Welcome to San Diego, Enron by the Sea. We are currently looking for a new chief executive who will be given unprecedented, sweeping new executive powers to run operations. We hope to select an executive who will be able to ascertain how we reached this state of financial ruin and rebuild America’s Finest City into something far greater and more worthy of its title than it was before. Welcome to the selection committee.

Among the two candidates for mayor of San Diego, one clearly stands out as the better solution to the problems that face our city. He has served our city almost his entire life. His 26-year career with the San Diego Police Department was capped with his service as its chief from 1993 until 1999. During his term as police chief, he reduced crime 40 percent because of his nationally recognized pioneer work in community policing. During this time he appointed the first gay liaison to the gay community and trained officers in handling domestic violence and hate crimes within the gay community. This began a long-standing relationship between our community and Jerry Sanders; one that has included many appearances in our Pride festival over the years, including one as grand marshal of the San Diego Pride parade.

Unlike his opponent, whose nine City Council votes helped create our financial disaster, Jerry Sanders has a record of rescuing and turning around troubled organizations. In 1999, he took over as president and CEO of the United Way of San Diego to save the organization from a scandal involving a bloated bureaucracy that threatened the financial health and public support of the organization. His efforts helped reduce overhead costs and returned public trust to the organization, increasing the fund-raising dollars available to San Diego community and social service agencies.

In 2002, he helped turn around the San Diego chapter of the Red Cross following a scandal surrounding the Red Cross’s efforts for victims of the Alpine fire that led to the dismissal of the CEO. He recruited a CEO that turned critics into supporters of the organization, because of the staff reorganization and transparency of fund-raising.

The most important issue in this campaign is how the city will recover from an ill-gained pension system, returning financial stability to a once great city, and still provide for the parks, libraries and public safety needs of the city.

Donna Frye’s plan does little beyond what was already proposed by Dick Murphy and the current City Council. It also relies on no cuts in city employee jobs or wages, and requires citizens to bear the full brunt of the mistakes of her and her colleagues with a multi-billion dollar tax increase and changes to the city charter, both of which require voter approval, delaying resolution and possibly forcing the entire city into bankruptcy. In fact, internationally recognized economists have said that such a tax increase would devastate the San Diego economy.

Donna Frye would immediately place the pension plan into receivership, rather than determining if the benefits are legal and negotiating with unions for the best interests of city employees. Her meager plan, which she still hasn’t been able to explain publicly beyond referring people to her Web site, shows a lack of commitment and understanding to solve the city’s financial crisis.

Jerry Sanders has created a 22-point plan to turn around the city of San Diego by addressing the pension crisis head on, reorganizing a bloated bureaucracy, streamlining city staff and bringing unprecedented transparency to city government – long promised but never delivered by his opponent.

Sanders’ plan goes far beyond the financial crisis that is the sole focus of Frye’s plan. He proposes returning revenues for community block grants instead of raiding it for the needs of the general fund. He would create a citywide commitment to ethical leadership, transparency and accountability that does not currently exist with Donna Frye and the current city government. City employees, appointees and elected officials would be required to sign and adhere to an ethical and legal standards pledge giving teeth to such an effort. Sanders would back this up with whistleblower protections for employees, performance measures for city services and commitments from the city’s top managers.

We should feel blessed that we have a candidate who has a record of strong leadership, commitment to reorganization and a friendship with our community. The choice is clear on Nov 8: Jerry Sanders is the only candidate that can help us recover America’s Finest City from the Enron by the Sea scandal we face now.