Ron Roberts: Republican, county supervisor (my friend), former city council member, product of city-subsidized housing and San Diego public schools, tough, focused, stuffy and stiff.

Donna Frye: Democrat, city council member (also my friend), clean-water activist, agent for social change, ex-surfer, looks more comfortable at a Dead concert than a city council meeting.

Michael Portantino: Publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Times (me), hard-headed, sees little gray, takes pleasure in reminding people what it says in the masthead of his newspaper: “Who shall stand guard to the guards themselves?”

George Biagi: City council representative (long-time friend), former editor and associate publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Times, sees the gray and has successfully navigated standing up for our rights diplomatically.

Russ O’Brien: Current editor of the Gay & Lesbian Times (new friend). O’Brien is impressed with Portantino’s integrity. Smart and idealistic, he’s waiting to see if Portantino holds himself up to the same set of principles he expects from our political leaders.

All was well in the San Diego mayor’s race. Ron Roberts was successfully riding the tidal wave of financial ruin, heading towards a victory in the November mayoral election. Incumbent, Republican Mayor Dick Murphy, a nice guy but unable to fend off Ron’s attacks, is the minor player here today. Donna Frye, reviewing her old polling which showed that in head-to-head contests with either Roberts or Murphy, she would pull an impressive 40 percent – not enough to beat either one, but in a three-person race, these same numbers could make her our next mayor.

The Gay & Lesbian Times and Portantino have been strong supporters of Roberts and urged others to follow. Ron Roberts, a Republican, has bucked his party before and stood with us against intolerance and injustice. No, he didn’t leap any buildings, but he has stepped up to the plate many times before and assisted our community with his votes, voice, financial assistance and influence. While Ron was early to denounce the Defense of Marriage Act (good job) he falls short in his belief that we deserve ALL the same rights and privileges that he and his lovely wife, Helena, enjoy – a state-sanctioned marriage certificate for same-sex couples. And while I know in his heart he is completely against discrimination, he hasn’t yet been able to say, “I cannot, under my watch, allow the City of San Diego to subsidize discrimination, therefore the Boy Scouts must pay the going rate for land they lease or they must go.” Say it, Ron. I know you believe it.

However, Ron is a self-made man that didn’t grow up with the current progressive moral beliefs that he has now. He changed. Ron will continue to drag the Republican Party kicking and screaming towards change. He is the kind of Republican we need.

Enter Donna Frye, who scheduled her press conference the day of the presidential debate knowing full well everyone interested in politics would be picking up the paper the next morning, therefore gaining an unusually large reading audience. Who said Donna isn’t a politician….

Well, what can we say about Donna? She is one of us. She just gets it. She sees right from wrong and more importantly, she acts on it. She is relentless in her pursuit of keeping San Diego livable for everyone. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I see eye to eye on more issues with Donna than with most other people. However, can she do the job? Rugged individualism alone doesn’t add up to five votes. Donna isn’t a consensus builder; she is a maverick. Is she a spoiler? Does she siphon off enough votes from Roberts to allow Murphy another four years?

George, last week you said that the shoe is on the other foot now. You hoped my being in this position would give me a little more compassion for others in similar positions. Well it has. And Russ, I know you, too, are waiting to see what your new “always right,” never compromise your principles, hard-headed publisher is going to do!

I believe you leave the dance with the person that brought you. We endorsed Ron Roberts earlier and we are sticking with him. Ron has stood side-by-side with our community for many years. In the early ’90s he led politicians in both parties in supporting our community. He lent early legitimacy to Chris Kehoe’s first campaign. He voted for domestic partnership benefits for city employees, he voted for the human dignity ordinance in 1990 and he has secured millions of dollars for our community organizations, including Stepping Stone and The Center. The most important issues facing our city today aren’t same-sex marriage and the Boy Scouts lease in Balboa Park. They are affordable housing, fiscal responsibility, crime, consensus building, traffic control, the budget deficit, the pension fund deficit and the recent city council indictments, with the possibility that more indictments may be on the way. On these issues and many others, I believe that Ron Roberts will be the better mayor for all of us. Ron Roberts will secure the five votes needed to make change. He is better suited to run this city at this time.