I have had the unique honor of knowing and working with Ron Roberts for well over a decade. In my front-line exposure to the San Diego political scene, as Mayor Maureen O’Connor’s chief of staff, Roberts was one of the rare handful of community leaders that stood out for his integrity, leadership, vision, humanity, inclusiveness and insight. I have also served with Roberts in social services at the County of San Diego, where we worked shoulder to shoulder in trying to save AIDS Foundation San Diego. He is a personal friend, who in my darkest hour brought soulful comfort at the loss of my lover, Johnny, with his genuine empathy and presence.

Roberts is the choice for mayor of San Diego because he alone has the experience, qualifications, outreach and understanding to deal with all of the challenges facing America’s Finest City. The city is in fiscal crisis due to the individual failure of the mayor and city manager to provide serious leadership and due to the collective failure of the city council to fulfill its responsibility of prudent fiscal oversight. Roberts has been at the forefront of exposing the extent and depth of the problem and proposing realistic solutions. He alone of the mayoral candidates has spent months of arduous campaigning expounding to the voters the necessary plan to restore financial stability.

In the early 1990s when Roberts was a city council member, San Diego was among the best-run cities in the United States. When elected a supervisor of a county in crisis, Roberts was integral to the success of turning it into one of the outstandingly-managed counties in America. He knows the difference between congenial ineffectiveness and constructive consensus-building. He does not mistake meaningless quixotic opposition votes with the true work of governance in putting forward viable initiatives and assembling the requisite block of votes to enact them.

The GLBT community has no stronger supporter at any level of elected office. Roberts has been with us longer, provided us with more concrete benefits, stood with us more solidly when it counted and advanced our rights further than anyone else in the race. He was a key vote for the city’s Human Dignity Ordinance in 1990. His negotiating efforts on the city council were key in configuring District 3 as GLBT-friendly. His early endorsement of Christine Kehoe was critical to her success in being the first GLBT council member in San Diego. His initiative was indispensable in bringing domestic partner benefits to county employees. His discretionary generosity has made the vital difference in providing essential grants to AIDS Foundation San Diego, The Center and Stepping Stone over the years. There is much more that could be said of his demonstrated friendship, but there is nothing more that anyone could have done than Roberts has to be there at every critical juncture of our community. He annually rides in our Pride parade not as a political gesture but in sincere solidarity.

The city is not a monolith. It is a complex amalgamation of constituencies, ethnicities, viewpoints and interests that are synergistically dynamic in concert and destructive in dissonance. Roberts alone of the mayoral candidates connects with the full spectrum of the San Diego rainbow. His record is widely known, his fairness respected by all sides, his integrity above reproach. Roberts personally knows the leaders in every community. He singularly of the candidates has successfully addressed all of the types of regional issues that impact the quality of life in the city: safety services, transportation, environment, public health, development, urban design, social policy, business climate, labor equity, ethics and sound governance. If the strong-mayor initiative passes, he is the sole candidate who has the managerial background to efficiently run the city. If the initiative fails, he uniquely has the outside perspective and leadership skills to clean house and set a new direction

The City of San Diego needs qualified, ethical leadership to restore fiscal integrity and heal cultural divides. Roberts is a proven leader who matches the required profile of decision maker, consensus builder, innovative governor and inspirational captain. We are fortunate that Roberts is a true friend of the GLBT community who embraces us with his heart and energetically fights for equality for all.

Roberts has done everything the GLBT community has asked of him and then on his own initiative has taken our interests the extra mile. His past actions and future promise singularly merit the support of the GLBT community in his noble quest for mayor. Roberts will be an uncommonly great mayor for all San Diegans, just as he has been the quintessential friend to all of us.