This Guy Makes Carlos Dangerous Look Like A Choir Boy...

[Lord Jim]

Bob Filner, San Diego Mayor, Creates Turmoil After Sexual Harassment Claims Surface

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's own political party is calling on him to resign after seven women publicly identified themselves as targets of his alleged sexual advances.

The San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee voted 34-6 Thursday night to ask the city's first Democratic mayor in 20 years to leave office.

The vote comes one week after the committee deadlocked 24-24 on the question. The earlier vote came before any woman had publicly identified herself.

The audience included political consultant Laura Fink, who says Filner patted her buttocks in 2005 when he was congressman and she was his deputy campaign manager. She says she is gratified by the vote.

The news release intended to project an air of normalcy: "Forward with City Business!"[I guess he meant to say, "Forward with Monkey Business!"] exclaimed the announcement Mayor Bob Filner put out last week with some upbeat photos showing the mayor reviewing plans for a new library, smiling at a gay pride parade and celebrating at an office birthday party.

But "normal" San Diego is not these days – not with talk of unwanted advances, groping and headlocks, and comparisons of Filner to Anthony Weiner, the ex-congressman who is resisting calls to quit New York's mayoral race after revelations about new salacious online exchanges.

For the last two weeks, Filner, 70,[he really needs to cut down on those testosterone supplements]has been mired in his own scandal over far more serious allegations from seven women that he sexually harassed them. The lurid claims have become the talk of the town – plunging California's second-largest city into political turmoil amid demands for its first Democratic leader in decades to resign.

"I can't go anywhere without it coming up – the Laundromat, the grocery store, a friend's party, a restaurant," said Todd Gloria, a Democrat who, as City Council president, would become interim mayor if Filner resigns. "It comes up everywhere I go, and no one is supportive of the mayor."

On Thursday, four more women publicly identified themselves on San Diego's KPBS as targets of Filner's unwanted sexual advances – bringing to seven the number of accusers who have come forward this week. They include a retired Navy rear admiral, a dean at San Diego State University and the head of the city's Ports Tenants Association.

Yet Filner, like Weiner, shows no sign of quitting, fueling talk of a recall effort less than eight months into his four-year term.[wow, he's been a busy bee]Filner refused to discuss the allegations when hounded by reporters at public appearances Thursday, saying they should be addressed through legal channels.

"Let's take a deep breath, let that process work itself out. Meanwhile, we got a city to run," he said.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Filner and Weiner engaged in behavior that was "disrespectful to women" and "reprehensible." The office of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., also weighed in, with her spokesman, Zachary Coile, saying, "If she were him, she'd resign."

The San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee was to meet Thursday evening to reconsider its position on Filner. At a meeting last week, the party split on whether to call for his resignation, but that was before the seven women came forward with detailed allegations of mistreatment.

The problems for Filner began two weeks ago when a former councilwoman and onetime Filner supporter called for the mayor to step down, saying she had received credible evidence that he had harassed women. Filner issued a video statement, apologizing for intimidating and "failing to fully respect" women. He called his behavior "inappropriate and wrong," promised to change, and declared, "I need help."

On Monday, Filner's former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson, filed a lawsuit claiming that he asked her to work without panties, demanded kisses, told her he wanted to see her naked and dragged her in a headlock while whispering in her ear.[Yeah, I'd say that qualifies as "failing to fully respect"...]

A day later, political consultant Laura Fink said in an interview on KPBS that Filner patted her buttocks at an event in 2005 when she was deputy campaign manager to the former 10-term congressman.

On Wednesday, Morgan Rose, a psychologist for the San Diego Unified School District, told KPBS that then-Congressman Filner repeatedly tried to kiss her during a 2009 meeting to discuss child welfare.

The four others who have now gone public include Veronica "Ronne" Froman, a retired rear admiral and former chief operating officer for the city.

She told KPBS that a couple years ago when Filner was a congressman, he blocked a doorway, ran his finger up her cheek and asked if she had a man in her life.

