By Alberto Garcia
Investigative Reporter

Former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders will retire as the head of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce at the end of the year, capping a career of public service of more than 50 years.

Jerry Sanders

 

“After 12 years as President & CEO of the Chamber, I will be stepping down and retiring at the end of the year,” Sanders wrote this week in an email addressed to the Chambers’ Boardmembers. “While there is never a perfect time for this type of transition, I am confident that this is the right time,” Sanders added.

Jerry Sanders email announcing his retirement

 

Sanders previously served as Chief of the San Diego Police Department, CEO of the United Way of San Diego, and two terms as Mayor before being named as the leader of the Chamber just two days after the 2012 election for Mayor to choose his successor.

Sanders became a SDPD officer in 1973 and rose through the ranks to become Chief in 1993. 

In 1984, Sanders was the SWAT commander during the massacre at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro by shooter James Huberty that led to the deaths of 21 people, including four minors from 18 months to 11 years old. A SDPD SWAT sniper eventually shot Huberty to end the standoff 77 minutes after the first shot was fired.

Sanders was criticized for delays in moving in on Huberty, but a SDPD report issued two weeks later by Police Chief Bill Kolender concluded that the delays did not impact the eventual number of people killed by Huberty. Kolender said he believed "the operation was handled the way it should have been handled."

Citing his involvement in the response to the McDonald’s massacre, a 2005 editorial in La Prensa San Diego by then-Publisher Daniel L. Muñoz during Sanders’ first run for office called him “unfit to be Mayor.”

Sanders retired as SDPD Chief in 1999 to become the CEO of the United Way of San Diego where he worked until joining the Board of the Red Cross of San Diego in 2003. 

In 2005, when San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy resigned abruptly just seven months into his second term, Sanders ran for elected office for the first time in the July 2005 Special Election to replace Murphy in a crowded field of 11 candidates.

Then-Councilwoman Donna Frye ended up in first place with 43.1% of the vote to Sanders’ 27%, forcing a run-off election in November 2005. 

Sanders defeated Frye in the run-off election by a margin of 53.6% to 46% and was sworn in on December 5, 2005, earning the remaining three years of Murphy’s four-year term. 

In 2008, Sanders easily won re-election against businessman Steve Francis by a 20-point margin. Francis had also run in the 2005 Special Election where he ended in third place.

Sanders was barred by the City’s Charter from running for another term and was replaced by then-Congressman Bob Filner who defeated City Councilman Carl DeMaio in the November 2012 General Election.

Filner resigned the following year amid allegations of sexual harassment and was replaced in a Special Election by Councilman Kevin Faulconer who went on to serve two terms in office. 

Just weeks before the end of Sanders’ second term in office, he entered into talks with Chamber Board Chairman Vincent Mudd who recruited Sanders to lead the business group.

Sanders has now led the Chamber twice as long as his predecessor, Ruben Barrales, who he replaced in 2012. 

In his email this week, Sanders named Chamber COO and Executive Vice-President Jessica Lawrence Anderson to serve as Acting-CEO during the search for a new leader. 

Jessica Lawrence Anderson

 

“Management Council is appointing a CEO Selection Committee, which will be comprised of the Management Committee and members representing various other sectors,” Sanders wrote. “This committee will work diligently to ensure a smooth, equitable, and transparent process to identify the strongest possible candidate. 

But even before Sanders’ email was sent out, several people close to current Mayor Todd Gloria were already working members to support Anderson for the permanent post. 

Anderson previously served as Gloria’s policy director before being hired by the Chamber last year. Before working for Gloria, Anderson also served as then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s policy director. 

Multiple sources within the Chamber told La Prensa San Diego that they expect a robust search process that will yield the best candidate. 

The Chamber has more than 2,000 member businesses representing over 300,000 employees and also controls a political action committee that raises and donates campaign funds to candidates and elected officials.