By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — The accusations against Mayor Bob Filner are coming fast and furious, and I feel heartsick that the Jewish mayor’s administration seems to be imploding.
He’s been accused of improperly soliciting payment from land developers to the city treasury for his favorite projects, an accusation that has evidently aroused the curiosity of the FBI. Filner returned the money, saying he wasn’t aware that people in his office had asked for a quid pro quo.
Recently, his fiancee, who he perhaps prematurely had dubbed the “First Lady of San Diego,” Bronwyn Ingram, announced she was breaking off their engagement and also abandoning her city-sponsored efforts to help the homeless.
Almost on the heels of that announcement, the mayor’s former ally, former City Councilwoman Donna Frye, was one of three people calling for Filner’s resignation, accusing him of sexually harassing women at City Hall.. We will all hear more about this at a press conference Thursday morning (July 11) at which Frye will appear with the two other complainants, attorneys Cory Briggs and Marco Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, the media is questioning the propriety of a trip that Ingram and Filner had taken to Paris, especially given the fact that two city policemen were dispatched after them to act as security– an expense to the city estimated at $22,000.
I get the feeling that very powerful forces are piling on Filner, attempting to make it so difficult for him to govern that he will feel forced to resign. None of us have any idea whether any of these charges amount to a prosecutable offense, but we all can see that Filner is taking a shellacking in the court of public opinion. If he doesn’t resign, don’t be surprised by a recall effort.
As for myself, I am not going to rush to judgment. I am going to wait to see what the mayor says in his defense. And then I am going to weigh his words and such evidence as is brought before the public, always remembering that even a politician is innocent until proven guilty.
That said, I can’t help but remember the legend of Shoeless Joe Jackson, the great Chicago White Sox outfielder who was accused along with other team mates of accepting bribes to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. As the story went, a heartbroken boy came up to him, tugged on his sleeve, and said, “Say it isn’t so, Joe.”
Now, it’s generally believed that no young boy ever really asked Jackson that question. Nevertheless, we’d like to direct the same request to our mayor, hoping he can answer without any mental reservations.
“Say it isn’t so, Bob.”
*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
Mr. Harrison is right: even a politician is innocent until proven guilty. And I am waiting to see what the mayor will say in his defense. I hope this defense will be heard by tolerable residents of San Diego. I do not believe to any of these accusations. Look at this ‘sexual harassment of the women in the City Hall’. What this? Does not remind an indictment against the Leo Frank? Do we live in 21st century, or we back again to 1913?