{"id":245559,"date":"2012-11-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/filner-promises-a-new-city-hall\/"},"modified":"2012-11-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T08:00:00","slug":"filner-promises-a-new-city-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/filner-promises-a-new-city-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Filner promete un 'nuevo Ayuntamiento'"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Democrat mayor in two decades sees importance of neighborhoods<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Morgan M. Hurley | Asistente de edici\u00f3n SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Filner
After Mayor-elect Bob Filner spoke, many gathered to ask for his autograph in Trolley Barn Park. (Photo by Anulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In less than four weeks, after a grueling and historic campaign, the new mayor of San Diego will have completed his transition process and taken the reigns of the country\u2019s eighth largest city.<\/p>\n

Identifying his recent election as \u201chumbling,\u201d Congressmember and soon-to-be Mayor Bob Filner addressed a crowd in an impromptu press conference held Wednesday, Nov. 7 at Trolley Barn Park in University Heights. He spoke briefly about the election, formally introduced his fianc\u00e9e and laid out plans he has for San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna see a team that is aggressive and visible,\u201d he said of the city\u2019s new first couple.<\/p>\n

Just hours before, City Councilmember Carl DeMaio \u2013 Filner\u2019s sole opponent since the June primary \u2013 had walked hand-in-hand with his partner Johnathan Hale to a lectern at the US Grant Hotel to deliver what Filner later called a \u201cgracious statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that ballots are still being counted and I will absolutely ensure that every vote counts,\u201d DeMaio said to the gathered media. \u201cThat process will happen irrespective of my decision to concede this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though an unknown number of city votes were still left uncounted in what amounted to 450,000 ballots countywide the morning after the election, 10,000 votes separated the two candidates in their race for mayor.<\/p>\n

DeMaio said his choice to concede was also to give the new mayor \u201cas much time as possible\u201d for the transition. \u201cHe has my commitment that I will help in any way possible \u2026 it may be the end of the campaign, but it is not the end of my involvement with a city that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In University Heights, after thanking those who supported him, Filner reached out to those who did not, saying \u201cthey\u2019re going to be welcome as we move forward. I am going to need them in the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his remarks, Filner emphasized the importance of neighborhoods, reminding those in attendance that his time in Congress has been spent representing families in these San Diego neighborhoods, not the \u201cpower\u201d culture of Downtown, which was the reason he was now speaking to media in an Uptown neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The setting proved a good choice for community attention, as many passersby in vehicles, motorcycles and on foot took notice of the commotion. Pedestrians and dog walkers gathered, while others honked horns, revved their engines and shouted congratulatory remarks to the mayor-elect from their car windows.<\/p>\n

Filner acknowledged the many experts in the region who come from all backgrounds \u2013 calling them untapped resources \u2013 and said he plans to utilize them, regardless of political ideology.<\/p>\n

\"Filner
(l to r) Bronwyn Ingram and the new mayor, Bob Filner, to the crowd. (Photo by Aulak Singphiphat)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s gonna be new seats, new people at the table \u2026 of economic and political power, people whose faces have not been seen. It\u2019s going to be a new City Hall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI purposely had this press conference not at City Hall to show that we are going to respect and concentrate on neighborhoods,\u201d Filner said. \u201cHere we are in University Heights. This [was] the Old Trolley Barn. It\u2019s where streetcars [came] up from Downtown, where they maintained them and they stored them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling the neighborhood one that needs the support of the city, Filner said people want a \u201clivable,\u201d \u201cwalkable\u201d and \u201cbikeable\u201d city.<\/p>\n

He also spent time promoting the streetcars \u2013 originally put into place 100 years ago during the Panama Exposition \u2013 that used to travel up Park Boulevard, connecting Uptown with Downtown. Some of the old cars have been restored, and Filner said their tracks are just under the asphalt along the boulevard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could probably use those tracks to build relationship between Downtown and Uptown \u2026 not only [for] public transportation, but a sense of community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He asked San Diego to \u201cdream of a new future,\u201d and promised to be a very open and visible mayor with the press, saying he would meet with them regularly and unscripted. He also said he would be available on Saturdays in the lobby of City Hall for anyone who wished to come speak to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people are gonna see me and know what\u2019s going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Though when asked, the mayor-elect said he has not made any plans to bring former mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher on board, he did mention several people he planned to tap as resources.<\/p>\n

One of those is Alan Jones, Filner\u2019s chief of staff from his council days, who will head up his transition team. He said he also asked Donna Frye to take over his Open Government Department. Frye served on the city council from 2001 to 2010.<\/p>\n

Filner also made it clear he would use DeMaio as a resource.<\/p>\n

DeMaio crafted the \u201cPension Reform\u201d initiative Proposition B, which passed during the primary and was a heavy focus of his campaign. Though Filner did not support the proposition, as mayor he must implement it and may need his opponent\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\u201c[DeMaio] understood the budget and he understood the kinds of approaches to deal with budget that we need to tap into,\u201d Filner said. \u201cI didn\u2019t agree with all of it, but I did agree we have to look at this stuff in a very rational way [and] a very cost-effective way, and we have to make some decisions. \u2026 I think he can help with that and I\u2019ll ask him to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filner, a democrat, said he does not see his new role as partisan, but rather one that will bring everyone together for the good of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of the individual [council member\u2019s] have been elected and they deserve respect,\u201d he said. \u201cI see us working together to revitalize all the neighborhoods and the economy as we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Explaining why, after two decades in Congress, he chose to come back to city government, Filner said, \u201cI loved my job in Washington. \u2026 As we became a more dysfunctional congress and the minority party was able to do less and less, I thought I could do more as chief executive of the eighth biggest city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though it is viewed that local labor unions played a large part in his election, Filner said he did not feel indebted to them. \u201cIt\u2019s the working people in this city that put me into this office,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cThese people were not the source of the city\u2019s problems \u2026 I am devoted to making sure that this city works for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before ending, Filner told the crowd that his fianc\u00e9e Bronwyn Ingram, whom he plans to wed by next October, will hold an active, but unpaid, role in his administration. He described her as a \u201cdifferent first lady,\u201d and as an expert on disability issues including how homeless \u201ccan be helped in ways we really have not done before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Filner takes office on Dec. 3.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First Democrat mayor in two decades sees importance of neighborhoods By Morgan M. Hurley | SDUN Assistant Editor In less than four weeks, after a grueling and historic campaign, the new mayor of San Diego will have completed his transition process and taken the reigns of the country\u2019s eighth largest city. Identifying his recent election […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Filner promises a \u2018new City Hall\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}