Politics & Government

Election 2012: Lincoln Club Endorses DeMaio for Mayor

Plus, Rep. Bob Filner, also in the running for mayor, released the first parts of his open government plan on Thursday.

The pro-business Lincoln Club of San Diego County on Thursday endorsed Councilman Carl DeMaio for San Diego mayor in the general election, while his opponent, Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, detailed the first part of his open government plan.

DeMaio and the Lincoln Club worked together in a hard-fought campaign to pass a ballot measure earlier this month.

T.J. Zane, the club's president and chief executive officer, said that made the decision easy.

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"The club has partnered with Carl on numerous initiatives, including Proposition B—the pension reform initiative," Zane said. "Carl has stood for reform and fought for taxpayers since day one—no one is more qualified to lead San Diego."

Zane said he wanted to make the endorsement now because he believes the race will be close.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Bernardo-4s Ranchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Meanwhile, Filner released the initial provisions of his open government plan on Wednesday night.

They include:

-- establishing an Open Government Department that would assist the public, media and all mayoral departments with Brown Act and Public Records Act issues and requests;

-- providing annual Brown Act and Public Records Act training to all mayoral staff and departments;

-- giving the city auditor unrestricted access to employees, records, vendor contracts and reports when conducting audits; and

-- ensuring there is follow-up on significant audit findings and recommendations.

"Open government is the cornerstone of ensuring the public trust," Filner said. "The public has a right to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent and should be able to rely upon the information they receive from city government."

He said that if elected, he would implement his proposals immediately after assuming office.

Earlier Wednesday, DeMaio introduced a proposal to the City Council's Rules Committee to place all city contracts worth $25,000 and above online in an easily accessible and readable format.

DeMaio and Filner emerged from a field of four major candidates in the June 5 primary election to face each other in the November runoff. DeMaio led the voting, about one percentage point ahead of Filner.

-City News Service


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