Following the Nov. 8 elections, San Diego will be a little closer to having a fully operating city government. With our new mayor in place and our two vacant City Council seats one step closer to being filled (if not decided outright in the primary), our local representatives will, hopefully, be able to sweep up the financial debris left behind by Hurricane Pension and Tropical Storm Cheetahs and get us up and running again.

The resignations of District 2 City Councilmember Michael Zucchet and District 8 City Councilmember Ralph Inzunza in July following their felony convictions for accepting illegal campaign contributions to loosen strip club “no-touch” rules was timely to say the least, as Zucchet, who was serving as deputy mayor, resigned on the first day he was to serve as acting mayor following Mayor Dick Murphy’s July 15 resignation for an entirely different scandal.

But all truth-is-stranger-than-fiction soap opera scenario aside, our City Council’s makeup could change dramatically following the November election. What was once a 5-4 balance in our favor on issues like medical marijuana, needle exchange and the Boy Scouts lease could easily become a 4-5, or even 3-6, vote against us if social progressives fail to make the cut.

Inzunza and Zucchet, both Democrats, were well-liked in their districts and behind our community virtually 100 percent of the time. Inzunza, a Latino social progressive, voted his conscience rather than his culture: When he could have pulled the Catholic traditional-values trump card, he instead voted on the side of fairness when it came to the Boy Scouts’ discriminatory practices and the harm-reduction philosophy behind needle exchange. Republican Luis Acle and Democrat Ben Hueso have the most name recognition going into the District 8 race, and the largely Democratic district may not stand a better chance of electing another social moderate than the more conservative District 2.

While it’s still too early to gauge who the District 2 Democratic frontrunners will be, Lorena Gonzales, Rich Grosch and Carolyn Chase have a fighting chance against Republican candidate Kevin Faulconer, who is shooting to raise $600,000 for his campaign.

Chair of the Mission Bay Park Committee and member of the city’s Park and Recreation board of directors, Faulconer, who has been endorsed by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in this race, may be an environmentalist and considered a moderate, but gained the San Diego Union-Tribune’s endorsement back in 2002 based partially on his opposition to organized labor and needle exchange programs, and his support of the Boy Scouts’ lease in Balboa Park. Not good signs.

In contrast, eight Democratic District 2 candidates scored perfectly on the San Diego Democratic Club’s score card at last Thursday’s forum (see San Diego News, page 14, for the full story). The score card, which rates candidates based on whether or not they support legislation involving issues like abortion rights, same-sex marriage, medical marijuana and needle exchange, helps the club decide who to endorse. And though a motion to endorse at the meeting passed, the club was unable to reach the 60 percent consensus needed to make an endorsement when faced with so many progressives this early in the game.

Still, their endorsement needs to come soon, as does the larger San Diego Democratic Party’s. With 17 candidates in the District 2 race alone and no early name recognition, Democrats could be edged out in the primary if their vote is dispersed among so many candidates.

Faulconer should have little problem garnering the Republican Party’s endorsement, since he got it when he ran against Zucchet for the seat in 2002. And that means big bucks will pour into his campaign. Our community needs to start raising some serious money to compete.

Of course, if Frye is elected as mayor, the District 6 seat will open up, and the balance could be tipped even further. Not likely in the bohemian Ocean Beach district, but stranger things have happened. Just ask the San Diego City Council.