Despite his earlier apology, Filner has insisted he will be cleared of any harassment claims. Regarding McCormack's lawsuit, Filner said, "I do not believe these claims are valid. That is why due process is so important. I intend to defend myself vigorously and I know that justice will prevail."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/2 ... 51631.html

[Joe Guy]

I heard about this before Weiner was exposed.

I'm surprised it's not getting as much coverage.

[dales]

Can Pete Wilson run again as mayor of San Diego?

[Lord Jim]

Well that was perfectly bizarre...

Hizzoner calls the press together, comes out and starts to make a statement where he gives the obligatory mea culpas and then announces that he's going into some kind of two week "behavioral clinic" rehab center, (where presumably they're going to teach him that asking your employees to come to work without panties, putting women in head locks, and trying to get kisses at meetings set up to discuss child welfare are inappropriate behaviors) and then his mic goes dead...(I guess the electrical equipment was so overloaded by his BS that it conked out.)

Then he fiddles with the mic and the switches for about five minutes, then finally gives up and leaves while the tech people work on the problem...

Eventually the problem is solved and Mr. Mayor, ever the trooper, begins his heartfelt statement all over from the beginning...

He has no intention of resigning....

Under the San Diego City Charter, the City Council has no way to remove a mayor from office; unless he resigns, he can only be removed either upon a felony conviction, or by re-call...

I think it's a safe bet that the recall petitions will hit the streets of San Diego sometime this afternoon....

[oldr_n_wsr]

What the hell is wrong with people?

[Lord Jim]

This should really help him with the recall:

San Diego mayor wants city to pay legal fees in sexual harassment battle

(CNN) -- San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who's battling a tide of sexual harassment allegations, wants his city to cover his legal expenses.

Last week, Filner's lawyer sent a letter to the city, saying it should mount the mayor's defense and pay his legal bills.

On Tuesday, the city council will hold a closed session to figure out how to proceed.

It's a tricky predicament.

Seven of nine members of the city council have asked Filner to step down.

And even though it's not unprecedented for cities to pick up the tab to defend one of its officials, some city council members have said Filner's case is different: the acts he's accused of didn't take place as part of his official duties.

There's also another hitch: the city itself, along with the mayor, is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by his former spokeswoman -- one of seven women accusing Filner of unwanted groping, kissing or other inappropriate contact.

Irene Jackson filed her suit against Filner, saying she and other women were subjected to his "crude and disgusting" comments and inappropriate touching.

She said she resigned as Filner's communications director in June after deciding that the mayor would not change his behavior.

Filner, 70, says he will enter a behavior counseling clinic next month for two weeks of "intensive therapy." But, he has repeatedly said he will not step down from an office he was elected to barely eight months ago.

San Diego's city charter does not require him to appoint an interim mayor for a temporary absence.

His decision is unlikely to quell the mounting calls for his resignation.

Many of the accusations allegedly took place during his five terms in Congress, before he was elected mayor last year.

In response, Filner's chief of staff resigned, the Democratic Party of San Diego voted to call for his resignation -- even his fiancee left his side.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/us/califo ... index.html

[rubato]

Pelosi, Boxer and Feinstein have all told him to resign. (along with a lot of others)


yrs,
rubato

[dales]

East San Diego (near El Cajon) is an ugly place and should be burned down!

[Joe Guy]

This is a typical standard response from a politician who has been caught for doing something stupid.

Eventually he will have no choice and will resign.

[dales]

Or run for higher office.

[rubato]

East San Diego (near El Cajon) is an ugly place and should be burned down!

The citizens of San Diego county all agreed with you and decided not to pay taxes for fire suppression with, predictable, results in 2007.





yrs,
rubato

[dales]

I'm talking of the CITY of San Diego not the COUNTY

There is a slight difference in LAND MASS.

You'd dig El Cajon....it's your kind of place!

Almost as classy as Sta. Cruz!

