The two faces of Steve
Will voters who remember Steve Francis from 2005 recognize the new model?
A Steve Francis handshake is one of those grabs you get when you meet someone who really means business. You just know that his handshake, somehow, somewhere along the line, helped him accumulate his vast wealth. When his grip is released, you instinctively flex your right hand, just to make sure all the bones are still where they’re supposed to be.
Francis has energy to spare. If you decline his offer for a cup of coffee, be ready for several repeat offers—it takes three or four for him to accept you really are just “fine, thank you.”
In conversation, Francis clutches his own coffee cup and alternates between lounging relaxed against the back of the couch in his plush office and perching on the front edge of the seat. When he gets going, he sometimes doesn’t finish a sentence, or several words get fused together—he’s in that much of a hurry to get to his next thought. It’s a quality that, if he’s not careful, could lead voters to dismiss him as a fast-talking salesman, albeit a charming one.
Formerly a one-term state legislator in Nevada and currently the chairman of AMN Healthcare, the temporary-nurse staffing company he founded with his wife Gayle 20 years ago, Francis ran unsuccessfully for mayor of San Diego in 2005. In that campaign, he was the conservative Republican who pledged to run the city like a business and pushed eventual winner Jerry Sanders to take any and all thought of new taxes off the table as San Diego grappled with the prospect of pension-scandal-fueled bankruptcy. At 53, he’s back for a second run, this time running a campaign of much more “depth,” he says. He’s embraced liberal City Councilmember Donna Frye, struck a progressive-populist chord and focused on “underserved” communities south of Interstate 8. And he’s begun to savage Sanders, portraying him as a lapdog of big-money special interests and someone cut from the same mold as wildly unpopular President George W. Bush.
“Independent” is his campaign’s main buzzword this time ’round. He’s pledged to take no contributions as he self-finances his run—that will allow him to remain free from the influence of lobbyist fund-raisers and Republican Party mainstays who’ve already thrown in with Sanders, anyway.
CityBeat sat down with Francis one recent Friday morning for an 80-minute interview.
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Published: 02/26/2008
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Comments
We agree that the public will get access to the Mayors office under Mr. Francis. Currently, the public is shut out of important decisions and solutions.
The following link is Mayor Sanders' calendar from June 2006 to May 2007 (365 days).
How many times did Mayor Sanders meet with ordinary citizens?
How many City Council meeting did Mayor Sanders attend where he was present to hear Non-Agenda Public Comment?
How many ribbon cutting ceremonies did Mayor Sanders attend?
How many public town hall meetings did Mayor Sanders give where the public gets the opportunity to discuss issues in a two-way open forum? The State of the City speech does not count because a speech is only one way communication.
How many times did Mayor Sanders meet with individual Council members? Did Mayor Sanders favor particular council members? How many meeting with Mayor Sanders did Toni Atkins, Tony Young, or Ben Hueso attend?
How many functions did Mayor Sanders attend at the Manchester Grand Hyatt?
I'm a liberal Democrat who spent an hour recently discussing issues with Mr. Francis in our local canyon. (Fortunately for me, he took it easy on the handshake.) We have never been able to get Mayor Sanders down here for a similar discussion. He sure sounds like his administration would be better for the environment than the current developer-controlled cabal. Our discussion ranged over the same areas outlined by Dave Rolland with many of the same points made. We differed on some issues like same-sex marriage-I'm a strong proponent-but agreed in others. If the choice for Mayor boils down to Francis v. Sanders then my choice seems very clear, and it's not Jerry Sanders. We have had a lot of blather about a "CEO" administration, starting with George Bush in 1999, but Bush and Sanders have been faux executives. Mr. Francis, a true business success, may offer San Diego a coherent vision and the ability to carry it out. We clearly are not getting that from the Sanders administration.