Next year, half of San Diego’s eight city council members will be termed out, leaving open seats across town after what has been a tumultuous several years of city government.  Bribery, pension crises, “strong mayor” government, death, shady fundraising, service cuts, union strife, budget shortfalls and oh yeah- a city to run.  As the city council and the mayor continue to battle over just how much power a “strong mayor” should have, the shape of the city council is about to change in a major way.  The ramifications could dictate the fundamental course of San Diego government for quite some time.

Mayor Sanders was elected into office on a platform which called for much more power to be given to the mayor and, by extention, removed from the city council.  In the wake of the City Council missing the pension crisis and the resignations of Acting Mayor Michael Zucchet and Councilman Ralph Inzunza because of federal corruption charges, this was perhaps a natural reaction the failures of the City Council.  But in a micro version of the Bush power grab, Mayor Sanders has done everything he can to give himself complete control over the city’s budget and operation.

The city council, until recently, has been generally willing to acquiesce on these power grabs, but has begun to show some life recently.  It’s fought back over pay raises for police and fire personnel and on cuts to civic services.  It’s a toe in the water, and hopefully the beginning of better progress.  So why is this important?  Well, San Diego is the second-largest city in California, and it’s on the verge of becoming effectively autocratic.  With half the city council coming open, this is the opportunity for San Diego to decide what direction it will send its government.  For those of us who would like checks, balances, and some form of representative government, the stakes are high.  We need a city council that will keep the Mayor in control and a city council that will get San Diego on track (it is most certainly NOT currently on track).

Earlier this week, Voice of San Diego ran a great roundup of the candidates declared or mulling runs for city council districts 1 (Scott Peters), 3 (Toni Atkins), 5 (Brian Maienschein), and 7 (Jim Madaffer).  These races have already added more candidates since Monday, and the first candidate forums will be coming up later in the month.  I strongly encourage San Diegans to check the candidates and keep an eye on this.  The stakes are high and there’s tremendous opportunity to have an impact in this election for both sides.  Make sure good government wins out.