[Lord Jim]

Well now they've got enough for a softball team:

Ninth woman says San Diego mayor sexually harassed her

(CNN) -- A ninth woman is accusing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner of sexual harassment.

Emily Gilbert told CNN Friday that she was hired to sing at a fundraising event in December. Afterward, she said, the mayor grabbed her, slid his hand down the small of her back and gave her "tush a pat."

She said Filner had pulled her away and told his female assistant to give him and Gilbert a moment alone.

He then asked her: "Oh, Marilyn, can I get your card?" she recalled to CNN. Gilbert bears a passing resemblance to Marilyn Monroe, but she hastened to add she was not performing as a Monroe impersonator.

She said that he touched her, Filner told the singer, "I hope to see you again, Marilyn."

Gilbert told CNN that her husband was upset but felt powerless because Filner was the mayor.
Could San Diego mayor be ousted?

CNN has made multiple efforts to contact Filner and his representatives on the latest allegations but has not gotten a response.

The 70-year-old, dogged for weeks by sexual harassment allegations, served five terms in Congress before being elected mayor in 2012.

Earlier this summer, when the allegations first began, Filner acknowledged "I need help," and added, "I'm clearly doing something wrong."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/02/us/califo ... iego-mayor

Any bets on how many more days it will be before there'll be enough to field a football team?

[Lord Jim]

Oh, and here's his "legal argument" for why the taxpayers of San Diego should foot his sexual harassment legal bills:

It’s the city’s fault Mayor Filner didn’t get sexual harassment training, says lawyer

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s attorney is arguing that the city can be liable for damages incurred by a sexual harassment lawsuit against the mayor because he was never required to take sexual harassment training.

“Many—if not most—people do not know what is and what is not illegal sexual harassment under California law,” [ he licked a woman's face and put another one in a headlock...]argued Harvey Berger, Filner’s attorney, in a letter to San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith.

Berger argued that because San Diego is obligated to provide training about such behavior to city officials, “if there is any liability at all, the city will almost certainly be liable for ‘failing to prevent harassment.’”

“The city may be strictly liable for any sexual harassment by a supervisor, even if it had no reason to know of it," Berger wrote in his letter Monday to San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. “So, of course, the city should have a strong interest in making certain that Mayor Filner has the resources to defend himself.”

On Tuesday, the City Council voted 9-0 not to pick up the tab for Filner’s legal bills. The Council also unanimously voted to sue the mayor to pay for the potential damages the city may have to cover from the lawsuit filed by Filner’s former communications director, Irene McCormack Jackson. [She's the one he put in a headlock.]

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/01/its-the- ... ys-lawyer/

Would any of our legal types here care to come forward opine that this a perfectly legitimate and reasonable claim?

[rubato]

I'm talking of the CITY of San Diego not the COUNTY

There is a slight difference in LAND MASS.

You'd dig El Cajon....it's your kind of place!

Almost as classy as Sta. Cruz!

" El Cajon (/ɛlkəˈhoʊn/; Spanish: [elkaˈxon]) is a city in San Diego County, California."

Read your own shit. Moron.

yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

" El Cajon (/ɛlkəˈhoʊn/; Spanish: [elkaˈxon]) is a city in San Diego County, California."

Read your own shit. Moron.

Dales was referring to the city of El Cajon being near the city of San Diego.

Try comprehending what you read. It might make you less frustrated.

[Lord Jim]

I've been looking into the recall procedures for San Diego, and the fact is, even with overwhelming public sentiment for Filner to leave, (a poll taken Jul 25-26 showed that San Diegans want him to resign by a margin of 67-22 percent, and want him recalled if he doesn't quit by 60-28...(and this was before he announced that we wants the taxpayers to pay his legal bills and two more women joined the parade) it's a steep mountain to climb...

First of all the signature threshold is quite high; you need the signatures of 15% of the registered voters, which right now works out to a little over 100,000. But because some will be disqualified for one reason or another, you really need 120 to 130 thousand make sure you meet the 100K threshold.

