The San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC) voted 54-4 to endorse San Diego City Councilmember Donna Frye in the 15-candidate mayoral race for the seat Mayor Dick Murphy will vacate July 15. Murphy resigned in April, less than eight months into his second term, amid threats of a recall and criticism from national media.

Frye is considered a front-runner in the July 26 special election to fill Murphy’s seat, having retained a loyal base of voters after the hotly-contested mayoral election in November left her several thousand disqualified write-in votes shy of winning the seat. With her polling hovering in the 30th percentile, however, some Democrats are worried that Frye won’t be able to capture the majority of votes if she makes it to the expected run-off election, due to San Diego’s historically strong conservative base.

Former police chief Jerry Sanders, local attorney Pat Shea and businessman Steve Francis, all Republicans, are also considered by analysts to have a shot in next month’s election.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported last week that Fitch Ratings, a Wall Street credit-rating agency, said they would cut San Diego’s credit rating on the city’s $1.95 billion debt due to speculation that the city may file for bankruptcy and because political instability could negatively affect San Diego’s ability to obtain financial stability.

“We’re in a state of flux,” City Attorney Mike Aguirre said at a May 26 SDDC forum, which featured a Q&A with Frye and fellow mayoral hopeful Jim Bell, one of two other Democrats running for the seat. “… It’s a little bit difficult to be an attorney advising people about defining the law when there’s so much rejection of facts and a lot of numbers and fine print. And we’re changing that. … I will tell you, things are going to get better.”

SDDC members grilled Bell and Frye about how they would navigate through the city’s scandal-ridden financial crisis and resolve the pension underfunding, and whether or not the city should file for bankruptcy.

Bell, an ecological designer who described himself as a “one-issue candidate,” has centered his campaign around the idea of making San Diego water, food and energy self-sufficient, effectively saving the city from its financial crisis by eliminating the need to import costly resources while jumpstarting its economy with environmentally-savvy infrastructure improvements.

He said leasing land rather than selling it for a one-time profit would help the city, and filing for bankruptcy “would allow us to renegotiate those agreements.”

Frye said the city’s financial recovery, coupled with the pension-fund deficit, is a “shared responsibility,” but cautioned that while recent budget restructuring increased services by over $1 million, it also led to 67 employee layoffs. “If the trend continues as it is, you will find a smaller amount of people making more, and less people being employed. Future employee benefits will be greatly reduced, so you’ll end up with a two-tiered system,” she said.

She agreed that filing for bankruptcy is a viable option, and outlined some first steps toward getting the city back on its feet, including cooperating fully with federal investigators, submitting all city documents for review and providing accurate numbers, working with the city attorney as well as the chief legal counsel for the retirement board, and reappointing Diane Shippione to the retirement board.

Frye responded to criticism that she isn’t moderate or financially experienced enough to guide the city out of its current financial crisis by saying, “You can call me the chick, you can call me the surfer, whatever you like. … I stand in rooms and here I am – a pro-choice, Democratic woman – and I say, ‘Here I am,’ and they say, ‘Well, not you.’

“Why not me?” she continued. “Every single time people have underestimated me, every single time people have said I can’t do it, guess what? I stood up and did it, and I’m going to do it again. … Don’t believe it when they say, ‘Oh my goodness, we gotta keep the town going.’ If you think there’s a better Democratic candidate – fine, then step up and run. I welcome you into the race.”

She added, “I work hard, I do my homework, I know what I’m talking about. … What this town needs is someone who’s honest.”

Bell, who ran for mayor in last year’s primary and has also run for City Council District 2, told the club, “If you give Donna your endorsement, I think you’re making a good choice.”

Other contenders in the race are: San Diego Tax Fighters Chair Richard Rider, Libertarian; Harley-Davidson dealership owner Myke Shelby, Republican; San Diego County air quality inspector Kent Mesplay, Green; attorney Shawn McMillan, Republican; businessman Jeremy Ledford, Republican; student Les Swazzo, Republican; mediator and arbitrator Ed Kolker, undisclosed; restaurant supervisor Tom Knapp, Republican; bartender Michael Hill, Democrat; and Mac Sperry, undisclosed occupation and party affiliation.

As to the effect the Mt. Soledad Cross debate will have on the election, Frye said it’s hard to know, but a higher turnout is possible because “we can expect single-issue voters to rally supporters to go to the polls.”

Bell quipped, “One thing I did think about was, ‘What would Jesus do?’ With all of the problems that we’re having in our community – I see homeless people all over the place, I see potholes and disrepair … war and dysfunction everywhere, and I think that Jesus would want us to work on those things and not worry about a cross that he probably doesn’t have very fond memories of.”