By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–If it were likened to a tennis match, Donna Frye and her two lawyer friends came up with a very weak serve in their effort to force Bob Filner to resign as mayor. Filner decisively volleyed the political ball right back to them, leaving them to scramble for a way to return it to his side of the court.
Had Frye and attorneys Cory Briggs and Marco Gonzalez offered some real evidence during their Thursday morning news conference, instead of sanctimonious rhetoric, about how Filner had allegedly sexually harassed women of their acquaintance, then we’d be able to judge whether Filner’s apology, admission that he needs help, and promise to change his ways constituted sufficient humiliation for hizzoner as to atone for the alleged misdeeds.
However, as no evidence was produced, not even a description of what Filner supposedly did or didn’t do, the mayor’s videotaped “mea culpa” and promise to personally apologize to all the members of his staff, both “male and female” sounded like it might be sufficient.
We are told that Frye and the two lawyers will respond with another news conference on Friday. It’s possible that they will say, “okay, we’ll take Bob at his word, but we’ll be watching and waiting.” Or, they might say, “that’s not enough” and to prove it, they will bring forward the specifics that they denied the people of San Diego in their initial news conference. They may even produce the plaintiffs, who still are anonymous up to now. And the media might get to question those plaintiffs to learn what Filner allegedly did.
Clearly, Frye and company did not realize how arrogant they seemed in their first press conference when they said that on their say-so, and their say-so alone, we should believe that Filner’s transgressions were so serious as to warrant him stepping down and the city having to go through another election.
Forcing someone to resign from political office is an extreme sanction. When America found out about the sexual relationship at the White House between Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton, the people didn’t want Clinton to step down, no matter how embarrassed they were by his behavior.
Now in New York City, two politicians who did resign their offices for sexual misconduct — former Gov. Elliot Spitzer, who used the services of prostitutes, and former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who sent photographs of his penis over an intercepted cellphone transmission–are running for New York City controller and mayor respectively, convinced that the public is ready to forgive and forget.
Maybe the people of San Diego also would be ready to forgive and forget whatever it is that Filner supposedly did — but self-appointed guardians Frye, Gonzalez and Briggs apparently aren’t interested in letting the people decide what the “crime” was, much less the penalty. They have decided that neither Filner nor the public should confront his accusers. Instead the Frye trio has arrogated to itself the roles of prosecutor, judge and jury. The would-be kingmakers — er, mayor-unmakers — also decided that the sentence should be Filner’s political head.
What chutzpah! Talk about arrogance! Who are they to decide?
In his vidoetaped response, Filner made it clear that his possible resignation was not the Frye trio’s decision to make. That decision belongs to Filner, himself, and to the people of San Diego, who, up to now, have been kept in the dark.
In the background of all this was quite a bit of political maneuvering. Pressure immediately was put on Democratic Congressman Scott Peters to distance himself from Mayor Filner. Danielle Varallo, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Caucus, said in a press release: “It’s been reported that Mayor Filner has had sexual harassment allegations brought against him from a number of women. A number of city officials and councilmen and women have called on him to resign. And where has Filner’s buddy, Scott Peters, been during all of this? Completely silent. It’s unacceptable that Peters refuses to speak up about Filner’s disgusting behavior.”
“Disgusting behavior?” Does the National Republican Congressional Caucus know something that we don’t know about what has been going on with the mayor? If so, how did it happen that an arm of a political party got to know before we the people of San Diego did?
Who is considered a leading Republican candidate for the congressional nomination to oppose Peters? Why, Carl DeMaio, the man voters rejected for mayor last November in favor of Filner. Clearly, there’s more than a little partisan politics behind this, notwithstanding the defection of Democrat Frye and her two lawyer friends.
Feeling the heat, Peters put out a statement that “if the allegations are true, this behavior is inexcusable, shows terrible disregard for women, the voters, and the thousands of people who worked tirelessly to support the Mayor’s candidacy. As elected officials, we should be held to a high standard. The people we represent put their faith in us and we owe to them to live up to their expectations. I look forward to a full airing of the facts. If these accusations are proven true, Mayor Filner will face real, tough and serious consequences. I’m angry and disappointed that our city is facing this terrible situation and I’m sorry that many people have been and will be hurt.”
Translation: Peters is upset. But he is not certain, either, what this is all about. Whatever it is, he just wants to get away from it.
After Filner released his videotaped statement about needing and seeking help to correct his behavior, Filner’s fellow Jewish Democrat, City Councilwoman Marti Emerald, offered him some moral support in a statement:
She said: “I commend Mayor Filner for the courage to admit he has made mistakes and for his commitment to change his behavior. I hope the people of San Diego will support Mayor Filner in his effort to make a change and continue to make a positive difference in our city.”
So, the ball is back in Frye’s and the two lawyers’ court. Will they continue to do the Republicans work for them?
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com