You're probably not following the San Diego's Mayoral race. Who can blame you? You probably don't live in San Diego and maybe wouldn't care that much anyway.

However, San Diego city politics has been in deep shit lately and even got worse today as Michael Zucchet, who became interim mayor over the weekend, was just convicted, yes, convicted (not indicted or accused), but convicted of taking payoffs from a strip club owner to help repeal a "no-touching" law at nude clubs. (Just for the record, I'm against the "no-touching" law too, but then again, I'm a man and can't be trusted to be impartial).

Why do I bring this up? Well, because I have a horse in the race. My cousin Rana is married to the former San Diego Chief of Police who's not only running for Mayor, but just got a ringing endorsement from the SD Union Tribune.

Sanders for mayor

Veteran cop offers sorely needed leadership

UNION-TRIBUNE

July 18, 2005

Aweek from tomorrow voters will go to the polls in what quite possibly is the most important election in San Diego's 155-year history. With City Hall besieged by corruption and ineptitude, the future of this community hinges on voters choosing strong, fresh leadership to overcome San Diego's urgent challenges.

Our next mayor must possess not only the good common sense to roll back stratospheric municipal pension benefits and restore the city's financial soundness, but also an uncommon measure of fortitude to enforce tough decisions on a City Council mired in chaos.

Former police chief Jerry Sanders displays the integrity and quiet resolve that are sorely needed at this critical hour. Equally important, he has articulated precisely the right plan to salvage our city government from the appalling wreckage of the last three years.

Sanders' agenda is castor oil for the city's avaricious public employee unions but a sensible, dependable cure for taxpayers who have borne the weight of City Hall mismanagement.

His approach is moderate but determined. He promises to rescind in one stroke the glaring hikes in pension benefits awarded by the City Council in 1996 and 2002 if they are deemed by the courts to be illegal, as the city attorney convincingly contends. What's more, Sanders pledges to renegotiate existing labor agreements to freeze salaries for all employees, raise the absurdly low retirement age, increase worker contributions to the pension plan, and abolish such egregious perks as the 13th monthly check and employees' ability to purchase unworked years of service at steeply discounted rates.

Under Mayor Sanders, the plundering of the treasury to pay for 24-carat pensions for city workers will come to an end. The sweetheart deals between labor leaders and the City Council will be scotched.

Significantly, Sanders rules out tax increases to bail out the retirement system and reward the incompetence of the current council. This offers vital protection for taxpayers as the pension fund debacle is tackled in earnest under a new regime at City Hall. Sanders also prudently rejects municipal bankruptcy as the first resort to undo the mistakes of the past. Rival contender Pat Shea makes an impassioned case that bankruptcy is the only solution. But considering the tremendous collateral damage and uncertainty that bankruptcy would inflict, Sanders believes other remedies must be tried first. That stance reflects the essential prudence of his judgment.

Some have questioned whether Sanders, with his soft-spoken and agreeable manner, is tough-minded enough to confront the labor unions and their backers on the City Council. An examination of his record demonstrates to us that Sanders' unexcitable nature should not be mistaken for weakness.

Consider that when an Uzi-armed James Huberty entered the San Ysidro
McDonald's in 1984 and opened fire, ultimately slaying 21 people before being brought down by a police sniper, Jerry Sanders was the Police Department's SWAT commander on the scene. When he recalls patrolling dark alleys with his weapon drawn in search of armed suspects, he is not merely reminiscing. Those experiences forged a personal ruggedness and strength of character that no other candidate in the race can even imagine.

In our view, the two other leading contenders, Councilwoman Donna Frye and wealthy businessman Steve Francis, lack the leadership traits long demonstrated by Sanders, who after leaving the police force turned around the troubled Red Cross and United Way. He did so not by pounding the table but by resolutely building consensus behind his objectives.

This is exactly the kind of strong, steady hand San Diego must have if
it is to emerge successfully from the present crisis. To enforce his
stringent medicine on a reluctant City Council, Jerry Sanders needs a clear mandate.