are speculating it has to do with voter confusion. I am sure Marty will take the a primary win anyway he can get it.

** San Diego's City Council Presidency looks like it will stay with a Democrat. According to the VOSD article today, Scott Peters will retain his position as Council President rather than letting a Republican take over the reigns. Kudos to the Dem Party for insisting the Dems on the Council act like Dems for once, maybe this will become a trend.

** Another Steve Francis sighting. This time, Francis was seen at the progressive environmental dinner for San Diego Coast Keepers. I guess he is really going for a full make-over. Maybe Jim Bell will drop out of the Mayoral race and endorse Francis.

** According to our conservative counterparts at Red County, San Diego City Councilman Brian Maienschein is considering a challenge to incumbent County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price. The best part of the post, which was up yesterday, were the now deleted comments. According to bloggers, Maienschein is getting a divorce and has been having an affair with a city hall staffer. I am all for free speech, so if anyone knows more FACTS, feel free to post here.