Editorial:

Mayor Bob Filner once enjoyed the support of the Democrats, the Progressives, and the environmentalist, which led the way to his becoming the Mayor of San Diego. Now seven short months later, these same folks are asking Mayor Filner to step down from office citing Sexual Harassment charges.

Not all the facts are in, and the women who are claiming the sexual harassment have not come forward, but the three politicians who held a press conference are extremely credible supports of Filner. These folks were once the strongest of supporters for Filner and they would have not asked the mayor to step down from office unless they had rock solid evidence that something was wrong in the Mayor’s office.

The fact that former Councilwoman Donna Frye was the lead voice in this request only leads us to believe that Filner has clearly gone way beyond decency. Frye is the leading progressive Democrat in San Diego. She has repeatedly shown her mettle for standing up for what she believes in and Frye knows exactly what the fallout would be by her coming forward and asking the Mayor to do the right thing!

For the past six months Republicans have been gnashing their teeth trying to upset the mayor and somehow force a recall, the back and forth has been played out almost daily in the media. For Democrats and Progressives, Filner has been a fresh of breath, breathing new life into the old stoic halls of local government, controlled by the Republican Party. It is with heartfelt disappointment that Filner allowed himself to be caught up in something so bad that his friends are now calling on him to step down.

Filner has been able to shun the charges thrown at him as partisan politics, these new charges will not be so easy to brush aside. We cannot condemn without knowing all the facts, but the one thing we do know, Filner’s ability to governor is damaged, perhaps beyond repair!