Politics & Government

DeMaio Urges Politicians to Get Behind Filner Recall

Former San Diego city Councilman Carl DeMaio said it is "inexcusable" for politicians to be silent in the effort.

The ex-city councilman who lost the San Diego mayor's race to Bob Filner last year called Monday on area politicians to get behind a recall effort in a tangible way.

Carl DeMaio, who is planning a congressional run against Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, next year, said council members and legislators should sign petitions to recall Filner, help collect signatures and back the effort with money.

Getting on the bandwagon once a recall qualifies is not good enough, DeMaio told reporters. He said some officeholders and organizations calling for the mayor to resign have been "silent" on the recall.

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"The idea that elected officials and candidates, or would-be candidates for office, aren't already engaged on day one in collecting signatures and supporting this effort is inexcusable," DeMaio said. "If you claim to be a region leader, you ought to be actively, publicly, aggressively behind this effort to support San Diegans."

He said he believes the recall will qualify, citing a level of enthusiasm at the grassroots level that he hasn't seen before in a signature-gathering campaign.

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When working to qualify a pension reform initiative that was passed by voters in June 2012, people were more likely to come up to signature-gatherers when an officeholder was present, he said.

Filner gained 52 percent of the vote to defeat DeMaio in a runoff election last November.

-City News Service


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