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Mayoral hopefuls agree: city's broke, and they can fix it; race for July 26 special election draws a crowded field.

Article Excerpt
Money; power; name recognition.

If this is your recipe for a successful run at a top elective office, there are more than two-dozen regular folks who might disagree. A cross section of San Diegans--everybody from business owners, political theorists and a retired judge, to a bartender, a full-time student and a private eye want to be San Diego's next mayor.

The three major candidates squaring off in the July 26 mayoral race are City Councilwoman Donna Frye; Jerry Sanders, a former San Diego police chief, businessman and chairman of the American Red Cross San Diego/Imperial Counties; and Steve Francis, founder and executive chairman of publicly traded AMN Healthcare in Carmel Valley.

Besides Frye, Sanders and Francis, 26 others initially sought the title of mayor, representing a rather diverse political spectrum. They are mostly Republicans, with a smattering of Democrats, one Libertarian and a Green Party member. There are hardcore conservatives, some liberals, a few who are adamantly earth-friendly, and perhaps the most striking statistic all are male, except for Frye.

As of press time May 26, only one of the 29 people who had pulled papers to run for mayor--Jeremy Ledford--had submitted the requisite paperwork to the city clerk's office; the deadline was 5 p.m. May 27.

Cutting it especially close is La Jolla attorney Pat Shea, who took out his papers May 25. While he's never run for public office, he represented more than 200 agencies, school and special districts during the Orange County bankruptcy proceedings that started in 1994 after it was learned that the county's investment pool had suffered a $1.6 billion loss. Now, Shea seems to be the lone voice calling for the city to file a Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceeding, a form of reorganization that gives the city breathing room and permits it to renegotiate contracts.

"In the last week to 10 days, I received phone calls from people I didn't expect to get phone calls from, who have come to the conclusion that this is the only way to solve the problem," said Shea, who is married to Diann Shipione, the prominent San Diego whistle-blower and outspoken former member of the city's pension board.

"The problems are so large, they can't be handled in an informal fashion. I know what it takes for a municipality to go through the process and I know what the benefits are."

What unites all the players--both top contenders and long shots--is a desire to fix the city's financial problems, including a pension deficit estimated to be $1.4 billion, as well as getting the long-overdue 2003 and 2004 audits of city finances done, and refurbishing the badly tarnished image of America's finest city.

Frye has called for a rollback of pension benefits, a streamlining of the city's bureaucracy, an end to subsidizing...