On June 8, San Diego voters will be asked to make permanent the strong mayor/City Council reform they originally approved on a trial basis in 2004. This reform has been a vast improvement over the previous council-manager system because of the safeguards, accountability, and checks and balances it imposed. We no longer have City Council members trying to run the city through an unelected city manager. Before 2004, the unelected city manager had a vested interest in sweeping problems under the rug. Hiding problems from the public allowed past City Councils to avoid making tough decisions, and it allowed the city manager to keep his job. Our city can’t afford to go back to the same outdated system that created many of the problems we are now working to solve — but that’s exactly what will happen if Proposition D is not approved. The former city manager system is how the city ended up with more than $2 billion in unfunded employee pension obligations and hundreds of millions in deferred maintenance for streets, parks, libraries and recreation centers. The strong mayor/City Council reform created executive and legislative branches of city government. The mayor became the chief executive, accountable to voters for city administration. The City Council became the legislative branch, responsible for reviewing and approving the mayor’s budget. The strong mayor/City Council reform also created an independent budget analyst to analyze and question financial information. Problems that were previously swept under the rug are now subjected to vigorous and open public debate. As a result of this reform, when something goes wrong with city management, the buck stops with the mayor — no more finger-pointing without anyone taking responsibility. In addition, major financial reforms have been enacted that have restored our city’s credit rating. This is good for taxpayers. The checks, balances and accountability found in our strong mayor/City Council government are not a new concept. They are tried, tested and work. They are the same ones established by our founding fathers in the U.S. Constitution that have served our country for over 220 years: separation of authority between the executive and legislative branches, clearly defined checks and balances with direct accountability to voters for performance. More recently, voters approved Proposition B in 2008 which required a vote this June on whether or not to make the strong Mayor/City Council reform permanent. If approved June 8, the reform also would bring some changes to the strong mayor/City Council form of government. Proposition D would add a ninth City Council seat in 2012 to eliminate ties. Proposition D also would strengthen the now-symbolic mayoral veto by requiring a two-thirds City Council vote to override a veto, similar to the provisions at the state and federal levels. Currently, the same five council votes needed to approve an action are all it takes to override the mayor’s veto. I am joined by Mayor Jerry Sanders, councilmen Tony Young and Carl DeMaio, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and others who support this initiative. Let’s not go back to the outdated system that created our city’s financial problems. Vote yes on Proposition D to make accountability and checks and balances permanent at City Hall. — Kevin Faulconer represents District 2 of the San Diego City Council, a district which includes Point Loma and Ocean Beach.