The two faces of Steve
Will voters who remember Steve Francis from 2005 recognize the new model?
Voters might consider it interesting that when Francis is given an opportunity to talk about anything that hasn’t yet come up in conversation, the topic he immediately goes to is the environment, which not long ago, was considered anathema to Republican politics.
“We’ve put forth concrete proposals to help move this city in a direction of being more environmentally sound and friendly, and my goal is—and it’s in our plan—that we want to be listed as one of the top 15 cities in the world as far as being environmentally sound and friendly,” he says, noting Grist.org’s list of the world’s greenest cities.
Francis wants to set a target date—maybe seven, eight, 10 years in the future—for San Diego’s inclusion on that list, which is rather ambitious considering that most of the cities on the list are there because of their public transit systems.
“Can it all be done overnight? No. I know that’s not realistic,” he acknowledges. “But I think we have to set a goal. I think it’s good for tourism. I think it’s good for public pride. It’s good for just general living to be one of these cities that are the most environmentally sound and friendly cities in the world. And if Austin can get there, we can get there—and they’re in Texas, for God’s sakes.”
Francis is camping in the political center.
“I’m going to be incredibly and apparently independent. You’re not going to see me being beholden to labor. You’re not going to see me being beholden to the Chamber of Commerce or the business community,” he says. “I like to think of my ideology as being a little bit more broad than just fiscally conservative Republican, which I am. I like to think of it being a little more open, a little bit more trying to do the right thing.
“I have found in life that when you are dealing with complex issues, or maybe not-so-complex issues, the answer to things is usually in the middle. Usually, both sides have good points. If you get into this divide-and-conquer kind of mentality, then I think it causes dysfunction. Look at George Bush. Look what happens when a Republican ideologue takes the White House.”
And speaking of the president:
“I think that Jerry Sanders has aligned himself—he’s sort of the George Bush Republican,” Francis concludes. “I mean, you saw his picture in the paper the other day in the Union-Tribune, with him and George Bush. He takes great pride in hanging around with the president and all the policies that go along with that, and I [don’t]. I’m going to run my campaign as sort of the Joe Lieberman of San Diego; I’m going to be the independent candidate.
“I’m not registered independent; if I were to do that, people would think I was really cynical. I’ve been a Republican all my life, but I’m running as an independent man, independent person, not a George Bush Republican, not somebody who is endorsed by the Republican Party, not somebody who is raising unlimited contributions from the developers and Indian casinos and hoteliers through his San Diegans for City Hall Reform. It’s all part of that establishment game, and I’m going to run away from that because I don’t want to be part of it.”
Write to davidr@sdcitybeat.com.
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.