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>>> Mayor Filner talks about the budget and removing traffic from the Balboa Park area.
Mayor Bob Filner thanks for being here. >>> Always great, thank you.
>>> Today the California Supreme Court said it is okay for cities to ban medical marijuana
dispensaries and what's your take? >> There is a balance there, I thought I found a balance
with my recommendations, they're looking at them, I wanted access but I wanted strict
regulation, people had to register and personally register in a computer and have an ID card
to be able to purchase with a doctor's prescription, medical marijuana.
I had a high permit fee and excise tax so that could be fully funded.
I had distances between dispensaries and where children gather so I thought I had the right
balance but the city council will look at that and see what they come up with.
>>> You had a plan offered for Balboa Park and the while the plan offered by Jacobs would
have cost tens of millions, you just want to put up a sign.
>>> You know I was a councilman over 20 years ago and we came up with a plan that we're
going to do now, parking outside the park as much as possible and Trams to bring in
the visitor and make sure there is a higher level of pedestrians experience.
We're going to take the cars out of the center, still have circulation as the socalled Jacobs
plan did, cars coming in but far less confrontation with pedestrians, in fact, we're going to
close the laurel street bridge to allow complete pedestrian freedom at the park.
The value of what we're going to do is it's not only low cost, it's temporary.
We can change anything that impacts either the visitors to museums, for example, or parking
off sixth avenue. If anything becomes a real problem we can
change it. It's not like you're putting in a $40 million
bridge and that's it. >>> The city council is considering your first
budget as San Diego mayor and that assumes a pay raise for city employees of 14% over
five years and yet you described that as a cost savings.
>>> I think that's longterm. The budget that I presented has no increases
for the employees. We are negotiating on a separate track as
required bylaw, employee negotiations. They have suggested 14.5% and the council
came back with 6% so that's still not anywhere� we're not close yet.
>>> What is your position? >> I think we should have first of all a fiveyear
agreement which will, in fact, enact the greatest savings from prop B which I did not agree
with and I think will be invalidated but I am proposing a fiveyear pensionable pay freeze
which saves us $1 billion but saves op nonpensionable items like employee benefits so an employee
will see a greater amount on his paycheck but without any affect on the pension system.
If we do that, because of the certainty of a fiveyear deal our pension people calculate
what our payments are annually and we will get immediately over three years a $50 million
savings, sort of a "free money" calculation and I think the council ought to take that
money and use it for both infrastructure and for employee compensation increases in a way
that is not contemplated yet in the budget. >>> Quickly the 14% over five years are you
in favor of that? >> That's part of the negotiations, I don't
have� I have to� that's the union's position, the council had an official 6% increase, usually
negotiations end somewhere in between. So we'll see where that goes.
That has to go on in a closed environment of the negotiations.
>>> Just last week KPBS hosted a panel of your predecessors, we were joined by Roger
Hedgecock, peat Wilson and Jerry sanders. And we wanted you to hear what they said.
Here is Roger talking about your rocky relationship with the city council.
>>> It's obvious that the new mayor doesn't come out of the tradition that we three do
which was basically a bipartisan tradition. We were Republicans or party people but in
a limited sense. I always felt personal and I think every mayor
did in that era that you were representing everybody and you had to respond to everybody
and only by working together with Democrats and Republicans were you ever going to get
anything done anyway. The appearance is that this new mayor is a
much more partisan person because he's had that history of many years in the Congress
and Congress is a partisan place. So bringing that into San Diego was a foreign
element and even Democrats on the council recoiled at some of the stuff that went on,
the combativeness that maybe it what the mayor is any bought, but coming out of the experience
in Congress. >>> Partisan, combative, what is your response?
>>> If it came from someone else besides Roger Hedgecock it may be meaningful, here is the
most partisan extreme guy today in San Diego and he's calling me partisan?
I come out of the same tradition that they did in terms of I served on the city council
and on the school board. I know how to work with both sides of the
aisle. I think what they are upset about is not the
partisanship or consciousness, we're making changes that they didn't.
They come out of the "good 'ol boy" network and I am trying to build a more diverse city
based on people who have not had a role, whether they come from ethnic minorities, or women,
or educators, not the downtown specialists. They know we all got to work together, they
know that I know that. We have a council now that is four Democrats,
four Republicans if I'm going to do anything clearly you have to work together.
They're concerned about the change in the 'ol boys' network and they'll criticize me
on any grounds that they can. But Roger Hedgecock, we're friends and I've
known him for a long time but to criticize me for being part sen he's the most extreme
personality in radio today. >>> Thank you, Mayor Bob Filner for coming
in. >>> Thanks so many.