Rudderless San Diego Votes Today

SAN DIEGO — As voters prepare to pick a mayor to lead this city out of its worst civic turmoil, the top choices on the ballot today are a populist Democrat and surf shop owner who wants an open government with fewer ties to downtown business interests and two male Republicans who want to trim spending and reduce the power of labor unions.

Front-runner Councilwoman Donna Frye has a sizable lead in polls, but she may not be able to avoid a November runoff against one of her challengers: former Police Chief Jerry Sanders and business owner Steve Francis.

At their final debate Sunday, Frye said that San Diego needs a mayor immediately to help the city through its mounting legal, political and financial problems. Dick Murphy resigned as mayor July 15 amid continuing criticism and the threat of a recall.

“Right now, our city is without a mayor,” she said. “We cannot wait until November to have a mayor to represent this city. We need to have someone in charge now.”

Few would disagree.

Never has San Diego faced so many problems and so little leadership: a $2-billion pension deficit, criminal charges against pension board members, federal and state investigations, bickering between City Council members and the city attorney and, as of last week, the conviction and ouster of two City Council members on corruption charges.

Although there are 11 candidates on the ballot, only Frye, Sanders and Francis have risen above the single-digit level in polling.

On the eve of the election, one poll suggests that Frye clearly does not have enough votes to win a majority, and another indicates she could eke out a victory only by winning all of the undecided voters, which is a tall order. Sanders and Francis are deadlocked for the second spot.

A runoff campaign would mean four more months without an elected mayor as the council struggles to repair the city’s fiscal house and overcome its pension debacle.

San Diego’s fall from civic grace was fast. The 2000 mayoral election, for example, was virtually issue-free compared to the current campaign.

But bubbling beneath the surface was a problem common among public agencies: a growing pension obligation.

Like many city and county governments, San Diego had increased benefits for city employees during times of prosperity. Labor unions in the mid-1990s gained political power, and wages and benefits rose accordingly.

When the “dot-com” bubble burst on Wall Street, San Diego was left with a deficit, and the city didn’t cut services to bail out the system.

Other governments have had similar pension deficit problems. But San Diego had at least three complicating factors.

* The city did not disclose the pension deficit to Wall Street.

* There are allegations that city employees sitting on the pension board had enriched themselves.

* An accounting firm hired by the city has refused to certify an audit of city books. The result is that the city was “locked out” of the bond market and cannot finance projects or pension bonds.

As the woes and problems have increased, distrust in government has increased.

“I’ve never seen the public so disgusted,” said pollster John Nienstedt, whose firm, Competitive Edge Research, tracks local public opinion.

All the candidates have appealed to voter anger at city hall.

Francis, a former Nevada state legislator and owner of a firm that supplies nurses to hospitals, has called for a 10% cut for all city departments, except fire and police, and a 20% cut in the salaries and budgets of City Council members.

Sanders said he believes reductions are needed but declines to say how much. He has promised to hire a retired Navy admiral as his chief executive.

As Sanders and Francis have exchanged accusations over taxes in the final days of the campaign, Frye has seemed buoyant and separate from the squabbling. She has called for trimming subsidies for downtown redevelopment, a reduction that neither Sanders nor Francis has mentioned and that has left Chamber of Commerce officials aghast.

Along with the mayoral opening, there are vacancies created by the convictions of councilmen Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza. They resigned last week after being found guilty of taking campaign contributions from a strip-club owner to help change city law to allow nude dancers to touch customers.

The election to fill those council seats will probably be held on Nov. 8, with a runoff, if needed, six weeks later.

As a result, the nine-member council will probably not be at full strength until late December, if then.

After a relatively polite campaign, Francis, who has spent $2 million on his campaign, unleashed a barrage of TV ads criticizing Frye and Sanders for allegedly favoring tax increases.

The attack led Sanders, who has been endorsed by the San Diego Union-Tribune, to insist he would prefer that the city declare bankruptcy rather than raise taxes. But he has stated in campaign material that he would not rule out taxes.

Mikel Haas, the county registrar of voters, said he expects turnout to be light. “Somewhere between 1% and 100%,” he joked Monday. It’s impossible to make a turnout prediction because San Diego has never seen anything like this, Haas said.