But that's not even the toughest part. The hardest part is the fact that you are only allowed a window of 39 days within which to gather the full amount of signatures.

Technically you file the petitions 60 days after you file your intent for the recall, but because of a series of things that have to happen before you are allowed to actually start circulating the petitions, 21 one of those days get eaten up before you can actually start getting signatures. Here's a chart showing what's involved:



The only way a recall effort has any hope of succeeding in San Diego, no matter how strong the public support, is if it's well organized and well funded. At the moment the effort in San Diego appears to be neither:

Mayor Filner Recall Efforts Join Forces

Three local activists leading the effort to recall embattled Mayor Bob Filner are now joining forces.

Land use consultant Michael Pallamary and activist Elisa Brent joined LGBT Weekly publisher Stampp Corbin in the Civic Center Plaza to announce they will work together to recall the mayor.

"The whole endeavor is unifying to just get the city back to work, and get rid of this reprehensible individual," Pallamary told NBC 7.

Separate notices of intent to launch recalls of the mayor were published after allegations of sexual harassment were made. The group will move forward with the petition filed by Brent and Pallamary.

“We are all united to let the citizens decide,” Corbin said.

Mayor Filner has apologized for disrepecting and even intimidating women in the past. On July 26, he announced he would enter a two-week clinic in order to work on the inappropriate behavior alleged by a former employee, constituents and high-profile female leaders in San Diego including a retired Navy admiral, a staff member for a local university and an official with the San Diego Port Tenants Association.

Timeline: Mayor Under Fire

They don’t plan on spending a lot of money on the effort. They’re asking businesses, industries and activists to mobilize their followers to get the petitions and circulate them.

“If you believe you want the mayor to resign then engage all the people who helped elect you,” Corbin said to the elected officials who have called on Filner to resign.

However, they will accept donations to hire paid signature gatherers.

“Everyone out there, send us some money, send us a check,” Pallamary said. The recall effort has posted a link on its Facebook page for people to donate.

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/M ... z2ay4bS46z

Given the number of signatures needed and the short window available to gather them, it would be a logistical impossibility to accomplish this without a paid petition gathering operation. There is simply not the time to organize and coordinate a volunteer effort on the scale you need.

And it appears the folks who are doing this are starting out badly under funded. I wish them the best, but they really have their work cut out for them.

[oldr_n_wsr]

As per the city paying his legal costs, I think he does have a case (a small cae) in that he didn't get the appropriate training. Now I am not saying that I agree with that, just that every job I have had in the last bunch of years, the employer has had "appropriate conduct" and "sexual harassment" training for their employees. I would bet all city employees receive this training however, he did not. I do think that there is some common sense that he should have known that what he did violated acts of descency, but since when do politicians possess common sense?

[Sue U]

If the city has potential liability for Filner's acts, the city should provide a defense.

If the city has no potential liability for his acts, he should pay for his own defense.

It seems most of the acts complained of in the articles did not occur during his tenure as mayor, but at various times previously, going back to 2005. Certainly the city could have no liability for things that occurred before he took office, and it is likely that the limitations period applicable to such incidents has expired in any event.

Whether the city might be "strictly liable" would probably depend on whether the sexual harassment would be considered as having been committed within the performance of Filner's duties as mayor, or whether (like criminal acts) it would be excluded as a matter of law. But that is a completely separate issue from whether the city might be liable for "failing to prevent harassment," which would depend on the city's own acts/omissions, not merely a theory of strict liability for an employee's conduct. (And there is likely a further issue of whether elected officials are even subject to the same -- or any -- training and management applicable to municipal employees generally.)

And while we can all agree that the conduct alleged is highly inappropriate and generally gross, whether it rises to the level of actionable sexual harassment is yet another matter still.

If I were representing the city, I would make a motion as early as possible to get out of the case altogether, and leave Filner to his own devices.

[Rick]

I second that motion...